Abstract
The aim of the Erasmus+ funded project ASTONRail (Advanced approaches and practices for rail training and education TO inNovate Rail study programmes and improve rail higher education provision) is to generate awareness and encourage young people, particularly those facing career path decisions, to consider the rail industry as an interesting and fascinating alternative to develop their working career. One of the project tasks is to create impactful initiatives, promotional events, and outreach activities to attract and inspire a greater number of aspiring railway talents and young professionals. To this end, focus groups have been used in this paper to explore the perceptions young people hold about this sector and the employment opportunities it can offer. Thus, by resorting to discussion groups, it has been possible to identify key aspects of the young generation’s perception and demands on public transport in general and on the rail mode of transport in particular. As a result, it was found that the way young individuals perceive the railway sector is influenced by their personal experiences and preferences, environment and cultural context. Furthermore, the analysis of the findings indicates that environmental concerns hold considerable importance for the younger generations. In addition, the main expectations of future talents regarding the railway industry have been detected, with the aim of improving its attractiveness to them. In this regard, it became evident that a satisfactory salary alone is not sufficient. Equally vital are factors like a positive work atmosphere, ongoing training opportunities, and a healthy balance between personal and professional life.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acocella, I. (2012). The focus groups in social research: Advantages and disadvantages. Quality & Quantity, 46, 1125–1136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-011-9600-4
Albanesi, C. (2014). Focus groups. In A. C. Michalos (Eds.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1066
Benitez, D. (n.d.). La Generación Z en el lugar de trabajo en España. Job Today. https://jobtoday.com/es/blog/la-generacion-z-en-el-lugar-de-trabajo-en-espana/
Castaño, M. A., Carrillo, C., Martínez, M. E., Arnau, J., Ríoz, M. I., & Nicolás, M. D. (2017). Guía práctica de los Grupos de Discusión para principiantes. Universidad de Murcia.
Coppola, P., & Silvestri, F. (2020). Assessing travellers’ safety and security perception in railway stations. Case Studies on Transport Policy, 8(4), 1127–1136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2020.05.006
Cordera, R., Sañudo, R., Echániz, E., Nogués, S., & Dell´Olio, L. (2021). Future scenarios for the European railway sector: A methodology based on past trends and a stated preference survey. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 17(2), 148–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2021.1999540
Cotán-Fernández, A. (2020). El método etnográfico como construcción de conocimiento: un análisis descriptivo sobre su uso y conceptualización en ciencias sociales. Márgenes Revista de Educación, 1(1), 83–103. https://doi.org/10.24310/mgnmar.v1i1.7241
Dimitra Pyrialokus, V., Gkritza, K., & Liu, S. (2018). The use of focus groups to foster stakeholder engagement in intercity passenger rail planning. Case Studies on Transport Policy, 7(2), 505–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2018.12.009
Eurostat. (2022a). Key figures on European transport: 2022 edition. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/15216629/15589759/KS-07-22-523-EN-N.pdf
Eurostat. (2022b). Railway passenger transport statistics—Quarterly and annual data. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Railway_passenger_transport_statistics_-_quarterly_and_annual_data#In_2021.2C_the_EU_rail_passenger_transport_performance_partially_recovered_from_the_sharp_drop_in_2020
European Commission. (2019). Report of the expert group on competitiveness of the European rail supply industry. Available at: https://news.industriall-europe.eu/documents/upload/2019/10/637076098109352901_Report%20of%20Expert%20Group%20on%20EU%20Rail%20supply%20industry_final.pdf
European Travel Commission. (2020). Study on Generation Z Travellers. Available at: https://etc-corporate.org/reports/study-on-generation-z-travellers/
García, M. P., & Martínez, P. (2012). Guía práctica para la realización de Trabajos Fin de Grado y Trabajos Fin de Máster. Editum.
Gbadomosi, A.-Q., Oyedele, L., Davila, J. M., Kusimo, H., Akanbi, L., Oladimeji, O., & Muhammed-yakubu, N. (2020). IoT for predictive assets monitoring and maintenance: An implementation strategy for the UK rail industry. Automation in Construction, 122, 103486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103486
George, T. (2021). What is a focus group. Step-by-step guide & examples. Available at: https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/focus-group/
Gibbs, A. (1997). Focus groups. Social Research Update, 19, 1–7. Available at: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/her-macdonaldsbs2000fall2015b/files/2011/06/Focus-Groups_Anita-Gibbs.pdf
Goetz, J. P., & LeCompte, M. D. (1988). Etnografía y diseño cualitativo en investigación cualitativa. Morata.
