Becoming an Adult
At what age does a person become an adult? Here are some possible answers:
- 16: age at which you may be eligible to obtain a driver’s license
- 18: age at which you can vote
- 21: age at which you can legally drink alcohol
- 22: approximate age at which you graduate from college
- Whatever age at which you become financially independent
In non-industrialized countries and in many different cultures, adolescents become adults through a ritual in which the young person performs some feat or exhibits a specific behavior. In industrialized cultures, this process is not as clear.
Think back to the period of your life when you were becoming an adult. At what age did you feel that you truly were an adult? What educational, work, or social experiences promoted the sense of full adulthood?
The transition to adulthood in the United States today is difficult and can last for many years. Young adults have many choices in lifestyle, career, and education. The process can be confusing. Young adults often find themselves on a wrong path. For example, college students in the United States change majors an average of three times before graduation. American adults are expected to change careers at least three times in early adulthood.
Cultural norms play a role in developing a path for the transitional process for young adults. For example, in the United States, if a person has decided to attend college, the expectation is that he or she will begin college shortly after high school graduation. But in many European countries, adolescents are encouraged to travel or work before entering college. Normative pressures also change with generations. What is acceptable today might have been unacceptable 30 years ago.
Socioeconomic circumstances play an important role in any cultural and historical context. In the 1930s in the United States, many adolescents could not go to high school because they were needed to farm or work in order to support their families of origin. The need for dependence on family is related to opportunities for economic independence, as well as the time and cost of education. Likewise, the need for independence is strong in many families and cultures. Community norms and community economic circumstances also contribute to dependence and independence.
This week, you have examined the economic and career opportunities of several cultures. Now you are going to contrast educational and career opportunities for young adults as they relate to two cultural and historical contexts.
To prepare for this Discussion:
• Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Experiencing the Lifespan.
• Review the article “Perceptions of the Transition to Adulthood Among Chinese and American Emerging Adults,” in the Learning Resources.
• Choose two contexts, one cultural and one historical.
• Think about what it means to be an adult in each of these two contexts.
• Contrast the educational and career opportunities in each of these two contexts.
• Think about the socioeconomic status related to the time or culture you selected.
• Consider the concepts of on-time/off-time and the social clock within each context.
• Consider the need for dependence/independence for each context.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 a brief description of the cultural or historical context you selected, including the socioeconomic state related to the cultural or historical context. Then describe the expectation of what adult attainment means in each context. Contrast the educational and career opportunities between the two contexts. Finally, contrast the potential attainment of adult status, considering at least one of the following concepts: social clock, on-time/off-time, or independence/dependence.
Note: Put the cultural or historical context you selected in the first line of your post. You will be asked to respond to a colleague who selected a different cultural or historical context than you did.
