A Question of Agency: Applying Sen's Theory of Human Capability to the Concept of Secondary School Student Career "Choice"

Autor/inn/en	Galliott, Natal'ya; Graham, Linda J.
Titel	A Question of Agency: Applying Sen's Theory of Human Capability to the Concept of Secondary School Student Career "Choice"
Quelle	In: International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 37 (2014) 3, S.270-284 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1743-727X
DOI	10.1080/1743727X.2014.885010
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Secondary School Students; Career Choice; Student Empowerment; Labor Market; Unemployment; Public Policy; Career Education; Freedom; Career Development; Equal Education; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Sekundarschüler; Studienberechtigung; Labour market; Arbeitsmarkt; Arbeitslosigkeit; Öffentliche Ordnung; Arbeitslehre; Freiheit; Berufsentwicklung; Australien
Abstract	In this paper, we seek to operationalize Amartya Sen's concept of human capability to guide a scholarly investigation of student career choice capability. We begin by outlining factors affecting youth labour markets in Australia; a prosperous country that is affected by a "two-speed" national economy. We then examine recent government initiatives that have been designed to combat youth unemployment and cyclical disadvantage by enhancing the aspirations and career knowledge of secondary school students. We argue that these policy measures are based on four assumptions: first, that career choice capability is a problem of individual agency; second, that the dissemination of career information can empower students to act as "consumers" in an unequal job market; third, that agency is simply a question of will; and finally, that school education and career advice -- as a means to freedom in the space of career development -- is of equal quality, distribution and value to an increasingly diverse range of upper secondary school students. The paper concludes by outlining a conceptual framework capable of informing an empirical research project that aims to test these assumptions by measuring and comparing differences between groups in the range of freedom to achieve and, therefore, to choose. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10