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Based on ethnographic fieldwork, we explore the rural-urban migration of 27 girls and young women who leave their rural communities and move to the city to pursue their secondary education, in the ethnically diverse Southern Region of Ethiopia. We consider the nature and extent of the inequalities that they face in rural areas which limit their education opportunities and outcomes and underpin their expected entry into marriage. We compare their experiences in their rural communities with their lives in the city, where they have greater access to resources and greater freedom and decision-making power and the opportunity to continue their secondary education, although their futures are still uncertain. Through our analysis we reveal some of the tensions between the promise of girls' secondary education promoted at the international and national level and the lived realities of rural girls and women, many of whom are unable to realise this promise.

Summary: It is widely recognised that young people in out-of-home care are often involved in a complex process of culminating disadvantage and exclusion. Investing in the core ingredients of social inclusion (participation and interpersonal relationships) while still in care can counterbalance ongoing exclusion processes. In this article, we explore how early work experiences (before the age of 18) can play a role in this. Findings: A thematic analysis was performed on interview data from 74 young adults in six countries. Several elements promote community participation (gaining financial autonomy, gaining a feeling of independence, and being able to contribute as a worker) and help to develop a sense of belonging (striving for normality and building long-lasting social connections). Early work experiences also contribute to personal growth (building capabilities and shaping the future). Applications: This article highlights how early work experiences have the potential to promote social inclusion for out-of-home care-experienced young people and serve as gateway experiences for both educational and work trajectories. Entry into the world of work should not be postponed until the age of 18. Caregivers can play a role in motivating young people to work while still being in care and helping them to find a job. The experiences gained during these early work experiences can also have a place in the care process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing numbers of rural girls and young women in Ethiopia are migrating to urban towns and cities and taking up employment as domestic workers, some of whom continue their education by attending evening classes. For urban households, rural migrants help to fill the domestic work gaps created by the entry of urban women into employment. For rural young women, migrating as a domestic worker is an important strategy for achieving social mobility and empowerment. However, domestic workers are vulnerable and largely hidden in the city and we know little about their lived experiences. In this paper, we start to address this gap, drawing on interviews with eight rural female migrants who are working as domestic workers in the city and attending evening classes in urban secondary schools. Informed by a critical framing of empowerment, we explore the extent to which intersecting inequalities in rural areas disempower these young women, and how migration and education become important strategies for improving their lives. We show how the support of social network members is crucial in enabling participants' migration, yet how this also leads to power asymmetries and exploitation. We reflect on how the ability of rural young women to achieve better futures is limited due to their status as poor, rural, female migrants, yet how many wait in the city in the hope of a better future. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of critical approaches to female empowerment that includes a focus on structural inequalities and power imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws attention to the relevance of young care leavers' exercise of agency as one possible key ingredient in overcoming barriers to engagement in work. Several previous studies show difficulties in entering adult life, both in relation to higher and further education as well as entrance into work life. The article analyses interviews with young adults from six countries, who have spent at least part of their childhood and youth in out‐of‐home care and the results indicate that the care leavers have the ability to make plans and set up goals for the future that they in many cases are able to achieve or at least are striving for over time. In many instances, they show a strong motivation, for example, to educate themselves pursuing their goals. To support this transition of young care leavers, it is important to listen to 'successful' cases such as the ones presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult care leavers who have spent time in 'out-of-home care' during childhood face many educational challenges. While some care leavers may manage to adhere to 'normal' timelines within their educational progression, others may experience delays in their educational journey or a longer-term 'resignation' from education during their care/post-care journey. In this paper, we offer a fuller understanding of what drives underachievement in this population, as well as what helps care leavers to re-engage with education. Using a case study approach, we explore the potential of the life course principle 'linked lives' for better understanding barriers to re-engagement and the processes through which key actors may promote the (re)development of learner identity, and educational re-engagement among adult care leavers, over time. We draw on analysis of data from two studies of positive educational outcomes for adult care leavers - one in education, one in the workplace. Using a linked lives lens, this theoretically-informed paper presents