For decades, research has explored how family background shapes access to and success in postsecondary education. However, much less is known about the effect of family background on one’s educational and occupation success within specific fields. Given rapid advances in science and technology and a changing global economy, understanding these processes within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are particularly important to the broader understanding of stratification. Many recent studies in the U.S. stress the importance of increasing our STEM labor force to remain competitive in the global market, and demand for highly skilled workers is at an all-time high and increasing. While the demand for these jobs is high, many researchers argue that the supply of highly skilled workers is lagging behind. In order to meet these demands, many of these researchers point to increasing the talent pool by drawing from underrepresented groups. This study looks at how family socioeconomic background affects entry into STEM majors, persistence in STEM major, and early labor market outcomes among college graduates from STEM fields, and compares these patterns and processes to those in non-STEM fields. Results from this study show stronger SES differences in STEM fields than non-STEM fields at each point from college major choice to the labor market. Together, these results suggest that less socioeconomically advantaged students may be at a particular disadvantage in STEM fields. / text

In Tanzania, the enrolment in school is high but the students’ performance is in general low. Parents are seen as important agents to provide students with opportunities to succeed in school. It is therefore of interest to investigate what is being said about parental involvement (PI) in the Tanzanian school. The aim with this study is to identify and analyse common assumptions about PI in the context of the Tanzanian primary school. We had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania for eight weeks to investigate this. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with eight parents and two teachers about PI were carried out in two rural villages. Questions to the parents about their perception of education were furthermore asked in order to achieve a background for their statements about PI. The study is based on a discourse analytical approach, meaning that the result was obtained through identifying discourses by analysing the respondents’ statements. The analysis resulted in five discourses: Education for the future, PI as a resource, PI as pressures from teachers, PI as a lack of education and PI as paying attention to children’s education. The contents which fill the discourses are discussed in relation to the context of the study as well as perception of the relationship between home and school. The parents in this study value education highly and their involvement is mostly about contributing with financial support. Yet, the teachers are demanding a higher involvement from parents. The low socioeconomic background is a barrier for many parents to become involved. A conscious effort, aimed at getting parents more involved, is needed in order to increase the children’s academic performance.

Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka att undersöka potentiella samband mellan socioekonomisk bakgrund och motivation att söka framtida arbete hos studenter. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av en enkät som analyserades kvantitativt, där 90 studenter fick ta ställning till olika scenarion gällande arbeten med variation avseende löne- och kvalifikationsnivå. Data samlades in under fyra föreläsningstillfällen vid Högskolan i Gävle genom en pappersenkät. Resultatet visar att det inte förelåg några signifikanta skillnader vad gäller studenters motivation att söka arbeten och i relation till respondenternas socioekonomiska bakgrund. En tänkbar slutsats är att gruppen studenter är relativt homogena vad avser socioekonomisk bakgrund och därför observerades inga signifikanta resultat. / The present study aimed to investigate whether there was any connection between socioeconomic background and motivation to seek future work of students. The study was conducted using a questionnaire that was analyzed quantitatively, where 90 students had to consider different scenarios regarding work with the variation in wage and level of qualification. Data were collected during four occasions lecture at the University of Gävle through a paper questionnaire. The results show that there were no significant differences in students 'motivation to seek work and in relation to the respondents socioeconomic background. One possible conclusion is that the group of students is relatively homogenous with regard to socioeconomic backgrounds and therefore measured no significant results.

This study is inspired by a desire to revisit Anyon's Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work (1980) in a more contemporary context, one that responds to calls in the research on the socioeconomic achievement gap for deeper investigation into the heterogeneity of the middle class. More specifically, the research examines five middle class American high schools in Massachusetts, and asks the question, 'How is classroom 'work' different across these schools, thirty years after Anyon's study'? This study employs several methods of analysis including Anyon's ethnographic observational analysis and a corpus linguistic analysis. It also uses reflexive interviews to review initial findings and integrate participant input into the data itself. I also draw upon the data in light of previous frameworks to develop a new framework for looking at smaller differences in teacher talk, lessons and classroom instruction that is more fit for purpose. Through these ethnographic observations and reflexive interviews, this study reveals that even across schools that are considered to belong to the same socioeconomic class - the middle class - differences in instruction and lessons can be clearly observed. The body of literature discussing the middle class, in terms of the diversity within it, is very small, this extensive study contributes to this knowledge, and hopefully creates avenues for further research. Using Anyon's approach of observing 'work' across social class in classrooms this research builds on Anyon's findings in a contemporary context. Insight into the ways in which difference manifests in smaller ways in the classroom may be fundamental in understanding how small differences compound across the socioeconomic spectrum. The impact of this research on the socioeconomic achievement gap is a better, more complete, look at the picture of how the distribution of resources across the socioeconomic spectrum plays a role in classroom differences.

