‘Do I stay or do I go’? Constellations of decision-making in young people’s educational trajectories

This chapter aims at looking into decision-making processes at transition from lower- to upper secondary school. The analysis starts from the assumption of a dialectical interplay between structure and agency which underlies individual decision-making. It aims to understand what factors (and actors) are involved in it and how these factors (and actors) interact. The general expectation is that decisions related to the transitions between different educational levels and directions will be scheduled by the education system for all students of the same cohort. In some cases however, such decisions result from changes in other life spheres (e.g. changing place of living, parental divorce), from individual responses to negative experiences in their current education (e.g. bullying, discrimination) or from problems with meeting the demands of a specific educational course (upon own judgment or school assessment). Apart from students themselves parents and teachers are likely to be involved in these decisions, especially if students are under age. This chapter analyses how the decision-making of young people at the end of lower secondary education evolves differently: how do young people refer to decision-making, what criteria are most relevant for them, how do they experience and express choice and constraint and what other actors are involved and in what way. The presentation of the findings centers around four different constellations of decision-making processes emerging from the analysis. In the conclusions, the constellations of individual decision-making are contextualized with regard to different patterns of educational trajectories while also reflecting on the potential and limits of the analysis for educational research.