It also examines how schools, classmates, and families influence students’ school progress, friendships, well-being, and integration. The study focuses on the relationships between families, schools, and young people. This means that the school is at the centre in all its roles: as a workplace for teachers and students, as a social meeting place, and—of course—as the key institution for learning. Consequently, the study is carried out in schools, where we interview students in grade 8 and teachers via online questionnaires.
The school-and-pupil study was first conducted in Sweden in 2011–12 with 5000 young people in Sweden born in 1996, as part of an international comparative project (www.cils4.eu). In one part of YES, we follow up these students in 2026 as they turn 30, asking how experiences in youth predict their early adult outcomes.
In a second part of YES, we follow a new cohort of pupils longitudinally, starting in grade 8 with follow-ups in grade 9 and in the year after when most are in their first year of upper secondary (‘high’) school. The fieldwork will be carried out in 2026, 2027, and 2028.Our research on young people’s living conditions and the role of the school in shaping their lives and opportunities is aimed both at the academic community, policymakers, and the general public. We have published books and scientific articles that are publicly available. These include a report to the Ministry of Finance on school and educational outcomes, as well as the book Integration bland unga. En mångkulturell generation växer upp (”Integration among youth: A Multicultural Generation Grows Up”) (Makadam förlag, 2022). Our publications have attracted attention in public debate, and we regularly present our findings to politicians and a variety of interested audiences. Some of the areas where we have contributed include education policy, school reform, issues of integration, and psychological wellbeing among young people.
The project Ineqint and the YES! studies are part of a larger collaboration, mainly stemming from the original set-up for CILS4EU, which included Sweden, England, Germany and the Netherlands. Also this time, our focus is not only on the case of Sweden, but also on Sweden in a comparative perspective.
