Lesley Andres and Johanna Wyn

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Brisbane, December 1-4, 2002

To date, the majority of educational research on transitions is based primarily on cross-sectional studies. Investigations of educational transitions or school to work linkages often use single, snap shot studies with retrospective questions to impute temporal causation (e.g., Anisef & Andres, 1996; Ainley & McKenzie, 1999). Alternatively, when longitudinal research has been conducted, frequently it has relied on official records (e.g., Andres, 2002; Finnie, 2001), and while adequate for describing patterns, it is usually not rich enough to provide explanatory details. Many researchers interested in youth transitions have drawn attention to the need for theoretical and analytical complexity when considering transitions (Andres, 1999; Dwyer & Wyn, 2001; Furlong et al., forthcoming). Principally because of funding limitations, research spanning significant time periods in the individual lives of young Australians and Canadians has been very rare.

There is, however, a small body of Australian and Canadian educational research that has employed longitudinal methods to track individuals over a substantial period of time. These studies have had an important impact on both knowledge production and social policy. Recent work in this tradition has paid particular attention to school to work transitions (e.g., Anisef et al., 1992; Krahn & Lowe; Looker, 1992; Dwyer & Wyn, 2001; Looker & Dwyer, 1998). Qualitative aspects of longitudinal educational research have also played an important role in expanding our knowledge (Gaskell, 1992; Looker et al., 1989).

Longitudinal data sets which follow cohorts over time offer a wealth of information and allow researchers to seek answers to complex research questions. Two such data sets currently exist which permit detailed comparative analyses of the lives of today's young adults - one based in Victoria, Australia and one in British Columbia, Canada. They were developed independently, but the similarities between the two data sets are striking. Both studies have survey and interview components, contain representative state and province wide samples, and span 10 years. Because both of these studies are informed by the body of research on the life course and youth transitions, our data allow us to examine the lives of the individuals in our study from multiple perspectives and to address theoretical, policy and practice-based questions. The detail that is contained in these studies of individual lives over 10 years or more has enabled the researchers to gain unique insights into the effects of educational policies and to test the assumptions made by policies which were put in place over a decade ago. The data also provide an opportunity to reflect on the usefulness of different theoretical approaches and to develop new understandings of this generation. Perhaps the most challenging though, is the opportunity that the two data sets provides to undertake the first detailed comparative analysis of Canadian and Australian youth. We begin this paper by describing these data sets.

The Life Patterns Project of the Australian Youth Research Centre (1991-2002) has developed a data base through the collection of survey and interview data with high school leavers from 1...Victoria, Australia to determine educational, occupational and other life outcomes. The goals of the Life Patterns project are as follows:

• to examine the changing experience of youth in a changed world;

• to move beyond localised national perspectives and develop an international perspective on young people's lives and educational experiences;

• to take seriously the impact of globalisation on the life experiences of the post-1970 generation; and

• to reflect on what the main findings tell us about how young people are responding to change.

Drawing on a commitment to exploring issues of youth transitions tha.t began in the 1970s, the Life Patterns research was designed to provide a critical perspective on current post-compulsory education and training policy formation, (Dwyer, Wilson & Woock, 1984; Wilson & Wyn, 1987). The pathways metaphor, derived from OECD policy programmes and goals, became widely used in Australian educational policies of the 1980s. These policies were directly concerned with the relationship between educational participation, attainment and employment outcomes. Although initially guided by the "pathways" metaphor, the early findings of complex and non-linear trajectories lead us to adopt the term "Life Patterns" instead. The research has been influenced by and has also contributed to critical approaches to the concept of youth (e.g., Lesko, 1996; Stenner & Marshall, 1999; Wyn & White, 1997).

