Active and passive logics in scrutiny

The expressions implying passivity entail clienthood constructed around passive welfare client whose activation is framed to concern only certain aspects such as active self-improvement as a future worker, while adjustment is encouraged in other aspects related to institutional processes. The expressions of activation were focused on action directed to the self in relation to the labor markets while passivity was outlined mainly in terms of the welfare clienthood as placements between measures. Active self is promoted in the frames that the policies have pre-constructed to be filled. The discourses on activation of the self are moving inside such frames describing the self as actively searching for work and being motivated. The non-active self, the one adapting to institutional frames and decisions becomes apparent outside these pre-constituted frames, in spaces where activation is no longer supposed to take place. The passive self is a construct making the dominant discourses apparent underlying the lack of power experienced by the participants.

Therefore, the simultaneous existence of the passivity and activity discourses poses a paradox in the activation measures where the subject is supposed to be self-activated while expected to passively accept situations without questioning the base of these measures or sanctioning procedures. These discourses, thereby, present simultaneously an active and activated individual, the former proposing rhetoric of active adaptation and flexibility in some issues and the latter an externally motivated, dependent individual in others (Crespo Suarez and Serrano Pascual 2004). ALMPs on the one hand promote self-regulated autonomy but on the other hand, passivity is encouraged by external means such as sanctions (Serrano Pascual 2003). From the perspective of welfare services, the simultaneous promotion of active and adapting welfare client is advantageous because it enables their control and ensures adaptation to the system.

The discourses on welfare subjectivity imply a rather weak perception among the participants over their capabilities to take action in the program. This capacity has been named as 'self-efficacy', referred to earlier in the dissertation.

This notion has been conceptualized by Bandura et al. (1996) as a 'capability to exercise control over the level of functioning and environmental demands' (p.

1206). The amount of control the people believe they have will influence their incentives to act, which makes the notion rather crucial from the perspective of agency. If a person does not believe that her efforts will make a difference, the incentive to take an action and her persistence in the face of difficulties are low.

In the case of adolescents, the concept is crucial as efficacy beliefs influence their professional aspirations and choices as well as their vocational interests (e.g. Lent et al. 1994).

8.2 'Cooling out' as adaptation

The idea of adaptability of the young people is further established in the legislation and practices of the program that aim at adjusting the aspirations of the individuals to external demands. By Erwin Goffman (1962), this is called 'cooling out' of professional wishes to the point where they can realistically be met with regard to the labor market situation. As mentioned earlier, at the federal level, cooling out is highlighted in the demands directed to the insured to fill the labor market needs by personal adaptation of aspirations. By this logic, labor market measures are designed to provide professional qualifications for the insured that comply with the needs of the employers. At the program level, as implied by the provision agreement, the individual portfolio aims to establish an evaluation of the match between the individual plans and the reality of the labor market.

At the level of actual practices, cooling out appeared as the need to formulate a

‘plan B’ as a response to the excessive demand of qualifications in the aspired profession. Some of the interviewees had already gone through processes of cooling out and were in search of a job that better corresponded to the situation in the labor market. Apart from few cases insisting in following their own path, the participants expressed their need to adjust to the labor market and to follow the realistic options for employment. For example, a response given by a participant wishing to be a designer to a question about her plan B:

'Well, logistics manager, it's a bit more…because like usually a designer or like that you should in any case have quite a high level of education…so…I know that as a logistic manager I would already have more chances of finding something' (Emilie F16)

The reflection on their chances taking into consideration the educational credentials implies that the young people are skillful in future-oriented calculations of their possibilities and in adapting their actions accordingly. The lack of educational credentials and the following mismatch to the labor market needs was by far the most important reason for the need to cool out. Other factors were less related to the labor market and more to the wishes of the parents, to physical and biological factors, personality or earlier problematic behavior. However, more frequently, persistent expressions of pursuing individual dreams as too complicated or hard were expressed (Maria F16):

M⁴⁵: Well, I wanted…my dream was to become a pediatrician (.) yeah but it's hard to arrive there, really really hard

I: Why do you think it's hard?

