Response to interpellation 2023/24:398 on social bias in higher education

Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Niklas Sigvardsson has asked me what I intend to do to reduce the social inequality in higher education and how I intend to act so that more beginners will start an education within the higher education sector.

Social inequality in recruitment does not begin in higher education. To counteract social inequality, the work must begin as early as primary school. Students need good skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic to succeed in reaching the goals of education and to succeed in their continued studies. The Government therefore prioritizes measures to strengthen children's and students' language, reading and writing development, as well as mathematical skills. Role models are also needed both at home and in school. Furthermore, good study guidance is important in the later years of primary school and in upper secondary school.

Mr. Speaker! The picture has remained relatively unchanged over the last 20 years – the social inequality persists. I agree with the interpellor that UKÄ's, that is, the Swedish Council for Higher Education's, report is interesting as it shows that individuals with the same high school grades exhibit different search behaviors depending on the parents' educational background. When individuals with highly educated parents apply more broadly to more educations and to more higher education institutions, their chances of being admitted also increase. This shows the importance of good study guidance and that there is potential in working with information for children and young people with low-educated parents.

It is correct as the interpellor points out that the number of beginners in higher education in the academic year 2022/23 decreased slightly from the previous year. However, it is unclear whether this trend will persist. The number of those admitted to the autumn semester 2023 increased by 5 percent compared to the previous autumn semester.

Mr. Speaker! I share the interpellant's view that a knowledge-intensive country requires a well-educated population whose education meets the needs of the labor market. It is therefore pleasing that we see an increased interest in both vocational colleges and higher education. The Government continues to expand vocational colleges in the coming years to meet an increased demand for vocational training and the continued large competence needs throughout Sweden. The Government also carries out targeted expansions toward shortage occupations within higher education. The Government is, among other things, expanding engineering programs. It is also important that the programs maintain high quality, which is why the Government also carries out quality initiatives within higher education. Furthermore, the compensation amount per full-time student for the natural science, technical, and pharmaceutical fields of education is increased. Funds are also allocated to eligibility-granting education, for example, technical foundation years, and higher education introductory education.

In summary, social heritage should not constitute an obstacle. Individuals who have the same prior knowledge and grades should have the same opportunities to begin higher education.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking Education Minister Mats Persson for the answer.

In this chamber, the tone is most often high, and on many issues, we are far from consensus. Therefore, I want to say initially that I am glad that I and the Minister for Education share the view that social inequality in recruitment is a problem and that social inheritance should not be decisive in people's choice of education or for their future plans.

Education and knowledge are one of the most beautiful things we have in Swedish society and should be available for everyone to partake in, whether it is about basic primary education or the opportunity to develop within the university and higher education sector.

Unfortunately, I am not entirely in agreement with the picture that the Minister for Education painted here earlier of the government making it possible for everyone to get an education. I believe that this government instead demonstrates a lowering of ambition in terms of education being possible for everyone in the whole country.

We have been able to see it in the diluted goal of social justice in the student grant system that the government pushed through via the budget bill for 2024. We have also been able to see it in statements that it is not so important with research-linked education at all the country's higher education institutions from representatives of many of the government's supporting parties and its coalition party.

The report written by the Swedish Council for Higher Education, UKÄ, which is mentioned in both the interpellation and in the response from the Minister for Education, is titled "Sökbeteende bidrar till den sociala snedrekryteringen till högskolan" and describes how the social inequality in recruitment is actually a decisive problem.

The interesting thing is that, just as the minister said in his answer, it is about students with the same grades from upper secondary school having different application patterns, which means that it de facto becomes a social bias in recruitment. This means that people actually cannot enable themselves to develop their full potential.

That there are differences in search behavior is something we need to do a lot to rectify. Some of what the Minister for Education said is correct – we need to focus on good study guidance throughout the entire school system.

But we Social Democrats also believe that the educational institutions can do more and that the distribution of educational institutions across the entire country plays a role in ensuring that students can study everywhere in our entire society.

If Sweden is to be able to continue to be a knowledge-intensive country, we must be able to take advantage of all the knowledge and driving force that exists in the entire population in the entire country, and to enable knowledge journeys even for people from homes unaccustomed to study, we as politicians need to do more.

