Hoppa till sidinnehåll
Fria skolvalet

Innerstadsgymnasierna: En studie av tre elitpräglade gymnasieskolor i Stockholm och deras positionering på utbildningsmarknaden

Publicerad: 2019-10-22
Uppdaterad: 2019-11-13

Hur hanterar de elitpräglade gymnasieskolorna konkurrensvillkoren på dagens gymnasiemarknad och hur kan elevernas val av gymnasieskola och program förstås? Det är frågor som Eric Larsson undersöker i sin avhandling om gymnasiemarknaden.

Författare

Eric Larsson

Handledare

Docent Elisabeth Hultqvist, Stockholms universitet Professor Annika Ullman, Stockholms universitet Jonas Gustafsson, Stockholms universitet

Opponent

Professor Lisbeth Lundahl, Umeå universitet

Disputerat vid

Stockholms universitet

Disputationsdag

2019-11-08

Titel (se)

Innerstadsgymnasierna: En studie av tre elitpräglade gymnasieskolor i Stockholm och deras positionering på utbildningsmarknaden

Titel (eng)

The inner city schools : A study concerning upper secondary elite schools in Stockholm, positioning and educational marketization

Institution

Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik.

The inner city schools : A study concerning upper secondary elite schools in Stockholm, positioning and educational marketization

During the early 1990s Sweden underwent extensive educational reforms. Vouchers, freedom of choice, establishment of so-called “free-schools” together with far-reaching decentralization took the place of a highly centralized educational system, with few private schools and a very low degree of differentiation. A stated intention of these reforms was that freedom of choice as well as a greater number of educational options would level the playing field. It was believed that existing regulations hampered socially disadvantaged students and, by extension, opportunities for social and geographical mobility. Educational marketization has advanced and intensified since the 1990s, particularly in metropolitan areas and medium-sized cities. This is evident both in the increasing number of schools and in students commuting to inner city schools, and additionally in the continuous development of marketing strategies. Consequently, marketization has become an institutionalized part of Swedish education, and students and schools must equally adjust to the prevailing competitive conditions. Much of the research in the field has focused on the effects and extension of marketization and how free-schools and school choice affect socially vulnerable areas. However, instead of focusing on schools in socially vulnerable areas, I am interested in the schools at the top of the hierarchy and the elite segment of upper secondary schools in Stockholm. More precisely, the focus of this dissertation has been on how three sought-after and prestigious upper secondary schools position themselves in the educational market, but also how they are affected by and adjust to it. A further aim has been to analyse students’ educational strategies and the socialization processes that arise in their encounter with the schools as institutions.

This thesis has been guided by a theoretically inspired ethnography. The ethnographical data were primarily collected during a single academic year and within three separate elite upper secondary schools. The data set consists of observations in classrooms and other school-related spaces (meeting rooms, corridors etc.), interviews and data from official statistics. It also contains a wide array of documents, web sites, school magazines, anniversary books and photographs.

Using a Bourdieusian perspective, the analysis shows how both schools and students deploy strategies to cope with and adapt to the hierarchies and struggles of the contemporary educational market. The schools rely on accumulated institutionalized assets such as history, alumni, transfers to prestigious universities and their geographical locations. At the same time, they also need to provide an up-to-date educational setting to stay ahead, and moreover, to be able to collaborate and compete with the other elite schools. The analysis also illustrates why students choose these socially and academically selective schools and how they adjust to the school environment. It is illuminated that these schools are more than formal educational settings, they are places where students negotiate, debate, explore and develop soft skills. Nevertheless, they are also competitive school environments and while some students thrive, others struggle. This becomes apparent when they encounter and act in relation to the different social, symbolic and academic boundaries that exist in each school.

Forskningsbevakningen presenteras i samarbete med

forskningsinstitutet Ifous

Läs mer
Stockholm

Skolbibliotek

Välkommen till Skolportens konferens för dig som leder eller arbetar i Skolbibliotek! Delta på plats i Stockholm 6–7 maj eller digitalt via webbkonferensen 15 maj–5 juni. Ta del av den senaste forskningen och utvecklas i din yrkesroll. ERBJUDANDE! Bjud in rektor gratis på webbkonferensen.
Läs mer och boka
Åk F–Vux
6–7 maj
Digital temaföreläsning

Barns utveckling i en digital värld

Välkommen till Skolportens digitala temaföreläsning, som presenterar den senaste forskningen om digitala mediers påverkan på barns utveckling, inlärning och psykiska hälsa. Föreläsningen är av intresse för dig som arbetar i förskolan eller har barn i förskoleåldern. Vi erbjuder rabatter för grupper. Är ni en grupp som vill delta? Kontakta oss för specialerbjudande!
Läs mer och boka
Fsk
28 apr – 2 jun
Dela via: 

Relaterade artiklar

Which students need accommodations the most, and to what extent are their needs met by regular upper secondary school? A cross-sectional study among students with special educational needs

2019-04-15
En av slutsatserna i är att de elever som behöver mest stöd och anpassningar återfinns bland dem med störst frånvaro, bland elever i yrkesinriktade program och bland elever med neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning.

Values held by Swedish primary school students towards forest ecosystems and the relevance for a nature’s contributions to people approach

2020-03-09
Skogen står för djupare och mer intima värden för barnen såsom frihet, tröst, upptäckande och välbefinnande än vad forskarna tidigare trott. Sara Brogaard  och Torsten Krauses studie visar också att olika socioekonomiska faktorer påverkar barns upplevelse av och relation till skogen.

Relaterat innehåll

Senaste magasinen

Läs mer

Nyhetsbrev

Prenumerera på Skolportens nyhetsbrev!

Vi ger ut kostnadsfria nyhetsbrev dagligen, veckovis och månadsvis. Breven sammanfattar nyheter och forskning inom olika områden.