To add further depth to the information provided in the questionnaire responses, follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with a sample of adolescent volunteers who had completed surveys several months earlier. The purpose of the interviews was to gain insight into the experiences of the adolescents as they prepared for and made the transition from high school to further education and/or work. Special attention was given to the family's role in the adolescents' transition experiences during the time since graduation from high school. A phenomenological perspective was used as the basis for carrying out this segment of the research.
Phenomenology is a research tradition that dates back to the work of German philosopher Husserl (1962). As extended by Schutz (1977), Merleau-Ponty (1962), Giorgi (1971), and others, it focuses on the nature of human experience and how it is interpreted. According to phenomenologists, there is no separate (or objective) human reality; there is only what people know their experiences mean to them (Patton, 1990). Phenomenological research typically uses qualitative methods such as storytelling or interviews to gain deeper understanding of the nature and meaning of everyday experiences (van Manen, 1990).
Of the adolescents who completed survey questionnaires, 265 volunteered to participate in follow-up interviews after high school graduation. Fifty were randomly selected for interviews. Fifty-four percent were women, and 46% were men. Twenty-eight percent were people of color, and 72% were white. Of these, 31 could be located and interviewed. They were from all four states in the study. Data collection took place in December of 1994 using a semistructured interview format developed for the study. Interview questions were designed to encourage participants to relate stories about their post-high school transition experiences and reflect on the family's role in it. Typical questions were, "How are you currently involved in either work and/or school?" "What steps led you from high school to what you are doing now?" "What has this transition been like?" "Describe some experiences you have had with your family about your occupational plans--this could be recently or while you were growing up." "Tell me about a story that stands out in your memory regarding what you learned from your family about the work world." "All in all, what are the factors that account for your being where you are now, in either work and/or school?"
Interviews lasted 15-30 minutes each. No attempt was made to link interviewees with their survey data. All telephone interviews were tape recorded with participants' permission and subsequently transcribed for analysis. Interview transcriptions were analyzed to identify themes regarding the family's role in developing readiness for transition from school to further education and/or employment.
The thematic analysis was carried out using a series of steps consistent with guidelines for phenomenological research outlined by van Manen (1990): (1) review the literature and reflect on the nature of the experience being examined, (2) investigate the experience by collecting narrative data from informants, (3) read and reread the narrative information to interpret it and begin to form a conceptual framework for categorizing the informants' experiences, (4) extract phrases from the text that help lend insight into the informants' experiences, (5) determine broader themes that summarize the more specific categories of experience, (6) write and rewrite the themes into a narrative description that helps make sense of the phenomenon, (7) articulate what has been discovered for use by others interested in the phenomenon.
Three broad thematic categories emerged during the data analysis process. These themes suggested that, regarding post-high school transition events, the adolescents experienced (1) unilateral parent-to-child guidance and support, (2) reciprocal interactions with their parents, and (3) family as a place to interpret reality. Although the themes are not all mutually exclusive, the first two seem to represent a more direct family role in adolescent post-high school transition, while the third theme reflects a more indirect role. The themes, subthemes, and adolescent comments are discussed below. Adolescent respondents are identified by an initial to protect their identities. The selected quotes were chosen as being representative of all the quotes in the same theme.
Unilateral actions within the family are those that involve primarily one-way paths of influence (Grotevant & Cooper, 1988). Four subthemes suggest adolescents experienced a number of unidirectional forms of interaction in the family, most of them parent-to-child. Many of these quotes indicate the role parents play in post-high school transitions.
| D: | Yeah, they're paying for my college right now `cause I wasn't going to go to college `cause I didn't have the money. So my mom said that she'd pay for it, and she did. She said she'll pay for it as long as she can. |
| L: | Our agreement is that they'll pay for all my schooling, including books or any other expenses I have. And I basically pay for my, you know, my entertainment, like when I want to go out to eat with my friends. |
| O: | I have the financial means to be going to college right now, which is really nice. And I mean, if I didn't have the money, I wouldn't be going. But as far as emotionally, I feel like it's a good step because it's kind of in between being thrown out into the workforce and living at home with your parents. `Cause you're still connected with your family in that they're giving you money and, you know, you're living in the dorm and calling home. It's kind of like a step in between. So it's a good kind of springboard for whatever comes next. |
| F: | Mainly I wanted to stay at home, live at home, just `cause its cheaper, just a little more easy at the time until I know for sure what I want to do before I go out and waste the money. |
|
O:
|
My
parents both have jobs that they really like. They're with companies that they
like, and they're doing things that they're good at. They always kind of
expected us to earn our way along. You know, we haven't been given a free
ride. I had three jobs through my senior year, and you know, we've been taught
that, you know, there's nothing wrong with getting your hands dirty. A good
day's work will make you feel good.