The Youth Research Centre's Life Patterns project is a ten year study of 2000 young people in Victoria who left secondary school in 1991 at about the age of 17 years. Phase 1 began with 29,000 school leavers, who completed a 1992 follow-up survey on what they had done since leaving school. In 1996 a representative sample of 11,000 was constructed and re-surveyed. From this sample, a subsequent annual interview sample of 100 and a questionnaire sample of 2,000 were constructed. The sample included both urban and rural youth, covering a representative range of schools (60% from government schools) and ethnic groups (one-third of parents were born outside Australia) and a range of parental educational attainment (nearly half of the parents had not completed secondary school). These included a "Studying" sub-set who went on to further study at the end of secondary school and a "Non-Study" subset who chose an alternative to study as the next step from school.

The research has involved two phases. Phase One followed the students annually through the years 1991 to 2000, generating a ten-year record of young people's transitions into adult life. This phase focused on their pathways through further education and employment, and documented their responses and adaptations to changing labour market conditions. The concept "post-1970 generation" was coined in an attempt to characterise the way in which this cohort of young people were evidently shaping new life patterns and understandings of adulthood. Phase Two was developed in response to issues developed at the end of Phase One: rethinking careers and mixed patterns of life priorities. The analysis is providing convincing evidence for the emergence of a "new adulthood." This contrasts with the traditional "youth transitions" literature which proposes that the period of youth is becoming an increasingly extended period of life.

Throughout the project, the processes of reflective practice have been employed in order to allow the participants' understandings and definitions to influence the research questions. This has been achieved through the interviews with the sub-set of 100 participants and through integrating both quantitative and qualitative forms of data collection in the surveys. Participants have been invited to comment specifically on the relevance of the questions asked. At several points in the project, these participant comments have shaped the next round of questions. Data generated from this longitudinal study have provided unique insights into the experiences and perspectives of a fairly representative group of young Victorians over more than a decade, for some of their most important years.

The Paths on Life's Way Project (1988-1998) has examined the lives, choices, and post-secondary education and work experiences of high school graduates from British Columbia, Canada. The Paths on Life's Way project is the only study on the transition of youth to adulthood in British Columbia that combines extensive qualitative and quantitative data to examine the lives, actions, and social and cultural contexts of individuals both longitudinally and at contextually specific time periods.

The project began as one of a series of "Access for All" initiatives by the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education. This study of the transitions of young people was in response to low post-secondary participation rates, particularly of high school graduates into the post-secondary system. Phase I of the Paths project began in 1989, when a large sample of British Columbia Grade 12 graduates of the 1988 cohort were sent a survey questionnaire entitled the "Grade 12 Graduate Follow-up". The initial purpose of the study was to collect baseline data on a sample of this cohort and to determine respondents' post-secondary attendance patterns within one year of high school graduation. Questionnaire data provided information about family background, high school experiences and plans for further study, views about education and work, educational aspirations and expectations, academic achievements and post-high school status one year after high school graduation. High school and post-secondary records provided demographic information such as sex, geographic location, curricular differentiation and grade point average achieved in high school, and post-secondary institution attended. Respondents to this survey included 5345 individuals from the Class of '88. Also, in 1989, Andres conducted two sets of in depth, face-to-face interviews with students who were currently in Grade 12. Theories of rational choice and cultural and social reproduction were used to examine the processes underlying the decisions people made in choosing whether to pursue a post-secondary education (Andres, 2002b).

In 1993, Andres carried out a second follow-up of the 1989 survey sample (Phase II). Survey questionnaires were sent to respondents to the 1989 study; 2030 (38%) responded, representing 9% of the entire cohort of B.C. 1988 Grade 12 graduates. In 1993, the third in a series of semi-structured interviews was conducted (n=39). The purpose of the follow-up study was to collect longitudinal data about students who remained in the post-secondary system, those who had graduated or left the system, and those who had never participated in formal post-secondary education. The Phase II questionnaire focussed on the educational paths of respondents, experiences within the post-secondary system, occupational experiences, and views about the relationships among education, work, and skills, and life long learning. Its theoretical focus was an examination of how social and cultural capital transmitted by the family, how the school system influenced individuals' actions and affected their eventual educational and occupational attainment (Andres, 2002d).

