Life project: how do researchers in Psychology and Education address this category?

Abstract

This article aims to analyze scientific literature on life project, focused on young people, in order to verify how this category has been addressed by researchers in Psychology and Education fields, between 2006 and 2021. The bibliographic search was performed on database Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO Brazil) and, more specifically, on electronic journals portals of the mentioned areas: PePSIC and Educ@. Fifty-four articles were selected, fully read and analyzed. It was observed that the topic is traditionally addressed by the Psychology field and only more recently by Education. The main findings revealed several common aspects within the definition of life project: the temporal and the identity dimension of project; its dynamic character; and the need to consider both subjectivity and objectivity. Despite the complexity of contemporary world, a considerable number of researches reveal that young people still try to make life projects based on family, school and work. With the recent High School reform in Brazil (Law 13.415), which sets out life project as part of the curricula, several studies also points out the importance of institutionalizing counseling programs and/or teacher training to work with life project, in order to help young students choose their formative roadmaps and think about their future, combining the search for meaning to the necessary actions to achieve their goals.