This study examines how young people from regional, rural and remote (RRR) and low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds navigate career decision-making within structurally constrained educational contexts. Drawing on focus group data from 54 secondary and tertiary students across Australia, the study applies Easterbrook et al. (Easterbrook, M. J. , I. R. Hadden, and M. Nieuwenhuis. 2019. “Identities in Context: How Social Class Shapes Inequalities in Education. ” The Social Psychology of Inequality: 103–121. https: //doi. org/10. 1007/978-3-030-28856-3₇) Identities in Context model to analyse interactions among structural constraints, identity processes, and contextual resources. Findings reveal persistent inequities in school-based career guidance, including overemphasis on university pathways and limited support for vocational, alternative and transitional routes, generating identity threat and perceived incompatibility with higher education. Despite these barriers, participants demonstrated strong personal agency, resilience and self-directed career exploration, often compensating for institutional gaps through external networks, family support and proactive information-seeking. By foregrounding geographical context as a critical dimension of educational inequity and adopting a strength-based lens, this study contributes to youth studies by highlighting how young people negotiate disadvantage and shape pathways.
Coffey et al. (Mon,) studied this question.