Design

The investigation process was carried out from a qualitative approach and adopted an exploratory design. It focused on the stories of the young women, that is why it did not look for constructing typologies but generating a dialog process in which the expressions of the subject are stressed (^{Gonzalez Rey, 2008}).

Participants

Two institutions were selected: a Socio Educational and Labor Center with governmental dependence that articulates actions with the Education Ministry and with the Agency of Employment Promotion and Professional Training. The objective of this Center is to ensure the young people the access to education and professional training in order to generate opportunities for social inclusion. In this space the young may access different modalities to finish their formal studies, and a Center that belongs to a religious community where there is a labor training school. It is part of a social program destined to the young people with high indexes of poverty and unemployment who look for a qualification with official certification to continue with their jobs.

The conformed sample was intentional with cases containing rich information to provide an in depth study (^{Patton, 1990}). The criteria implemented allowed to conform an intensive type sample due to the quality of the information obtained -characterized by the viability and accessibility- as well as being representative of the phenomena under study (being no more than 29 years old, residing in neighborhoods from popular sectors). We have worked with ten women aged between 20 and 26 who were attending both institutions during the period that lasted the collection of data (first semester of 2018). Chart 1 shows information about socio demographic data.

Chart 1: Socio Demographic Characteristics of the Young Women 

We have taken into account ethic measures in the realization of the work (^{Cornejo, Mendoza & Rojas, 2008}), we have requested the authorization of the institutions to make the interviews. We have read and given the young women so as to sign an Informed Consent in which it was explained the institutional frame, the main objectives of the investigation, the voluntary character of the participation, the opportunity to discontinue the study when considering so, the anonymous and confidential conditions when handling the collected data. Any testimony that may identify them has been modified.

Instrument

The methodological strategy used in the preparation of the empirical data was the biographic story (^{Leclerc-Olive, 2009}), since it allows the narrative display of the vital experiences of the subject throughout time. At this point, the idea of trajectory is related to the pathway and not to a lineal vision of time in the course of life (^{Casal, et al., 2006}).

Procedure

The building of the stories was carried out through five in depth interviews, which were unrecorded and transcribed to be worked upon in each meeting with the young women. In this way, we arrived at the construction of their biographies in a process during which they put in temporally order he events that delineated their vital itineraries.

Data Analysis

For the treatment of the data, we followed the strategy of constant comparison of the theory based upon which it was built and codified the corpus of interviews and stories simultaneously. Software AtlasTi Version 7.5.4 was used as assistant. Concerning the building of the labor trajectories that lead the pathway of transition towards the adulthood of the young women, we have identified the events and significances embodied in the set of stories and interviews. In order not to overpass the maximum extension of the article, we have presented in a general way the propositions built around the central category, including fragments of the stories as illustration

Beginning of early labor trajectories and inherited socio-economic conditions

From the stories of the young women, it was possible to detect that the characteristics of their labor insertion are connected with the concerns revealed from the factors that derive from their social origin, being their exclusion experiences the major obstacles for them and a difficult condition to change in the future. As shown in the studies carried out, the families give to the young men and women from popular sectors the first contacts with the labor world, although this is usually precarious and close to the place of residence (^{Deleo, 2017}).

In this context, an element that determines the early labor insertion of the young women is the economic instability of their homes (salary cuts, nonregistered jobs, losses of employment, etc.). This socio-economic fragility triggers the early insertion of one or more of the children, adding the issue of not finishing their studies, and consequently, it is observed even more frequently the acquisition of precarious and low paid jobs since adolescence.

I worked when I was younger, at 9 I started to sweep sidewalks, they paid me for that, but my mother kept the money. Also, when I was 9 or 10 years old, I took care of my grandfather’s children and I got paid for that, and I gave the money to my mother (Jimena’ s life story, 2017).

I started to work specially because my father, who worked in a car factory, was laid off last year because of a problem, they were cancelling the contracts and all that stuff, so they fired him, an injustice and everything was wrong. I worked in different places, at a hamburger place, for example (Yanina’s life story, 2018).

On the other hand, we find that the changes in the family structure and dynamics, a result from a lot of events related to violence and addictions, makes the daughters be in charge of the family organization, as shown in the case of Micaela, when her mother has to start doing extra tasks - housework:

I would like to be like my mother. Because my mother is a woman that will never let you down, nothing like that. She had to look for a job when she separated because of gender violence and I took care of my brothers and sisters. Always, she was keeping an eye on us, the four of us always (Jimena’s life story, 2017).

In other situations, the feminization of housework and care giving appears as a relevant determiner in their ways of insertion to the labor world, as in the case of Sonia, who complements housework with temporary jobs - in general, cleaning and/or children care - to add up to the family incomes:

My stepfather was a policeman and got a psychiatric file and my mother has to work in a bakery. I had to work as a babysitter taking care of my nephews, but I stopped doing that because I don’t like children. My mother always had jobs that she didn’t like, she always says that she would have liked to be a flight attendant or a French teacher (Sonia’s life story, 2018).

As we can see, the way of insertion of these young women from popular sectors takes place among unpaid housework and jobs they take in the search of resources and incomes. No doubt, all nonregistered jobs are associated with instability and high level of rotation, as well as the reproduction of the traditional ways of sexual division of work.

