Disadvantaged older jobseekers and the concept of bounded agency

Abstract

This article uses the concept of bounded agency to interpret the findings of a study that explored the training and job-seeking activities of a group of older adults. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used to obtain personal and nuanced accounts of their experiences. A series of semi-structured interviews was conducted with eight adults aged 55 and older, who were low-skilled and unemployed. The findings identified that a range of interrelated barriers constrained their agency in those activities in two key areas. First, there was a disparity between their learning needs and preferences, and the delivery modes in their training programmes. Second, legacies from their personal histories contributed significantly to constraints in their current activities. The bounded agency concept explicated this range of barriers, as it incorporated institutional, societal and personal factors within the agency of individuals. A model of bounded agency was developed, that showed legacies from an individual’s personal history can lie at the base of their disadvantaged state, and that provisions in their training programmes can address those legacies. The article concludes by suggesting that this model could form the basis of further research with other jobseekers from disadvantaged backgrounds.