|
| X:
|
Schooling
and education and putting your education first, before anything has . . . has
been stressed a lot and . . . so it's pretty serious around my household.
|
| Z:
|
I
guess . . . big part was my parents. They always pushin' me to be better. I
guess than what they had. And my church. They always said you know, you need
to go to college and get a career, you know, to be something.
|
J:
|
[They
told me . . . ] do the best you can and always be there. Do what you're
supposed to do. Keep your mouth quiet.
|
| AA:
|
If
you're gonna do it, you should do it right. You're responsible for it, and no
one else is gonna take the blame for it, if you do it wrong.
|
| U:
|
Do
what you're told. Do everything to the best of your ability, and everything
should be ok. You have to respect people, too. `Cause if you don't respect
them, they're not gonna really respect you.
|
| M:
|
My
parents said, well if we don't work, we're not going to have the extra money.
If I work, I'll have the money. If I don't, then I won't.
|
F:
|
I
was real undecided. I wasn't even thinking about computers `cause I thought it
was gonna be all filled up and gonna be real hard to get a spot. But, I
actually took a trip with the family, and I was talking to my aunt, and she
works in a corporation, dealing with computers and stuff like that. And she
said there are a bunch of job openings and a real demand. So I thought I'd
maybe look into it a little more.
|
| DD:
|
The
reason why I want to become a police officer is `cause I live next door to one.
He's just kinda meant a lot to our family. I really like helping other people.
Mom got me some information about it . . . paramedics, too. She said there
would always be a need for that.
|
| AA:
|
I
think it was probably my senior year. I mean I went through all the stuff
like, you know, I wanna grow up to be rich and live in a big castle. Well, my
parents are ranchers, so that's what I know best. I really want to do that. I
love being outdoors. And that's the only thing I could come up with that's
completely outdoors, you know. There's a minimum amount of people-work
involved. They arranged for me to talk to some of the local ranchers.
|
While some of the experiences described by the adolescent interview participants appeared to represent one-way adult-to-child interaction, others suggested a type of communication that was more reciprocal in nature. Some of these exchanges, represented by three subthemes, appeared to be more positive than others.
A:
|
They
are constantly asking, you know, how I'm doing. They're interested in my work,
they want me to bring stuff home, and they are helping me out.
|
| D:
|
They've
always pretty much stuck behind me or any of us, if it's what makes us happy.
Even if they know it's wrong. They'll advise us it's wrong, but then they'll
say, I support you.
|
| P:
|
Most
of the influence [about my career choice] came from my parents and my older
brothers about the types of fields that I should go into. I said something I
would want to do, and we discussed it. I mean, they wouldn't say no, you can't
do that or yes, you can do that. They'd be like, why do you want to do that?
It's more like a family-oriented decision-making process. If I chose a
direction and was positive about that direction, they were behind me. It was
like, OK, we'll support your decision in doing that.
|
| L:
|
Whenever
I come home, I, you know, my mom always asks, "What did you do in school
today?" And I always, you know, I talk about things with her, and she listens.
|
| K:
|
My
parents are behind me, no matter what I do. It's basically whatever I've
decided. Just when I need to talk to them, they're always there. If I need
their help, like with a decision, I'll ask them, like, what they think, and
then from there like I can decide what I should do.
|
B:
|
It
got to that point where they were pushing me just a little too hard and a
little too fast. Change is hard. From high school to college . . . with them
pushing me so hard it's like, hey, slow down, I've gotta deal with things one
at a time. And . . . and for awhile there I was really, you know,
reconsidering, am I doing this for them or am I doing this for me. `Cause they
started pushing me too hard, and I was starting to do it for them and not for
me. I had to slow down and take a look. I gathered, you know, I have to
rethink what I'm doing here. And they just . . . they backed off a lot. Now
it's my decision from here.
