What do young people think about the extension of compulsory education?

ABSTRACT Background Questions about the optimum age for young people to complete their compulsory education, and how this relates to issues of equity, are familiar topics of debate in many jurisdictions. The aim of educational equity has been fundamental in Finnish education, upheld through decades of reforms. A recent reform has extended compulsory education in Finland to the age of 18. As part of gaining insight into its implications, more needs to be understood about how it is perceived by young people in education settings. Purpose This study sought to explore young people’s perceptions of extended compulsory education in the context of the recent reform in Finland. Methods A total of 19 focus group interviews were carried out with 56 15-to-16-year-olds who were among the first cohort of young people experiencing the extension to compulsory education. Data were analysed qualitatively, using a discourse-analytical approach. Findings Three main discourses emerged, which helped illuminate the young people’s views: (i) grade discourse, (ii) potential equity discourse and (iii) part-of-the-system discourse. Goals and pressure to succeed were emphasised through grade discourse; the extension was also discussed in terms of equity around provision of accessible information and access to education. While most participants deemed completing secondary education self-evident, doubts arose about the system’s flexibility and whether it might hinder choice. Different discourses slightly influenced agency; grade discourse reinforced young people’s goal-oriented stance. Conclusion This study highlights how certain ‘ideal’ positions may be favoured among young people considering various educational and career paths. While effective for those with clear goals, it could discourage deviation from peers’ choices. The findings draw attention more broadly to the need for quality study guidance and wellbeing prioritisation for all young people as they negotiate transitional points in their individual learning journeys.


Introduction
Internationally, there has been a general trend towards increases in the duration of compulsory education and the upper age limit set for it (OECD 2022).Indeed, the CONTACT Henna Juusola henna.juusola@tuni.fioptimum age for young people to complete compulsory education is a subject of debate in many countries and jurisdictions, including important discussion around how schoolleaving age relates to questions of equity (e.g.OECD 2012).Equity of educational opportunity for all young people is often stressed as a cornerstone of the Nordic welfare state; it has traditionally held a central position in education policy.Some evidence suggests that the educational possibilities for those who are in more vulnerable positions than others, such as socioeconomically disadvantaged children, have improved (Metsämuuronen and Lehikko 2022).In Finland, this starting point is part of educational rights according to the Constitution of Finland [Suomen perustuslaki] 731/(1999) (2023).It has been deepened by other legislation concerning different educational levels, such as the Basic Education Act (628/1998), and by broad social policy goals, such as equity of opportunity regarding participation in lifelong learning (Finnish Government 2020).Recently, however, there has been a solid effort to foster an equity narrative within the increasingly market-driven institutional education phase, which has been considered to emphasise the role of education in economic growth (Dovemark et al. 2018;Kelly 2018) and place rational choice in career design over personal interest (Kalalahti and Varjo 2022).
An extension of compulsory education in Finland came into force in 2021, meaning that the minimum school-leaving age has been raised to 18 years. 1Raising the age of compulsory education can be regarded as one of the most crucial national education policy decisions over the past few decades.The aims of extended compulsory education are interlinked with governmental goals to ensure educational opportunities for all (Finnish Government 2019).Research suggests that extended compulsory education can potentially strengthen the institutional hold on young people through education (Kalalahti and Varjo 2022).The research reported in this paper has a focus on young people aged 15-16.It sought to explore their perceptions of the extension of compulsory education by identifying their own meaning-making and considering what influence the extension has on students, according to their own lived experiences.As the reform has been implemented only recently, considering young people's perceptions of the extension is crucial: researching students' views may offer valuable insights that can ultimately help in efforts to support equity in education.

