Browsing by Author "Ekqvist, Cecilia"

When adolescents graduate from upper secondary school they face a turning-point when they shall make an occupational choice. The occupational choice can be problematic and an alternative is then to study at a folk high-school. The education programmes at the Finnish folk high-schools usually last one year and offer optional, educative and vocational education. The aim of this qualitative Master's Thesis is to investigate folk high-school students' occupational choice behaviour and their experiences of the process of the occupational choice. The aim of this is to clarify the importance of the folk high-school for adolescents' process of occupational choice. The scientific approach of this study is phenomenological, which means that the study aims to describe the informants' subjective experiences and descriptions regarding the research topic. Eleven students from Västra Nylands folkhögskola were interviewed in this study, and the collected data were analysed using theoretical interpretation. The interviews were conducted as theme interviews. The results of this study demonstrate that the reasons behind applying for the folk high-school were a need of a year off, career goals, will to become independent, pragmatically rational thinking and emotions, socialisation, and the education as a second-hand choice. Several of the informants experienced stress facing the occupational choice, but the year at the folk high-school helped them with the process as well as developed them knowledge-wise, personally and socially.