De-standardised pathways to adulthood: European perspectives on informal learning in informal networks

Abstract

Becoming adult in the context of de-standardised life course transitions means new demands for the young women and men concerned. While those with higher social and cultural capital cope more easily with shaping individualised transitions, those with restricted resources and opportunities are under pressure of adaptation and at risk of exclusion. While de-standardisation can be regarded as a general trend, it takes varying shape across different European transition regimes whereby different regulative, normative and policy contexts of youth transitions are clustered. The article relates to the European YOYO study which has explored new learning demands and new learning strategies of young people in a comparative perspective. An exemplary illustration refers to the way in which young Germans make use of informal learning networks to cope with these demands. This micro perspective is related to the macro perspective by reflecting the scopes of individual agency provided by different transition regimes.