Study context
The notion of equal educational opportunity has long been significant in Finnish education, dating back to the development of elementary schools (Siekkinen 2017).This study refers, in particular, to two main aspects.First, it encompasses procedural justice, such as the accessibility of education (Espinoza 2007), which serves as a central pillar of compulsory education (Finnish Government 2019;Siekkinen 2017).Second, compulsory education entails education policies that consider diversity in educational settings (Finnish Government 2019).This aspect is addressed in this study through the concept of equity.However, previous studies have revealed tension between the concepts of equity and equality, despite their frequent use in conjunction with each other.Equality is often associated with procedural fairness, which can indicate, for example, the legal right of young people to participate in education (Espinoza 2007).In the context of education policy, equality of opportunity in education may be regarded as a broader social and political issue, with varied interpretations (Siekkinen 2017).Consequently, political decisions can significantly impact how the diverse backgrounds and life situations of young people are considered in the education system.In this study, the concept of equity takes centre stage, emphasising distributive justice (Espinoza 2007).
The ultimate educational policy goal of ensuring equality of opportunity is manifested in the form of compulsory education within the Finnish education system.The first Compulsory Education Act in Finland was agreed upon more than 100 years ago, coming into force during 1921 (Rantala 2021).The act obliged municipalities to establish public schools to which parents had to send their children for 6 years.This significantly impacted the lives of children living in rural areas, where educational opportunities were limited compared with cities (Rantala 2021).However, there have been considerable regional variations in the practical implementations of this act for several decades, and, as observed by Ahonen (2021), the act did not guarantee an advanced level of education when compared internationally.Later, in the 1970s, compulsory education was organised within the framework of a new unified basic education phase (lasting 9 years), and this reform was regarded as finally guaranteeing equality of educational opportunity, in the sense that applying for secondary education subsequent to basic education was accessible for everyone, despite the fact that basic education could not completely eliminate the importance of socioeconomic background (Ahonen 2021).By the 21 st century, competence acquired through basic education was no longer considered sufficient to promote the competence that would ensure a young person's ability to seek work after graduation (Ahonen 2021).Indeed, although education policy seems to be increasingly intertwined with labour market aims (Krishnakumar and Nogales 2020), the recent attention to minimum competence ensured by education is increasingly being directed at secondary education.Nevertheless, the old tensions relating to individual good and good for the nation, recognisable 100 years ago, seem to be topical again (Ahonen 2021).
The most recent reform in relation to compulsory education in Finland was agreed upon in 2020, and the extension of the Compulsory Education Act (1214/2020) entered into force in 2021, requiring young people to apply for a place in upper secondary education after their basic education (2020/1214, § 10).This is a significant change in the Finnish education system because, with the change, the compulsory education of those living permanently in Finland now continues until the age of 18, rather than concluding at the end of basic education.Thus, compulsory education as stated in the Compulsory Education Act (1214/2020) currently covers education for 7-to 18-year-olds, which includes basic and upper secondary education. 2Basic education (primary and lower secondary education) last for 9 years and it applies to all young people aged between 7 and 15 years, in a single structure system (grades 1-9).After basic education, there are two types of upper secondary education: general and vocational, and therefore a transition point between basic education and upper secondary education.General upper secondary leads to the matriculation examination; vocational leads to vocational qualifications.
In Finland, the aim of the new Compulsory Education Act (2020/1214, § 1) is to 'secure the basic skills and education necessary for everyone in life and society, and to promote equality of opportunities to develop themselves according to their abilities and needs'. 3In addition, the act aims to increase the national level of education and skills, reduce learning differences and improve welfare (2020/1214, § 1).Regarding the latter, one of the most visible tangible changes has been ensuring that the learning materials, required uniforms and tools, as well as other educational materials (excluding personal equipment such as music instruments), are free of charge for students 4 throughout secondary education (2020/1214, § 17).The Ministry of Education and Culture also included a 4-year follow-up plan for the extension of compulsory education, in which the objectives of the new act, such as student wellbeing, study guidance and other forms of (educational) support, are monitored (Minedu [Ministry of Education and Culture] 2021).
The extension of compulsory education is based on the aims of the Sanna Marin government programme to raise the national competence level and strengthen equality of education (Finnish Government 2019).Varjo, Kalalahti, and Hooley (2022) noted that two value-based starting points influenced the political aims of extending compulsory education: to enhance competence linked to employment and to prevent marginalisation.These perspectives were deemed particularly significant in reducing educational dropout, although in Finland, after basic education, the majority of young people continue their studies into upper secondary education.For instance, in 2020, 54% of young people continued their studies in general upper secondary education, while 39% enrolled in vocational education (OSF 2021).In addition, a report on young people in Finland published in 2019 (OECD 2019) particularly focused on young people not in employment, education or training (known as 'NEET'), noting that those who did not complete upper secondary education comprised nearly half of all 'NEETs'.Such considerations have been used to support the rationale for the extension of compulsory education (Varjo, Kalalahti, and Hooley 2022).

