Changes in society are often discussed on an aggregated level and it is argued that society is changing from a modern industrial society to a post-industrial society. Through studying changes on a local level it is possible to study the complexity and variations of the general and aggregated theories of societal changes, and place changes in a context of time and place. The main object of this study is to analyse change in a locality. The study is a case study which studies Halmstad, a municipality on the west coast of Sweden, between the years of 1968 and 2006. The empirical material consists of analysis of demographic statistics and labour market statistics, using official statistical databases. The empirical material also consists of an analysis of official and historical documents as well as interviews with persons active in Halmstad. Three time periods are identified in the analyses which are characterised by different patterns in the population. The periods are also characterised by changes in the labour market and the employment of the population. These changes are analysed through the interplay between actors in the locality and actors and influences from outside the locality. Through the analysis of reflexivity it is shown how change and stability are interrelated through the interplay between the new and existing or innovation and tradition.

The comparison of the different innovation and development attempts in the Nordic countries through benchmarking was the purpose of the project on which this contribution focuses. The aim of the project was, first, to study and analyse different ways of organizing and managing regional development and innovation processes and, second, to compare the results in order for the collaborative actors to reflect and learn from each others’ approaches and experiences. © Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011.

Background: Young migrants can be described as a vulnerable group with trauma and exposure to violence as a frequently occurring part of their life story and migration process. The need for professional counselling in this group is extensive. A profession that many young migrants meet is school counselors. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of school social work practice with newly arrived young migrants. The research question is how school counselors’ reason regarding their role and responsibility in relation to counselling young migrants.

Method: The study is based on qualitative interviews with 15 school counselors who meet newly arrived young migrants daily. The interviews have been analyzed using a qualitative thematic analysis.

Findings: The delimitation of what counselling lies within the school counselor's responsibility, is not clear. The fact that school counselors experience that other parts of the welfare system are not available for young migrants force them to go beyond what they describe as a part of their professional responsibility and carry out therapeutic counselling. The school counselors use different tools and methods in their counselling and mix them based on their own area of interest, education, and experience.

Conclusion: The accessibility that newly arrived young migrants have to the school counselor creates a role as the “only” professional available to support with counselling. This means that the school counselors need to go outside their professional domain. The school counselor’s discretion in relation to the type of counselling and how it is conducted appears to be unlimited.

Under de senaste åren har man från politiskt håll lyft frågan kring relationen mellan högskolor och institut och vad dessa båda aktörer har för roller. Man har pekat på ett behov av mer samverkan mellan högskolor och institut. Detta paper är en analys av två samverkansprojekt mellan högskolor och institut. Intervjuer samt en workshop har genomförts med aktörer från deltagare i projekten och dessa har analyserats utifrån Mertons (1973) och Zimans (1994, 2000) teorier om normsystem inom högskolor respektive institut. Skillnad i normsystem mellan högskolorna och instituten analyseras utifrån synen på kunskap och forskning bland deltagarna i projekten. Skillnaderna i normsystemen kan ses få konsekvenser för hur verksamheten inom högskolorna och institut organiseras. Dessa två utgångspunkter, skilda sätt att se på kunskap och forskning samt olika sätt att organisera sin verksamhet på, skapar i sin tur både möjligheter men även svårigheter att arbeta tillsammans.

Contemporary society is characterized by rapid changes in the labor market, increased flow of information, and more opportunities to make choices in relation to education and career. Previous research has demonstrated how many young people in school don't think they get the support they need to make such choices. The overall aim of this article is to contribute to more in-depth knowledge of what kind of support and knowledge young adults describe as important in order to be able to make informed choices. This knowledge might help school to better support young people in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes in relation to their education and career choices. The article is based on interviews with 25-year-old men and women. 23 interviews were conducted. In sum, the analysis indicates that guidance activities that aims to contribute to knowledge about the labor market, programs and courses and requirements for different education programs would probably be perceived as more fruitful by the young adults if they are organized in a combination of different levels, i.e. both as group activities (exhibitions, general information/discussion) and individual activities (personal information/discussion). Further, the authors demonstrate that roles and expectations between pupils, teachers and guidance counselors should be discussed and clarified.

