Career decision making in a rural school

Abstract

This research focuses on the complexity of career decision making in rural school-leavers. Whilst there has been research conducted on graduate career choice and identity in island communities in Scotland, there is little research on rural school-leaver career choices in mainland Scotland. This qualitative project aimed to contribute to the knowledge base in relation to career decision making in rural school-leavers. Participants were interviewed about their post-school plans and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Themes of ‘proximity’, ‘perceptions of home location’, ‘support network’ and ‘personal agency’ were found to influence the career decisions of the pupils. It was found that whilst home location influenced the pupils’ decisions, this combined with personal agency and socio-economic factors.