Declared and realized student mobility on the contemporary labor market

Abstract

[...] Students currently preparing to enter the labour market and starting their own professional careers face many dilemmas. They must confront life in a globalised world, where “points of reference, which enable individuals to identify their place in society and shape their social identity, that until recently have been largely located within the national state and (being its constituent parts) the local communities, are now dramatically increasing in number and already crossing its borders” (Wnuk-Lipiński, 2005: 35). Effective navigation between these potential biographical reference points can generate many disturbances. In such a rapidly changing world, in which it is extremely difficult to plan long term, yet to formulate such plans seems to be all the more important. Having one’s own professional plans makes it much easier to “make one’s own life meaningful” (Domecka, 2005: 230). Even if the plans need to be modified in a variety of ways, their very existence makes it considerably easier for people to make conscious biographical investments in resources such as time, education and financial capital. Significantly, “out of the many choices that an individual makes in terms of biographical planning, those concerning work (and related decisions on allocation of time and capital, choice of objectives and reference groups) seem to be the most important” (Domecka, 2005) [...].