This dissertation examines how the processes of social change and social reproduction are reflected in education and, hence, in the prerequisites of young people’s life course construction. Extensive structural, cultural, and economic changes in Western societies have created an increasingly complex and insecure world, which young people must navigate as they transition to adulthood.

The study draws upon and contributes to scholarly discussions that aim to integrate theorisations of late modern individualisation (social change) and ‘traditional’ social structures (social reproduction). The premise of the study is that both of these perspectives are essential for understanding the circumstances of young people today. The empirical findings are interpreted through a life course framework that helps to depict how, in the context of education, current societal conditions shape the construction of young people’s future lives.

The data come from a European research project, Governance of Educational Trajectories in Europe. The study is based on four research articles, which examine and discuss the effects of late modernity and the ruling neoliberal policy ideology in education, the mechanisms and impacts of educational segregation, and the roles of social structures and forms of capital in the formation of educational trajectories. These topics are approached from four viewpoints: national education systems, educational institutions, families, and individuals. While the first two articles are comparative, involving eight European countries, the latter two articles centre on Finland and Finnish education, the latter of which is also the focus of this study.

The results show the high significance of late modern individualisation, which is inseparably intertwined with neoliberal ideology, and the continued, or even increased, influence of social structures on young people’s life course construction in the context of Finnish education. Those with the privileged social backgrounds and high levels of capital needed to reflexively manoeuvre in complex and riskfraught late modernity gain further advantages in their lives.