M: Well, I would have needed to go to the gymnasium (.) of…I don't know which gymnasium so that…that's…it's hard later on if I have to study, and then do a specialization (.) I mean I've made inquiries (.)

45 M = Maria, I = Interviewer

but it's complicated already I (.) my school level I don't think I would get there

The difficulty of pursuing a dream job here is reflected upon the poor school level and the resulting need to do a lot of studies to overcome such a shortage.

The likelihood of achieving such an educational level was considered rather slim. The low educational achievements at the elementary school seem to impede the realization of professional aspirations at a young age. The gap between the dreams of the young people and the labor market 'needs' has also been largely recognized by the professionals:

'There's often a huge gap between the dreams that some young people can have and the real possibilities that they have (.) depending on what they have done at school (.) and we're telling them all the time "you have the choice", euh there are those who don't have much choice, huh?' (Philippe - professional)

The opportunities available for young people whose professional aspirations considerably differ from the labor market reality are seen as rather slim even if they are told otherwise. As a consequence, to minimize this gap the cooling out – processes are reduced to cooling down the professional wishes, which mainly takes place when the aspirations too high with regard to the labor market are adjusted within the same professional field. Such processes, as identified by the interviews, were more common as the professionals expressed their will to create as close a match as possible between the aspirations and realistic employment options. These processes imply a special mission of the professionals to cool the professional wishes downwards while still corresponding to the original professional field of interest in order to maintain the motivation of the participants:

'If, for instance, a young person searches for in…as a salesman, which is a profession that…requires a certain level of education and there if she has a low level of education, she will…often not find it so then she will rather search for, for example, as…a sales assistant, which is…a profession…that requires a lower level of education' (Eric - professional) Having to bring down all the professional aspirations of a participant was considered as a less attractive option and was to be avoided. Hence, the processes of total cooling out from the initial professional aspiration were less common. Yet, some participants for whom this prior aspiration was particularly high or considered as unrealistic did have to give them up completely. In such cases, in particular, the professionals referred to the process as mourning:

'What is the most difficult is those who…who say "I want to do that" (.) and they don't have the competences to do it (.) because there there is a mourning to do (.) that the young people go through a period of mourning deep down from wanting to become a salesman, optician or medical assistant when they have gone through a special education, it's just impossible for them to do those professions' (Catherine - professional)

The use of the word 'mourning' (FR: faire son deuil) can be interpreted as expert language due to the high usage of the term in the speech of the professionals and due to the absence of the word from the discourses reproduced by the participants. Mourning indicates the severity of the process of giving up one's dream jobs as the common use of the word appears in the context of a bereavement following the loss of a loved one. The term seems to have established a firm place in SeMo when describing the loss experienced by the young people when having to give up their future aspirations. Adaptation of their wishes in this case can be seen as a particular sacrifice from the participants considering that a mourning period is necessary. The term and its implications also highlight the meaning of work and professional aspirations brought forward by the professionals. This is done by extending the use of a word linked to personal grievances to the professional life of the young people.

Hence, the professional aspirations are elevated to contain a high importance for the youth, and their downward adaptation presumably brings rather severe implications to their lives. The difficulties faced by the participant in the cooling out – practices are well described by the professionals as personal struggles that affect their work as well. The following extract is about a young woman whose professional aspirations were considered as too high due to her limited skills in French:

'We had to make her aware of that (.) it was not easy (laughs) not for us nor for her (.) so euh…we had to…enlarge this…her vision of the prof…professional field so that she could find other professions' (Véronique - professional)

In practical terms, the adaptation occurs as enlargement of professional field and preferences even in cases when such enlargement is only temporary. Such an intervention was justified by explaining that after reaching a certificate enabled by a successful apprenticeship the young people were able to pursue the initial aspiration.

A special feature about the cooling out – phenomenon is that during the interviews the aspirations as high as dream jobs did not come out until specifically questioning the young people about their actual aspirations without having to concern about qualifications. The fact that dream jobs were not mentioned in the first place when asking about their professional aspirations tells us about the adaptation process that tends to bury initial wishes commonly considered as unrealistic in the background while bringing the cooled down wishes in the forefront.

