She wants to be like her Mum: Girls' transition to work in the 1960's

In the early 1960s researchers at the University of Leicester carried out a unique survey into the school to work transition experiences of nearly nine hundred young adults. The survey documented most aspects of the schoolleavers’ lives, however, the majority of the data from this 'Young Worker Project' has remained unanalysed and unpublished for nearly forty years. Recently 851 of the original interview schedules were uncovered and, as part of a broader ESRC funded project, re-analysis has commenced. Little is known about the transition to work at this time and what research does exist has focused on the experience of boys. Using data from the original survey, which included interviews with 260 girls, this paper examines the female experience of the transition from school to work, concluding that gender played a significant role in influencing the way in which the school to work transition was experienced.