Conceptual background
In the research reported in this paper, the extension of compulsory education is conceptualised as a socially constructed phenomenon.It is understood as part of a wider social change in Nordic countries, where education policy is increasingly developed according to the principles of a knowledge-based economy (KBE) (Dovemark et al. 2018), indicating national competitiveness in the global economy (Sum and Jessop 2013).This, however, is interlinked with historical and political developments (Dovemark et al. 2018).In a KBE, competitiveness strongly depends on individuals' competencies, skills and abilities.The KBE also integrates national (educational) strategies into various economically-driven goals that are seen to improve productivity (Dovemark et al. 2018;Sum and Jessop 2013).In the case of Finland and other Nordic countries, the KBE-driven policy shift suggests that the aim of education may no longer be as intensely engaged in social democratic welfare state improvement (Dovemark et al. 2018).Rather, it tends towards harnessing for employment purposes in an entrepreneurial kind of society that emphasises an individual's skills and flexibility, as well as personal tendencies, to compete for jobs nationally and globally (Jessop 2016).
In the context of extending compulsory education, a KBE can set a socially bound frame for ways in which young people can consider their personal transition from basic education to some form of upper secondary education and their plans relating to their potential future(s) (Dovemark et al. 2018;Kelly 2018).Indeed, the extension of compulsory education can maintain and strengthen certain kinds of systems of practices in educational institutions that are intertwined with the production of knowledge and, therefore, maintain what is supposed to be the 'normal' or 'right' way to consider educational choices (Brunila et al. 2011;Foucault and Gordon 1980;Rose and Miller 2008).This manifests 'institutionalised knowledge practices' (Kelly 2018(Kelly , 1293) that shape and guide youth agency and educational solutions.For example, teachers in educational institutions and those responsible for student guidance aiming to assist and support students in their studies hold an expert position that can reproduce certain transition practices from basic education to the next stage of education with which young people are involved.
Within this conceptualisation, the extension of compulsory education as a policy reform sets a frame for subject positions for young people, such as roles and agencies.These provide personal locations from which to consider educational transition points and make educational choices.In the present study, subject positions are considered from a discourse-analytical perspective as a way to indicate locations.These locations are produced through discourses; thus, they only partially describe the world of experience.Subject positions are relative and constructed in relation to other position(s) (Malhi, Boon, and Rogers 2009).The subject position sets certain conditions of agency and boundaries that define a specific position and are connected to a differently positioned power (Edley 2001).At the same time, subject position(s) are not stable or may not permanently shape individual choices.Instead, people can move between different subject positions maintained by discourses.Thus, subject positions are slippery and under constant negotiation (Edley 2001).In addition, in different contexts, a person can identify diverse, opposite or parallel subject positions through which the person's choices and the future may be perceived (Malhi, Boon, and Rogers 2009).In this respect, discourses function as a social activity that maintains, produces, separates and/or unifies subject positions (Edley 2001).By doing so, discourses indicate power structures (Foucault and Gordon 1980;Rose and Miller 2008) that influence young people's agency and what are considered 'correct' activities when young people engage in compulsory education.

Purpose
Set within the contextual and conceptual landscapes described above, this study sought to explore the extension of compulsory education in Finland from the perspectives of 15to-16-year olds who were part of the first wave of students experiencing the extension.The research was guided by the following questions: What are the key perceptions emphasised by young people regarding the extension of compulsory education?What role(s) do young people play in shaping these perceptions?

Methodology
The methodological underpinnings are based on phenomenology, which emphasises the role of experiences in developing phenomena (Laverty 2003), and discourse analysis, which stresses the importance of language in constructing social reality (Foucault 1972;Foucault and Gordon 1980).Empirically, the research drew on the experiences of young people in focus group interviews, in which the young people reflected on their experiences together with the researcher.The experiences shared by young people in relation to the expansion of compulsory education reflected subjective values and shared knowledge that were not detached from the political discourse on compulsory education.The approach is similar to the combination of discourse analysis and phenomenology employed by, for example, Martinez-Avila (2017), where it is observed that daily intersubjective experiences are impacted and shaped (also) within discourses presented, for example, by media or political institutions.
Phenomenologically (Laverty 2003), experiences are seen to be reflectively formulated by participants; thus, when conducting discourse analysis (Foucault 1972;Foucault and Gordon 1980), the perspectives presented by individual people are interpreted as representing views that the individual students formed in the interaction as part of the group of young people.The importance of interaction in the focus group interviews was particularly relevant in terms of those views where a consensus was produced by the participants and in the views that seemed to engender discussion among the participants or bring up a new kind of approach that was not previously discussed or asked about by the researcher.That said, there were no particular disagreements that emerged in the focus group interviews.This could have been influenced by the fact that, in the focus groups, the viewpoints of individual people were inevitably related to other group members, which could lead to a desire to support and conform to others' opinions.In addition, the fact that the focus group interviews were relatively short (lasting 12-40 min) and undertaken during the school day could have impacted the ways in which the participants formulated their views.

