During adolescence, particularly late adolescence, individuals often begin thinking about future goals and making plans. Adults, mentors, and caregivers can be sources of guidance and support for adolescents as they complete high school and begin to transition into adulthood. Whether they choose to take a gap year, pursue vocational training or college, join the military or a service organization, or start a new job, there are big changes ahead for these increasingly independent young people.

School

Adolescents spend more waking time in school than in any other context (Eccles & Roeser, 2011). During this period, students typically attend middle school and then high school, though this will vary greatly by demographics. For example, a small rural community may have one K-12 school instead of separate elementary, middle, and high schools.

For those students who will transition from elementary school to middle school, the transition can be stressful. During this transition, many students are undergoing physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and moral changes (Parker, 2013). Research suggests that early adolescence is an especially sensitive developmental period (McGill et al., 2012). Some students mature faster than others. Students who are developmentally behind typically experience more stress than their counterparts (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). Consequently, they may earn lower grades and display decreased academic motivation, which may increase the likelihood that they will drop out of school (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). For many middle school students, academic achievement slows down and behavioral problems can increase.

As adolescents enter high school, their continued cognitive development allows them to think abstractly, analytically, hypothetically, and logically, which is all formal operational thought. High school emphasizes formal thinking in an attempt to prepare graduates for college, where analysis is required. Overall, high school graduation rates in the United States have increased steadily over the past decade, reaching 83.2 percent in 2016 (Gewertz, 2017). Additionally, many students in the United States do attend college. Unfortunately, about half of those who go to college leave without a degree (Kena et al., 2016). Those that do earn a degree make more money and have an easier time finding employment. The key here is understanding adolescent development and supporting teens in making decisions about college or alternatives to college after high school.

On average, high school teens spend approximately 7 hours each weekday and 1.1 hours each day on the weekend on educational activities. This includes attending classes, participating in extracurricular activities (excluding sports), and doing homework (Office of Adolescent Health, 2018). All high school students, regardless of gender, spend about the same amount of time in class, doing homework, eating and drinking, and working.

Academic achievement during adolescence is predicted by interpersonal (e.g., parental engagement in adolescents’ education), intrapersonal (e.g., intrinsic motivation), and institutional (e.g., school quality) factors. Academic achievement is important in its own right as a marker of positive adjustment during adolescence. However, it is also important because academic achievement sets the stage for future educational and occupational opportunities. The most serious consequence of dropping out of school is the high risk of unemployment or underemployment in adulthood that follows. High achievement can set the stage for college, vocational school (with a focus on a particular type of skill or training), or other opportunities.

Finishing High School

The status dropout rate refers to the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and do not have high school credentials (either a diploma or an equivalency credential, such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate). The dropout rate is based on sample surveys of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons in prisons, persons in the military, and other persons not living in households. The dropout rate among high school students has declined from a rate of 12% in 1990 to 5.1% in 2019 (U.S. Department of Education, 2021). The status dropout rate declined between 2010 and 2019 for 16- to 24-year-olds who were Hispanic (7.7%), American Indian/Alaska Native (9.6%), Black (5.6%), White (4.1%), Asian (1.8%), and of two or more races (5.1%), but there was no measurable difference between the status dropout rate in 2010 and 2019 for those who were Pacific Islander. In 2019, the status dropout rate was higher for male 16- to 24-year-olds than for female 16- to 24-year-olds overall (6% versus 4.2%). Status dropout rates were higher for males than for females among those who were Hispanic (9.3% versus 6%), Black (6.8% versus 4.3%), of two or more races (6.2% versus 4.1%), and White (4.7% versus 3.5%). However, there were no measurable differences in status dropout rates between males and females for those who were Asian, Pacific Islander, or American Indian/Alaska Native.

Garcia et al. (2018) reviewed the research on why students dropped out of school and identified several major obstacles to school completion. These included adolescents who resided in foster care or were part of the juvenile justice system. In fact, being confined in a juvenile detention facility practically guaranteed that a student would not complete school. Having a physical or mental health condition, or the need for special educational services, also adversely affected school completion. Being mistreated due to abuse or neglect and/or being homeless also contributed to dropping out of school. Additionally, adolescent-specific factors, including race, ethnicity, and age, as well as family-specific characteristics, such as poverty, single parenting, large family size, and stressful transitions, all contributed to an increased likelihood of dropping out of school. Lastly, community factors, such as unsafe neighborhoods, gang activity, and a lack of social services increased the number of school dropouts.

Gap Year

Age transition points require socialization into new roles that can vary widely between societies. For example, in the United Kingdom, when teens finish their secondary schooling (i.e., high school in the United States), they often take a year off from schooling before entering college. They might take a job, travel, or find other ways to experience another culture. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, spent his gap year practicing survival skills in Belize, teaching English in Chile, and working on a dairy farm in the United Kingdom (Prince of Wales 2012a). His brother, Prince Harry, advocated for AIDS orphans in Africa and worked as a jackeroo (a novice ranch hand) in Australia (Prince of Wales 2012b).

In the United States, this life transition point is socialized quite differently, and taking a year off is generally frowned upon. Instead, U.S. youth are encouraged to pick career paths by their mid-teens, to select a college and a major by their late teens, and to have completed all collegiate schooling or technical training for their career by their early twenties.

In other nations, this phase of the life course is tied to conscription, a term that describes compulsory military service. Egypt, Switzerland, Turkey, and Singapore all have this system in place. Youth in these nations (often only the males) are expected to undergo a number of months or years of military training and service.

Employment

Many adolescents work either summer jobs, or during the school year, or may work in lieu of college. Holding a job may offer teenagers extra funds, provide the opportunity to learn new skills, foster ideas about future careers, and perhaps shed light on the true value of money. However, there are numerous concerns about teenagers working, especially during the school year. Several studies have found that working more than 20 hours per week can lead to declines in grades, a general disengagement from school, an increase in substance abuse, engaging in earlier sexual behavior, and pregnancy (Longest & Shanahan, 2007; Staff et al., 2010; Lee & Staff, 2007; Marsh & Kleitman, 2005; Staff et al., 2011). Like many employee groups, teens have seen a drop in the number of jobs. The summer jobs of previous generations have been on a steady decline, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016).

A major concern in the United States is the rising number of young people who choose to work rather than continue their education and are growing up or continuing to grow up in poverty. Growing up poor or entering the workforce too soon can cut off access to the education and services people need to move out of poverty and into stable employment. Research states that education was often a key to stability, and those raised in poverty are the ones least able to find well-paying work, perpetuating a cycle (Silva-Laya et al., 2020). Those who work only part-time, may it be teens or whomever, are more likely to be classified as working poor than are those with full-time employment; higher levels of education lead to less likelihood of being among the working poor. In 2017, the working poor included 6.9 million Americans, down from 7.6 million in 2011 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019).

Licenses and Attributions for Academics and Beyond

“Academics and Beyond” is remixed and adapted from Psychology Through the Lifespan by Alisa Beyer and Julie Lazzara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

14.5: Adolescence (A Time of Transitions) is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson (College of the Canyons).

6.6: Cognitive Development in Adolescence is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Martha Lally & Suzanne Valentine-French.

Figure 13.8. Image by USAG-Humphreys on Flickr is licensed CC BY 2.0.