In 1998, Phase III of this project was carried out. At this time, mail out survey questionnaires were sent to 1988 high school graduates ten years following high school graduation who had participated in Phases I and II. In addition to the themes explored in the first two phases, the Phase III survey included detailed questions about skills and training, geographic mobility, and health and wellbeing issues. The 1055 survey respondents to Phase III represents 5% of the entire graduating cohort and 20% of respondents to the original 1989 survey sample. Also in this phase, interviews were conducted with 32 of the original interviewees. From a theoretical perspective, Phase III undertook to examine the relationships among continuously evolving institutional structures, the endurable nature of the various forms of capital, and the ability of individuals as purposive agents to act on their resources in relation to changing social structures and conditions (Andres, 2002c).

Phase IV is currently underway. The 32 interviewees who have participated in the four previous interviews are being reinterviewed. In 2003, respondents to the previous phases of this study will sent another follow-up survey. The theoretical objectives of this phase are as follows: 1) to ascertain what transitions participants made over time and determine what they view as "normative," "discontinuities," and "turning points" for themselves and members of their generation; 2) to determine how participation in one or more life spheres at one point in time (particularly participation in post-secondary education) influences participation in subsequent life spheres (e.g., education, work, child care, parent care) and eventual life chances; and, 3) to assess how historical events, circumstances, and experiences of this generation are being transmitted as cultural and social capital to their children.

Given the similarities in the Life Patterns and Paths on Life's Way projects, the insights provided by each of these studies can be extended further through comparative analyses. Canada and Australia share many common characteristics. Both countries are settler dominions and are similar in their traditions and formal educational and political systems. The state of Victoria and the province of British Columbia are part of the Pacific Rim. Victoria and British Columbia are multi-ethnic societies with influences predominantly from Britain, Europe and Asia. However, there are several important differences in the structure of the educational system and labour market in each country. By comparing their experiences and outcomes over a ten year period of time, we will be able to reveal how Australian and Canadian young adults negotiate the life course in specific cultural, social and economic contexts.

More specifically, our data sets contain the following information that allows us to carry out detailed comparative work. By matching the Canadian data with the Australian data, we can begin to develop a detailed map on a range of areas, including the following:

• types of post-secondary institutions attended and post-secondary pathways through education;

• pathways through employment and experiences of employment, including formal and informal training;

• the nature, location, and duration of every job held;

• job characteristics;

• definitions of career;

• definitions of adult life and life priorities;

• satisfaction with life, views about wellbeing, and physical and mental health status;

• geographic mobility since 1988 (including community and length of residence, reasons for leaving);

• current work conditions, job satisfaction, satisfaction with educational attainment, and views about education, skills, work, overqualification and underemployment;

• personal background information including timing of marriage or marriage-like relationships, divorce, birth dates of children, gender orientation;

• parental background (education, occupation, race/ethnicity, language spoken).

Examples of some of the questions to be entertained in comparative analyses include the following:

As reflected in this set of questions, data generated from longitudinal research designs focus on both processes and outcomes from multidimensional perspectives. Because final outcomes are often contingent on earlier events and outcomes, the life paths travelled by individuals will allow us to unravel these relationships.

However, despite the opportunities to provide insight about young people's lives over time, data sets such as these present formidable challenges. These challenges are compounded by attempting to conduct comparative analyses. The purpose of our paper is to focus on the opportunities and challenges of collecting longitudinal data and conducting analyses both within each study and through cross-country comparisons. In doing so, we will address the following themes: conceptualizing our work in relation to current theoretical perspectives; challenging our assumptions in order to provide accurate portrayals of the lives under investigation; staying abreast of current analytical methods; training and maintaining student research assistants and other research staff; and reflecting on how funding shapes research.