In Sweden, study and career guidance is the responsibility of the whole school, which also includes teachers. However, research concerning the role of teachers in study and career guidance is limited if one compares it with the existing research on the role and work of study and career counselors. The overall aim of this article is to provide a deeper understanding of how teachers in a Swedish municipality view their role in guiding students in their future study and career choices. The results show that teachers believe that they must be neutral, objective, and not influence students in their life choices even though they are at the same time aware that not all students have (equal) opportunities to be reflexive and to make choices that are independent of class affiliation. This indicates that teachers have limited possibilities to support their students and to equalize class reproduction in society. © 2022 The Author(s) 

Syftet med studien är att undersöka och förstå den bristande utbildningsbenägenheten i Falkenbergs kommun utifrån de ungas perspektiv. Studiens frågeställningar är:

– Hur definierar unga ett ”framgångsrikt” liv och vilka vägar har de för att nå dit?

– Vad har unga för attityd till högre utbildning?

– Vilken betydelse har omgivningen (hem, skola, arbetsmarknad) för de ungas utbildnings- och framtidsval?

För att fånga studiens syfte så allsidigt som möjlig valdes ett upplägg med fyra delstudier där ett flertal olika aktörer fick möjlighet komma till tals, så som unga, skolpersonal, arbetsförmedlare och företrädare för arbetslivet. Den första delstudien består av en enkätstudie bland unga i tre åldersgrupper; grundskoleelever i årskurs nio, gymnasieelever i avgångsklasserna på tredje året och 25-åringar. I den andra delstudien fördjupas resultaten från enkätstudierna bland unga genom intervjuer med ett flertal 25-åringar med anknytning till Falkenbergs kommun. Den tredje delstudien består av intervjuer med föräldrar tillsammans med sina barn samt med lärare och studie- och yrkesvägledare. Den fjärde delstudien består av en enkätstudie bland företrädare från det privata och kommunala näringslivet i Falkenbergs kommun samt intervjuer med arbetsförmedlare.

Resultatet av studien visar att den dominerande synen på högre utbildning i Falkenberg är att det är ett medel för att få ett arbete, även om det också i viss utsträckning framkommer perspektiv på högre utbildning som något som leder till personlig utveckling och mer kunskap. Det senare perspektivet står främst de unga som studerar eller har studerat på högskola eller universitet för. Den sammantagna bilden som ges av de unga, lärare, studie- och yrkesvägledare, arbetsförmedlare och näringslivet, är att Falkenberg är en kommun där högre utbildning inte värderas så högt och att Falkenberg inte är en kommun där högre utbildning är särskilt betydelsefullt. Högre utbildning ses inte av unga i Falkenberg som så betydelsefullt för att skapa sig vad man själv anser vara ett bra och framgångsrikt liv. De unga värderar främst fritid, vänner och trygghet i form av till exempel arbete med stabil inkomst för ett gott liv. Detta förefaller vara möjligt att uppnå utan högre utbildning för dem som bor i Falkenberg. Särskilt gäller detta för männen, vilka prioriterar att bygga upp ett kontaktnät för att erhålla ett arbete i Falkenberg. Denna strategi är gångbar då den del av näringslivet som inte värderar högre utbildning bland sin personal tenderar att rekrytera män i sitt eget kontaktnät. Kvinnor däremot ser i högre utsträckning vikten av att vidareutbilda sig, men har då svårt att se möjlighet till karriär i Falkenberg.

Studien visar, liksom tidigare forskning, att socioekonomiska faktorer och kön påverkar motivation och benägenheten att studera vidare på högskola eller universitet. De unga som har föräldrar som har högre utbildning är mer benägna att själva studera på högskola eller universitet och flickor/kvinnor studerar i högre utsträckning på högskola eller universitet än pojkar/män. Utöver dessa faktorer har anknytning till Falkenberg en betydelse för de ungas motivation och utbildningsval. Har man minst en förälder som är född utanför Falkenberg ökar motivationen att studera vidare. De som är motiverade till högre studier vill i stor utsträckning flytta från Falkenberg och de (25-åringar) som har flyttat från Falkenberg har högre utbildningsnivå än de som bor i Falkenberg.

