Pathways to adulthood in changing societies: Variability and mechanisms inlife course perspective

The transition to adulthood has become a thriving area of research in life course studies. This review is organized around two of the held's emerging themes. The first theme is the increasing variability in pathways to adult roles through historical time. The second theme is a heightened sensitivity to transition behaviors as developmental processes. Accounts of such proce sses typically examine the active efforts of young people to shape their bi ographies or the socially structured opportunities and limitations that def ine pathways into adulthood. By joining these concepts, I suggest new lines of inquiry that focus on the interplay between agency and social structure s in the shaping of lives.