Life-course transitions, social class, and gender: a 15-year perspective of the lived lives of Canadian young adults

Abstract

In this paper, through the theoretical lens of life-course research and reproduction theory, we employ 15 years of longitudinal data from the British Columbia, Canada Paths on Life's Way project to examine the extent to which educational and career pathways of this cohort of 1988 high school graduates are gendered, individualized, prolonged, diversified; to determine marriage and parenthood patterns in relation to educational and occupational participation and outcomes across time; and to assess the extent to which social class still matters. We employ a transition probabilities analysis to follow the journeys of over 730 individuals from high school through the post-secondary system and work by identifying a sequence of significant stages. We then correlate these transition rates with relevant factors that influenced respondents’ lives. We demonstrate quantitatively that although the life courses of young women and men are experienced differently, there is an overall regularity in outcomes. Their ‘choices’ at key transition points are to large extent shaped by external structures and social class and gender differences are evident.

Keywords:

• higher education
• work
• young adulthood
• social class
• transition

Notes

1. A comparison of the 1989, 1993 and 1998 follow-ups reveals that the sample has remained remarkably stable in terms of gender composition, age, and initial post-secondary participation status. Over time, however, the proportion of those who had completed academic courses in high school and were eligible for university entrance increased slightly. A table of response rates in relation to a question about post-secondary status in 1989 can be found in Andres (2002)). This table demonstrates that university participants in 1989 were more likely to stay in the study over time, and non-participants were not. However, the degree of sample bias suggests that the findings in this paper are generalizable to similar populations.

2. The following example illustrates the transition rates and trajectory rate associated with the path NP–NP–NP–NP. There are 438 female respondents in the research sample. Eighteen percent of women (n = 78) entered the path NP in 1989. Out of these 78 women, 29% continue to be NP in 1993 – namely 23. The next transition rate is calculated as the ratio between 18 and 23 that gives a 78% transition rate into the NP state by 1998. Finally, 16 out of 18 women are still NP in 2003, which produces an 89% transition rate between 1998 and 2003. In the end, the trajectory rate is either the ratio between 16 and 438 or the product (0.18×0.29×0.78×0.89) of all transition rates along the trajectory – that is, 0.037. The multiplicative rule does not apply if there are missing cases.

3. Since 1988, some community colleges in British Columbia became university colleges. University colleges offer both non-university credentials (e.g. diplomas and certificates) and bachelor's and master's degrees.