Gifted students in risk situations – narratives and support

This qualitative study is based on a small number of Slovenian students answering two open-ended questions: What are the possible reasons gifted teenage students underachieve or even leave school earlier, and: What could be good ways of adult (parents, teachers) support for this not to happen?We reopen the question about the reasons for ESL and underachievement from the student's point of view and search for additional interventions to prevent that. We try to establish whether we could confirm previous findings about these reasons: problems with self-esteem, unconscious guilt, motivation and self-regulation, mindset, personality traits, mental health, etc. Secondly, we explore young people's narratives or experiences for alternative adult interventions to prevent these unwanted outcomes, particularly focusing on career guidance leading to good career decisions of gifted students and developing self-regulation skills.