Thus, for this group there persist major gender inequalities that strengthen the gap between men and women in the majority of the labor variables such as salaries, jobs and participation. On the other hand, these inequities are reinforced by the learning of trades that they have to acquire from infancy as typically male or female, as Jimena points out:

To be a woman… you have to know that you need to have clean clothes for your child, you have to know how to raise him, but my mother also tells me that I have to defend myself in life, that is why she taught us to fix the home stuff, and electricity to my brothers (Jimena’s life story, 2017).

All in all, the stories contained in the reports reflect that gender as an inequality factor is interwoven from early ages with other socio structural conditions (their places of residence, educational capital, work of their close relatives) producing an overlap of such dimensions that become obstacles difficult to sort for the young women (^{Frega, 2019}).

The Gender Condition: an obstacle to attain upward trajectories

As we could observe in the labor experiences of young women, inequality in relationship with job opportunities is associated not only with inherited social conditions -situations that reproduce or deepen their labor trajectories in the present, but also with the condition of being “women”.

In this way, a configuration of the gender segregation that delimits territories for men and territories for women in the occupational structure prevails. As a consequence, a strong inequality persists, which pushes, for instance, to a minor feminine participation in positions such as supervision, management and directorship (^{Novick, Rojo, & Castillo, 2008}). In this respect, one of the young women says: “My partner tells me that the Police is not a career for a woman. He made me a lot of things, he set impediments and millions of things that made me go back” (Yanina’s life story, 2017). In spite of this, the young woman insists on achieving her goals, that is why she has enrolled at the Socio-Labor Center to learn computing, as well as Sonia, who wants to develop in a labor environment destined to men: “I finish secondary school and I want to enter the Police among the technical agents, you carry guns, watch over security cameras and answer emergency calls” (Sonia’s life story, 2018).

In other instances, you may observe that the condition of being a woman brings about the fact of facing a major discrimination, the jobs tend to have less qualification (call center, food places among others), and they lack aspects such as decent remuneration, access to labor rights as health insurance and social security contributions. In this frame of vulnerability and precariousness, Melina was laid off during her pregnancy:

I worked during the first months of pregnancy, in a place selling pasta or combos, I sold cakes and alfajores¹, and I also took care of babies because I realized that I needed to start buying clothes for the baby, but when my pregnancy advanced I was fired (Melina’s life story, 2017).

From the stories you may detect that when the young women are set aside the work environment, the compensation conditions are lower than those of men doing the same activities: “I had to put up with the layoff, my partner told me that they had taken advantage and that I had to denounce them. They gave me less than they should and I was pregnant! (Melina’s life story, 2017). Therefore, regarding the labor market, the sexual division of work is modeled in visible aspects such as the horizontal and vertical segmentation, the salary gap and other types of discrimination (^{Millenaar, 2014}a).

Even though all these experiences delineate informal work trajectories, it is interesting to point out how important it is for the women to learn a trade or to accumulate experiences in order to broaden and improve the options in the market regarding better qualified jobs. Two of the young women retell it in this way:

Once I finished school, I started to work in different places, like in a supermarket during the vacation period. And then my brothers opened a place, a food place. When we closed the food place, I started to work with my father up to now (Clara’s life story, 2017).

I am working in a day care center, in a 3-year-old group with the children. I had different jobs. I began working when I finished secondary school in an ice cream store. Then, I was in charge of it, I was two years there. I was also working in a restaurant for some time, I was also two years there, and well… for example there, in those two jobs I couldn’t do this course. They had discontinuous schedules (Soledad’s life story, 2017).

As we can observe, the possibility of new learning - originated from the different experiences assumed- end up “justifying” unstable occupations which are tolerated as long as they perceive them as a way to build a different trajectory. In this point the expectations in relationship with work imply being able to evaluate in the future, their possibilities of continuity and/or improvement, or therefore taking the opportunity of feeling the necessity to orient their own labor trajectory providing new itineraries (^{Frega, 2019}), thus, delineating diverse ways of paths to adulthood.

Itineraries Concerning the Education - Work Transition

The time passed from the moment when a person stops attending school (whether or not having finished the studies) until the moment when this person inserts in the labor market is a key stage in which the aspects that will mark his or her adult life will be defined (^{Gontero & Weller, 2015}). In the case of the young women interviewed, we could appreciate that the early incorporation to the work market increases the possibility that they quit the educational system, and consequently their future possibilities to obtain quality jobs will be restricted. Therefore, we observe a tension between their expectations and the opportunities given by the society. In relation to this reality, we could detect three itineraries in the transition school - work:

The first one is composed by those young women who quit in the secondary level to start learning a trade and work, as is told by Paola, who quit school to learn a trade:

I quit secondary school, and so, first of all I am about to begin the hairstylist courses. And I want to finish secondary school! Finish secondary school, get a job and have my own house. I imagine the future working, being a professional for sure, that is why I’m going to bite the bullet and start something, do something, you name it. I imagine myself in my house with the hairstylist store (Paola’s life story, 2018).

