Emma Bates

Race, gender and age in young women’s career decisions, expectations and experiences

Young people’s perceptions towards their future working lives can have a significant impact on the decisions that they make towards their careers, both in an educational setting, and their behaviours in the workplace. This research explores young women’s school to Higher Education transitions, as well as the transition from education to work, to uncover how young women’s perceptions and experiences of these transitions may be shaped by race, gender and age.

In order to investigate this, my research uses semi-structured interviews with final-year undergraduate women and alumnae to discuss perceptions of issues such as belonging at university, aspirations and expectations towards future work, and how the intersection of their race, gender and age might shape their experiences of the transition from education to work.

Through this research, I hope to improve our understanding of the significance of university environments in developing young women’s perceptions towards the future, and how young women position themselves for the world of work. By unpacking the challenges that young women believe they may face, I also hope to use this research as a tool to think about what Higher Education institutions and organisations may be able to do to support women through some of these concerns.