Perceptions of teachers and young people about the professional future of current generations

Abstract

In a time of global change, when people are worried about the future, how should today's generations prepare themselves to have a job? The purpose of this paper is to present teachers' and young people's perceptions of the current generations' prospects for entering the world of work and having a job that guarantees a promising personal future, and the role of education in this scenario. It is part of the results of two doctoral theses in which data was collected through interviews with young people from different social contexts and teachers working in high schools in the State of Santa Catarina. The 'world of work' emerged as an emerging category in both studies, as it appears to be one of the major concerns of young people today. The results show that young people want to work, that a large majority prioritize work over their studies and, at the same time, that they are worried about having a job that will offer them a better future, since with the advent of computers, robotics and artificial intelligence, the number of unemployed or underemployed people may increase.