Educational Choices and Migration Aspirations: How do Young People from a Peripheral Area in Croatia Imagine Their Future?
Educational Choices and Migration Aspirations: How do Young People from a Peripheral Area in Croatia Imagine Their Future?

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores how young people from a peripheral area in Croatia combine their educational and migration plans concerning the desirability which they attach to the local, national and global environment. A survey research study involved high-school students from Vukovar-Srijem County in Croatia (N=681), with the intention of ascertaining where they would like to study and where to live after completing their secondary education. Cluster analysis identified 5 groups of students and a multinomial regression analysis showed that the perception of the local developmental potentials, the quality of life and the students’ value orientations significantly impact on their educational and life paths. The differences between young people who envisage their educational and migration paths leading them abroad and to other parts of Croatia and those who would like to stay in the local communities are particularly highlighted. Interviews with students confirmed that the differences between these groups indicate varying perceptions of the likelihood of developing a career in the local community, satisfaction with local higher-education possibilities and value differences that point to different preferred future lifestyles. The intention to stay in the local community is related to higher place attachment, traditionalism, and a lower preference for personal autonomy.

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