Abstract
This study focus on adolescents motivations about remaining in rural areas in the Mid Sweden Region, a part of Sweden with decreasing school performance scores and high out-migration. The study is based on 1,500 young people’s responses to a Web-based survey within the framework of a regional school development project. The research questions focused on: whether youths were going to stay there or move the future in urban or rural areas, influences, and the future choices and differences among genders, regions, and age groups. The empirical data are processed with statistical analysis. The study confirms previous research on young people’s relocations from rural areas; jobs and education are important motives, and the most prone to move are women. What is new knowledge is that lessons about the region’s importance have a positive, significant effect on individuals’ plans to remain in their home municipality. This can and should be highlighted in local, regional, and national politics, but more importantly in school discourses. Since school plays a role in students’ thinking and future choices, a larger formation effort could be of great value for norms and regional political standpoints. The study has relevance to the international terms of similar geographical areas.
Highlights
Students in the Mid Sweden Region (Note 1) are performing increasingly worse with regard to merit ratings and attainments
The query structures for the Web-based survey were an operationalization of the theoretical concepts upon which the study was based, results of previous research, and aspects of school improvement and regional development that we considered relevant
By motives for plans to move from their home municipality, the adolescents said it would be good to live in a big city
Summary
Students in the Mid Sweden Region (Note 1) are performing increasingly worse with regard to merit ratings and attainments. This study focuses on adolescents opinions and is based on about 1,500 responses from a Web-based survey It is about young people’s opinions about the sparsely populated/rural areas (Note 2), the future, influencing factors, and the role of the school. This section includes background on youth migration from rural/sparsely populated areas, previous research on regional development and school improvement, and specific research on my region’s young people. A large majority of Swedish municipalities—250 of 290—lose their young people, resulting in a declining population (Jordbruksverket, 2013) This trend of young adults and young women move from rural areas exists and will continue to do so (Boverket, 2012). Population reduction and demographic changes mean that local governments lose tax and market base, which in turn affects employment and enterprise development (settlement) and welfare (Myndigheten för tillväxtpolitiska utvärderingar och analyser, 2011; Möller, 2011; Svensson, 2006b; 2014; Westholm & Waldenström, 2008)
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