Resource Management and Geography - Theses

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    I just cant see myself doing it : occupational aspirations and identities : young people from family farms, Victoria
    Geldens, Paula Michelle (University of Melbourne, 2004)
    The purpose of this study has been to gain an understanding of the relationships between the identities and occupational aspirations of young people from family farms in the State of Victoria. The theoretical and philosophical approach utilised in this thesis is best characterised as viewing Gottfredson's (1981; 1996) modern developmental model of occupational aspirations and identities through a postmodern lens. A mixed method approach was employed in the investigation of the relationships between aspirations and identities. The project involved 138 participants from four sites in rural regions of the state: Orbost. Ouyen, Kyabram, and Casterton. Participating secondary college students (of years 10 � 12) each completed a questionnaire, a further subset of 37 participating in an interview. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 36 of these participants between 13 and 15 months after the initial interview. These follow-up interviews offered a unique opportunity to explore with these young people the fluidity of their identities and occupational aspirations during the intervening period. One third of these participants were no longer attending secondary school at the time of this second interview, including eight who were employed and six who were attending tertiary institutions. The findings developed, and conclusions drawn, from this project related to a range of subject areas and have been presented according to the following headings: What of young people?, Ruralities of multiple and diverse meaning, Identities within contemporary social worlds, and Occupational aspirations and post-school 'futures. This research has shown that the discourses that pervaded and constructed the social worlds of these young people were powerfully informative of the ways in which they constructed both their identities and their aspirations. These young Victorians constructed career goals with reference to their understandings of self (identities) and how these identities positioned them in relation to particular occupations and the broader social worlds in which they were positioned. This thesis provides meaningful insight into the lives of these young people at a time when making decisions about post-secondary goals were at the forefront of their lives. Further, this thesis illustrates the inadequacy of a number of singular discursive conceptualisations in accounting for the lives of these young Victorians. The implications and applications of this work are of particular relevance to audiences including but not exclusive of: rural communities, parents, careers advisors, educational policy makers, agricultural industries, employers, researchers, and policy makers in general.