This study investigates how young adults in vocational education perceive risk in regard to their professional futures in East Germany and the United States. It analyzes students’ career aspirations and life plans in both countries and how they cope with uncertainties at the labor market. It further outlines underlying values, beliefs, and attitudes that guide young Americans and East Germans in their planning. Several theoretical frameworks ground this study and comprise the majority of the relevant literature. This cross-cultural comparative case study takes a mixed method approach using a concurrent triangulation design. The inquiry is framed by theories in the field of risk and cultural risk perception, school-to-work transition, vocational education and training, and welfare studies. In both countries, 129 students filled out a questionnaire. Additionally, narratives from nine focus groups and 29 biographical interviews were conducted. A three level analysis of the data was compiled that outlines the themes and categorizes them according to an individual, institutional, and macro-structural level of influence on risk perception in each country. Emerging premises on an individual level were choice, family and career planning concerns, geographical and occupational flexibility, further education and training, and agency. On the institutional level the influence of public career advisement institutions, teachers, parents, peers and friends was outlined. On the macro-structural level unemployment, political welfare reforms, the vocational education and training system were themes that have been of concern among the East German population. The dissertation also offers a comparative analysis of the data. This study reveals that young adults in East Germany are highly concerned about their occupational futures and tend to be pessimistic about current welfare reforms. They hold on to the idea of a standard biography and try to make strategic career plans. Their counterparts in the United States are highly optimistic about their futures, expressed little concern about labor market policies, but also appeared to be short term oriented in their life planning in order to remain flexible and mobile.

O presente projeto apresenta uma investigação sobre as experiências escolares do jovem e os seus projetos vitais, desenvolvida na Linha de Pesquisa Psicologia e Educação da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo, como requisito à obtenção do título de doutor. Investiga o que se passa no contexto escolar, analisando o papel da afetividade nas inter-relações entre o aluno, conhecimento e a influência no estabelecimento do projeto vital do jovem adolescente. Procura investigar como as situações de sala de aula, ou no interior da escola, podem influenciar o estabelecimento do projeto vital do adolescente. Pretende defender que, nas experiências escolares, a afetividade está presente nas relações interpessoais, com as experiências que ocorrem, no espaço escolar, e interfere na elaboração do projeto vital do adolescente; o estado emocional afeta as relações entre o professor e o aluno, podendo dificultar ou facilitar o relacionamento do adolescente com a área de interesse futuro exercendo influência no estabelecimento do projeto vital do adolescente. Para tanto, adota os pressupostos da teoria dos Modelos Organizadores do Pensamento para análise dos dados coletados. Destaca, como instrumento, a entrevista gravada e transcrita. A partir das informações coletadas, faz uma análise das mesmas e traça as categorias e os modelos organizadores do pensamento, apresentando os resultados obtidos e os novos questionamentos advindos dos mesmos resultados. / The current work presents an investigation on the school experiences of young people and their life plans, following the Psychological and Educational Research Field of the Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo, as a requisite to the doctorate degree graduation. It investigates what is happening in the school context, analyzing the affectionateness function in the interrelationship between student, knowledge and the influence by determining the teenagers life plans. It tries also to understand how the classroom relationship, or that inside the school environment, is able to affect the planning of the young peoples life project. Yet, it is intended to sustain the idea, on the school experiences, of the existence of affectionateness in the interpersonal relation, taking as an example those experiences occurred in the school environment, that interferes on the teenager life planning; the persons emotional state affects the relationship between teacher and student, and might difficult or ease the teenager involvement with a specific knowledge field in the future, and influence the young persons life planning. Setting that as our aim, we adopt the presupposition of the Organizational Models of the Thought to analyze the collected data. Our main goal is a recorded and transcribed interview. From that database, we can analyze and estipulate the study categories and the organizational models of the thought, presenting the results we obtained and those questions generated from them.

O presente projeto apresenta uma investigação sobre as experiências escolares do jovem e os seus projetos vitais, desenvolvida na Linha de Pesquisa Psicologia e Educação da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo, como requisito à obtenção do título de doutor. Investiga o que se passa no contexto escolar, analisando o papel da afetividade nas inter-relações entre o aluno, conhecimento e a influência no estabelecimento do projeto vital do jovem adolescente. Procura investigar como as situações de sala de aula, ou no interior da escola, podem influenciar o estabelecimento do projeto vital do adolescente. Pretende defender que, nas experiências escolares, a afetividade está presente nas relações interpessoais, com as experiências que ocorrem, no espaço escolar, e interfere na elaboração do projeto vital do adolescente; o estado emocional afeta as relações entre o professor e o aluno, podendo dificultar ou facilitar o relacionamento do adolescente com a área de interesse futuro exercendo influência no estabelecimento do projeto vital do adolescente. Para tanto, adota os pressupostos da teoria dos Modelos Organizadores do Pensamento para análise dos dados coletados. Destaca, como instrumento, a entrevista gravada e transcrita. A partir das informações coletadas, faz uma análise das mesmas e traça as categorias e os modelos organizadores do pensamento, apresentando os resultados obtidos e os novos questionamentos advindos dos mesmos resultados. / The current work presents an investigation on the school experiences of young people and their life plans, following the Psychological and Educational Research Field of the Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo, as a requisite to the doctorate degree graduation. It investigates what is happening in the school context, analyzing the affectionateness function in the interrelationship between student, knowledge and the influence by determining the teenagers life plans. It tries also to understand how the classroom relationship, or that inside the school environment, is able to affect the planning of the young peoples life project. Yet, it is intended to sustain the idea, on the school experiences, of the existence of affectionateness in the interpersonal relation, taking as an example those experiences occurred in the school environment, that interferes on the teenager life planning; the persons emotional state affects the relationship between teacher and student, and might difficult or ease the teenager involvement with a specific knowledge field in the future, and influence the young persons life planning. Setting that as our aim, we adopt the presupposition of the Organizational Models of the Thought to analyze the collected data. Our main goal is a recorded and transcribed interview. From that database, we can analyze and estipulate the study categories and the organizational models of the thought, presenting the results we obtained and those questions generated from them.