Hudenko, J.,Gorska, L., Kukjans, I., & Kustova, I. (2022). Latvian rail transport sector stakeholders’ perception of green deal policy measures. Economics and Business, 36(1), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.2478/eb-2022-0008
Hudson, Z. (2023). Enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion within the public transport industry. Global Railway Review, 1, 13–15. Available at: https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/142184/enhancing-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-within-the-public-transport-industry/
Kaluza, J. (2023). 7 focus group examples for your next qualitative research. Dovetail. Available at: https://dovetail.com/research/focus-group-examples/
Ke, Y., Hao, W., Ding, H., & Wang, Y. (2017). Factors influencing the private involvement in urban rail public-private partnership projects in China. Construction Economics and Building, 17(1), 90–106. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.763745302662295
Lefèvre, et al. (2020). Investigación Socio-Antropológica Clásica, Focus Groups y Modelo Causal. Experiencias y Reflexiones sobre algunas Combinaciones Metodológicas Innovadoras Desarrolladas en Bolivia y Perú. Red Al y C. La Hemeroteca Científica en Línea.
Lefèvre, P., Suremain, Ch.-E., & Rubínde-Celis, E. (2000). Investigación Socio-antropológica Clásica, Focus Groups y Modelo Causal. Experiencias y reflexiones sobre algunas combinaciones metodológicas innovadoras desarrolladas en Bolivia y Perú. Cinta de Moebio, 9. Available at: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=10100904
Lezaun, J. (2007). A market of opinions: The political epistemology of focus groups. The Sociological Review, 55(2), 130–151. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00733.x
Lloyd-Roberts, B., James, P., Edwards, M., & Robinson, S. (2023). Improving railway safety: Human-in-the-loop invariant finding. In Association for Computing Machinery (Eds.), Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ‘23), New York, USA, Article 389 (pp. 1–8). https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3573853
Lundberg, K., Balfors, B., & Kolkeson, L. (2009). Framework for environmental performance measurement in a Swedish public sector organization. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17(11), 1017–1024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.01.011
Mărginean, A. E. (2021). Gen Z perceptions and expectations upon entering the workforce. European Review of Applied Sociology, 14(22), 20–30. https://doi.org/10.1515/eras-2021-0003
Meola, A. (2023). Generation Z News: Latest characteristics, research, and facts. Insider Intelligence. Available at: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/generation-z-facts/
Morgan, D. L. (1997). Focus groups as qualitative research. Sage.
Morse, J. (1991). Approaches to qualitative-quantitative methodological triangulation. Nursing Research, 40(2), 120–123. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-199103000-00014
Ochieng, N. T., Wilson, K., Derrick, C. J., & Mukherjee, N. (2018). ‘The use of focus group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12860
Pedraz Marcos, A., Zarco Colón, M., Ramasco Gutiérrez, M., & Palmar Santos, A. M. (2014). Investigación Cualitativa. Elsevier D.L.
Ricoy, M. C. (2006). Contribución sobre los paradigmas de investigación. Educação. Revista do Centro de Educação, 31(1), 11–22. Available at: https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1171/117117257002.pdf
RRHH Digital. (2020). Los europeos de la Generación Z trabajarían en el sector ferroviario para preservar el planeta. RRHH Digital. Available at: https://www.rrhhdigital.com/secciones/empleo-joven/144107/Los-europeos-de-la-Generacion-Z-trabajarian-en-el-sector-ferroviario-para-preservar-el-planeta
ThinkYoung. (2020). Gen Z Survey. Available at: https://www.hoponrail.eu/gen-z-survey/
Vain, P.-D. (2012). El enfoque interpretativo en investigación educativa: algunas consideraciones teórico-metodológicas. Revista de Educación, 4, 37–46. Available at: https://fh.mdp.edu.ar/revistas/index.php/r_educ/article/view/83
Wilcox, K. (1993). La etnografía como una metodología y su aplicación al estudio de la escuela: una revisión. In H. M. Velasco, F. J. García Castaño, & A. Díaz de Rada (Eds.), Lecturas de antropología para educadores (pp. 95–126). Editorial Trotta.
Zani, B., & Cicognani, E. (2010). The evaluation of the participatory process in a community-based health promotion. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 38, 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852350903393459
Zeybek, H. (2012). Stakeholder perspectives on improving rail freight services on the eve of rail market liberalization: An analysis of the Turkish rail freight market. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 48, 3691–3699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.1331
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the collaboration of the ASTONRail project researchers, especially those involved in conducting the focus groups: Anne-Katrin Osdoba and Martin Lehnert (TH Wildau University, Germany); Stefano Ricci and Arbra Bardhi (Sapienza University, Italy); Anna Dolinayová and Igor Domeny (University of Zilina, Slovakia); Marin Marinov, Reem Hadeed and Prachiti Prashant Shinde (Aston University, the United Kingdom).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ruiz-Mora, I., Postigo-Pozo, S., Castillo-Aguilar, J.J., Salas, PJ., Marinov, M. (2024). Young People’s Reflections on the Railway Sector: A European Perspective. In: Marinov, M., Piip, J.K., Ricci, S. (eds) Sustainable Rail Transport 5. Lecture Notes in Mobility. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51745-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51745-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-51744-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-51745-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)