Ethical considerations
The study was conducted by applying the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity's ethical principles for research with human participants in Finland (TENK 2019).Participation in this study was voluntary, and the research was carried out during the school day.Research permission was asked for and granted (in writing) by the educational institutions and individual students.Before data collection, the participants were given a brief introduction to the reforms relating to the extension of compulsory education and the aim of the research.The transcripts of the focus group interviews were anonymised, so that individual people or their geographical locations could not be identified from the text.

Data collection
The data were collected as part of a larger ALL-YOUTH research project on young people's societal participation and wellbeing (SRC 2023).Together, the focus group participants formed a relatively diverse educational background, covering students from one general upper secondary education institution and two vocational education institutions, including two different fields of study and one year of preparatory education for vocational training (known as 'VALMA' training 5 ).The preparatory education did not itself lead to any qualification, as the aim was to strengthen the students' readiness and competences to apply to a vocational educational institution.The participants were studying in different geographical locations in Finland.The focus group participants were purposely selected with regard to their being amongst the first group of youth covered by the extension of compulsory education and being from different educational contexts.This kind of selection principle is appropriate for focus group interviews (Adler, Salanterä, and Zumstein-Shaha 2019).The selection was facilitated by the research group's personal (research-or work-related) contacts as a means of targeting the required educational institutions and participants.The contacts were teachers from relevant educational institutions whose study groups were invited to participate in the research.
Prior to the focus group interviews, the student groups were invited to participate in creative workshops.Following empathy-based story principles (Wallin, Koro-Ljungberg, and Eskola 2019), students in the creative workshops were invited to craft, draw and/or write either the 'dream' study path or the 'everything-goes-wrong' study path (or both, depending on the groups' interests).The purpose of the workshops was to enable creative participation in the research.After the workshops, the creative collages made by the students were used in the interviews as vignettes, representing the narrativedriven tradition of stimulating discussions in the research interviews (Jasinski, Nokkala, and Juusola 2021).
A total of 19 focus group interviews (Adler, Salanterä, and Zumstein-Shaha 2019) were conducted in autumn 2021 and spring 2022, at the students' respective educational settings.The focus group interviews were conducted in Finnish.Altogether, this study included 56 participants: 27 participants from general upper secondary education and 29 participants across two vocational institutions.The vast majority of participants took part in the focus groups; additionally, any contribution to data generation via written responses to the interview topics was also included in the data analysis.Each group interview involved between two and five participants, representing young people studying for their first year at either general upper secondary institutions or vocational education institutions.During the interviews, participants were asked to describe themes such as how they considered the transition phase from basic education to upper secondary education and how they perceived the new compulsory education act.During the focus group interviews, the participants were not asked to provide any background information, such as gender or socioeconomic background.
The focus group interviews represented a social interaction situation in which the young people studying in the same group and researchers working outside the secondary educational institution discussed the questions raised by the researchers.Five researchers, including the author (all part of the larger ALL-YOUTH project), served as the discussants in these focus groups, thereby assisting with data collection (the other four researchers were not involved in the data analysis or the writing of this article).Each focus group had one researcher assigned to it.The themes of the focus group interviews centred primarily on study place selection and application-related guidance, as well as on the young people's thoughts regarding the extension of compulsory education.Through these themes, the participants reflected (in groups) on the immediate consequences of the extension of compulsory education.In the focus group interviews, the group members verbally described the content of the collages they made in the workshops; hence, the creative collages were considered 'icebreakers' in a focus group interview situation in which the researchers and research participants did not know each other beforehand.

Data analysis
Our in-depth, qualitative analysis focused on the interrelations of discourses and interconnections between discourses and subject positions of young people (Foucault 1972;Malhi, Boon, and Rogers 2009).These indicate the intertwining of power relations and discourses by bringing forth questions regarding the instances discourses serve and in what way (Foucault and Gordon 1980, 115).For example, several participants stressed the importance of good grades.These generated questions related to study guidance practices in basic education, especially at the stage where young people were considering different study place options.In the present study, the term discourse follows Foucault's approach (Foucault 1972, 48-49), as it is understood that discourses represent social practices that systematically form objects.At the same time, discourses as social practices are embedded with norms and spatial and temporal dimensions (Foucault 1972;Malhi, Boon, and Rogers 2009); thus, the meanings given to objects via discourses are not consistent.
In terms of procedure, the focus group interviews were firstly transcribed and anonymised, with participants assigned pseudonyms.The data were then analysed by the author in the following way.The transcribed interviews were read several times to begin with, so that the author could become familiar with the text and obtain an initial understanding of the potential main elements.At this stage of the analysis, the aim was to identify the views and main themes relating to the extension of compulsory education in general that were emphasised by the young people.In the second stage of the analysis, the focus was on the meaning of the identified views, such as discussions about obtaining good grades 6 to be able to gain a suitable study place.These views were further considered as the educational 'truths', and potential subject positions of young people were identified in relation to these educational 'truths'.Overall, the analysis aimed to identify a diverse set of meaning systems that could reflect the views of the young people about the transition phase in question and also bring out the young people's agency (i.e.young people's subject positions).

