Abstract
The experiences of emerging and young adults, parents, and employers—the major stakeholders—are captured in the preceding chapters. They represent a nuanced and complex narrative of coming of age in the United States. In this summative chapter, distinct themes that emerged from the major stakeholders are discussed: the pursuit of passion, exercise of choice, and lack of structural supports. While emerging adults are depicted as coddled, self-involved, and gratification-seeking by many critics, a richer story of the lack of forethought and planning by earlier generations describes a faulty framework needing to be rebuilt. Emerging and young adults recognize the need for career and relationship maneuverability and recast their employment and personal narratives as a quest for meaning and optimization of fit, although this process is mediated by economic resources. Identity capital serves them well in their journey toward independence and identity consolidation. Anxiety, self-doubt, depression, and drift can result from underused talents and disappointing employment options and relationships that are fleeting and unstable. The individual and combined voices of emerging and young adults highlight their genuine, hopeful, and struggling experiences.
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Konstam, V. (2015). Running on Empty, Running on Full. In: Emerging and Young Adulthood. Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11301-2_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11301-2_11
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