Transition to adulthood is a significant milestone in the life of a young person, though it is a process rather than an event. Young people’s transition to adulthood has been viewed as unpredictable, fragmented and prolonged (Jones, 1995; Roberts, 1995; Furlong & Cartmel, 1997; MacDonald, 2005). Citizens of the same country have different experiences of growing up due to a variety of factors (Basit, 2009). While class is one of them, ethnicity and gender are other significant features. Attaining educational credentials facilitates young people’s transition to adulthood to become useful citizens by participating in the national economy through careers. In educational policy and popular discourse, girls are generally represented as unproblematic and somewhat unspectacular pupils (Francis & Skelton, 2005), and traditionally protected from the labour market (Arnot et al., 1999). Archer et al. (2007) draw attention to how on the one hand, gender inequalities are produced through the differential expectations for young women to look after themselves and take care of their own interests; on the other hand, policies in the West favour young men and are concerned with raising their achievement in education. However, gender identities are not homogeneous and intertwine with other identities, notably ethnic considerations, which may ultimately motivate young men and women to make choices which are different from their peers in other ethnic groups. Research on different ethnic groups has examined the identities of young British people (see for example, Mirza, 1992; Basit, 1997; Bhatti, 1999; Abbas, 2003; Basit, 2009). Research argues for more support for young minority ethnic people from educational institutions and government policies. Tomlinson (2008) contends that though in the last half century, some young people of Asian, African Caribbean and other minority ethnic heritage succeeded in getting educational credentials, many felt that they had been mis-educated and ill-equipped to compete in a global economy. Those who did succeed in gaining qualifications were able to do so with tremendous support from their parents (Basit, 1997). It is rarely the case that schools alone are able to overcome the ethnic, gender and class barriers that obstruct young people’s transition to adulthood to compete in a contemporary and global economy and society.

This paper is based on research that investigated young British minority ethnic citizens’ transition to adulthood. The sample comprised five groups of young people aged 14-24, at different stages of education, employment and non-employment. It included equal numbers of young males and females at the final stages of compulsory schooling in Years 10-11; in further education; in higher education; in employment; and those who were unemployed. A mixed methods approach was undertaken. The themes of Ethnicity and Gender were explored along with a number of other themes in the survey. This was followed by in-depth individual interviews with a stratified sample of 10 young males and 10 females of different minority ethnic heritage in the five groups. Young people were asked about their perceptions on the role of ethnicity and gender in their transition to adulthood, and this paper will be confined to the qualitative aspect of the research.

The paper concludes that gender and ethnicity have a significant impact on young people’s transition to adulthood. The experiences of many in different ethnic minority groups are more similar than different. However, for some young people, such as Muslims, the interplay of ethnicity and gender with religion is a crucial and obvious aspect of their transition which causes them to make choices to live their lives in a certain way. For these young people, religion is a vital part of their ethnic identity. While religion is important to young people in other religious and ethnic groups too, for them, its impact is more subtle and nuanced. Discourses and debates on the education and careers of young people need to take into account the ethnic, gender and religious differences between young people from diverse heritages as this has implications for social justice.