Interview

    I researched Professor Patrick Carr of the Sociology Department in Rutgers University. He co-edited the book "Coming of Age in America: The Transition to Adulthood in the Twenty-First Century". He is also currently working on a project which examined the experiences of young adults transitioning into adulthood in the Great Recession. He researches the three major classes (lower, middle, and upper) and how they have been affected by the economic crisis of 2008. 

    His background on the subject showed him to be knowledgable on the subject of young adults transitioning into adulthood. He was very informative on the subject and explained the comparison between the generation now and the young adults of the 1950's. He explained that at the time of the 1950's young adults were mostly "naturalists" which meant that they rushed into adulthood by marrying and settling down very quickly, normally right out of college. During this time, education for women was not taken very seriously. Women attended college for the sake of finding a wealthy and educated man to marry. There was no focus on the independent female self until now. This is the time of the "planners" which are people who wait and get comfortable before rushing into serious commitments and settling down. Planners are men, but also women who now take their education seriously. Professor Carr stated that the increase in college attendance and performance has increased in the past years due to women now attending college. He stated that within the past years, women are the ones to beat because they are statistically proven to be smarter than men. 

    On the subject of college in general, he stated that "it is part of growing up, but it doesn't signal the end part of a long transition" (Carr). College is not the rite of passage into adulthood as it used to be. He specifically stated that it is more of a "rite of passage for a select few" (Carr). Arguing against Arnet's point about the use of these years for self exploration, he stated that not all college graduates have the privilege of spending their time and money of "exploring" themselves. Here, he specifically meant the school dropouts, the criminals, the poor, etc. These young adults would not be able to afford to take time off of their lives to soul search. 

    With student loan prices on the rise, Carr expressed how he is not looking forward to the future of education for the sake of young adults. It is becoming more taxing to pay off the education needed to move on in life.