Resourcing Their Own Aspirations: First-In-Family Young People and DIY Career Counselling

ABSTRACT

The relationship between career counselling and widening participation is increasingly capturing the attention of educational researchers, especially those interested in its social justice implications. International research on first-in-family students demonstrates the continual class-based barriers they are faced with which influence their progression into and through higher education. Career counselling has an important role to play in both supporting first-in-family students to not only enter university but also set them on a career trajectory which allows them to fulfil their aspirations. However, access to effective forms of career counselling remains fragmented and highly dependent on social class. This article explores how first-in-family students engage in what we call ‘DIY career counselling,’ where they draw on their informal networks and the internet to enhance their understanding of their future prospects and possible trajectories. Their efforts suggest a strong desire to learn more about what university can offer them and how they can position themselves advantageously in the job market; furthermore, their efforts also suggest a consumerist awareness that the career counselling on offer in their secondary schools was lacking.

Keywords:

• career counselling, post-secondary, aspirations, DIY career counselling

5. Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

6. Ethics Approval

Approved by the University of South Australia’s Human Research Ethics Committee (201568).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is the qualification awarded to students who successfully complete their secondary school education.

2 The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate-entry university programs in Australia.

3 The SATAC (South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre) Guide provides information about secondary school subject choices, prerequisites and ATARs related to gaining entry into tertiary degrees.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Federal Government. Funded by the Australian Research Council (DE170100510).