For someone from a low income background, the path to a stable, financially and socially empowering career, has many barriers -
Lack of Motivation
Exposure to possible careers is limited or non-existent. This in turn leads to narrow and limited aspirations.
- Lack of reliable and relevant information
Even if motivated, the individual has little access to reliable and relevant information about career possibilities and the requisite skills for those careers. Any available information, is typically through informal, word-of-mouth mechanisms in sharp contrast to the abundance of formal information/guidance available to those who pursue higher studies at a graduate level and above.
- Weak placement support
Mainstream ways to find a job - classifieds ads in news papers, internet portals, social networking of both the offline and online kind etc - are either useless ( because their target audience is different ) or beyond reach. So, in the absence of a formal system to depend on, the individual typically turns to the immediate social network which may find him/her a job but rarely a sustainable career.
- Weak social support
Social networks of the individual are populated by those with similar social status, educational background and economic capacity and thus have limited ability to guide or intervene in meaningful, sustainable ways. Lack of encouragement and support again result in aspirations that are limited and narrow.
- Weak financial support
Acquiring skills and qualifications, almost always, requires some financial investment. Though moderate, relative to the investment needed for an Engineering or a MBA degree, it is usually beyond the individual’s capacity. Ironically, formal financial support (loans, scholarships etc) is available in plenty for those who seek expensive 'higher education' (domestic or foreign), but not for those who seek to acquire skills, even at moderate costs, for a life changing career.