Both studies have drawn on current theoretical perspectives to explain the patterns and relationships in the data. A number of approaches have been found to be relevant in explaining these patterns and outcomes. While neither study has rested entirely on one theoretical approach, the emphasis in each study has been different. This may reflect the biases of the researchers, or it may reflect subtle social and cultural differences in the two countries. The analysis of the Canadian research has drawn extensively on theories of reproduction developed by Bourdieu, with a particular focus on the ways in which cultural capital is transmitted and used. By contrast, the Australian research has tended to draw on theories of individualisation, risk and identity formation through the work of Beck (1992) and Giddens (1984) to explore the development of new patterns of life and identity. These approaches are not mutually exclusive. To some extent they highlight different aspects of the same issues and relationships. The theoretical approaches taken by both studies have also been influenced by local and international policy debates and by contemporary youth research, which is a strand within the "life course" literature.

Both studies have been informed to some degree by the life course literature. This body of work highlights the life course as complex, non-linear, and fluid. Life course researchers describe the life trajectories of today's young adults as destandardized (Kohli, 1986), disordered (Rindfuss, Swicegood & Rosenfeld, 1987; Thiessen & Looker, 1999), individualized (Beck, 1992), and reversible (Hareven, 2000). Dwyer & Wyn (2001) explain:

Contemporary youth researchers recognise that "today's young adults are much less likely to experience the "normal biographies" of previous generations in which a transition involved a simple passage from one social institution to another (e.g., school to work, school to marriage). In both the studies, the non-linear nature of the young people's pathways has a strong degree of resonance with these theoretical approaches. The complexity of their transitions contrasts with the linear transition models of government policies. The studies have also highlighted the extent to which young people have had to negotiate their own pathways, consistent with the individualisation thesis of Beck.

Nonetheless, the life course approach has also been found to be limited. For example, by superimposing a gender analysis on to analyses of the life course provides additional challenges. According to Krüger and Baldus (1999), female biographies did not, and do not, fit into phase models designed to explain a typical man's life. Instead, employment of such models force the "appearance of a phased regularity" (p.362) which has not been the reality of women's lives. These authors maintain that, in the case of women, particular attention must be paid to the destandardized and disordered nature of their lives in relation to the relatively orderly and sequenced lives of men.

A major challenge in our individual and collective analyses is to capture the complexity of life trajectories of the young adults in our projects. In particular, an examination of experiences and events at the micro and macro levels (Heinz, 1995; Kohli, 1986) is critical to our understanding of how existing structures serve to shape life trajectories, and in turn, how individuals as "agents" act in relation to existing structures (Wyn & White, 2000).

Despite the claim by life course researchers that life trajectories of individuals have become increasingly individualized and disordered and today's young people must "make themselves the center of their own planning and conduct of life" (Beck, 1992, p.88), we need to continue to monitor the degree to which the forces of cultural and social reproduction influence the paths of Canadian and Australian young adults. Multiple entry points and increased options within societal institutions such as the post-secondary system may lead young people to believe they are in charge of their own destinies through the "choices" they make. However, as Furlong and Cartmel (1997) point out, increased opportunities for diversion away from one's educational and occupational goals by helping "to obscure the extent to which existing patterns of inequality are simply being reproduced in different ways" (p.7).

Cultural reproduction theory, advanced by Bourdieu (1979; 1986), embodies the idea that parents transmit capital in the form of dispositions, habits, and attitudes, to their children. The result is the reproduction of the dominant culture through which background inequalities are converted into differential academic and educational attainments and eventually social status. McCall (1992) builds on Bourdieu's work and maintains that in addition to cultural and economic capital, gendered dispositions are another critical form of capital. It follows that educational and occupational attainment, and hence ultimate "life chances" for young women and men may originate, indirectly or directly, in parental levels of educational and occupational attainment. By examining the cumulative impact of earlier conditions (e.g., possession of cultural and social capital) and events (e.g., availability of post-secondary places, rising tuition rates) on eventual life chances (e.g., eventual educational and occupational attainment), we can monitor the extent to which social class still affects the life chances of young adults (Andres, 1998, Andres & Krahn, 1999).

