Young in University-Work Transition: The Views of Undergraduates in Southern Italy

Abstract

In the last few years, economic and social changes have made the path from university to work long and twisted, in particular in Southern Italy, an area with the highest rate of unemployment. This contribution aims to exploring the experiences of university-work transition of undergraduates. Using an open-ended interview, the authors obtained narrative data from 150 undergraduates from Southern Italy. Textual Analysis and Text Network Analysis were carried out to identify the thematic clusters and obtain the network pattern of lemmas in order to understand process of meaning construction of students. The analysis shows four clusters: “Awareness of one’s own image in the past,” “Change perception,” “Experimentation and planning of objectives,” “Prospects towards work.” In the uncertainty of contemporary society where each individual is called upon to build one’s own working career, university may represent for students a protective factor allowing them to define and re-define themselves in view of the acquisition of future roles and the preparation for the world of work.