Karriärval och riskfyllda övergångar: vägledning för unga migranter

Abstract in English

This dissertation examines the role of career counselling at the intersection of migration, education, and labour market conditions. It takes its starting point in the increasing importance of education and employment within migration policy frameworks, where individual achievements may function as criteria for residence permits and establishment, shaping the conditions for young migrants’ educational and career trajectories. The aim of the dissertation is to contribute with knowledge about the practice and conditions of career counselling in relation to young migrants’ career planning and transitions from the language introduction programme. The study uses an ethnographically inspired research design conducted in six Swedish municipalities, drawing on observations and interviews with students, career counsellors, teachers, principals, and municipal politicians and civil servants, in addition to a national survey, complemented by interviews with career counsellors in Finland. The analysis is informed by Basil Bernstein’s sociology of education, enabling an examination of the interplay between structural, organisational, and practical conditions. The dissertation shows that career counselling takes on a changed function in relation to migration, where career planning and transitions gain legal and existential meanings when education and employment constitute criteria for residence permits. Structural and organisational conditions limit available career alternatives and further restrict young migrants’ scope for action, shaping what pathways are possible. This contributes to situations where structural constraints are framed as matters of individual responsibility, positioning counselling within processes that reproduce social inequality. Career plans develop through ongoing negotiation and adaptation to constrained opportunities, reflecting a shift from realising individual preferences to (re)constructing plans in relation to limited options and high-risk transitions, at the same time as they remain meaningful by providing direction. The overarching conclusion of the dissertation is that career choices and transitions are about how structural and migration policy conditions become decisive for the distribution of education, social inclusion, and opportunities for participation in society for young migrants.