|
| K:
|
They
wanted me to go to college because no one in my family has ever been to
college, and they wanted me to be the first, and they pushed me to go to school
and, you know, do good. They really pushed.
|
| D:
|
Yeah,
they said I should be in the medical field, you know, `cause my dad's an eye
doctor. So he pretty much said that yeah, it's good because then I'll learn a
lot. I wanted to be a housewife, and he pretty much said, no, don't. You
know, he said, you know, get a life.
|
| AA:
|
They're
kind of against my choice and kind of for it because they really don't like the
forest rangers `cause they think they're nosy. They're like, you want to be a
forest ranger? You know, my whole family's like, Oh my god!
|
T:
|
My
mom knows I'm going to college, but she doesn't know about everything else.
|
| E:
|
My
family didn't have any input into my decisions. I'm not really close with my
family.
|
| E:
|
My
dad did three jobs. He worked a lot. But I don't know [what my family thinks
about work].
|
Many of the adolescents in the study described personal experiences that provide insight into how the family may serve more indirectly as a specific context for interpreting reality associated with work and post-high school transitions.
B:
|
My
mom was very determined to get into what she wanted to do, which was the
airline. It was kinda neat to watch her you know, struggle to get where she
wanted. And she ended up getting what she wanted. And that kinda helped me.
If you try hard enough, for long enough you'll get it.
|
| F:
|
Well,
my mom's a teacher, and my dad's a pharmacist. Both of them work really hard
at it. And the constant thing, always going to school for both of them to
learn, to, you know, improve. Real positive for me, just, you know, to get a
good job and to be good at what you're doing. It's gonna take a lot of work
and a lot of, you know, a lot of determination to do, you know, to get it, get
there. They kind of showed me that.
|
| X:
|
Oh
yeah, they were real work-oriented, and my mom's always worked full time, my
step dad works a couple . . . even for a while a couple of jobs, I mean, work's
always been a . . . a big thing. There's nobody lazy in my household. I
learned to work hard.
|
| Z:
|
I
believe that that's why they were so strong on us going to college is because,
I mean, mama worked in a soap factory, and daddy worked on a dredge, and they
liked their jobs, but they always wanted us to be in a job where we didn't have
to work as hard as they did.
|
| K:
|
My
parents showed me work is kind of a blanket, it stays on you because of money.
|
X:
|
There
was a lot of fuss about my decision. My dad's not for it. He thinks it's too
dangerous.
|
| A:
|
Well,
I guess they've always thought being prepared for paid work was very important.
They didn't want me to be a housewife or anything. `Cause they're always
afraid that you know, if I get married, and my husband dies, I won't have
anything to do. And you know they just always wanted me to go farther and be
all that I can be. You know, always wanted me to have training of some sort so
I could always support myself.
|
| CC:
|
My
mom said to get a career because from what happened to her . . . she said, get
a career because it means financial stability for you, you know not for your
husband or nothing. If your husband were to leave you, you still have
something, because you have your career. And that could help, you know. My
mom, she didn't have a career she just . . . she didn't have anything, she just
had a secretarial degree, and it really, you know, didn't help at all. That's
what she always tells us, you know, just get a career, just get a career.
|
Several of the interview participants described other experiences in their families that seemed to permit them to examine the realities of work and of post-high school transition:
W:
|
I
sorta saw things from the inside when I grew up. Because my dad's a minister,
and my mom's a teacher and . . . so I saw what people did as an institution,
like . . . in their daily lives . . . I got to see how teachers think, and I
was this little kid running around the church and whatnot. I could see all the
background, knowing that holy water's really just tap water and things like
that.
|
| N:
|
They
have a lot of interesting stories. `Cause my mom works at the hospital,
x-raying . . . she likes to bring home her stories.
|
| L:
|
I
think my sister, after she graduated from high school, she just got married. I
see how hard it is for them financially, too, just her and her husband, just to
have one person working, and I think that made me kinda want, not to depend on
one person financially.
|
The interview data indicate that unidirectional parent-to-child interactions are part of the family-based work-related experience of adolescents. In addition, reciprocal interactions within the family also seem to be part of the adolescent experience. Beyond these aspects, there is another contextual dimension of the family experience for adolescents which serves as a unique sounding board for interpreting work-related experiences and envisioning future school-to-work scenarios. Family "lessons" about school-to-work transition seem to be experienced by adolescents through both more and less direct processes.