"To Choose or not to Choose?". An Experience of Action-Research whit Adolescents

The concept of action-research was initially developed by Kurt Lewin (1952) as a comparative research method on the conditions and effects of the several forms of social action, and it was aimed at promoting social action itself. The principles proposed by Lewin were applied in an action-research project carried out with students of a secondary school in the context of the broader EQUAL project “The value of the difference”, aimed at promoting and supporting women entrepreneurs. The relevance of this action-research arose from the awareness that, among the several developmental tasks adolescents have to deal with, the formation of the educational/vocational identity is the most important. Consequently, this implies that adolescents should be capable of making a reasoned choice that originates from the analysis of their personal characteristics as well as from the evaluation of the opportunities offered by the context where they live. Therefore, it is particularly important that adolescents can choose their future goals without being influenced by stereotypes, such as gender stereotypes, that can draw them into predefined routes, subsequently experienced as suffocating prisons. Specifically, the purpose of this action-research was to investigate the adolescents’ future plans and to understand if they could be affected by gender stereotypes. The action-phase was based on the results of the research and was aimed at helping these pupils to make their own choices, without being influenced by gender stereotypes.