Therefore, I would like the Minister for Education to clarify his answer on what higher education institutions can do more to reduce social inequality in recruitment.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Niklas Sigvardsson, for the interpellation! I think it is urgent and important.

Just as Niklas Sigvardsson says, there is a broad consensus in the Riksdag and in the chamber: We want the social inheritance to mean less and that all people, regardless of the size of their wallet, should have the opportunity to study at university and have the opportunity to choose an education that they feel suits them. I think that is an important starting point for the policy being pursued.

Sweden has a unique CSN system, which other countries should look at with envy. Now, in tough times, we are increasing the compensation to all of Sweden's students, who in recent years have received 2,000 kronor more in their wallets, because we want them to be compensated for the high inflation and so that it does not become less profitable to pursue further studies. It should not be a hindrance that inflation is higher, but we have a good compensation. We also have tuition-free higher education at colleges and universities, which many other countries do not have.

We thus have a strong tradition that I think we should be very proud of. It is also a strength that we can stand behind this model in broad political unity in the Riksdag.

Mr. Speaker! I believe there are many people all over Sweden who are like me. I grew up in an industrial society in Småland where very few people continue their studies, but where very many people have a job. The tradition is not that one studies further, but the tradition is that one starts working in the industry directly.

We are now carrying out this large expansion of the university college. It concerns 40,000 places in the coming years, the largest expansion of vocational education in Sweden in modern times, and it is of course a very important part. It is just as important as studying at a university and college. All educations that lead to a job and make it possible to find the right path in the education system are important.

Regarding Niklas Sigvardsson's question about what efforts the educational institutions are making in this and whether there is a need to do more, I know that many educational institutions are working with this issue and see it as part of their strategic work to attract more students, also to attract students with high motivation to work with social under-recruitment. This involves different types of work that are carried out where they seek out and provide information at upper secondary schools, not least at upper secondary schools where the educational tradition is somewhat weak, in order to in this way get more students to choose these programs.

We are following the issue very closely. A question that I believe Niklas Sigvardsson, just as I do, wants to know more about is what successful projects and successful examples within this exist at educational institutions all over Sweden. I believe that the educational institutions can learn more from one another there.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! It also pleases me that the government and the Minister for Education continue the high level of ambition that the Social Democratic government set for the university colleges. We can collectively continue to push that level of ambition even further so that we enable post-secondary studies for more. It is pleasing that we can continue that strategy.

Mr. Speaker! I intend to expand on this even further. It is about social maldistribution. Another interesting report from SNS arrived just in the days I was writing this interpellation. It is titled Massuniversitetets utmaningar för kvaliteten på högre utbildning.

There, the effects of both social skewed recruitment and where people from homes unfamiliar with studies go in the education system are described. It also addresses the very conditions for being able to benefit from a good education at our educational institutions.

There, a distinction is made between older established institutions and younger institutions. There are significant differences, just as the UKÄ report showed, in recruitment patterns and which students apply. There are also differences in which students can subsequently manage to complete the education at the institutions.

Here it is shown that the older, established institutions attract students with higher grade points from homes accustomed to studying, just as the UKÄ report partially shows. Younger institutions attract students from homes unaccustomed to studying with somewhat lower grade points.

This then leads to how the students can take in the education. That is what we want them to do. First, they shall enter, but then they shall also be able to take in the education that exists at the higher education institutions.

Here are the risks of a vicious spiral. It leads to the fact that those students who need extra support on the way to their knowledge will get poorer opportunities for research-linked education and well-developed course structures because the time that adjuncts, lecturers and professors have available in theory is equal between the established, older institutions and the younger institutions, but the difference in practice is extremely large.

The report is very clear that the ambition from the state side must therefore be that there should be high-quality education throughout the country. One needs to review educational resources and research resources for higher education institutions everywhere in our country. Otherwise, the social inequality in recruitment will also become a social inequality in education. This means that students from homes unaccustomed to studies will receive somewhat poorer education than those who come from homes accustomed to studies. It is something that I believe the minister does not think we should have in Sweden.

The report describes it very clearly in a quote that I shall read out: "Students from homes unfamiliar with studies receive their education in the least research-intensive teaching environments, while students from homes familiar with academia receive their education in research-intensive environments. We thus see a form of Matthew Effect where those already advantaged are advantaged even more."

