Non-linear Paths in Transitions through the Labour Market

The Emp&Co research undertook to contribute to studying the factors that promote university students’ transition to work. A part of the research activity has been devoted to a longitudinal study of the ways in which graduates in Continuing Education and Adult Learning Sciences manage their own professionalization strategies in the first two years after the end of their university studies. The choice of this segment of the population aimed to collect new facts on the numerous ways in which the processes of professionalization and transition to the labour market operate in different academic sectors. The interpretation of the set of professional growth paths for graduates in Continuing Education and Adult Learning Sciences shows the presence of three driving forces that guide individual activities: 1. Collection of information on the potential labour market and on how to establish a coherent professional profile 2. The gaining of professional certification (with the function of signalling) and the enrichment and visibility of professional potential 3. Gradual building of independence in life and work