Numerous complementary and competing macro-social structures and cultural forces shape the way a given cohort experiences the transition from one life phase to the next. Structural changes have shaped participation in post-secondary education and the labour market over time. Since 1988, the post-secondary systems of both countries have experienced enormous expansion. In 1989, there were five degree granting institutions in B.C.; by 2002, the number had increased to 13. Australian educational policies have been dominated by the goal of increasing participation in post-secondary education. Post-compulsory education has become the new mass education sector, with a dramatic increase in participation. Between 1990 and 1997 the number of 20 to 24 year old students grew by 51.4 percent (Marginson, 1999).

Accompanying these changes in educational participation have been changes in entry and retention in the labour force. In Canada increased unemployment levels, particularly for young adults in the early 1990s were followed by drastic declines in unemployment rates in the late 1990s. Despite the increase in educational participation for young Australians, comparative research shows that during the 1990s young Australians were more likely than young Canadians to be in the labour force: labour force participation for young Australians in 1997 was 82.5 percent for young Australians aged 20 - 24, compared with 75 percent for young Canadians (McLaughlin, 1999). The research shows that young Canadians were 50 percent more likely to be enrolled full-time in a post-compulsory education program than young Australians.

Views about the institutions of "marriage" and "family" and participation in these institutions have also changed over time. In both Canada and Australia the rate of marriage of 20 - 30 year olds has decreased dramatically. Whereas 33 percent of young Australian women aged 20 years were married in the 1970s, by the 1990s this figure had reduced to 6 percent. Women are also deferring childbearing and in Australia there are concerns being voiced about the decrease in fertility rates.

Our data allow for detailed analyses of these patterns. For example, using the B.C. data, distinctive patterns of marriage and childbearing emerge when analyses are conducted by post-secondary attainment status ten years following high school graduation (Andres, 2002a).

Single 16 48 23 41 30 53 42 51 34 49

Married or living in a
marriage-like relationship 81 52 67 54 66 45 57 48 63 49

Separated or divorced 3 0 11 5 4 3 1 2 3 1

Children (% yes) 58 25 46 22 31 16 14 8 26 14

As indicated above, we share several common themes and findings in our longitudinal studies. For example, both studies span a ten-year time frame which includes most of the 1990s. As such, data analyses were conducted in relation to governmental and higher education policy and practice. Both studies examine changes in post-secondary participation by Twentysomething young people within an economic context of restricted labour markets and increased credentials. However, despite the challenges and uncertainties in earning post-secondary credentials and successfully entering the labour force, the young women and men in both studies remained remarkably optimistic. Attitudes to education were also similar. In the Paths on Life's Way study, the pursuit of more education by young people was considered to be very positive. The dominant discourse in federal policy documents, federal and provincial initiatives such as the National Stay-in-School Initiative and the Access for All commission in British Columbia reinforced the message that if educational attainment was considered as a continuum, the most disadvantaged were those with the least education; hence, the route to improved life chances was through the educational system. By 1998, 95% of Paths on Life's Way respondents had participated in some form of post-secondary education and 82% had earned some type of credential.

Young people in the Life Patterns project also placed a high priority on gaining educational credentials. By 2002 91% had gained some qualification and a majority (57%) had completed a second qualification. Their status as the most educational qualified generation can also be seen as a direct outcome of government policies that pushed the message that post-secondary school educational qualifications were essential for individuals to be competitive in the job markets. Australian post-compulsory education policies were influenced by major OECD reports on youth policies, resulting in policy frameworks such as the Australian Education Council Review Committee (1991) and Working Nation (1994). These frameworks brought in a new era in which young people's educational pathways were linked directly with the markets of education and employment. The aim of the government policies was to ensure that transition from schools was structured more effectively, so that closer links between educational and economic goals were established (Dwyer & Wyn, 1998).

Considerable research effort in both studies has focussed on views about education. First, we provide examples of responses to an open ended question on each of the mail out surveys conducted in 1989, 1993, and 1998 by the British Columbia respondents. In 1989, the majority of those commenting on the value of education were positive:

Very few responses to this open ended question elicited negative comments such as the following:

In 1993, positive comments continued to outweigh negative ones.

