Ideology, the Professional World and Notions of Success and Failure Among Young Students

Abstract

The research aimed to analyze concepts of professional success and failure among young students aged 18 to 25, reflecting how they articulate their learning and work trajectories, future worldviews and the intersection of gender, ethnicity and social class. In a critical dialogue between the authors of Social Psychology and Education, we seek to theoretically reflect on the concepts of professional success and failure in the neoliberal context of the world of work and education and training, and how they contribute to the individuality of social phenomena, the strengthening of liberal meritocracy. With this, we question the psychologist’s contributions to success and failure in the neoliberal world. To analyze the information collected in the semi-structured interviews, the constructive interpretation provided method was chosen. In view of the information provided by the interviewees, the results indicate difficulties in the understanding of the participants regarding the neoliberal socio-historical background as an intermediary for the construction of a life project for the future, a tendency to understand that only through their own efforts is it possible to achieve success, and the exit from the failure condition. But if, on the one hand, some participants claim that successes depend on individual effort, on the other hand, gender and race issues arise as obstacles to equal opportunities in the world of work.