How are the aspirations of high school students and recent graduates in Indonesia formed? This is the question that recent MA in Development Studies graduate, Yusnita Silsilia Warda, attempted to answer in her MA research paper.
She has now published her research in a leading Indonesian academic journal.
In the article she explores the production processes of higher education aspirations among students and recent graduates of upper secondary schools in Klaten Regency in Central Java.
Focusing on the dynamics of aspirations in the ‘desakota’ region in the digital age, Warda carried out in-depth interviews with eleven participants. Her research revealed that young peoples' higher education aspirations are refinements of their individual narratives through interactions with adults and peers in educational, familial and digital settings.
She identifies an ambiguity in the production process of aspirations among Klaten’s youth as traditional factors collide with values brought by modernity. Aspirations are thus both social and individual projects, reflecting young people's future hopes and current conditions.
MA research paper
The article is published in Bahasa Indonesia in Jurnal Studi Pemuda, the main youth studies journal in Indonesia hosted by the Youth Studies Centre of Universitas Gadjah Mada.
- More information
About the author
Yusnita Silsilia Warda graduate from the International Institute of Social Studies in 2023 with an MA in Development Studies, Major in Social Policy for Develpment. She is urrently doing research on youth and sex education in Muslim societies.
