Sidharta Books & Print

Peter Dwyer is Principal Fellow in Education at the University of Melbourne. He was initially trained as a Jesuit priest, and served as their National Planning Officer and Director of Asian Bureau Australia. In 1974 he left the Jesuits and worked in teacher education and youth research at Melbourne CAE. In 1989 he joined the Australian Youth Research Centre, and also undertook collaborative research studies in Europe, Canada and the United States. This book draws on the findings from one of his major studies, his Life-Patterns Project, which involves long-term research into the lives of over 2000 young Australians from 1991 onwards, covering the first 15 years of their adult lives.
Projects like this, and the books and articles he has published about his research, have established him as a recognised international expert on youth transitions into adult life. His study of early school leavers, Opting Out (1996), and his co-authored Confronting School and Work (1984), and Youth, Education and Risk (2001) are used internationally as key references on young peoples’ lives.
Peter Dwyer lives in Melbourne, and is currently developing new research interests in France, where he and his wife spend a few months each year.