How do gender and socioeconomic backgrounds affect students’ academic performance, educational choices and attitudes towards education? Moreover, does class play the same role for girls and boys? In order to find this out, I surveyed students in a small province located in the northern inlands of Sweden. The survey was answered by nearly every student in the ninth grade of that year, a total of 160 people. The results revealed that girls in this area have less faith in their capabilities than boys, despite getting much better grades. Many more girls than boys want to go onto college or university studies. In the end, I also found that girls like school much more than boys do. Socioeconomic background played a large role in all areas, except for attitudes towards education. Class was also found to have a much greater impact on boys than on girls, sometimes -as in regards to future studies - up to four times

In the last fifteen years, the Brazilian government has implemented educational policies intended to expand access to higher education for students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. At the same time, research has observed the increase in the demand for international mobility of students from middle and upper classes. This PhD thesis aimed to understand the e↵ect of international mobility among Brazilian undergraduate students on educational inequality by examining the Science Without Borders (SWB) programme. This programme was established in July 2011 by the Brazilian Federal Government with the aim to promote the expansion and the internationalisation of science and technology, and increase Brazilian competitiveness through international exchange and mobility. The programme distributed 101,000 scholarships between 2011 and 2015 for undergraduate and graduate Brazilian students to study in a foreign university. The thesis draws on research on educational inequalities and international mobility. The research on education inequalities showed that in many developed countries, after the expansion of education, students from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds seek to maintain their education advantage through distinctive educational trajectories. The international mobility research also indicated that students from more advantageous socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to pursue international mobility as a strategy for maintaining their privilege. However, international mobility programmes that o↵er financial bursary attract students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds as well. Hence, this research examined whether international mobility programmes which o↵er scholarships may operate as a mechanism for opening up opportunities in the education system. The dataset used for the study was created thanks to the collaboration of three di↵erent intuitions: the two funding bodies of the SWB programme and the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP). The negotiations to access the data lasted around a year and a half, and was only agreed after the anonymity of the students were guaranteed. INEP merged data from the High School National Exam (ENEM) datasets with the information provided by the two funding bodies to identify students who attended the SWB programme between 2011 and 2014. Probit regression models were used to examine the association between students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and the likelihood of participating in the SWB programme. The models showed that students with parents with higher levels of education and higher income were more likely to receive a SWB scholarship. In other words, there was inequality in access to the programme. Therefore, the financial bursary o↵ered by the Brazilian government did not eliminate the e↵ect of students’ socioeconomic characteristics on access to this programme. Multilevel models were used to analyse the association between students’ socioeconomic background and prestige of the foreign university attended. The models demonstrated that there was also inequality within the SWB programme: students from more advantageous socioeconomic background tended to study in more prestigious universities. These results corroborate the results from the international mobility literature and suggest that students from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds might pursue international mobility to maintain educational advantages. These results have important implications for educational policies in Brazil. In addition to the e↵ort to expand access to higher education, the government should also assure that inequalities are not being transferred to other areas, such as in the case of international mobility.