Findings and discussion
Through detailed analysis, themes emerged from the data, allowing exploration of the study's research questions.The analysis facilitated the identification of relationships between the discourses and subject positions for young people who had recently started their studies in upper secondary education.Based on the data analysis, three main discourses were identified to describe those meaningful aspects for the young people in the study: grade discourse, potential equity discourse and part-of-the-system discourse.These three discourses helped to illuminate the young people's views on what the extension of compulsory education looked like to them at the beginning of upper secondary education.Moreover, discourses include those social practices (Foucault 1972) that maintain a certain kind of normality relating to the transition from basic to upper secondary education (Brunila et al. 2011;Foucault and Gordon 1980;Kelly 2018).The analysis identified various subject positions, which were as follows: goal-oriented, professional-oriented, obligatory applicant and explorer.
Table 1 sets out the key interconnections between these discourses and subject positions.It must be borne in mind that the contents of Table 1 are only indicative, in the sense that the relationships between discourses and subject positions are multidimensional at the individual level.Nevertheless, Table 1 indicates the power relations that, according to the analysis, emphasise certain types of 'ideal' positions that are considered 'normal', while other types of agencies remain underemphasised.
Most notably, it was apparent through analysis that the dominance of grade discourse strengthened the young people's goal-oriented subject position in terms of their current study place and future-oriented plans.Correspondingly, the potential equity discourse encompassed elements that could support both goal-oriented and professional-oriented subject positions.At the same time, the analysis indicated that the potential equity discourse could present challenges to diverse subject positionsespecially positions oriented towards professional development -if the utilisation of potential equity remains insufficient in educational institutions.Furthermore, the part-of-the-system discourse emphasised the obligatory applicant subject position, in particular.However, a fourth subject position, that of explorer, was excluded from the discourses describing compulsory education and therefore does not appear in Table 1, because the requirement to be part of the educational institution does not support this kind of agency.In the subsections below, details of the findings are presented, organised first by discourses and then by subject positions.Where relevant to illustrate the main points, anonymised and translated excerpts from the data have been included.

