以10名中国大学生间隔年实践者为个案，主要通过半结构访谈的方式了解他们选择间隔年的原因、间隔年的主要经历、他们对间隔年的认识以及他们所处的社会情境和间隔年经历的联系，并从个体化角度对他们的间隔年经历进行解释性理解。

       研究发现，这些大学生选择间隔年多集中在本科（硕士）毕业后，且以升学为主要导向，大部分最后选择出国留学，也包含二次考研的情况。他们在本科学习过程中未能及时考虑自己的专业发展前景，对自己的专业存在一些迷茫和犹豫，为了获得更好的升学结果推迟一年进行申请，或者在毕业年发现了更感兴趣的专业方向。二次（多次）考研集中在如教育、法律等文科类专业，更高的学历是获得更好工作机会的门槛级条件。做出间隔年的选择体现出部分当代中国大学生对理想自我的追求、对不甚满意的现实状况的不妥协，间隔年对于他们来说是对未来的准备，并不是耽搁和浪费。他们在间隔年除了完成申请、准备考试的流程，也有格外多的闲暇时间来锻炼生活技能、了解其他领域的知识、和家人朋友相处、做一些短期实习。而他们的间隔年经历最重要的支撑来自于他们的父母。大多数间隔年实践者都需要家庭的经济支持，出于生活成本的考虑，他们也大多在家庭环境中度过大部分间隔年时间。他们的父母对他们是非常包容和理解的，最差也是持“不反对的支持”的态度。这种类似中间阶层的家庭始终保持对教育的信念，相信教育的回报，他们不需要子女马上提供劳动力来贡献经济价值，从而在无意识的前提下通过个人努力、以中国的社会发展为大背景，实现了父母文化资本-家庭经济资本-子女文化资本-（未来）家庭经济资本的资本转化、积累。间隔年因此在未来可以作为识别“中产阶级”的一个特征。

       总的来说，他们的间隔年经历在形式上有着以贝克等人为代表所提出的制度个体化的特征，选择间隔年在一定程度上可以理解为是对中国不停歇的教育制度节奏的脱嵌，对固定轨迹的脱离，也有在开放、多元选择的社会格局中追求不确定自由的意味。但这个过程中他们一直还依赖节奏化的生活，并处于家庭的保护和支持中，在很快获得下一阶段身份确证的前提下，并不存在长期的安全感真空的状态，没有真正进入社会环境工作也不是完全意义上的独立个体。因此他们的间隔年在形式上有个体化的特征，具体经历有个体化的影子，但个体化程度不深。他们的经历反映出中国社会个体化缺乏足够的制度支持，同时，个人的个体化一定是和所处的社会情境（尤其是家庭）紧密相连。他们间隔年的一切活动都是“为升学做准备”的附属物，类似被动下的主动，因此少了真正的发现自我、精神探索的深层价值。

In this paper, 10 Chinese college students’ gap year experiences are taken as examples to explore their reasons for choosing gap year, their main experience of gap year, their understanding of gap year, the relationship between their social situation and gap year experience through semi-structured interviews, for explaining their gap year experience from the perspective of individualization.

Most of these college students choose to study abroad in the end, including taking the second postgraduate entrance examination. In the process of undergraduate study, they fail to consider their own professional development prospects in time, and have some confusion and hesitation about their own major. In order to obtain better enrollment results, they delay their application for one year, or find another professional direction in the year of graduation. Students preparing for a second time postgraduate entrance examination mainly belong to liberal arts majors such as education and law. A higher degree is the threshold for better job opportunities. The choice of the gap year reflects the pursuit of ideal self and the uncompromising of dissatisfied reality of some contemporary Chinese college students. For them, the gap year is preparation for the future, not delay and waste. In addition to completing the application process and preparing for the examination, they also have extra leisure time to exercise their life skills, learn knowledge in other fields, get along with family and friends, and do some short-term internships. The most important support for their gap year experience comes from their parents. Most of the gap year practitioners need financial support from their families, and most of them spend most of the gap year in the family environment due to the cost of living. Their parents are very tolerant and understanding of them. This kind of middle-class families always maintain their faith in education and believe in the reward of education. The parents don’t need their children to provide labor force immediately to contribute economic value. Thus, under the premise of unconsciousness, through personal efforts and under the background of China’s social development, they try to make the transformation and accumulation of “parents’ cultural capital -family economic capital -children’s cultural capital - (future) family economic capital” come true. Gap year can therefore be a feature of identifying the “middle class” in the future.

Generally speaking, their gap year experiences have the characteristics of individualization proposed by Ulrich Beck. To some extent, the choice of gap year can be understood as the disconnection from the rhythm of China’s non-stop education system, the separation from the fixed track, and the pursuit of uncertain freedom in the open and multiple-choice allowed social pattern. But in this process, they still rely on the rhythm of life, and are in the protection and support of the family. On the premise of obtaining the identity confirmation of the next stage soon, there is no long-term sense of security vacuum, and they do not really enter the social environment work so they are not independent individuals in full sense. Therefore, their gap years have the characteristics of individuation in form, and their specific experiences have the shadow of individuation, but the degree is not deep. Their experience reflects the lack of institutional support for the individualization of Chinese society. At the same time, the individualization of individuals is closely linked to the social situation (especially family). All the activities during gap year are accessories of “preparing for entering school”, similar to the passive initiative, so their experiences lack the real deep value of self discovery and spiritual exploration.