Does Rural Youths’ Use of Online Information Resources to Learn About Education and Work Enhance Options or Increase Social Inequalities?

Abstract

Using online information resources can increase both the quantity and scope of information available to rural youth regarding possible courses of action after completing schooling, beyond those available in their social spaces and physical places. Assisting their use of online information resources may be crucial for career guidance counsellors in times when information on education, occupations and the labour market are easiest accessed, and sometimes only possible to reach, through the internet. This paper focuses on the extent that young people living in rural areas use online information resources for career learning and specifically explores factors associated with a higher frequency of using such resources. Empirically, it is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in spring 2021 of practices of Swedish upper secondary school students living in a rural community in their final year (n=267). Possible explanations for identified relations and their implications for career guidance practice are discussed.

Keywords

• Career Learning
• Information-seeking behaviour
• Rural Youth
• Digital Divide
• Career Information
• career guidance counselling