The changing meanings of work among university-educated young adults from a temporal perspective
Zmieniające się znaczenia pracy wśród młodych dorosłych z wykształceniem wyższym w perspektywie temporalnej

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the processes of meaning-making which areconnected to the significance of work/employment as it intersects with thepassage of time. We focus on the narratives of young people (aged 19–34)with a university education at different stages of entering adulthood. Drawingon research linked to education-to-work transitions, we rely on the notionof flexible social time [Adam 1998] to present how individuals subjectivelyconstruct breaks and turning points in their biographies. It is argued that thepassage of time alters the experience and evaluation of events on the labourmarket. Based on empirical material from the project entitled Education-todomesticand- foreign labour market transitions of youth: The role of locality,peer group and new media, we discuss three stages tied to varied meaningsof work, from late adolescence to adulthood. In particular, we give voiceto the interviewees who shared their reflections about: (1) working duringhigh-school, (2) combining university education with employment, and(3) transitioning from education to work, and later career trajectories untiltheir early 30s. The article sheds light on the issue of labour market stabilityas distinctively constructed at subsequent life-stages.

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