Agency, Aspirations and Decision-Making of Marginalised Young People in Social Enterprises

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Kearney, Judith
Other Supervisors
Middleton, Howard
Bartlett, Brendan
Year published
2015
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This thesis examines the contribution that changes in young people’s agency, aspirations and decision-making during participation in social enterprises make in improving engagement and outcomes in employment, education and training. The focus is contextualised within the growing number of young people who are marginalised by not engaging in employment, education and training in Australia and the majority of countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2012). Consequences of young people’s marginalisation are experienced at the personal, community and Government levels and include long-term ...
View more >This thesis examines the contribution that changes in young people’s agency, aspirations and decision-making during participation in social enterprises make in improving engagement and outcomes in employment, education and training. The focus is contextualised within the growing number of young people who are marginalised by not engaging in employment, education and training in Australia and the majority of countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2012). Consequences of young people’s marginalisation are experienced at the personal, community and Government levels and include long-term marginalisation and heavy social and financial costs. The focus of this study is social enterprises that operate as intermediate labour market interventions with a social purpose. These enterprises address the vocational and non-vocational barriers of marginalised groups in an effort to assist them to obtain employment, education and training outcomes. While the literature on social enterprises is increasing, a gap persists regarding the possible changes in cognitive-motivational variables such as agency, aspirations and decision-making processes and their roles in promoting positive outcomes. In particular, the lack of research and theorisation addressing the predictive potential of change in such cognitive-motivational variables as young people participate in social enterprises has restricted evidence-based service delivery to capitalise on any such relation.
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View more >This thesis examines the contribution that changes in young people’s agency, aspirations and decision-making during participation in social enterprises make in improving engagement and outcomes in employment, education and training. The focus is contextualised within the growing number of young people who are marginalised by not engaging in employment, education and training in Australia and the majority of countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2012). Consequences of young people’s marginalisation are experienced at the personal, community and Government levels and include long-term marginalisation and heavy social and financial costs. The focus of this study is social enterprises that operate as intermediate labour market interventions with a social purpose. These enterprises address the vocational and non-vocational barriers of marginalised groups in an effort to assist them to obtain employment, education and training outcomes. While the literature on social enterprises is increasing, a gap persists regarding the possible changes in cognitive-motivational variables such as agency, aspirations and decision-making processes and their roles in promoting positive outcomes. In particular, the lack of research and theorisation addressing the predictive potential of change in such cognitive-motivational variables as young people participate in social enterprises has restricted evidence-based service delivery to capitalise on any such relation.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
School of Education and Professional Studies
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
Social enterprises
Aspirations, Young people
Marginalisation, Young people
Decision-making, Young people