Studien visar att unga som är engagerade i sina studier i grund- och gymnasieskolan ofta också uppger att de är motiverade till högre studier. De sammantagna resultaten synliggör att stödet från vuxna, speciellt föräldrar och lärare, i de ungas studier har avgörande betydelse för deras engagemang i studierna. Föräldrar med högre utbildning stöttar oftare sina barn i deras skolarbete än föräldrar utan sådan utbildning. Om föräldrarna inte har tillräckliga kunskaper för att stötta sina barn blir stödet från vuxna i skolan avgörande för deras studiemotivation. Resultaten visar att flickor inte är lika beroende av stödet i hemmet eftersom de i högre utsträckning än pojkarna svarar att de får stöd av lärare. Det framgår att lärarna känner till att flickorna få mer stöd men upplever en avsaknad av strategier för stötta pojkar att bli mer engagerade i sina studier.

Studien visar att en övervägande majoritet av grundskole- och gymnasieeleverna är osäkra på sitt val av framtida utbildning och yrke. Valet att studera på högskola eller universitet görs många gånger redan vid valet av gymnasieprogram, även om det i vissa fall har gjorts senare. Många unga uttrycker en påtaglig avsaknad av stöd från omgivningen, i synnerhet från vuxna i skolan, när det gäller val av yrke och utbildning. Lärarna och studie- och yrkesvägledarna beskriver hur de bör vara aktiva i förhållande till att få eleverna att tänka på framtiden samtidigt som de anser att de ska vara passiva i förhållande till att påverka och styra eleverna, exempelvis till att gå vidare till högre studier. Lärarna uppger att frågor som rör framtidsval berörs utanför ordinarie undervisning eftersom de inte anser att de har stöd i det styrande regelverket för att ta upp frågan om framtiden (inkluderat högre studier) inom ramen för undervisningen. De beskriver att det saknas strategier kring att belysa frågor som rör arbetsliv och högre studier. Samtidigt framhåller studie- och yrkesvägledarna att de saknar strategier för att möta dagens unga som de beskriver som okunniga om arbetsliv och utbildning och därmed allt för omogna för att göra några framtidsval. Sammanfattningsvis åläggs de unga ett stort eget ansvar för sina utbildnings- och framtidsval parallellt med att vuxenvärlden saknar strategier för att öka unga kunskaper om deras framtida möjligheter och abdikerar på grund av sin rädsla för att påverka.

In a changing and complex world, young people are expected to make decisions and choices regarding their education and future. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how guidance counsellors and teachers view their role in supporting students in these choices, and how young people regard the support they receive and have received during their years in school. The empirical data used in this paper is part of a larger study conducted in a municipality in Sweden. Interviews with teachers, guidance counsellors and young adults who live in or grew up in the municipality are presented and analysed in the paper. The empirical data also consists of surveys with students in their ninth year as well as students in their last year at school. The analysis is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of field, capital and habitus. The analysis shows that there are differences in how the professionals and the young people view the support regarding education and the future. Young people feel that they have received little support from the school and want more guidance/help from teachers and guidance counsellors regarding their educational choices and their future. From the professionals’ side, there is an explicit fear of influencing the young and therefore they take a more passive approach. How to understand this fear and its consequences from a gender and class perspective is discussed in the conclusion of the paper.

A demographic change is occurring in many areas of the world. The elderly population share has been increasing for the last decades and estimations predict that this group will be large in proportion to the number of economically active younger people. This change will bring exponentially increasing costs of health care. Technical developments could be one way to meet these new challenges. In a recent study called “Safe at night” the aim was to investigate whether a technical solution based can be used to supplement the home care work, with focus on the nightly visits of the elderly. The study raises questions regarding technical issues as well as actors (users, relatives and staffs) perspective on the methods. Researchers from both social and technical disciplines were involved in the study. In this paper, we highlight the importance of scientists from different disciplines participating in the study, as well as municipalities and industry. We show in particular the knowledge gained from a technical perspective and from a social science perspective and how and why these perspectives together constitute the necessary components to create innovation regarding elderly care and issues related to technology and trust.

Högskolan i Halmstad har på uppdrag av Halmstad kommun undersökt levnadsvillkoren för barn, ungdomar och vuxna med utvecklingsstörning och autism samt vuxna med förvärvad hjärnskada. Genom enkätstudier, en enkät som vänder sig till föräldrar till barn och ungdomar och en som riktar sig till vuxna, har en bild av livssituationen inom olika områden för dessa grupper tagits fram. I studien jämförs resultaten i viss utsträckning med levnadsvillkor för befolkningen i övrigt. Framförallt ställs resultaten i relation till motsvarande undersökningar för samma grupp från år 1991 respektive år 1995.

