The articles featured in this special issue aim to investigate the importance of places and social space for the understanding of young people's educational choices, vocational aspirations, and educational results in Norway. In a country priding itself of its comprehensive educational system across social class and large geographical distances, a comparative perspective on education in different local contexts, allow to open the "black box" of spatial educational inequalities. A long overdue emphasis on vocational education in structurally differentiated contexts, that is, Oslo, Telemark, Hordaland, Rogaland, Trøndelag, Troms and Finnmark, contributes to this aim. The articles are organised in two sections: firstly, perspectives of place and space as opportunity structures leading to differences and inequality, secondly, contributions to understand place and space as a subjective frame of reference. We hope that the discussions presented will offer valuable insights while stimulating further debate, both on the study of young people’s spatialised school lives, and on the broader societal questions that they highlight.
Preferences and Biases in Educational Choices and Labor Market Expectations: Shrinking the Black Box of Gender