This is connected to the social skew in recruitment, which absolutely must not become part of the social skew in education. Therefore, I would like the Minister, in his next answer, to reflect a little on: How can the government ensure that when the students have finally entered, they will also receive high-quality equal education at the higher education institutions?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the contribution, Niklas Sigvardsson!

I have not read the SNS report in detail. But I have a hunch about its meaning and its proposals. The starting point is that we have a challenge in our system today. To get into some educations, very low grades are required. Low merit values are required to get into colleges or certain courses at universities.

In itself, this means that we have problems with large dropouts in our programs. We have very many students who start independent courses who do not finish their courses. We have very many students who start certain specific programs and drop out.

The most obvious is the teacher education. There, it is not generally but in some respects very low admission requirements, and the number of dropouts is also very large. Up to every third student studying a subject teacher program drops out.

Is the answer to this to lower the requirements for entry? I mean that it is completely the wrong way to go. It is important that we ensure that we have high requirements to enter universities and colleges.

What the government has now announced regarding, for example, teacher education is that we have appointed an inquiry that looks at introducing different types of raised admission requirements so that one can even be able to get into the teacher education.

I believe it is a step that would mean we get students and pupils who are much better equipped to handle higher education. One does people a disservice if one lets people in who do not have the right prior knowledge.

People are allowed to enter on very low grades. That causes very many to drop out, a third and in some cases more than that. It is doing individual students a disservice. That is not where we should start. It is not by lowering the requirements that we are to solve this. We are to solve it by focusing on that the upper secondary school provides young people with the right conditions, and we shall have high knowledge requirements. That is the way forward.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say the following. I perceive that the report is about providing different types of compensation in different ways based on what background an individual has. I think that devalues people who do not themselves have parents who are academics and who do not themselves come from a tradition where the parents have pursued further studies.

It is to disparage the students. It creates a very stigmatizing highlighting that benefits no one. On the contrary, our approach is that we shall have high demands on the students and the same conditions for everyone.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! If one goes back and listens to what I said in my previous speech, I do not think I said that we would lower the requirements, that we would have low quality at our higher education institutions, and that we Social Democrats do not stand up for high quality at all the higher education institutions we have.

I believe I spoke about the importance of us having research links and education throughout our entire country. That is what it is about. It is important that we enable education throughout our entire country. It should be high-quality education for those who want and have the opportunity to study further.

I want to refer to the last thing the Minister said in his first speech: In summary, the social heritage shall not constitute an obstacle. Individuals who have the same prior knowledge and grades shall have the same opportunities to begin higher education.

I agree with that. But I would have liked to add a sentence. It is about having the right to be able to complete one's education at a high-quality educational institution. It creates the possibility to avoid social inequality in recruitment and social inequality in education throughout our country.

We Social Democrats, in fact, want that every individual shall have their opportunity to use their full potential and their ability to develop themselves. Instead of perhaps starting to sift through what the educational institutions should offer, the government needs to place the priority on that we shall have good access to high-quality education and research-linked education in our entire country at all of Sweden's educational institutions. It is that ambition we unfortunately lack from the country's government and its coalition parties.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Niklas Sigvardsson, for the interpellation!

The government believes in the engineering nation Sweden. We are now making a historically large investment in technical education because the green transition requires it, because the digitalization of society requires it, and because we, as an engineering nation, want more young people to choose the technical subjects.

An important part of this is to ensure that more students get the opportunity to study our engineering programs and our technical programs. This is something that we all benefit from, and it makes Sweden stronger and better. It is a way to increase the opportunities for everyone to, regardless of wallet, take part in an education.

We are expanding the vocational college with 40,000 places, which means that one has the opportunity to become a train driver or work with battery technology or wind power technology or whatever it is one wants to do. There, one can in different ways take part in educations that not only make one grow as a human being but also solve society's needs, not least linked to the green transition.

It is important investments that we are making because we truly believe in Sweden. We know that the engineering nation Sweden can only become richer and more prosperous as a country if we get more young people to choose the technical subjects. This is also important for breaking and reducing the significance of the social inheritance.

Education where we do not lower the requirements but on the contrary raise the requirements and expectations for students who want to enter our universities and colleges is the guarantee for high quality, and it is also the guarantee that social inheritance will mean less.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)