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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren

The missing middle - a comparative study of transitions among low to mid performing students from academic upper secondary school

Alternative title: Overgang til høyere utdanning og arbeid blant ungdom som har fullført studiekompetanse med gjennomsnittlige eller lave karakterer.

Awarded: NOK 12.0 mill.

MISSING MIDDLE: a comparative study of transitions among low achievers from academic upper secondary school Supporting smooth transitions between levels in the educational system, and ultimately to the labour market is crucial in a societal and individual perspective. A group of students who have received little scholarly attention are those who achieve an academic qualification in upper secondary education, with comparably low grades (CLAA – Completers with Low Academic Achievement). There is little knowledge of where students head to after completion of upper secondary, whether they use their academic qualification to access higher education and/or to what extent they have successful careers. The project is a collaboration between NIFU and SPS, OsloMet, where NIFU is the project leader and owner. CLAA have acquired generic skills and a certificate of upper secondary education which in principle grant access to higher education. However, if competition for higher education access increases, this group is likely to be left out, as they have poor grades and qualify for a more limited number of higher education programmes. What opportunities do these young people envisage in the labour market or in higher education? What are their future plans? The project MISSING MIDDLE will investigate these questions using qualitative and quantitative data. The project is organised in four work packages: a qualitative part (WP1), two WPs using registry data (WP2 on students completing the general academic upper secondary programme, and WP4 on students completing the one-year supplementary programme, i.e. a ‘makeup-year’ available to students who commenced a vocational track but who wants to get the academic qualification granting access to higher education), and one WP using survey data from an international survey which covers students in Norway, Spain, Belgium, Finland and Iceland (WP3). In 2023 all WPs have continued the work started in 2022. Additionally, the research group has contributed actively both to the national debate, and by presenting results at Nordic and international conferences. Research have been presented at Vinterseminaret (Norwegian sociological association), at VET & Culture workshop on ‘academisation of vocational education’ at OsloMet, at Transitions in Youth (TIY)-workshop i Edinburgh, and at DZHW 10-year anniversary, a conference with the title ‘The Future of Higher Education and Science’ in Hannover. The last contribution was part of a symposium on ‘permeability between vocational education and higher education’, where we had been directly invited to contribute. In the period from December 2022 to November 2023, project members have actively participated in the national debate regarding admission requirements and admission to higher education. On December 20, 2022, Hovdhaugen and Lillebø got an opt-ed published in Aftenposten (large national paper), which was a criticism of some of the findings of the ‘Admissions committee’ (Opptaks-utvalget), who had published a NOU on December 1st. Furthermore, on March 1st, Hovdhaugen participated in a debate at the Students Association in Trondheim, about the current higher education admissions regulations and possible implications of proposed changes. The debate was recorded and broadcasted through national radio (NRK P2 on March 31st). Work on articles continues and several of these will be published during 2024. Among other things, two articles based on WP3, the subproject reusing ISCY-data, were accepted for publication. These publications will be reported when the articles are published, which is expected to happen in the new year.

Little is known of the career patterns of those who have completed an academic qualification in upper secondary education with low academic achievements (CLAA – Completers with Low Academic Achievements). Numerous studies have focused on either early school leavers or high achievers. This project targets the ‘missing middle’ in education research - neither prepared for, or necessarily admitted to higher education, nor holding an occupation-specific credential in labour market-demand. Thus, this is a group with rising risk of unemployment when competition for jobs increases and access to higher education hardens. We propose an empirically and theoretically bold study to produce knowledge on the aspirations, transitions and outcomes of students in the lower half of the achievement distribution in Norway. The study includes as a multi-method longitudinal comparative design linking comparative longitudinal survey data, qualitative data from four countries, and detailed Norwegian administrative registry data for several cohorts over time. This provides unique opportunities as to problematizing, renewing and develop dominant theories as well as the critique. The project is organized in four interrelated work packages, conducted by a collaborative and inter-disciplinary team of researchers at NIFU and Centre for the Study of Professions (SPS) at OsloMet. The international network of esteemed scholars from Belgium, Finland, Iceland and Spain provides insights contributing to produce high-impact knowledge to the academic community, users and policymakers.

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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren