The life and career planning of young “ritualists” in Hong Kong

Abstract

Based on Merton’s strain theory and borrowing his concept of “ritualism,” this paper explores the life and career planning of the “post-90s” youth in Hong Kong. These young people “ritualistically” conform to “mainstream” social values but are actually looking for an “alternative” career path. Though they conform to mainstream values by following their parents’ wishes and getting a bachelor’s degree entirely unrelated to their dream career, they subsequently pursue their dream with support from their parents. The qualitative data shows that the “ritualists” of the post-90s mostly come from families of middle-class backgrounds. This finding highlights the conceptual importance of “class” for future research on adulthood transition and adolescent career development.