Adolescents’ perceptions of future planning in Italy, France and Greece: dimensions of time and disadvantage

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of time and more specifically future planning among vocational education students in Italy, France and Greece. Research results revealed a very similar phenomenon in all three population groups, including: a) there were significant and very similar cumulative percentages of students who did not value future planning in their everyday strategies, and b) a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that gender, specialisation and type of area/class were not statistically significant for this sample. The paper concludes that the students’ problematic relation with future planning exposes them to a situation of vulnerability, inequality and disadvantage. Furthermore, the conclusion highlights the implications of the finding for policy makers and educational professionals.