ABSTRACT
Reviewing evidence from previous studies, this paper adopts an integrative life course perspective by comparing transition experiences in three British age cohort studies born in 1958, 1970, and in 1989/90 respectively, and discussing the role of multiple interlinked infl uences shaping development over the life course. Changes in educational expectations as well as in long-term outcomes, such as education participation and occupational attainment, are assessed in their relation to socio-economic family background, gender, and the wider socio-historical context. The fi ndings presented here contribute to a better understanding of how experiences occurring on the macro level affect individual functioning on the micro
level and how they are mediated via experiences in the family environment, i.e., the meso level. Although the study is based on data collected in the UK and England, the fi ndings will have relevance in other Western countries, given the persistence of social inequalities in the developed world (OECD, 2008b).
