13 October 2023

What are the consequences of growing up in a disadvantaged area? How does it affect educational and work opportunities later in life? And what measures could improve young people’s chances? These are issues that a new research project at LiU will investigate, with the aim of providing tangible advice to policy makers.

Portrait of Benjamin Jarvis, associate professor at Linköping University. Photographer: Jonas Roslund
Associate professor, Benjamin Jarvis, is the leader of the research project.

It is well-known that people growing up in disadvantaged areas are at greater risk of dropping out of school and experiencing limited labour market opportunities.
It is less known whether the impact of growing up in such environments varies at different stages of a person’s childhood. And even less is known about what measures could work to break or mitigate the negative consequences.

“Our project is mainly about tracing the effects of neighbourhoods and schools on children from birth to young adulthood and identifying systematic ways to address inequalities that crop up because of different exposures to neighbourhood and school disadvantage,” says associate professor Benjamin Jarvis in the Department of Management and Engineering.

Six-year research project

Benjamin Jarvis will manage the six-year project recently granted just over SEK 17 million by the Swedish Research Council. The research team will address the problem from different angles.

The team wants to examine how neighbourhood and school segregation come about and evolve. They will also look at the importance of family background and what effect parents’ choice of housing and school have on their children at various stages of childhood. They will then try to estimate the impact of various factors on work and educational opportunities later in life.

Ultimately, the researchers plan to use computer simulations to combine their findings and test the effects of different policy decisions.

Helping policymakers

How would segregation and educational opportunities be affected should policy makers decide to halt, or speed up, housing developments in certain areas? What happens if single family homes and owner-occupied flats are prioritised over rental housing? What are the implications of closing down schools, or opening new ones, in particular areas? What impact would prioritising private schools over municipal schools have?

“Each of these decisions may have consequences for inequality and segregation in the near term and the long term. We hope to help policy makers and the public understand what those consequences might be and, subsequently, make better informed decisions,” says Dr. Jarvis.

The research team includes Dr. Jarvis, Martin Arvidsson, Maria Brandén, Adel Daoud, Laura Fürsich, Peter Hedström, Selcan Mutgan, Erik Rosenqvist, and Eduardo Tapia from the Department of Management and Engineering, Miriah Meyer from the Department of Science and Technology, and Elizabeth Bruch from the University of Michigan.

Translation: Anneli Mosell

More research on segregation

Organisation

Latest news from LiU

Toomas Timpka.

No association between COVID-vaccine and decrease in childbirth

COVID-19 vaccination is not the cause behind a decrease in childbirth, according to a study from Linköping University. The results speak against rumours about vaccination and reduced fertility.

A group of people sitting around a wooden table.

Ukrainian researchers and students visited LiU

Ukrainian society must continue to function during the war. Other European countries can contribute. LiU is part in the Swedish-Ukrainian project STREAM-U and recently welcomed a group of researchers, public officials and students.

A woman and a man in front of avatars.

AI and simulation lab equips teachers

Teachers and students are given tools to use AI wisely in education. In simulations with avatars, they practise dealing with teaching challenges. This and much more is going on in the AIST Lab, a new interdisciplinary initiative at LiU.