In 1992, the Swedish education system was reformed and by that, school choice was introduced. The intention of the reform was that competition between schools would improve the level of education; however, the results among Swedish pupils have deteriorated and the differences between schools have increased since the introduction. This has caused much debate on school choice, and especially school choice in relation to socioeconomic background and segregation. This study examines whether GIS can be used to detect possible relations between the school choices, socioeconomic backgrounds and residential areas of pupils in Uppsala Municipality in Sweden. Most of the previously conducted research do not use GIS as a tool, despite the spatial aspect of this issue. By mapping the data, any geographical patterns can easier be detected, patterns which can be hard to observe in other data presentation methods such as tables or graphs. The school choices and the commuting pattern among pupils applying for preschool or year six have been visualized in relation to the social index of their corresponding living areas. Four areas and four schools have been selected as samples in order to evaluate the issue from the perspective of both the pupils and the schools. The results show that GIS is an effective way of presenting complex data and a useful tool for detecting geographical clusters. The differences in choices made by pupils of dissimilar social background can be visually detected by comparing the maps to each other. The preschool pupils tend to apply for the nearest schools, while some of the pupils applying for year six are willing to travel further distances in order to get to a more popular school or an area less socially vulnerable than their residential area.  Furthermore, some deviant school choice patterns can easily be explained by examining the surrounding environment; the map can reveal for instance that the pupils had no other choice to make, that geographical obstructions such as water bodies or large streets act like separators or that the social index of a residential area perhaps do not match the affiliation felt by the inhabitants. Due to the complexity of school choice and segregation, a GIS might not be used alone for concluding on a relation between the two. However, it is a very useful tool for indicating occurrences of the phenomena and, most important, highlighting areas that are interesting for further investigation. / År 1992 reformerades det svenska utbildningssystemet och med det implementerades det fria skolvalet. Avsikten med reformen var att konkurrensen mellan skolor skulle förbättra utbildningsnivån, dock har resultaten bland svenska elever försämrats och skillnaderna mellan skolor ökat sedan introduktionen. Detta har orsakat mycket debatt om skolval och speciellt skolval i förhållande till socioekonomisk bakgrund och segregation. Denna studie undersöker om GIS kan användas för att upptäcka eventuella sammanhang mellan skolval, socioekonomiska bakgrunder och bostadsområden bland elever i Uppsala kommun i Sverige. Det mesta av tidigare forskning inom ämnet använder inte GIS som ett verktyg, detta trots problemställningens rumsliga aspekt. Genom att kartera data öppnas möjligheter för att enklare upptäcka geografiska mönster som kan vara svåra att observera med andra presentationsmetoder som tabeller eller diagram. Skolval och pendling bland elever som har ansökt om plats i förskoleklass eller till årskurs sex har visualiserats och blivit satt i sammanhang med den sociala indexen för elevernas bostadsområden. Fyra områden och fyra skolor har valts ut för att kunna utvärdera frågan ur både elevers och skolors perspektiv. Resultaten visar att GIS är ett effektivt sätt att presentera komplexa data och ett användbart verktyg för att upptäcka geografiska kluster. Skillnaderna i skolval bland elever av olika sociala bakgrunder kan upptäckas visuellt genom att jämföra kartor med varandra. Förskoleklasselever tenderar att ansöka om närmaste skola, medan några av eleverna som ska börja årskurs sex är villiga att resa längre avstånd för att komma till en mer populär skola eller till ett område som är mindre socialt utsatt än deras bostadsområde. Dessutom kan vissa avvikande skolvalsmönster enkelt förklaras genom att undersöka den omgivande miljön; kartan kan till exempel avslöja att eleverna inte hade några andra valmöjligheter, att geografiska hinder såsom vattendrag eller stora gator agerar som avgränsare eller att det sociala indexet till ett bostadsområde inte matchar den sociala tillhörigheten invånarna själva upplever. På grund av komplexiteten bakom skolval och segregation, bör GIS inte användas ensamt för att konkludera om det finns ett samband mellan de två. Det är dock ett mycket användbart verktyg för att indikera förekomster av fenomenet och framförallt för att lyfta fram områden som är intressanta för vidare utredning.

The Swedish school system underwent a rapid liberalization process in the late 1900s. One of the major changes was the implementation of free school choice. The reform intended to ake pupils and parents able to actively choose which school to attend. However, since the introduction, free school choice has been a topic of much debate and criticism. In articular, there is a dispute whether the reform has caused an increase in school segregation or not. This study examines the veracity of these claims. This is done in the form of a literary overview where the results of previous research are analyzed. A selection of literature has been conducted according to specific criteria, which has resulted in one doctoral dissertation and six academic journal articles. The source-material has been reviewed and analyzed using an analysis chart. The results of the studies have then been compared to find similarities and dividing lines. The segregation variables examined are ethnicity and socio-economics. The latter has been broken down into the sub-variables of economic background and educational background. In addition, the study also examines whether or not residential segregation can be excluded as a source of error. The analysis concludes that ethnic school segregation has increased in Sweden as a result of the school choice reform. The same applies to the variable educational background. However, there are some differences in the results regarding economic background. Dividing lines can be found concerning if segregation of this variable has increased or remained static. Relative consensus that housing segregation can be excluded as a source of error seems to prevail among researchers. However, one of the articles presents a more critical approach regarding the exclusion. There is also some disagreement about the degree to which the residential segregation and free school choice affect school segregation. / Den svenska skolan genomgick under det sena 1900-talet en skyndsam liberaliseringsprocess. En av de större förändringarna som skedde var införandet av det fria skolvalet. Reformen innebär att elever och vårdnadshavare kan göra aktiva val om på vilken skola undervisningen ska ske. Det fria skolvalet har dock sedan införandet varit mycket omdiskuterat och kritiserat. Särskilt råder en debatt om huruvida reformen har orsakat en ökad segregation i Sveriges skolor. I denna uppsats studeras påståendets sanningshalt. Detta sker i form av en litteraturöversikt där tidigare forskning på området behandlas. Ett urval av litteratur har skett efter särskilda kriterier, vilket har resulterat i en doktorsavhandling och sex akademiska tidskriftsartiklar. Dessa har sedan granskats och analyserats med hjälp av ett analysschema. Studiernas resultat har jämförts för att finna likheter och skiljelinjer. De segregationsvariabler som har studerats är etnicitet och socioekonomi. Den sistnämnda har brutits ner till ekonomisk bakgrund och utbildningsbakgrund. Utöver detta har det i studien även undersökts utifall boendesegregationen kan uteslutas som felkälla eller ej. Om inte detta görs kan denna förvränga datamaterialet för skolvalets effekter. Analysen visar att den etniska skolsegregationen har ökat i Sverige, till följd av skolvalsreformen. Detsamma gäller variabeln utbildningsbakgrund. I resultaten gällande ekonomisk bakgrund råder dock vissa olikheter. Skiljelinjer går att finna om segregationen efter denna variabel har ökat eller förhållit sig statisk. Relativ enhällighet tycks råda bland forskarna att boendesegregationen kan uteslutas som felkälla. I en av artiklarna presenteras dock ett mer kritiskt förhållningssätt till detta. Viss oenighet råder också kring vilken grad boendesituationen och skolvalet påverkar skolsegregationen.