Discourses: grade, potential equity and part-of-the-system
Grade discourse emerged as a dominant meaning system in focus group interviews.This discourse was explicitly related to the transition phase from basic to upper secondary education.It was associated with selecting a suitable study place and receiving study guidance that aimed to support young people with this.For those wishing to study in general upper secondary education in particular, the goals and pressure to succeed were emphasised through grade discourse.Here, good grades were combined with both personal success and the prestige of the educational institution: those educational institutions with higher average requirements were considered desirable and highquality places.As some of the young people stated, pursuing good grades in the last year of basic education was necessary to secure a study place 'in the good' general upper secondary education institutions.Grade discourse also included study guidance practices that aimed to support study progress and provide information about further studies and professional fields.Some of the interviewees mentioned that they had agreed with the study adviser to try to raise their grades.This kind of practice can further strengthen the dominant position of grade discourse as part of the transition phase (Tolonen and Aapola-Kari 2022).However, some young people considered that a repeated emphasis on grades in the educational context was frustrating, especially when the grades became an obstacle to pursuing the study place to which a student aspired or when talking about grades seemed to narrow the options presented to young people.It was thought that valuing grade average over some other aspects could leave other skills in short supply, which could impact how individual skills were supported in education.Thus, according to the analysis, grade discourse emphasised the 'truths' of success that were maintained in educational institutions and educational contexts, where good grades were viewed as providing acceptable educational options for young people.Thus, the grade-centric approach was positioned as normal and desirable (Tolonen and Aapola-Kari 2022): challenging this 'truth' can be difficult when in the position of a young person, even when there are other possibilities.
The meanings of the extension of compulsory education were linked to the potential equity discourse in the young people's discussions.Potential equity discourse refers to those elements holding the potential to promote educational equity, irrespective of whether this potential is realised in practice or not.According to the analysis, the most crucial potential was the opportunity to study at the upper secondary level without additional costs.In this case, the focus was especially on learning materials, such as books, and it was particularly relevant for general upper secondary education students.Specifically, the students who were studying in general upper secondary education emphasised that the possibility of studying free of charge was important from the point of view of equality of opportunity and reducing parents' financial contribution to education.The topic of free books and other learning materials was not, though, similarly emphasised by the interviewees from vocational educational institutions or those in the VALMA training.Instead, some students from vocational institutions considered that they still had additional costs because the public transport connections between their home and the educational institution could have been better.
It was evident from the analysis that potential equity also meant access to information about different study location options.Whilst some study participants believed that they had received sufficient information about various different study places, this was not the case for all.In particular, students from vocational institutions emphasised that, when they were in basic education, study guidance relating to opportunities for further studies had been particularly focused on general upper secondary education.Thus, the guidance received was perceived as unequal and there was a sense that it had not necessarily considered the young people's interests.Some young people felt that they had not always been equally supported when deciding on the place to study.For example, one student from a vocational institution described this as follows: Our guidance counsellor didn't know anything either, not even where this institution is located.Then they just told me that you couldn't go anywhere so far and how are you going to live there and things like that.It was a bit like that . . .It didn't really help; it would have been easier if I had got a little encouragement.
Potential equity may be interlinked to institutional practices, such as study guidance practices (see, for example, Varjo, Kalalahti, and Hooley 2022) that aim to ensure successful completion and progress of studies as well as opportunities for further studies and information about professions (FNAE 2023b).Correspondingly, the accessibility of career-related information depended not only on the guidance received at the educational institution but also on advice and career examples received outside the educational institution from family and friends, which influenced, as well, what kind of opportunities the young people saw for themselves at upper secondary education level and in their working lives (Varjo, Kalalahti, and Hooley 2022).Based on the focus group interviews, there was a struggle in potential equity discourse in terms of which potentials were emphasised and which were not, especially in connection with the availability of information.Thus, from the analysis, it was evident that emphasising general upper secondary education or invalidating other options could make opportunities unequal for young people.
Part-of-the-system discourse placed emphasis on the institutional context and continuity of the educational path.Completing a qualification in upper secondary education represented a self-evident continuation for most of the participants in the study.In this sense, their plans were not directly affected by the new compulsory education requirement to apply for a study place after basic education, because they would have done so in any case.Similarly, the obligation to study at the next level of education was seen to strengthen the opportunities for maintaining everyday routines considered to prevent marginalisation.The latter was particularly emphasised amongst the students participating in VALMA training.From this perspective, the extension of compulsory education was regarded as being 'good for society', as one participant put it.Here, the part-of-the-system discourse included the young people's commonly shared belief in the educational system, to which individual engagement was considered to be in the interests of individuals and society.
However, part-of-the-system discourse included, too, doubts about whether the system allowed for flexibility.For example, one of the concerns that was raised was related to the ability to change study fields in upper secondary education.Critical perspectives emerged about whether the system could realise one's wishes related to working life -for example, being able to have part-time work while studying in upper secondary education.Some of the interviewees felt that compulsory education constituted mandatory participation in education, thus reducing the possibility of taking a year off or going directly to work after basic studies.Therefore, the analysis suggested that part-of-the-system discourse also formed a meaning of compulsory education in which young people could be impelled to be within the system in a relatively narrow sense, despite their individual interests.

