Utbildning på (o)lika villkor:<br> Om kön och etnisk bakgrund i grundskolan

Abstract in English

The aim of this thesis is to examine childrens educational conditions in senior compulsory school. The purpose is to compare girls and boys conditions on the basis of ethnical background. The thesis includes four articles. The first three are based on questionnaire data from 1,193 children, 13 to 15 years old, at four Swedish municipal schools. The last article includes two studies: A study conducted among the headmasters at the four schools and a study of the compulsory school attendance law.

The first article introduces a study concerning parental involvement in their childrens education. The aim is to examine the childrens experience of their parents assistance in their homework, participation in school meetings and interest in their education. Finally, these topics are analysed in relation to the childrens own involvement in their education. The second article introduces a study concerning schoolchildrens involvement in their own education and factors that correlate, beside parental involvement. The implicit aim is to study the childrens experience of teacher support, their situation in school and attitudes towards university education. The third article introduces a study concerning parents directives regarding their childs participation in social activities. The aim of the study is to examine how many children that are not allowed to participate in social activities and some educational elements at school, for example psychical education and school journeys. The results of the questionnaire show great complexity concerning how the children experience their conditions, where sex/gender and ethnicity correlate. The last article examines the conflicts that may arise between the educational system and the parents regarding specific elements in their childs education. This study examines the attitude of the schools towards allowing children to refrain from compulsory attendance at the familys request. Results show that the attitude towards the families varies between the schools. The compulsory attendance law is indistinct, but legal cases show that it is illegal to allow children to refrain from specific elements within the education to fulfil the parents wishes.