Geography helps determine which education you take

Compared to metropolitan youth, rural youth take higher education to a lesser extent. The differences have increased over time, and today we see clear geographical differences in young people's educational choices. Why is this so, and does the place one grew up in have the same importance for everyone?

By Alexander Zahl-Thanem

The further away from the big cities you grow up, the lower the probability of completing education at university and college level. This is clear from a research article I wrote in connection with my own doctoral thesis, which was recently published in the European Sociological Review journal. The aim of the study was to analyse how geographical differences in education in Norway have changed over time.

The pattern is unmistakable. The proportion of 30-year-olds with higher education has steadily increased among those who grew up in the big cities, but has levelled off among those raised in rural areas. It is particularly young people from Oslo and nearby municipalities who leave the rest behind. Here, as many as 7 out of 10 choose study preparatory courses in upper secondary school. In contrast, fewer than 4 out of 10 rural areas choose study preparatory courses over vocational subjects.

The rest of the country lies somewhere in the middle. Consequently, this is something that has an effect when we look at participation in higher education.

There are several reasons why rural youth and metropolitan youth choose different educational paths. For example, there are large geographical variations in local labour market structures, with different requirements for education and competence. At the same time, educational choices for rural youth are also about distances. It is a question of whether they want to stay in their local environment or explore opportunities elsewhere.

Choice of education therefore also becomes a question of connection and belonging. Many young people in rural areas therefore experience that education invokes various dilemmas that young people who grow up in, or near, larger cities with more educational and vocational opportunities don’t experience.

When we see increasing geographical differences between the centre and the periphery, it is evidence that, among other things, the labour market and access to education are developing unevenly. Growing up in areas where you have good access to higher education, and a labour market that is increasingly dominated by knowledge-intensive industries, seems to nurture young people’s educational ambitions. This is probably because the utility value of taking higher education is constantly increasing, while the social and economic costs remain low.

Nevertheless, there are large variations related to who takes higher education and who does not. This also applies in rural Norway. For example, it is far more likely that girls who grow up in rural areas go on to higher education than boys. Previous research has pointed to how the labour market in some rural communities is dominated by male-dominated working-class occupations, where there is simply less room for women.

For some girls in rural areas, choosing higher education may therefore be part of a strategy to expand their future opportunities, which may explain why the gender differences are greatest in these areas.

As elsewhere in the country, there are also clear social differences in educational choices in rural areas. It is more likely that rural youth who come from families where the parents have a higher income and education level go on to take higher education than those from families with a lower income and education level.

Some of these differences are due to the fact that children and young people from families where the parents have a higher education generally perform better in school. Nevertheless, young people with the similar school achievements also choose different educational courses according to their social background. Having access to financial and cultural resources at home therefore appears to be beneficial in reducing geographical barriers linked to participation in higher education.

The fact that young people from rural areas take higher education to a lesser degree does not necessarily have to be a negative thing. Part of the explanation for the geographical differences lies in the fact that vocational subjects are perceived as a positional good in many rural areas. This is good news as Norway has a great need for more skilled workers in the coming years.

Nevertheless, it is important to be aware that uneven development can reinforce existing inequalities in education. For example uneven development between places may hit those with the least resources the hardest, while more resourceful families are able to overcome geographical barriers.

This text was published in the column Faglig snakka in Nationen on 11/07/2024