Subject positions: the plurality of young people's educational agency
It was evident through analysis that the young people's personal interests and the current position of educational institutions influenced the stances from which the young people saw themselves, their aspirations and their future-related wishes.These subject positions were interrelated to the discourses, described above, that could indicate the certain kinds of conditions of young people's agency (Edley 2001) in relation to the extension of compulsory education.Below, the four different subject positions describing those agencies (i.e.goal-oriented, professional-oriented, obligatory applicant and explorer) are presented in detail.
The goal-oriented subject position primarily pointed to educational-focused or workrelated aims, establishing performance-oriented goals in terms of participants' choice of where to study.In these subject positions, the students had clear plans about where they wanted to be after 9 years of basic education.At the same time, the goal-oriented subject position involved certain tensions: on the one hand, it was perceived as an easily accessible role for which the participants did not have to 'do anything, really', as one of the participants observed.On the other hand, though, it was recognised that goaloriented agency meant pushing oneself to raise the grade average.Indeed, this subject position was often interlinked with notions of the good grades required to obtain a study place in general upper secondary education (in the capital region) or the skills relevant to working life.When the goal-oriented position was connected to grades, in some cases, the students described the current pressure to succeed in their studies and obtain a place to study in the next phase, in higher education.In addition, a grade-focused, goal-oriented position was often supported and encouraged via the study guidance offered in basic education that aims to support successful completion of studies as well as provide information about opportunities for further studies (FNAE 2023b).In this regard, the goaloriented position appeared relatively strongly supported in basic education.Similarly, in situations where goal-oriented agency indicated working life-related goals, the position was related to personal wishes to advance in working life after studying, which was specifically common among students from vocational education (see also Ågren 2021).Regarding this, one of the many specific desires mentioned was to work as an entrepreneur in the private sector after graduation.
The professional-oriented subject position indicated a personal interest in the professional field and a desire to enter the labour market as soon as possible.The professionaloriented position was emphasised strongly in the focus group interviews conducted at the vocational educational institutions, which is understandable considering its relevance to vocational education.In this position, student agency was connected to professional identity and labour market skills (Ågren 2021), which also influenced the choice of the place of study.Here, notions of good grades or success in education did not constitute a significant element.Rather, education was perceived as a necessity from the point of view of transitioning to the labour market: that is, to gain the qualifications to work in a certain profession.However, it was noteworthy that some of the descriptions of professional-oriented positions overlapped with goal-oriented agency, especially when the goals for working life were clear and ambitious.In general, professional-oriented agency appeared to be a natural position for many of the participants.In some cases, this position was influenced by the fact that other people (adults, such as parents) in the immediate community worked in the same field (see also Tolonen and Aapola-Kari 2022).However, the professional-oriented position sometimes required students to devise independent solutions and move away from their childhood home and, thus, depart from their familiar surroundings.In addition, it was considered that the professional-oriented position was not always clearly supported by the study guidance offered in basic education.Instead, some students said that the study guidance in basic education strongly emphasised general upper secondary education and that the students had not always received encouragement from adults to move far from their childhood home.
In the obligatory applicant subject position, the requirement to apply for a place to study in upper secondary education, as regulated by the compulsory education extension, was underscored.This suggests the importance of the transition phase between basic education and upper secondary education, which is defined by institutional and legal starting points.From this perspective, the obligatory applicant agency indicated the educational pathway of young people as an externally set obligation, where the goal was to find a study place in upper secondary education, thereby maintaining active citizenship (Ågren 2021;Kalalahti and Varjo 2022;Kelly 2018).Obligatory applicant agency can support the labour market's need to have skilled citizens (Ågren 2021) and, thereby, national competitiveness, which is at the centre of a KBE (Sum and Jessop 2013).
For those young people who felt that a goal-oriented subject position or professionaloriented subject position was natural and meaningful for them, the obligatory applicant position was not particularly significant: for them, this position was mainly a technical performance necessary for completing the application forms.However, some study participants also revealed frustration, anxiety and stress regarding the obligatory applicant's position.This was especially typical among those students who were not sure about future plans or still without a place of study.Thus, the explorer subject position represented a situation where selecting a suitable study place or planning a professional orientation seemed uncertain.In this position, young people considered different educational options, regardless of whether they were satisfied with their current educational institution.In the explorer position, despite the uncertainty, options seemed to be open for the time being.In this position, young people also described the need to have additional time to consider their educational and professional wishes.
Explorer agency was highlighted specifically in the focus group interviews with the students who participated in VALMA training.This is not surprising because, as noted earlier, VALMA training does not lead to qualifications: instead, one of VALMA's goals is to provide information on various vocational educational options.In this regard, VALMA, as an institutional environment, could be regarded as supporting explorer agency in some respects, and students believed it was good that they had been able to become familiar with different educational opportunities.At the same time, it is important to note that some of the participants perceived the explorer's position to be related to a sense of personal failure, especially in those cases where future-related plans included several uncertainties.
Explorer agency was evident, too, in some other focus group interviews, including those conducted in general upper secondary education.Specifically, some of the interview participants felt that general upper secondary education had given them extra time to consider their future.For students in general upper secondary education, explorer agency might have been perceived as (publicly) more 'natural' compared with the experiences mentioned by students in the VALMA training, because general upper secondary education leads to qualifications that hold symbolic and acknowledged values in Finnish society.Interestingly, this arose despite the fact that all the study participants were involved in education organised by an official educational institution, which means all were, in this sense, part of the system.
It must be borne in mind that the four different subject positions described above are not mutually exclusive.Rather, in the same focus group interview, participants could perceive their agency from slightly different positions.At the same time, subject positions were often constructed in relation to other students (see, for example, Malhi, Boon, and Rogers 2009), either from the same institutions or from other kinds of educational institutions.This may indicate the societal belonging that is constructed in relation to the other (peers) (see, for example, Ågren 2021; Nikunen and Korvajärvi 2022).For instance, students studying at general upper secondary educational institutions reflected their current student position and future-related employer position in relation to those studying at the vocational institution and vice versa.

