Research project Studentship and negotiations on higher education in preschool education
University education has historically been seen as exclusive and mainly attracting students from homes with a high level of education, higher education has in recent decades become more obvious to many people.
University education has historically been seen as exclusive and mainly attracting students from homes with a high level of education, higher education has in recent decades become more obvious to many people. The problem of social bias recruitment in higher education remains if you look at it overall, but the trend is nevertheless that students have become a more heterogeneous group and that higher education must meet the increased studentdiversity. So what is it like to be a student today and what are their perceptions of higher education?
Project description
This project is about being a student in higher education with a focus on preschool teacher education. The preschool theacher education is an education that nationally recruits students from different social and cultural backgrounds and can thus be said to respond to the higher education sector's mission to promote diversity and equalize social recruitment bias through broadened recruitment (of groups that traditionally do not apply for university studies) and broadened participation (measures for students to be able to complete the education). Preschool teacher education is an academic vocational education and being a student is then also connected with developing a professional identity.
In the project, we intend to, through life story interviews and follow-up interviews throughout the education period, contribute knowledge about how pre-school students' backgrounds and future professional perspectives gain significance for how studentship and higher education are experienced. In order to put the students' stories in a larger context, we will also participate in occasions where students are informed and introduced to higher education. This is to gain knowledge about how higher education meets and appeals to students in different contexts. Also, how the student is portrayed and addressed on the university's websites and in policy documents will be studied. The study will be an important contribution to a deeper understanding of experiences of studentship beyond notions of the so-called standard student.
Project members
Project managers
Åsa Bartholdsson
Universitetslektor, docent
Members
Anna Åhlund
Lektor
