“You can’t change the way they talk around the kitchen table” : A Qualitative Study on Career Guidance in Areas with Different Socioeconomic Conditions

School segregation is a growing problem in Sweden, reducing equality in education and creating disparities in students’ academic performance. Students’ academic results, combined with their socioeconomic background and their family’s views on education and work, influence their ability to make independent educational and career choices. This study was conducted through interviews with eight practicing school-based career guidance counselors, to explore how they perceive the impact of socioeconomic conditions on students’ educational and career choices, as well as how they work to ensure that such choices are not determined by students’ socioeconomic background. The collected empirical material has been analyzed using the concepts of horizon for action and pragmatically rational decision-making from Hodkinson and Sparkes’ Careership theory. The study shows that students’ socioeconomic background does influence their educational and career choices. In schools located in areas with favorable socioeconomic conditions, many students have highly educated parents. These students often perform well academically and are expected to pursue higher education themselves. As a result, higher education preparatory programs tend to be the obvious choice. Students in schools situated in areas facing major socioeconomic challenges are also influenced by their family background but are perceived to have somewhat greater freedom of choice when it comes to upper secondary school, as they apply to both vocational and academic programs. However, students at these schools more often face challenges related to academic performance and eligibility.