YOUNG PEOPLE’S TRANSITIONS: DIMENSIONS, DIFFICULTIES AND DIVERSITY
Multi-Disciplinary Conference – University of Edinburgh, 21 April 2017
A one-day conference for youth researchers, policymakers and practitioners sponsored by the University of Edinburgh School of Social and Political Science and the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (No registration fee will be required.)
Studies of young people making life transitions across the youth period (age 10 to 24) give us a deeper/more nuanced understanding of how different aspects of young people’s lives interpenetrate – in employment, health, family, peer relationships, media, housing, culture, poverty, disadvantage and more. This area of research is nothing if not multidimensional and multidisciplinary, so we seek to compile a high quality conference programme that encompasses diverse viewpoints and explores, illuminates and interrogates the complexity of young people’s lives today.
Our two keynote speakers for the event are Divya Jindal-Snape, Professor of Education, Inclusion and Life Transitions, University of Dundee and Andy Furlong, Professor of Social Inclusion and Education, University of Glasgow.
Conference presentations will be given by PhD or early-career researchers from a variety of disciplines; we are seeking abstracts of 250 words or less for a 20 minute presentation that fits broadly within one of the streams below:
Stream One: Inequality and Its Impacts
How does inequality manifest itself in the multiple transitions of young people, and what are the impacts? This stream will showcase research that deals with the issue of inequality (whether social, economic, physical, mental, spatial, racial, gender and sexuality) and the differing ways it impacts young people as they age.
Stream Two: Who or What is in Control?
How do the structural determinants of society interact with the agency of young people as they make transitions in this life stage? This stream will showcase research that engages with the structural determinants of society (i.e. class, race, gender, education, locality, disability, the state) and young people’s agency, including the extent to which young people feel they have control and choice in making ‘successful’ transitions. Research could also include a focus on the impact of particular institutions that young people interact with during this time, or on the importance of peer groups and the family.
Abstract Guidelines
The conference aims to showcase PhD or early-career research that is inprogress/unpublished. Those invited/attending will include policy and practice communities that engage with young people, as well as established academic researchers, so there is specific interest in issues or gaps in the project that would benefit from a discussion format.
Within the abstract, please make sure to include a specific question or feedback area that you will pose to the audience, discussion of which has the potential to benefit the project moving forward. For abstracts selected for the programme, presenters will also be asked to prepare a one page briefing paper detailing the content and key question their presentation raises to aid discussion. These will be compiled before the event as a conference compendium and will be hosted online for all delegates and those unable to attend this event. The conference presentation will last 20 minutes with a panel discussion with one or two other presenters, which will be led by a senior academic discussant.
Abstract length: 250 words
Deadline: Friday, 13 February 2017
Presenters will be informed of selection by the end of February 2017
Please send your presentation title and abstract to Sarah Weakley – sarah.weakley@ed.ac.uk with the subject line ‘Young People’s Transitions Conference Abstract Submission’ and mention in what stream you would like your abstract to be considered.
For more information about this Conference, go to the website
This Conference is free to delegates and presenters, made possible by funding from the University of Edinburgh School of Social and Political Science.
Categories: PhD Studies, Youth Studies
Exploring Youth Issues 
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