Schoolsegregation in Sweden: challenges, opportunities and interventions
Short description
Kajsa Yang Hansen, professor at the Department of Education and Special Education at Gothenburg University, with collegues have been granted approx. SEK 28 million from Riksbankens jubileumsfond to study schoolsegregation. The project will investigate how segregation impacts students throughout the educational system – from kindergarten to the labour market.
In the latest issue of Skolporten magazine, an interview with two of our colleauges from the University of Gothneburg has been featured - Kajsa Yang Hansen and Nils Hammarén.
The interview in this issue, being the fifth edition this year and dedicated to the theme of Segregation emphasizes the increase in school segregation since 1998, and identifies residential areas and parents' educational level as highly contributing factors.
It is an interdisciplinary collaboration between FUR at University of Gothenburg, BUS at Uppsala University and Department of Special Education at Stockholm University. STEPS is built within the SSIS program, creating a unique national research hub focused on long-term educational development, equity in school practices, and teacher education. Nine fully funded PhD positions will soon be recruited and join in the SSIS research activities.
We have now had the first meeting of the semester where the project group gathered for this two-day kick off to discuss the project's upcoming studies and activities. Day 1 was focused on discussing different types of residential areas and selecting the pre-, compulsory, and upper secondary schools to include in our datacollections, which are planned to start next year. We also had the opportunity to listen to professor Phillip Roberts (University of Canberra), where he spoke about segregation i Australia in his presentation: ”Scales of Segregation Inequities in curriculum access and school funding in Australia”.
We spent day 2 discussing Gothenburg municipalities work surrounding segregation, together with Stina Hansson (planning manager) and Robin Nordlund (analyst) from the Municipal Executive office (Stadsledningskontoret). It was very interesting and insightful to hear about different approaches and initiatives being carried out by different agents, as well as taking part of their analyses on segregation within and between residential areas in different parts of the city.
This knowledgeexchange enables us to design our upcoming research with a clearer anchoring in the city's ongoing practices. According to existing reports regarding inequalities in Gothenburg, there are visible differences in terms of living- and health standards depending on where in the city you live, and an important part of the projects upcoming work is to study the longterm effects of growing up with the different types of segregation.
Current events
We have now had our kick-off for two half days! SSIS researchers gathered at the Department of Education and Special Education at the University of Gothenburg. In addition to the project's members, our stakeholders participated during day one, where we focused the kick-off on discussing the project's various work packages and the possible obstacles that we need to address in the future.
During the morning of day two, the databases that may be relevant for the project and the management of our visibility in digital channels were discussed. The kick-off resulted in clear measures to move forward with our work to map, and intervene in school segregation in Sweden.
Coupled with the societal changes, Swedish schools have become increasingly segregated, manifested by the increasing gaps in educational resources and teaching quality, and staffing challenges along social and spatial lines and across school types. This has led the compensatory function of schools for individual life prospects and social cohesion to deteriorate, resulting in a complex interplay between family, school, region, and system-level features, which has yet to be adequately studied.
The research program SSIS aims to investigate the mechanisms and long-term consequences of segregation in all stages of schooling and the transition to the labour market.
Nine researchers united from education, sociology, child and youth studies and human geography will dedicate their expertise in four under-researched areas: social sorting of student over school stages and spaces, teacher sorting and mobility, segregation’s long-term consequences, qualitative experiences and social dynamics in educational choices and school segregation.
Relying on a mixed-methods approach, and register- and interview data, the project aims to contribute knowledge regarding school segregation, provide evidence-based recommendations to counteract school and societal segregation, in turn, enhance social sustainability and integration in Sweden.
Scientific advisory group
Jan-Eric Gustafsson, Professor Emeritus
Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg
Ove Sernhede, Professor
Department of Education, Communication and Learning, University of Gothenburg
John Östh, Professor
Oslo Metropolitan University
Stakeholding advisory group
Annie Hohlfält, Head of Development
Social Sustainability, Framtiden AB
Cecilia Fredholm Vaarning, Chair
Hållbara Affärer, Stena Fastigheter AB
Lotta Lekander, Head of education
Compulsory school management, Gothenburg Region
Amanda Hurst, President
Viktor Rydberg Schools
Örjan Trapp, Strategic community planner
Uppsala Municipality