This paper deals with the migration of young women from rural areas in
northern Scandinavia. The way from adolescence to adulthood is discus
sed and the notion of a male periphery is presented. An attempt is mad
e to shift focus in studies of rural youth migration. The emphasis her
e is on the socially constructed space that the young women leave. Is
one reason behind the rural migration pattern to be found in the male
periphery? The periphery is dominated by male economic and leisure act
ivities. Women in the rural areas are less visible, and their activiti
es are not as valued as the male activities. Young men tend to follow
in the footstep of their fathers, while young rural women break with t
he mothers on their life paths. There are few modern role models for t
he daughters in the periphery. A study of young women and men in Troms
county in northern Norway is used to illustrate the women's paths fro
m adolescence to adult life. Young women in rural Troms do, to a much
larger extent than the young rural men, take higher education. They ha
ve ambitions of highly qualified jobs, either in towns or in their hom
e localities. The young rural women break new ground by continuing in
higher education. The young men run the risk of being left behind as l
osers. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.