Further discussion
According to previous research, young people's choices about where to study after basic education and their ways of considering the future are connected to those 'internalised' expectations and those 'right choices' (Brunila et al. 2011, 321) that have been formed by the contribution of numerous intersectional background factors, including geographical location and socioeconomic background (Tolonen and Aapola-Kari 2022).As Tolonen and Aapola-Kari (2022) observe, young people form their perceptions of their own possible future in relation to the educational market, which is emphasised precisely in the educational transition phase.At the same time, there have been indications that young people identified themselves as 'good taxpayers' and productive citizens (Ågren 2021), which also has a clear connection with the KBE-driven education policy (Jessop 2016;Sum and Jessop 2013).The current study resonates with these previous studies, emphasising the wider shift in education policy whereby national traditions are increasingly embedded within global trends such as KBE, as noted by Dovemark et al. (2018).
The analysis did not suggest any particularly strong association between the extension of compulsory education and the decisions made by the young people participating in the study.As mentioned earlier, this may partially reflect the students' anticipation that they would have continued into upper secondary education in any event.However, the analysis does suggest an image of an educational context that increasingly emphasises competitiveness and efficiency (Dovemark et al. 2018;Kalalahti and Varjo 2021).This seems to be evident in the dominance of the grade discourse and its connection to a goaloriented position, which opens up important broader questions around relationships between productiveness and wellbeing.It is also the case that, for some young people, assuming the explorer agency (i.e. in which the future is still uncertain) was perceived as personal failure in some respects, even though it is, in fact, a very natural and quite relatable part of young people's lives.This study highlights the importance of taking into account the quality of study guidance, young people's own experiences of the support received and, more widely, the role of educational institutions as promoters of student wellbeing.

Limitations
Generalisation is not intended from this small, in-depth qualitative study.It must be recognised that the analysis was based on a relatively small sample of young people who had only recently started their studies in upper secondary education and whose experiences of the extension of compulsory education were, therefore, particularly focused on the transition phase.To gain a comprehensive understanding of the extension's long-term effect, it would be necessary to conduct large-scale longitudinal research where different aspects of the compulsory extension can be explored in detail over time, with investigation of the trajectories of a large cross-section of young people following diverse pathways.It would also be important to examine the institutional frames of the extension of compulsory education more precisely, focusing on the strengthened institutional position of municipalities as an enabler of young people's study paths.

Conclusions
There have been plenty of discussions internationally about how school-leaving age relates to questions of equity in education.In the context of a recent extension of compulsory education in Finland, this study sought to investigate the perceptions of young people who were amongst the first cohort experiencing the extension.Through analysis, it was possible to identify three main discourses that helped to illuminate what the extension of compulsory education looked like, from their perspectives, at the beginning of upper secondary education: (i) grade discourse, (ii) potential equity discourse and (iii) part-of-the-system discourse.The identified discourses supported the diverse subject positions of young people.Connections were evident which linked grade discourse with a goal-oriented subject position, potential equity discourse with goal-oriented and professional-oriented subject positions and part-of-the-system with obligatory applicant position.A fourth position, explorer, emerged, which represented a situation whereby selecting a suitable study place or planning a professional orientation seemed uncertain.Significantly, the four subject positions were not mutually exclusive, reflecting how participants could perceive their agency from slightly different positions.
Overall, the study suggested that young people's perceptions of the extension of compulsory education were expressed through these three discourses, with grade discourse emphasising goal orientation, potentiality of equity underscoring the value of cost-free education and the part-of-the-system discourse indicating the institutional continuity of education.These discourses were primarily formed in relation to the educational context, but also with reference to the widened social context that includes those 'truths' through which the expected, 'normal' activity is reproduced (Foucault and Gordon 1980;Rose and Miller 2008).This highlights how certain 'ideal' positions may be favoured among young people considering various educational and career paths and how this may be supported by educational structures.While effective for those with clear goals, it could discourage deviation from peers' choices.The findings draw attention to the need to provide quality study guidance and prioritise wellbeing for all young people as they traverse transitional points in their individual learning journeys.

Table 1 .
Interconnections between discourses and subject positions.