Navigating unemployment: exploring resilience and aspiration among educated unemployed youth in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Date
2024
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
In South Africa, over the past decade more people have attained higher education, with the percentage of South African adults with a degree increasing from 5.1% in 2010 to 5.9% today. However, despite increasingly gaining tertiary degrees, many cannot access employment related to their qualifications, and South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. This challenge of youth unemployment continues, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, which took place right before this research was conducted. The study examined how a group of educated young men in Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa navigate unemployment, by exploring how they articulate their resilience and aspirations. As the young unemployed graduates of the study share, getting employment is considered the fundamental key to fulfilling aspirations. The study employed qualitative research design utilising non-probability sampling, in particular purposive and snowballing sampling, involving 7 male participants who had moved from elsewhere in the country and graduated from a tertiary institution in Bellville, and had been searching for a job for 3 months to 3 years after obtaining their academic qualifications.
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Keywords
Youth Unemployment, South Africa, Entrepreneurship, Social Resilience, Graduate Employability