Does it matter where you live? Young people’s experiences of educational transitions from basic education to further education in Finnish Lapland

This chapter describes how young people living in small communities or rural areas in Finnish Lapland portray their educational transitions from primary to secondary school and further to upper secondary school and vocational education and training. The research data consists of 7 focus group interviews, which were attended by a total of 27 students. The research philosophy relied on a phenomenological approach in which the young people’s experiences were explored. The data analyses were conducted using the theory-led thematic analysis approach. According to the results, the transition phases resulted in changing roles and responsibilities for the students. The experiences included both positive and negative aspects. The students’ social relationships and supporting networks underwent changes, for example, the students were excited about whether they will develop new friends and their parents expected them to be more autonomous than before. Young people leaving their communities encountered diverse challenges. On the other hand, some of the young people who continued their studies in the small community were worried about their privacy and had a fear of stigmatisation. As an answer to the question set in the title of this chapter, we may conclude that it really matters where one lives during educational transitions.