Increased inequality: An analysis of Irish guidance counsellors’ perceptions of the impact of budgetary cutbacks across different school types

Abstract

Equality discourses informed this study on the impact of budgetary cutbacks on guidance in Irish schools, which found that funding inequalities between fee-charging schools and schools in the Free Education Scheme (FES) contributed to unequal reductions in guidance. Factors such as social class, familial habitus, parent-power, cultural, social and economic capitals, and institutional habitus were shown to influence young people and their parents’ decisionmaking, and in turn the guidance provided in schools. As FES schools prioritised career guidance over counselling, students experienced compromised care, as counselling was neglected and the guidance service became a reactionary crisis intervention service. In fee-charging schools there was no change.