Agency and Structure Revisited with Youth Responses to Gendered (Spatial) Mobilities in the EU

Şahizer Samuk Carignani; Tabea Schlimbach; Emilia Kmiotek-Meier; Celia Diaz; Laura Diaz Chorne; Volha Vysotskaya; Birte Nienaber; Monica Roman; Laura Muresan; Ioana Manafi; Markus Däubler

doi:10.33182/bc.v10i1.953

Authors

Şahizer Samuk Carignani Research assistant at KHI in Florenz - Max Planck Institute
Tabea Schlimbach Deutsches Jugendinstitut
Emilia Kmiotek-Meier Universität zu Köln
Celia Diaz Ilustre Colegio Nacional de Doctores y Licenciados en Ciencias Politicas y Sociologia
Laura Diaz Chorne Ilustre Colegio Nacional de Doctores y Licenciados en Ciencias Politicas y Sociologia
Volha Vysotskaya University of Luxembourg
Birte Nienaber University of Luxembourg
Monica Roman Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
Laura Muresan Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, ASE, Department of Modern Languages and Business Communication, Bucharest, Romania https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5585-2863
Ioana Manafi Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
Markus Däubler ]init[ AG für digitale Kommunikation Berlin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33182/bc.v10i1.953

Keywords:

youth mobility, gender roles, beliefs, agency, structure, gendered mobility

Abstract

Young people involved in geographical mobility face diverse gendered mobility settings and gender inequalities. How do the youth involved in diverse mobility types deal with adverse circumstances caused by gender beliefs and gender prejudices? To answer this question, problem-centred interviews with young people (18-29) are analysed using Grounded Theory. These young people are European citizens and they are involved in five mobility types: higher education, employment, voluntary work, vocational education & training, and entrepreneurship. We apply Emirbayer and Mische’s (1998) categories (iterational, projective and practical-evaluative) to the analysis of gendered mobility narratives as unequal gender perceptions reveal themselves in the context of different types of youth mobility. The analysis allows to see the ways young people reflect on their actions: refusal of gender beliefs, acceptance or rejection of gendered prejudices, individual vs. collective solutions, demand for equality in numbers, comparison of gendered workplaces and assumption of leadership in initiating mobility. At the same time, we observe how geographical mobilities can increase the critical sensibility of youth towards gender inequalities, contributing to new conceptualisation of agentic responses to structural constraints.

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