This volume made an important contribution to the growing literature on the transition from school to work. It provides a different perspective on the global changes that have transformed school-to-work transitions since the 1970s; offers an integrative conceptual framework for analysis; and promotes a comparative, cross-national understanding of school-to-work transitions in a changing social context. The articles assembled in this volume compare and assess variations in school-to-work transitions across Europe and North America, providing empirical evidence on how young people negotiate the different options and opportunities available and assessing the costs and returns associated with different transition strategies. Unlike many other volumes on this subject - which are pitched at either the macro or micro level - this volume attempts to integrate both perspectives, capturing the complexity of this critical life course transition. Furthermore, the authors address policies aimed at improving the capacity of individuals to make effective transitions and at enabling societies to better coordinate educational and occupational institutions.

"Infrequently an edited volume is published that has great significance for a particular field of science or application. Even less frequently a book of this type addresses both scientific questions and their translation into programs or policies that might have a positive influence on human endeavors. The present contribution by Ingrid Schoon and Rainer Silbereisen falls into the latter category of a scholarly work that not only does a superb job of increasing understanding of the transition from school to work but also provides potential avenues for improving the capacity to successfully make that transition. The fact that the topic is addressed at multiple levels of inquiry, from macro social structures to individual psychological functioning, makes this work even more valuable. This book will have a lasting impact on the field."
– Rand Conger, University of California, Davis

"Transitions from School to Work offers an embedded, relevant, positive and global developmental scientific perspective on a critical life-course transition."
–Willem Koops, Distinguished Professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Utrecht University