Young People’s Perspectives on Creating a “Participation-Friendly” Culture

Abstract

Youth-serving organizations are increasingly interested in the participation of youth as partners in addressing issues relevant to young people. This paper adds new insights by sharing young people’s perspectives on how to enhance youth participation in organizational settings. We conducted in-depth focus group interviews with 31 young people and seven adults from six youth development programs in California where youth collaborate with adults to take on leadership and decision-making roles. Findings suggest that organizations need to incorporate peer processes into their change strategies, discuss the role of relationships in the program and organizational sphere, and embrace mutual learning and meaningful community impact.