The Newcastle Youth Studies Centre is a collaborative group of researchers who work with young people to understand their lives, and the social, cultural, and economic forces they are living in.

Too often in public life discussion about the issues that most impact young people – from social media, housing inequality, the labour market, indebtedness and rising financial inequalities, and climate change - take place without any involvement from young people themselves. Our work prioritises youth-centred methods and approaches to challenge simplistic or risk-based perspectives which can overlook the active responses young people are developing to navigate their lives. That is, we do research ‘with’ young people, not ‘on’ them; and work with them to develop approaches that policymakers and organisations can learn from to better address the biggest problems young people face today.

Young people are experiencing their transition to adulthood in an era of rising inequality, unprecedented new risks, and the ubiquitous saturation but ever-evolving role of digital technologies in their lives. At the same time, young people are often blamed and scapegoated for social problems they have no control over. Our work therefore presents the world from young people’s perspectives, critically engaging with the broader structural, socio-economic, and technological developments that affect their lives.

We represent one of the most significant concentrations of youth research expertise in Australia. The aim of the Centre is to understand the construction and experience of youth within the transforming contexts that shape young lives.

Our expertise includes financial practices and fintech; data, digital, platform and algorithmic practices; labour force transformation; intergenerational relationships and housing; Indigenous youth; youth justice; young people in out of home care; young people’s mental health; gender and wellbeing; and class and popular culture.

The Centre also includes a wide range of methodological expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methods, including: large surveys, interviews, focus groups, visual methods, smartphone live capture, digital ethnography, photovoice, bodymapping, participatory action research, program evaluation, figurative methodology, longitudinal research, digital methods and discourse analysis.

The Centre offers a strong and collaborative environment for PhD supervision. Centre members welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students wishing to pursue topics related to youth from a social scientific perspective. View the contact details and areas of expertise of our People.

The Centre's research falls into the following FOR Codes:

  • 441015 Sociology of the life course
  • 440709 Public policy
  • 441012 Sociology of inequalities
  • 441008 Sociology of culture
  • 441001 Applied sociology, program evaluation and social impact assessment
  • 440106 Medical Anthropology
  • 440107 Social and Cultural Anthropology
  • 350504 Industrial and employee relations
  • 350507 Workplace wellbeing and quality of working life
  • 441010 Sociology of Gender
  • 441011 Sociology of Health

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