Labor market demands seem to be clear also for the participants. In general, the cooling out – discourses focused on the demands of the companies and employers and were related to the high demand of educational credentials in Switzerland. This is explained by the fact that the school level in Switzerland is a determinant factor due to the education system characterized by early selection by two different school levels at the federal level. The selection is said to take place at an early stage since the pupils are as young as 12 years old when they finish the 'transitional cycle' and are divided into secondary school streams. As explained in the previous chapter, in the canton of Vaud the two secondary

school levels were divided to VSO providing lowest qualifications and VSG and VSB representing higher level of qualifications when the participants were still in school. The criteria for such a selection were established by the school marks at the primary level of schooling.

In the SeMos in the canton of Vaud, we know that most of the population has followed the lowest school level, which makes them one of the most vulnerable groups in the labor market. Therefore, it is not surprising that the participants associated their difficulties in finding a job to their low school level and credentials. This was expressed as the mismatch between the demands of the 'bosses' and their own lack of qualifications. The increasing demands, in addition, were associated to the economic crisis and to the lack of available jobs.

Meanwhile, raising awareness of the labor market situation is at the core of the program by processes of reality checks and cooling down of professional aspirations:

'In case they have delusions or they have a hard time in…accepting or recognizing their difficulties…well, it's part of our mission to…make them conscious of the reality' (Daniel - professional)

The reference to a mission indicates a role and duty shared by the professionals to make the participants aware of the reality of the labor markets. As a consequence of the reality checks, the young people have become aware of their value and their real opportunities in the labor market. The consciousness spans through the recognition of shortage of jobs available to the idea of a mismatch between the needs of the employers and professional wishes of the youths. This mismatch was recognized as the lack of jobs available leading to high competition for the few, most popular occupations and to the adaptation of wishes.

What can be seen from the cooling out – discourses is that they promote a certain adaptation to the labor market demands from the participants. The participants' dream jobs are considered as too high, as unrealistic regarding the reality of the labor market. The implicit assumption behind such beliefs is that dreaming is a normal part of adolescence and the development towards becoming an adult is a process of attaining realistic aspirations. It is to be noted that the center of adjustment evolves around the individual aspirations instead of the occupational structures and dynamics. The current situation in the labor market as taken for granted implies that the role of the individual is to adapt to the situation rather than vice versa. From the participants' point-of-view, adaptation is illustrated by their recurrent use of the word 'something' replacing the professional aspiration:

'I always try to motivate myself in any case to…to find something' (Emilie F16)

Here the job the interviewee would like to find is left unspecified and replaced by a nominator that opens up the possibility for any job available. Thus, in the context of scarce employment opportunities, the space for individual aspirations is extended to professions that before might have been unthinkable, requiring individual flexibility in constructing her professional trajectories. As a

consequence of this adaptability and their awareness of the competition in the labor market, the focus of the participants seems to be on personal and cognitive skills as well as behavioral aspects. Since the labor market situation is considered as a structure over which they have little power, the object of change is the self and one's motivation. Only the fact of having 'something' is seen as adequate to fill their needs even if it replaces the dream jobs as illustrated by Aline (F16):

A⁴⁶:I will be a media trainee

I: Ok, and you're interested in that?

A: Euh, it's a bit less interesting than horologist but at least it's something Once again, the recurrent use of the word 'something' illustrates that the goal of most of the participants is to find a job, the quality of which is less important. In accordance to the aims of the labor market measures of fast integration, young people reproduce the discourses by giving weak role to dream jobs and by stating openness to work without a specified field of interest. These discourses illustrate a flexibility and adaptability of the youth with difficult transitions in issues related to their professional trajectories, as it is also visible in the federal and cantonal discourses. Since the unemployment insurance emphasizes the importance of accepting a 'suitable job' (LACI Art.15) in order to improve employability as one of the duties of an individual, the consequences on the individual aspirations are clearly visible in terms of the large variety of jobs that the participants are willing to accept. Such acceptance implied that for the sake of securing a position in the society, finding a job was valued higher than the quality of the job. Whether or not the individual was interested of the job was less important than the fact of having one. Such discourses further illustrate the adaptation of the participants in issues that prove to be important for integration.