‘Here you have to be a bit more fluid and willing to do different things’: Graduate career development in rural communities

Abstract

This article presents the background and findings to a research project focusing on how graduates living in a very rural area understand themselves, their careers and their futures. In this project a cross section of recent graduates living in a very rural area (the Orkney Islands) were interviewed and the data were analysed using a qualitative methodology. The findings show some tensions between ‘rural’ and ‘graduate’ identities and show some practical ways that graduates managed this tension. The article concludes with some tentative suggestions about implications for careers advisers when working with clients from rural areas.