Rapporten har sin utgångspunkt i en diskussion mellan VINNOVA (Sverige), Norges Forskningsråd (Norge) och i ett senare skede TEKES (Finland) om benchmarking av innovationssystem, vilket alla tre länder använde som ett centralt begrepp i innovationspolitiken. Utgångspunkten är att man i de tre länderna utgår från att man kan identifiera och skapa innovationssystem, det vill säga samverkansformationer där olika aktörer samverkar med varandra i syfte att skapa innovationer. Hur man uppfattar detta, vilka aktörer eller aktörsgrupperingar som ingår och vilka slags relationer som utvecklas mellan dessa, varierar. Det här redovisade projektet behandlar fyra utvecklingsorganisationer i Sverige (Halland/Gnosjö) respektive Norge (Hardanger/Sunnhordland). Syftet med projektet har varit att lyfta fram olika aspekter som ses som centrala för utvecklingsorganisationer och med utgångspunkt i dessa lära av varandra. I denna rapport lyfts några av de delar som setts som centrala och som förts diskussioner kring under projektets gång fram. Här belyses likheter och skillnader mellan utvecklingsorganisationerna i de båda regionerna, innebörder av dessa och hur de kan förstås. Avslutningsvis diskuteras några centrala företeelser och processer som förefaller finnas i de flesta innovations- och utvecklingsprocesser.

Collaboration formations such as innovation networks and triple helix formations are becoming important instruments of economic policy and can be formulated as guiding visions. These guiding visions can be effective for turning the view towards specific goals and point out a direction, but they do not help us to understanding what it means to collaborate. With the specific characteristics of collaboration formations there is a need for ways to support the organization and management of the network. The “Support and Evaluation Tool for Innovation Network” (SEVIN) is here suggested as a method to support the collaboration processes through self-evaluation and empowerment.

There is a continuous increase in mental health problems, such as stress symptoms, among young people in the Nordic countries. One source of stress concerns young people’s outlook of life in general, and more specific the choice of education and future carrier. Previous studies show that high education has positive impact on a person’s health, but also on regional development. The research project is based on a case study in a Swedish municipality with low educational level. The aim of the study is to explore and understand the low education among the citizens. The study starts in young person’s perspective on their future. Further, how adults in home, school and the neighborhood, influence the young person’s educational and carrier choices. The analyses of the results are based on theories on gender and cultural/social capital. The empirical material consists of surveys and interview studies with young people, teachers and guidance counsellors. The results show that young people often feel unsure of their future chooses and often ask for more support from adults regarding their future education. Several students find it stressful to manage their career choices, particularly if their parents do not have sufficient knowledge to support them in such matters. Teachers and guidance counselors describe a lack of strategies to support and addressing issues of education and future work, but also how they should be passive in relation to influencing the students. In conclusion, the results show the importance, when it comes to social work and social development practices on preventing mental health problems among young people, to develop strategies for working with young person’s educational and carrier choices. In this project some strategies have been identified, on local political and school level, to strengthen outlook of life among young people.

In a changing and complex world, young people are expected to make decisions and choices regarding their education and future careers. At the same time, there is a continuous increase in mental health problems, such as stress symptoms, among young people in the Nordic countries. One source of stress concerns young people’s outlook on life in general, and more specifically their choice of education and career. This paper is based on a research project in a Swedish municipality with a low level of education. The overall aim of the project was to explore and understand the low education among the citizens in the municipality. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how career counsellors and teachers view their role in supporting students when it comes to these choices, and how young people view the support they receive and have received during their years at compulsory and upper secondary school. The empirical material consists of surveys and interview studies with young people, teachers and career counsellors. The analyses of the results are based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of field, capital and habitus with a gender perspective from Beverley Skeggs’ theory on gender and capital. The study takes young people’s perspectives of their education and careers as its starting point. It also examines the support they have received from career counsellors and teachers at compulsory and upper secondary school and also from their parents and other significant persons in their home environment. The analyses show that there are differences in how professionals and young people view study and career guidance. Young people often express a feeling of uncertainty when it comes to their future choices and request more guidance from adults regarding possible opportunities. Several students find it stressful to manage their career choices, particularly if their parents do not have sufficient knowledge to support them in such matters. Girls express a feeling of stress in relation to educational choices more often than boys. Teachers and career counsellors describe a lack of strategies when it comes to vocational guidance and how to address issues of education and future work within the current curriculum. They also express a fear of influencing young people and therefore take a more passive approach in these matters. In conclusion, the results show that there is a gap between young people’s requests for guidance from adults at school and teachers’ and career counsellors’ view of their role in these matters. The results highlights the importance of developing strategies for working with educational and career choices at compulsory school as one way of preventing mental health problems among young people.