I studien har 12 elevgrupper från 10 kommunala skolor i Malmö studerats statistiskt frånläsåren 2005/06 till 2013/14. Utifrån elevernas socioekonomiska bakgrund undersöktes effekten av skolornas resursutbud för PISA-resultaten i årskurs 9. Genom teorier om skolan som arena för social reproduktion av medelklassens värden, visade analysen att skolan inte uppväger för arbetarklasselever utan eftergymnasialt utbildade föräldrar. Slutsatserna visade att observationsgruppernas höga lärarbehörighet kombinerat med ökad lärartäthet för utsatta elevgrupper, inte ensamt utjämnar bakgrundsrelaterad skolsegregation. Som insatskomplement bör skolornas elevsammansättning ses som en administrativt förändringsbar resurs, jämte utökat arbete för bredare konsensus mellan hem och skola kring utbildningens betydelse och form. / This study carries out a Qualitative Comparative Analysis [QCA] of 12 groups of studentsfrom 10 public schools in Malmoe. Based on students’ socioeconomic background, the study examines the effect of school resources across 9 years of elementary school; on PISA results in grade 9. Using the theoretical framework that school is an institution to promote social reproduction of middle-class values; the analysis demonstrates that school does not compensate working class students. The study's conclusions where that the observation groups generally high teaching qualifications; combined with increased teacher ratio for vulnerable student groups, not alone were sufficient resources to equalize background related school segregation. These need to be complemented with a broader consensus between home and school about the importance of education and its execution. Also the school pupil homogeneous composition should thereto be seen as an administrative opportunity to level the playing field in the present segregated school situation.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa undersökning är att undersöka hur ledare i fotboll för ungdomar ser på sitt ledarskap och sin roll för integration i samhället, samt huruvida deltagarnas socioekonomiska bakgrund är en faktor som påverkar ledarskapet och deras fotbollslags sociala miljö. Studien är baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer av aktiva ledare över 18 år gamla i fotboll för ungdomar mellan 11 och 16 år, som har insyn i verksamheten.Huvudsakliga teoretiska utgångspunkten för arbetet är Bourdieus begrepp habitus, som socioekonomisk bakgrunds påverkan relateras till. Kurt Lewins ledarskapsmodell beteendeskolan används för att relatera ledarnas syn på sitt ledarskap och bidrag till integration till etablerade teoretiska ledarskapsstilar. Även social och kommunikativ integration utifrån Diaz integrationsmodell används. Resultaten av studien visar att samtliga av respondenterna upplever att de har en betydande social roll för ungdomar både på och utanför planen, och att de är viktiga för integrationen i Sverige då de är förebilder för deltagarna, och ledarna kan föregå med gott exempel för acceptans mellan ungdomar i fotbollen. Dessutom att deltagarna anser att socioekonomisk bakgrund är en faktor att beakta i ledarskapet och för möjligheter till integration genom ungdomsfotboll, då det finns ett beroende för deltagare i fotbollsföreningar av sociala, ekonomiska och kulturella förutsättningar. / The purpose of this qualitative study is to see how leaders in youth football view their leadership and their role for integration in Sweden, and whether the participants socioeconomic background is a factor for their leadership and the social climate of their teams. The study is based on semi-structured interviews from active adult leaders who are responsible for young people in football between the ages of 11 and 16. The main theoretical perspective for this study is Bourdieu’s habitus, which relates to socioeconomic background. Kurt Lewin’s behavioral school is used to relate the leaders' views on their leadership’s addition to integration to established leadership styles. Social and communicative integration from Diaz integration model has been used, to be able to exemplify the leaders’ experiences regarding the role for integration. The results of the study show that all the respondents express the view that they are role models, and important for integration due to them being able to lead the way for young participants to be more accepting of each other. Results also show that socioeconomic backgrounds become important to consider as there is a need for good social, economic, and cultural conditions in sports organizations in Sweden.