the concepts of support, learner identity, and educational memories as candidates for deepening our understanding of educational re-engagement of care leavers – and comparable populations facing educational challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on ethnographic fieldwork, we explore the rural-urban migration of 27 girls and young women who leave their rural communities and move to the city to pursue their secondary education, in the ethnically diverse Southern Region of Ethiopia. We consider the nature and extent of the inequalities that they face in rural areas which limit their education opportunities and outcomes and underpin their expected entry into marriage. We compare their experiences in their rural communities with their lives in the city, where they have greater access to resources and greater freedom and decision-making power and the opportunity to continue their secondary education, although their futures are still uncertain. Through our analysis we reveal some of the tensions between the promise of girls' secondary education promoted at the international and national level and the lived realities of rural girls and women, many of whom are unable to realise this promise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the disability related identity experiences of young people with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Using a narrative inquiry methodology, 25 young people between 18 and 29 years participated in in-depth interviews. Their narratives highlighted growing perceptions of difference and how the negative actions and attitudes of a few people in their past continued to shadow their current lives. Influenced by perceived negative attitudes of others to disability and their own internalisation of these, the young people conceptualise a binary of normalcy and difference, finding themselves liminally positioned, somewhere in between, and mostly seeking to avoid a disability association. In new social situations, the young people reported engaging in disability identity management work, while often resisting having disability as part of their identity. These can be conceptualised as acts of resilience and of resistance in the face of oppressive social forces. There is a powerful counter narrative in a sub group of the participants who were actively engaged with peers with experience of disability. For these young people, the inclusion of disability within social identities became possible. The findings of this study have implications for our understandings of managing identities in young lives, particularly for those in marginal positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the lenses of agency and precarity, this article examines how young migrants and refugees negotiate legal and social marginalisation growing up along the Thailand-Myanmar border. It explores the pervasive insecurity, vulnerability and uncertainty characterising the young people's worlds, and the ways they strive to manage their circumstances and protect themselves from despair. The study on which the article is based involved 44 semi-structured qualitative interviews with 35 young men and women who were either born in Thailand to migrant or refugee parents, or had arrived from Myanmar, with their families or alone, before the age of 12. A social constructionist epistemology and qualitative case study methodology underpinned the research, chosen to facilitate a bottom-up, person-centred approach, and prioritise the young people's perspectives within their cultural contexts. The findings capture the everyday precarity of the young people, living as 'illegal aliens' under Thai law. Arrest, detention, abuse, labour exploitation, and restricted access to state services, including accredited education and affordable healthcare, are daily challenges. However, the young people are far from passive victims of their circumstances, and resist reduction to those terms. As agentic social actors, they are both cognisant of their constraints and actively – relentlessly – engaged in managing them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research examining the low educational attainment of children in care and care leavers tends to underuse social theory (Berridge, 2007). To contribute to addressing this gap, we use life course theory to explore the role of agency in shaping the educational pathways of 18 Irish adults (aged 24–36 years) with care experience. Findings suggest that agency is a valuable conceptual tool for examining the nuance and complexity of how individual actions shape the education of care‐experienced adults throughout the life course and interact with contextual and structural factors over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a pilot study on the sensitive issue of how children and young people experience family contact in foster care, and the views of key adults in their lives on the same issue. There is a special focus on the children's experiences, opinions, and feelings. The study is a response to the relative scarcity of literature on family contact based on the experiences of children and adults in caring roles. This is a qualitative and exploratory study, with a sample of 10 children and young people in care in the district of Porto, aiming to identify key issues and areas for further examination. The results allow us to conclude that the possibility of maintaining contact is positively evaluated. However, perspectives on the relationships involved, and on the reactions to and difficulties associated with visits, revealed considerable disagreement among the actors. A possible set of implications drawn from the findings pointed out to the importance of developing a monitored cooperation that improves communication processes in order to take into account the children's and young people's views in the decision‐making process; and to develop more attentive and open working relationships with parents throughout the foster care placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]