In Sweden, school staff are legally responsible to report concern for a child’s welfare to social services. This obligation can be regarded as a cornerstone of social protection for children exposed to various forms of domestic violence, including honour-based violence (HBV). However, research indicates a tendency to underreport suspicion of child neglect by occupational groups in countries that apply mandatory reporting laws. This article examines the questions: How do school staff reason on their legal responsibilities in relation to reporting children and young people with a migrant background who are exposed to, or suspected victims of, HBV? What specific dilemmas can be identified in such situations? The study is based on qualitative interviews with school staff, particularly school counsellors, and a qualitative thematic analysis has been conducted. The results indicate that HBV is a complex field for professionals to handle and often becomes a subject of negotiation in relation to mandatory reporting. School staff commonly express a lack of trust in the social services’ knowledge or possibility to support children or young people in honour-based contexts. The respondents also reason around the notion that a report might lead to a worsened situation for the young person and increased control from the family. This all together shows an uncertainty or an internal moral conflict on the reporting obligation among school staff. © 2023 The Author(s). 

Flera tidigare studier visar att utbildningstraditionen i samhället har förändrats. Idag utbildar sig fler på gymnasiet och fler läser vidare på högre utbildningar vilket innebär att utbildningsnivån i vårt samhälle ökat. Utbildningssystemet beskrivs ofta som ett “självreproducerande system”, där benägenhet att välja en viss utbildning i hög grad är beroende av utbildningstradition, framför allt i familjen, men också i samhället runt individen. I Åstorps kommun har en låg utbildningstradition uppmärksammats. Det är inte ovanligt med avhopp från gymnasiet och ett flertal gymnasieelever slutför inte sin gymnasieutbildning inom de avsedda tre åren. När det gäller högre studier vid högskola eller universitet ligger utbildningsnivån i Åstorps kommun lägre än riksgenomsnittet. Med anledning av detta beslutade Åstorps kommun att följa upp gymnasieeleverna genom en studie. Studiens syfte är att tillvara erfarenheter av utbildning bland ungdomar i Åstorps kommun samt öka kunskapen om hur ungdomarna ser på framtida utbildnings- och karriärmöjligheter. Resultaten i studien visar att många ungdomar efterfrågar mer stöd från vuxna i skolan när det kommer till val av utbildning och framtida yrke. 

The aim of this presentation/working paper is to contribute to the knowledge about why young men generally are less likely to study at the university than young women. Previous studies and reports have pointed out a number of explanations for that. Young men’s reluctance to go on to higher education, as well as boys’ relatively low grades in primary and secondary schools, has been explained with reference to gender theoretical arguments about constraining constructions of masculinity. Several gender-oriented studies show that it is not considered compatible with certain types of masculinity constructions to make an e ort in school and show an interest in further studies. A term used to explain the boys’ poor performance in school and lack of interest in higher studies is antiplugg kultur (cf. eg Nordberg 2008 SOU 2009: 64). is presentation/working paper aims to challenge these explanations and expand the understanding of why young men tend to not to see higher education as an option. e empirical data consists of extensive quanti- tative and qualitative studies in a western Swedish municipality during 2011-2014. e point of departure is primarily in the young men’s own stories about teaching in primary and secondary school and their perceptions of their interactions with teachers, study and career counsellors and others. e interplay between and consequences of contemporary constructions of masculinity (Connell, 1995-2003), and the individualisation of society (Giddens 1991; Beck 1992), which is reflected in the teachers and study and career counsellors practitioners, are the main theoretical elements to interpret the empirical material.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the meaning of the lived experience of lifestyle changes as perceived by people with severe mental illness (SMI). People with SMI who have experience in managing lifestyle changes were interviewed (n = 10). The interviews were analyzed with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. The findings reveal three themes: (1) struggling with inner and outer limitations, (2) on one's own but together with others and (3) longing for living a life in harmony. The meaning of lifestyle changes can be understood as a person's internal and external endeavors to make well-considered decisions about lifestyle changes. Support should focus on strengthening the person's self-efficacy and should be based on the person's experiences. © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC