Every 30 th person on earth is living outside her/his home country. People migrate for different reasons, one of them being studies. Those who leave their home countries to pursue studies abroad are referred as international students. International students might be valuable for their host country if they decide to stay there after their studies. Their skills, international experience and experience of the host country might result very useful in filling the gaps in the host country’s l abour market. Therefore, this study aims to understand international student’s perspectives on post-graduation employment to Sweden. To fulfil the aim, qualitative inductive approach was followed so the interviewees were not influenced by predetermined questions. Ten in-depth, unstructured interviews with international students at a Swedish university were conducted. Interviews were analysed using the method of qualitative content analysis, following three research questions which lead to five themes – career advancement, enhanced life quality, employers’ rejections, lack of soci al interactions and family role. Based on the findings, a conceptual framework was developed. The conceptual framework consists of the push and pull model, national culture, and cognitive dissonance which were found to be useful for the analysis and interpretation of the findings. Using findings from the interviews and conceptual framework, the analysis was conducted which was followed by the discussion, where the authors of this thesis interpreted and discussed the findings from different perspectives. This thesis revealed that international students are attracted to work in Sweden for different reasons. However, finding a job in Sweden is a difficult task for them. It has emerged that international students are facing troubles when looking for employment as well as with communicating with locals. Those troubles were discussed with the goal to understand why do they come out. Family topic has also emerged suggesting that it plays an important role when deciding whether to seek employment in Sweden after the studies or not. As this thesis provides insights into the experiences of international students, it is beneficial for the companies who are interested in hiring them. Moreover, companies who have never considered hiring international students could be encouraged to try a new practice. The stories provided in the thesis might be useful for the university, when providing assistance for international students as well as for the students themselves to form a realistic picture of what they might experience in Sweden.

The economic utility of sustainability has been a recent domain under scrutiny by several academicians. More specifically, researchers have investigated the positive effects of sustainability reporting on firms from different angles. One of these angles is sustainability’s effect on firms’ prestige in the market, which is inevitably connected to market indicators, such as, risks and returns. Consequently, this research paper is positioned as a complement to previous researchers’ work within the field of sustainability reporting and its positive effects on firms. This paper’s foremost aspiration is to fill a knowledge gap in research by finding empirical evidence whether the first time assurance on sustainability reports causes a lower subsequent cost of equity capital. For this matter, the researchers’ methodology was deductive in nature, which relied on investigating established theories that are connected to the two dimensions of the research question; cost of equity capital and assurance on sustainability reports. This investigation formed the researchers’ theoretical schemata upon which they both neglected certain theories in favour of others and formed a verifiable theoretical research hypothesis. In this research, Sweden, a country known for its dedication for sustainability, was chosen as a market from which a sample was collected. The researchers conducted their study in a panel format where the same information about 44 different companies was collected on several years. Due to the fact that the number of listed firms that had been reporting their sustainability reports was quite moderate, a census study was convenient and applicable. The researchers ended up with a sample of 44 firms that constituted 352 observations, which formed the basis for the statistical inference. The empirical study employed several regression models of panels to reach the most representative model that fitted the data in hand. Also, to guarantee higher quality results the fitted model, the Two- way Error Component Fixed-effects Model, was tested for heteroskedasticity, cross- sectional correlation, autocorrelation and non-stationarity. This model revealed a relatively low explanatory power that drove the researchers to interpret their statistical findings with great caution. At a specific level of statistical significance, the regression model revealed a significant correlation between assurance on sustainability reports and a subsequent lower cost of equity capital. This result was refuted at higher levels of significance. Thus, the researchers were able to answer the research question affirmatively, to a certain extent, and to demonstrate that the research’s results verify the underpinnings of neo-institutional and signalling theories.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities outlines the right of persons with disabilities to equal access to information. This paper builds on previous research on the international and national level and examines whether persons with disabilities have equal access to information online on the municipal level of government in Sweden. Also assessing the perception of municipality official’s view on the concept of accessibility, this thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings indicate that clear differences are present among municipalities and that article nine of the CRPD is not fully implemented on the municipal level in this aspect, but that no clear relationship between party control and web accessibility can be found. This paper concludes that further efforts needs to be put towards education and information towards the issue of online accessibility.

The Chinese E-commerce market is the largest in the world and E-commerce takes up more of the retail market in China than in western countries. Why are Chinese consumers such big spenders online? This thesis examines the differences in consumer shopping behavior in China and Sweden in the aims to find some of the factors explaining the reasons. Based on a review of previous research on consumer behavior a theoretical framework was created which was the foundation for a survey. Survey responses were collected through two surveys, with the same questions, conducted in the native language of Sweden and China. While the generalizability of the survey have some limitations in regards to sampling, this thesis provide some key findings: Chinese consumers are more social shoppers, influenced by social media, family and friends. The social experience of shopping online enhance Chinese consumers experience and is a factor in increasing their expenditures online.  Chinese consumers shop more on international stores and shop more through their cell phones than Swedes.  Chinese consumers are also choosing online shopping out of convenience and usefulness.

This study investigates how primary school teachers of grades F-3 pupils in a number of sample schools in Sweden use children’s literature and other methods to enhance their teaching of English. The study explores the attitudes of these teachers’ to using English children’s literature as a teaching tool to promote language development in their pupils, focusing on vocabulary. An empirical questionnaire study was carried out including a total of twenty-three respondents from seven schools in a Stockholm suburb. The respondents are all working teachers with experience of teaching English to young learners, particularly in grades F-3. This study contributes with new knowledge about the often-recommended use of children’s literature as a method for teaching English to young learners, connecting international research with empirical data from the Swedish context. While the results suggest that the majority of the respondents are positive to using children’s literature in their teaching and regularly do so, many of them feel that it is somewhat difficult to find relevant materials to plan, implement and evaluate lessons within the allocated time-frame. Based on these results, further research about how to create more effective ways of using children’s literature as a method for English vocabulary teaching in Swedish schools is recommended.

Transportation is one of the areas where Sweden could not yet manage to reduce the CO2 emissions. One solution that has been suggested to reduce the CO2 emissions in this sector is through the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). However, mass EV adoption brings complications with it. Drivers behavior is a critical aspect since people often charge their car at home after work. This could negatively affect the evening load peak and thus cause a high impact on the electricity system. A survey was sent out to current private EV owners in Sweden, to learn about their charging schedules, driving patterns and battery capacity. 226 of 403 replied to the survey which gave a survey reply rate of 56 %. The goal of this work was to estimate the future adoption of EVs, based on the current trends and national targets in order to develop different scenarios. With the scenarios in mind, the projected consumption of EVs for different periods of the day, the magnitude and time of the peak load as well as the overall consumption and CO2 reduction per year were calculated. Three scenarios were analyzed with 96 000, 650 000 and 1 000 000 electric vehicles where 25 % are defined to be running entirely on electricity in the middle and high penetration scenario since even plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, PHEV where included. The scenarios are estimated as the possible situation in 2030 and a simulation is done in MATLAB for summer and winter cases as well as weekdays and weekends. Results showed that the charging pattern of the EV drivers would cause a peak load at around 20.00 where the peak load from the overall household consumptions also takes place. The highest consumption takes place during the weekend cases but there were no significant difference between summer and winter. For example the peak consumption of the EVs was 150 MWh during winter and weekends at 20.00. The annual consumption of the EVs would be 238 GWh, 342 GWh and 616 GWh for the low, middle and high penetration scenario. By analyzing the current installed power of renewable energy sources in Sweden, it was found that the demand for EVs could be met by renewables entirely today. It was also found that using EVs instead of conventional fossil fueled cars can save up to 264 Mton CO2 for the low penetration scenario, 447 Mton for the middle penetration scenario and 688 Mton for the high penetration scenario. Different assumptions could have caused deviation from the actual result and it was found during the implementation of the simulation that the survey questions could be improved for future surveys. It was concluded that mass adoption of EVs is possible in terms of electricity production and installed power. However, increase in the evening peak led to the conclusion that balancing of the grid is necessary for example through Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), controlled charging or energy storage. Keywords: MATLAB, electricity consumption, EV, CO2 emissions, simulation, 2030, Scenario, penetration level

The aim of this qualitative research study has been to investigate seven young adult Pentecostals conceptions about religious evil, that is Satan, demons and hell. The purpose has also been to analyze how these conceptualizations are formed. The method that has been used in this study is individual semi-structured interviews. The result of the study show that conceptions of Satan, demons and hell are strong in most of the individuals’ life but one. Berger & Luckmanns theories of socialization has been applied to the results and the discussion shows that conceptions about religious evil are formed in the primary socialization or the secondary socialization if the person goes through the process of alternation. Bultmanns argument that modern man can’t accept the world view that is presented in The New Testament has also been discussed and the discussion reveals that modern day people can believe in the New Testament worldview.

Bilingualism and multilingualism are phenomena dominantly present in today’s globalized world. Sweden is not an exception and its international character is apparent in all domains, such as politics, business and education. English is perceived more as a second language rather a foreign one, taking into consideration the numerous bilingual and international schools of the country that promote the acquisition of Swedish and English from an early age. Teaching in bilingual classrooms may cause challenges due to students’ different linguistic abilities and background and thus, teachers are responsible to maintain a balance between both languages. The particular study has a two-fold aim; at first place, it analyzes theories of bilingualism that are directly related to pedagogical and teaching practices as well as the relation between bilingualism and brain functions. The purpose is to identify how these theories are reflected into everyday classrooms through teachers’ methods. The second part of the research is the examination of the contextual background of Sweden in terms of linguistic hierarchy, the aims of society to bilingual education and laws regarding languages and teacher training. The purpose is to outline the extent to which this background is applied into actual contexts. Therefore, the third part is the empirical study that is a comparative case-study through a qualitative approach into two bilingual schools in Sweden. The central focus is on teachers’ opinions about challenges, teaching methods and personal reflections and the identification of differences and similarities. The critical analysis of the three main parts enables the researcher to reach conclusions where certain points and issues are outlined along with possible solutions. The goal of the study is not the generalization of data but a focus on individuals and reflection of real situations that sets the basis for research in larger scales.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether culture is perceived and taught in similar ways in regard to the study of English during the final year of compulsory schooling in Sweden and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In order to achieve this, relevant parts of policy documents and teaching materials from both school systems are analyzed – based on a framework which was devised using Claire Kramsch’s definition of culture as a foundation – and discussed. Our findings indicate that culture is not perceived and taught similarly in regard to the study of English during the final year of compulsory schooling in the two school systems we examine. In Sweden, based upon that which is expressed in the policy documents, it appears that learning about culture is seen as a natural component of language learning. On the hand, this does not appear to be the case in regard to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. While representations of culture are present in the teaching materials examined from each region, the ways in which it is portrayed reflect that which is set forth in the policy documents, i.e., culture is more fully integrated in the textbook used in Sweden than it is in the one used in Macedonian classrooms. Our study is of interest to those active within the field of education because an increasingly globalized world means that classes are being comprised of increasingly heterogeneous groups of students. Having insight into differences that exist between school systems may lead to a greater understanding of the situation that exists in one’s own corner of the world.

This bachelor thesis is related to the phenomenon of student volunteering, in Sweden, the field of study and its own context. Our argumentation is based on the concept of “motivation” and focused on the students of universities in Sweden. In order to lead this research, we created a survey and sent it to the 14 Erasmus Student Networks (ESN) of Sweden in order to use their database and spread the survey. We wanted to answer our research question: What are the motivations behind student volunteering in a Swedish context? We obtained 123 answers related to items of interest for our study: the motivations to start volunteering, the abilities students improved, how often student volunteer and why they don’t volunteer, for example. Moreover, we proposed a typology of volunteers depending on their frequency of volunteering. Note that most of the answers came from the city of Växjö, which consist of one of the biggest limitations of the results. We answered 6 hypothesis but only 4 of them found a suitable answer. Our findings are as following: younger surveyees tend to volunteer more frequently than older ones. Regarding their origins (Swedish or international student), it is not confirmed that volunteers want to improve different abilities and have different motives to volunteer. Furthermore, it is confirmed that students volunteer following intrinsic motivations more than extrinsic ones. Finally, we pointed out that Swedish students who are not studying at their home town volunteer for organizations in order to meet new people and to make new friends.