However, more respondents expressed a degree of wariness about the benefits of post-secondary education:

A similar trend continued in 1998. Examples of positive comments include the following:

However, several respondents questioned and challenged the value of education:

These responses are repeated by the Australian participants. By the year 2002, education was one of a number of common themes in their written responses to a question about areas in their life where they have regrets. None regretted their education as such, but many expressed the wish that they had known more about the labour market so that they could have taken a more suitable course of study. Some regretted not studying hard enough in secondary school and many commented that the advice they had received about careers while in secondary school had not been sound.

Throughout the Life Patterns study, the researchers have noted a tension between the ideal world represented by educational policies and the realities faced by the young people. They are the group who have rode the first big wave of mass post-compulsory education in Australia. Their experiences were far from the 'effectively structured' transition from school to post-compulsory education and work that were espoused in the policy documents. Furthermore, the links between education and employment were not as straightforward as predicted. During the 1990s, global economic forces contributed to a growing mismatch between educational credentials and job market realities in Australia. The reality was that "the increased levels of education of the young have not protected them from bearing the major adjustment from lack of job growth" (Gregory, 1995). Faced with this reality, the young people were required to negotiate their own pathways through the restructured labour market, with varying success. This situation has led the Australian researchers to focus attention on the gaps and mismatches between education and labour market policies and young people's lives. They concluded that, given the far-reaching changes that have been instituted within education and economic policy settings over the past decade, there was an urgent need to test the impact of those policies at the participant level. In particular, it led to a commitment to explore the extent to which key assumptions within policy formation could be verified in the actual experience, options and outcomes of the Life Patterns cohort.

Both the Life Patterns and Paths on Life's Way studies are the only comprehensive longitudinal research projects on the transition of youth to adulthood in Victoria, Australia and British Columbia, Canada. These studies combine extensive qualitative and quantitative data, on more than 1,000 individuals and over a ten year time period. Given the nature of the data and the theoretical perspectives informing our research, it remains a major challenge to go beyond providing "statistical histories of cohorts" (Neugarten, 1985, p.297) to capture the complexity and richness of individuals' lives.

These studies demand expertise with both quantitative and qualitative data analysis programs. It is an ongoing challenge to learn various data analytical techniques, to stay current with updates to programs and theoretical developments in data analyses, to expand repertoire of analytical skills to suit the questions being asked, to master the art of combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, and to deal with outmoded views about both quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques.

Missing data, as a result of both sample attrition and non-response to questionnaire items, have the pot) longitudinal data sets. Three types of missing data afflict our projects:

• outdated mailing lists which result in the inability to reach all respondents;

• individuals who received survey questionnaires or requests to participate in further interviews, but chose not to participate (sample attrition);

• and non-response to certain items on questionnaires.

The first and second of these is a problem of structurally missing data and the third type of missing data falls into the category of accidental missingness. Both structural and accidental missingness seriously affect analyses that can be undertaken and dilute further efforts to add additional phases to the research.

Despite problems with attrition, both studies have retained the essence of the original sample, with similar proportions of respondents from the different groups continuing to participate. In the Life Patterns sample (Table 2), the ratio of males (33%) to females (67%) has also been maintained over the years. Although the basic characteristics remain the same, there are gradually fewer returns. The sample size is now at 751. The majority of the participants are now aged 27 (25%) or 28 (63%). This has led the researchers to ask if the sample is now a "success sample."

Response rates in the Paths on Life's Way study are remarkably similar to those of the Life Patterns project. However, compared to the Australian study, a higher proportion of men (41%) continue to participate in the study.

