Determinants of Declining School Belonging 2000–2018: The Case of Sweden

Abstract

Students’ sense of belonging at school has declined across the world in recent decades, and more so in Sweden than in almost any other high-income country. However, we do not know the characteristics or causes of these worldwide trends. Using data on Swedish students aged 15–16 years from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) between 2000 and 2018, we show that the decline in school belonging in Sweden was driven by a disproportionately large decline at the bottom part of the distribution, and was greatest for foreign-born students, students from disadvantaged social backgrounds, and for low-achieving students. The decline cannot be accounted for by changes in student demographics or observable characteristics related to the school environment. The decline did, however, coincide with a major education reform, characterized by an increased use of summative evaluation, and an overall stronger performance-orientation.

Beneficial and negative factors for the development of students’ well-being in educational context

“…PISA data from 2000 to 2018 revealed that learners' sense of school belonging declined across the world. This expressly holds true for Sweden (e.g., Sweden: Högberg et al, 2021). Moreover, Goldbeck et al (2007) found a tendency towards decreased satisfaction with friends over time in a sample of secondary school students in Germany.…”

“…Another reason for the decrease in experience of stress as well as for exam anxiety might relate to the specific time point of measurement: after students apply to college, which usually starts to happen one year before finishing school, their stress might be less than before. Furthermore, as assumed, satisfaction with peers declined (e.g., Högberg et al, 2021), which can be explained by SEFT, which would posit that these adolescents did not feel satisfied due to a misfit between their needs and reality (e.g., Eccles & Midgley, 1989). Additionally, the decline might be related to the specific phase of adolescence under study, just before the transition to college and accompanying change in social context (Oswald & Clark, 2003).…”

Associations between social factors and school belonging among newcomer and non-newcomer youth in Sweden

“…Over the past two decades, school belonging levels have declined in Sweden [13], as they have internationally [18]. Since 2012, this decline in Sweden has been greater for foreign-born youth than native Swedes [13].…”

“….extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school environment" [10, p 80]. In many studies, school belonging has been used synonymously with school attachment, school connectedness, school engagement, school identification, school relatedness, or a sense of school community, among other terms [11][12][13], while being contrasted with concepts like school achievement [14].…”

From a crisis of results to a crisis of wellbeing – education reform and the declining sense of school belonging in Sweden

“…The stricter eligibility criteria led to higher rates of school failure, and in the long term to an increased take-up of disability benefits among youth with poor grades (Halapuu 2021). The reforms also coincided with a decline in the reported feeling of school belonging among pupils (Högberg et al 2021b). In a sense, one may say that education in Sweden simply lurched from crisis to crisisswapping a results crisis for a mental health crisis among pupils.…”