"Between Serving and Studying: The Trajectories of Young Students in Freelance Work as Waiters/Waitresses"

• Grant number: 25/22835-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Aline Suelen Pires
• Grantee: Victória Pereira de Souza
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to understand how young students experience freelance work as waiters and waitresses, and how they construct their labor and life perspectives in the city of São Carlos, Brazil. The research focuses on the trajectories of these youths within a context of informal and precarious work in the service sector, highlighting how the intersections of gender, race, and class shape their labor and life experiences. The proposal seeks to grasp the challenges and meanings of work for these students, especially regarding the reconciliation between study, work, and future prospects. Furthermore, I integrate my own professional trajectory into the analysis of these young workers' conditions, combining methodological approaches such as autoethnography and trajectory analysis. The aim is to provide a perspective that articulates the micro level of individual experiences with the macro level of social structures, revealing the dynamics present in the professional and personal lives of these young workers. The analysis intends to contribute to the understanding of youth labor conditions, freelance work, and specifically the role of waiters and waitresses, as well as their effects on individual trajectories. (AU)