Females Males Total

Both studies provide tremendous opportunities for adopting an apprenticeship model of graduate student training. Learning experiences can be structured to allow student research assistants to work on all aspects of the projects, including the following: conducting literature reviews, tracing research participants, designing surveys, generating interview questions, piloting instruments, mailing out surveys, data entry, recoding of survey data in preparation for analyses; carrying out data analyses; web page design; and data base management. Also, students are invited to use the data sets for their own graduate research and to be involved in preparing and co-authoring reports for publication. We encourage students to learn and embrace both quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques, and to develop expertise with analytical programs such as SPSS, LISREL, and STREAMS (quantitative), and Atlas.ti (qualitative).

Despite these opportunities, several challenges related to graduate student involvement exist. Longitudinal research requires a long-term commitment in terms of staffing. However, students are transient. During the course of their research assistantships, they may learn the necessary skills to conduct data analyses. When they leave (often to pursue other thesis topics or upon completion of their graduate research), the expertise they gained leaves with them. Research assistantships are often regarded by students as a way to earn money rather than as an opportunity to develop a research project using existing data, gain invaluable research skills, and learn via an intensive "apprenticeship."

In addition, few of our graduate students possess skills in data analysis. Graduate program requirements in terms of research methods are minimal. Course work in quantitative data analyses are limited and today's students are reticent to take such courses.

In the case of the Paths on Life's Way study, a minimum of infrastructure is provided for the project. There is no support in terms of secretarial staff, computer equipment, and only one student office space is provided by the department to which the principal investigator belongs. The project is run largely as a "cottage industry" with almost all of the expertise and responsibility resting with one person - the principal investigator.

The Life Patterns research is conducted within a research centre structure (the Youth Research Centre). This has the advantage of locating the project within an ongoing staffing structure that includes dedicated research staff lead by a Principal Researcher. This structure is more likely to ensure that there is continuity of staff over time and when there are changes of staff, that knowledge about specific aspects of the project can be transferred. There is another benefit of working within a research centre structure. That is the capacity to have a team approach to the research, involving regular seminars and workshops at which new ideas can be tested, collaborative writing can be shaped and literature can be shared. The 'downside' of this structure is that no one person holds all the information about the project.

Longitudinal research requires long term commitment in terms of funding. The strength of these studies rests on our ability to collect data over the long term. Unfortunately, national granting agencies in both Canada and Australia provide only short term financial support. In addition, funding tends to be targeted into "strategic" areas which may or may not be compatible with the directions of the research project.

In Australia, the Australian Research Council (ARC) is one of the main sources of competitive funding for the conduct of social science research. The awarding of this funding has become increasingly attached to policy directives. This has had a significant impact on the Life Patterns project. The necessity to "fit in" with national priority research areas has meant that the rationale for the research has been closely linked with policy directions. This necessity has influenced the choices that were made about the nature of the cohort. Although the cohort includes a "non-studying" group, the emphasis on 'post-compulsory education and training pathways' was directly influenced by the government's policy agendas.

The main source of funding for social science research in Canada is the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). There are two main types of funding. Standard Research Grants support all types of research under the social sciences and humanities umbrella and are not tied to "strategic" themes defined by the federal government. The other type of funding is strategic and include schemes such as "Initiatives for the New Economy" and "Major Collaborative Research Initiatives." Eligibility for strategic grants often require large scale collaboration, a multidisciplinary team approach, or both, which may or may not fit with the objectives of the Paths on Life's Way project.

Despite the differences identified in this discussion, the two data sets have much in common. The challenge (and the pleasure) for the researchers involved in each of the studies is to build conceptual "bridges" between the two studies. For example, can "cultural capital" meet "individualisation?" The collaboration will also necessitate a closer investigation of the possible relationships between the specific educational policies and economic and social environments of the two locations. Did Australia's higher education expansion occur at a time when, coincidentally, job growth slowed? The collaboration will also allow the researchers to generate questions for further research that can be developed in collaboration. This would involve comparative analyses and the completion of a manuscript that will extend beyond our current frames of thinking.

Gaskell, J. (1992). Gender matters from school to work. Buckingham, U.K.: Open University Press.

Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Berkeley: University of California Press.