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In this article we analyse what happens to career counselling when it is intertwined with the asylum process. A Swedish example is an amendment to the education legislation, regarding residence permits for upper secondary level students. Following the resulting changes in juridical, educational and interpersonal conditions, career counsellors must deliver ‘high-stakes counselling’ that can profoundly affect individuals’ prospects of asylum or deportation. Our analysis is based on ethnographically inspired fieldwork, a survey and Bernsteinian theory. In current Swedish conditions, tight matching to demands of the labour market is essential in this ‘high-stakes counselling’. We conclude that a consequence is institutional introduction of conditional citizenship of asylum-seeking students. This allows countries to select migrants through education, which severely conflicts not only with counselling ideals, but also democratic and equality values regarding possibilities to make choices for the future, thus creating ethical dilemmas for counsellors.

This article analyses the professional agency of counsellors working with migrants. Using Bernstein’s concepts of classification and framing, our thematic analysis draws on interviews with career counsellors from both Finland and Sweden. The results highlight a need for counsellors to recognise the differences in situations of students with migrant backgrounds and their native peers and adjust their counselling accordingly. They also indicate that counsellors struggle with implementation of the core of their professional agency as a result of societal domination of the counselling agenda and indicate a need for more collective, society-level challenging of this agenda.

The language introduction programme and the paths of newlyarrived youths through the Swedish educational system. This article analyses organisational aspects of the Swedish language introductionprogramme for newly arrived youths and the implications for their following transitions and career paths. This article draws on 52 interviews with students, teachers, career counsellors and principals. An analysis of their responses, with a Bernsteinian theoretical framework, indicates that the programme has major deficiencies in relation to upper secondary programmes, adult education and knowledge required for educational transitions. Findings include limitations with regard to the introduction programme’s integration with upper secondary school academic or vocational programmes. Additionally, the age requirement for starting upper secondary school is particularly problematic. Combined, these limitations tend to lead to the newcomers’ exclusion from successful education.