Migration-related intentions of secondary school graduates. The example of youth from the cities of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship

The purpose of this study is to determine the specific characteristic of migration intentions among post-secondary youth living in cities of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. We identify the directions and characteristics of migration in this social group by considering their migration intentions, which stem from their personal and professional preferences and goals. Based on this, we create a typology of the reasons for the spatial mobility of the surveyed secondary school graduates. We used data from surveys conducted among 438 respondents. These provided the basis for classifying the types of reasons for migration using cluster analysis based on Kohonen’s self-organizing maps (neural networks). We demonstrate that the vast majority of respondents intended to continue their education outside the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. When making decisions about further education, they most often considered their own interests, while the main reasons for their migration were educational, professional and environmental. Next were reasons of an educational and developmental nature, followed by economic and developmental ones.