The second itinerary is the case of the young women who abandon their studies to work and return to them wishing to obtain better jobs. They point out that the lack of complete secondary studies contributes to determine the precariousness where they find themselves when facing the full integration into the labor market:

What I want more is to finish school. I regret a lot (having quit). I’m doing second year. I have to do this year and the next one. Apart from that, it is very difficult to get a job because I haven’t finished secondary school yet. I’d like to work to have my money (Antonella’s life story, 2018).

And the third itinerary is the one of those young women whose pathways are traced between school and work through concrete actions and choices:

Currently I work in a store downtown which sells and repairs speakers. It belongs to my grandfather, and I work there with my father and grandfather. I work from Monday to Saturday. I start work at 9.30 in the morning and finish at 5.30 in the afternoon. When I finish work, I go back home to take a shower and come to school. I’ve worked there for three years, generally I’m at the cash register (Rosalia’s life story, 2018).

I was working until recently and I quit because of the hours and the studies. So I quit. But I’m thinking of going back and try something again right now. I made food for a kiosk where they sold it, before that I took care of a girl, but I only did it for a few months (Rocio’s life story, 2018).

In other cases, maternity makes them think that they have to finish their studies to get better jobs, although their stories reflect the difficulties of the young women to go back to secondary school. The vicious circle that is conformed in the intersection with the caring responsibilities and the vulnerability contexts promotes obstacles when imagining or making the idea of progress tangible (^{Micha & Pereyra, 2019}).

When I realized that I was pregnant I quit school. Sometimes, I feel like finishing, I’m going to see if I can start again. I had in mind that if I had a baby I need a future. I went to T (institute) double shift, sometimes there are workshops in the evening. That’s why I want to see now, this month if I can register, or take a course to get ahead (Jimena’s life story, 2017)

Thus, even though maternity contributes to the constitution of erratic paths with oscillations between the switching of the labor market and the education system, it does not modify in itself the life conditions. On the contrary, it adds up to the inherited structural conditions in which the young women from popular sectors live.

All in all, it becomes significant to analyze the different pathways carried out by the young women and the strategies that they develop to insert in the work market. In the case of the young women who resume their studies, it is clear the necessity to obtain the credential that provides them the opening of new doors in the future. On the other hand, making a lineal reading as regards this objective would imply to deny the value of getting a degree for some young women from these contexts: attaining the graduation from secondary school would imply a qualitative leap with respect to the position of their parents in the labor market.

The incidence of labor qualification in the construction of the future

It is important to note that, in our area, together with the growth of juvenile employment, the net of social policies has been expanding as an attempt to give answers to the situation of the sectors in extreme conditions (^{Millenaar, 2014}b). In this regard, there have been developing in Cordoba a set of actions for the inclusion of the most vulnerable sectors of the population by means of labor qualification for the young population. ^{The Department of Equity and Job Promotion (2018)} brings together programs that foresee an economic retribution as the “Program: First Step” for the young people between 16 and 25 years old without a job nor labor experience, “The Program of Integral Formation of Young People in a situation of Social and Labor Vulnerability: We trust you” for young people aged between 14 and 24 years old who do not belong to the formal education system nor to the job world, with professional formation and training in the work places, the “Program: For Me” which is destined to women aged between 18 and 25 years old with dependent children so that they may have access to labor practices for their qualification, and thus being able to obtain work experience.

The participation of the young women in these initiatives becomes an option that in the future reduces the gap regarding the transition education - work. In this context, the socio labor centers that they attend try to improve the educational level of the young women. They develop different strategies among which we may point out the courses of qualification and the formation for employment, being these experiences a way to achieve “better opportunities in the future”, as well as “facing gender inequalities”.

In the first semester I did domestic electricity and now up to December industrial electricity. Then, if I could, I’d like to do electric engineering, and a dream I’d like to fulfill in the future, if I could, is to study safety and health (Clara’s life story, 2017).

The circumstance of being able to improve the labor trajectory marks a significant milestone that they live as a change of life by overcoming the difficulties related to the social and economic conditions: “I want to learn a trade to have money and fit in the future” (Soledad’s life story, 2017).

Accordingly, we may point out that the courses that they decide to attend are not associated with typical feminine tasks since it depends on the offerings of the centers at the moment of their entrance. In this sense, we may observe that the social polices do not always fulfill their objective in connection with the formation offer provided to the women. In general, the focalized policies which are presented do not reflect the complex universe that represents the juvenile group, as in this case in which beyond the age condition there appears the consideration of gender condition. A paradigmatic case is the one of Soledad, who attends a formation center to do a dressmaking course. After starting the first part of it, the government decided to stop the course, so the young women have to insert in another one destined to young men attending the center, as Soledad says:

All of us going there (to study dressmaking) had to change to industrial molding, so the teacher is trying to give a little of dressmaking too, so that we don’t miss everything (Soledad’s life story, 2017)

It is observed that the offer of labor and professional formation does not meet the young women’s needs. Therefore, the gender approach so promoted is not incorporated in practice, and far from overcoming the gender inequalities, it reproduces them (^{Millenaar, 2014}b). Even more, it makes the young women delineate a different future under their condition of “women”.