A qualitative study of how young women in a rural Canadian community plan their futures

Education and employment are well-acknowledged social determinants of health. However, little is known about how young women in rural, resource-dependent communities make decisions about postsecondary education, employment, and other aspects of their futures. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study with young women (ages 16-19) in a rural, oil and gas town in Alberta, Canada. Our overarching research question was, how do young women living in this town imagine and plan for their futures? We conducted 16 one-on-one interviews in 2022 and analysed them using reflexive thematic analysis. Through this process, we developed two main themes. The first main theme of 'challenging gendered social and economic relations' has three subthemes: (i) feeling frustrated with the inattention to girls' lives, (ii) admiring independent women who defy gender norms, and (iii) desiring financial self-sufficiency in response to economic instability. The second main theme of 'negotiating ambivalence about belonging' has three subthemes: (i) facing the double edge of belonging, (ii) transitioning professional, queer, and political identities, and (iii) holding space for ambivalence. Overall, this study generated insight into young women's experiences of growing up and living in a rural, oil and gas town, which helped us map out how these experiences shaped their future plans. Better understanding the perspectives of young women in resource-dependent communities is important for informing the design of interventions targeting their health and well-being, such as those encouraging the uptake of postsecondary education.