Stockholm university
Department of Education

Final Conference: School Attendance Problems in International Comparison, 23-24 October 2025

Welcome to the Final Conference of the collaborative research project: School Attendance Problems in International Comparison, that started 2020. The purpose has been to investigate national, organisational and individual dimensions of school attendance problems (SAP) among 15 to 17-year-olds in Sweden, the UK, Germany and Japan.

 

Conference Goals

  • Share results from our project with international researchers and national actors in the field.
  • Continued networking with national and international cooperation partners and experts in the field.
  • Information, exchange and further planning of work on school attendance problems (SAP) and educational participation.

Day 1: 9 AM to 5 PM

Theme: A journey through the qualitative case study results from four countries: students’ and school-based professionals’ perspectives

Conference Venue:

Stockholm University, Frescati campus, Department of Education, Frescativägen 54, Room 1511.

Frescativägen 54 (Google Maps)
 

Day 2: 9-12 AM

Theme: Possibilities and limitations of attendance data and statistics for research and praxis

Conference Venue:

Stockholm University, Campus Albano, Teaching hall ”Lärosal 40” (ALC), Albano House 4, Level 3

Campus Albano (Google Maps)

Follow up

The conference will be followed up by the Network meeting on ”School Absenteeism and Drop out” (24-25 October) which is organised by Professor Heiner Ricking (University Leipzig), Professor Gisela Schulze (Oldenburg University) and Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg (Stockholm University). For more information contact:

Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg

Registration

Participation is free but registration is required by 12 November via the following link:

School Attendance Problems in International Comparison, Conference 23-24 October


 

 

Program day 1, October 23

Theme for Day 1: A journey through the qualitative case study results from four countries: students’ and school-based professionals’ perspectives

Venue: Stockholm University, Frescati Campus, Department of Education, Room 1511 (40 persons)

Morning session 9-12.15 AM
Time Content Speakers
08:30 Rooms opens Coffee
09:00

Welcome to Stockholm University;Department of Education

International and Comparative Education Research Group (ICER)

Matilda Wiklund

Meeri Hellsten
09:15 Welcome to the conference  Ulf Fredriksson and Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg
09:25 SAPIC – An international comparative research project on school attendance. A short overview   Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg
09:45 Short break Coffee
10:00 Working with Case Study Research in an International Comparative Perspective  
  Presentation: Purpose of the study Heiner Ricking and Malin Gren Landell 
10:15 Results from Sweden: Students’ perspectives and professionals’ perspectives Åsa Backlund and Joakim Isaksson 
10:45

Discussion facilitated by discussant

 Lara Bokelmann 
11.10 Short break  
11:25 Results from Japan: Study outcomes and policies Takayoshi Beppu (with SKS and UF)
11:55 Discussion facilitated by discussant Ayumi Fukawa and Gisela Schulze
 
12:20

Break

Lunch will be served at 12:45 at the Faculty Club

  


 

Afternoon session 2-5 PM
Time Content Speaker
13:55 Welcome back!  
14:00 Results from England: School professionals’ perspectives and policies Dahab Jihar
14:45 Short break  
15:00

Results from Germany
Guiding us through the results from different studies 

 Chiara Enderle with Heiner Ricking and SKS
 
15:30 Discussion facilitated by discussant Marie-C. Vierbuchen
15:45 Short break  
16:00 International Comparisons on the Base of Case Studies, some examples Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg, Chiara Enderle, Åsa Backlund
16:40 Final discussion: What can the international case studies contribute to our understanding of working with school attendance problems?  
17:00 End of day 1  
  Transportation via subway and boat to Nacka. Subway station Östermalmsorg. Boot no 80 (direction Ropsten) from Nybroplan to Saltsjökvarn.  
19:30 Dinner at Elite Hotel Marina Tower  

 

 

Program day 2, October 24

Friday 24 October, 9-12 AM

Theme for Day 2: Possibilities and limitations of attendance data and statistics for research and praxis

Conference Venue: Stockholm University, Campus Albano:
Teaching hall ”Lärosal 40” (ALC), Albano House 4, Level 3

Map of conference rooms Albano

Time Content Speaker
09:00 Room opens Coffee
09:30 Welcome to Day 2 Malin Gren Landell
09:45 Report from Project Study 1: 
A comparative study of students in Sweden, Japan, Germany and the UK, based on PISA data – With focus on published results, ongoing analysis and information on how these results informed our mixed method project

 		 Ulf Fredriksson 
10:15 How can national and international comparative statistics contribute to our understanding of SAP among adolescents in Sweden, the UK, Germany and Japan? What can we learn from statistics in research and praxis?  Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg
10:45 Break Coffee, fruit
11:00 Guided conversation: How  to use attendance statistics in research and praxis -limitations and strengths for comparisons and implications for developing pedagogical practices

Moderator: Malin Gren Landell

Invited guests
12:00 Discussion in plenary session, round up and further planning Malin, Susanne, and all cooperation partner and workshop participants
12:30 Lunch Restaurant Proviant, at Albano


The conference will be followed up by the Network meeting on ”School Absenteeism and Drop out” (24-25 October) which is organised by Professor Heiner Ricking (University Leipzig), Professor Gisela Schulze (Oldenburg University) and Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg (Stockholm University).
You can find the preliminary program here.
 

 

Program Follow up, 24-25 October 2025

 

AG "Absentismus-Dropout" 25th Symposium from 24-25 October 2025

Organisers: Heinrich Ricking (Leipzig University), Gisela Schulze (Oldenburg University) & Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg (Stockholm University)

Arrangement: Stockholm University, Department of Education, Stockholm.

 

Friday, 24 October 2024

Location: Albano Campus, Lecture hall “Lärosal 37” (ALC), Albano House 4, Level 3.

Map of conference rooms Albano

14:15 Eröffnung/Begrüßung Susanne Kreitz- Sandberg, Heinrich Ricking & Gisela Schulze
14.30-15.15 Selected results of the SANCHO project Heiner Ricking et al.
15:15–16:00  ProSA (Promotive Factors for School Attendance) Chiara Endere & Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg
16:15–17:00 School Absenteeism among Students with Intellectual Disabilities  Marie-Christine Vierbuchen & Steffen Kaiser
17.30–19.00   Active exchange of information + city tour in Stockholm  
19.30  Short introduction of the participants Dinner + professional exchange  


Saturday, 25 October 2025

Location: Department of Education (to be confirmed)

09.00–09:30    Correlation and causality: Dagitty & Absentismus Michael Feldhaus & Meike Rau
09:30–10:00 Cross-Cultural Differences in Shame-Eliciting Situations: An Exploratory Analysis in Japan Ayumi Fukawa, Yohei Yasuhara & Mengsi Liu
10.00–10.30   FAIR – Freiburg Approach to Integration and Regular Attendance in School:
A Data-Based Intervention and Monitoring Project on School Absenteeism in Vocational Education.		 Anna Hasler
10.30– 10.45   Break  
10:45–11:15   Absenteeism at vocational college Sandra Seeliger
11:15–12:00 School Absenteeism and Cooperation in the Context of Special Educational Needs –
Empirical Insights into Cooperation Processes Using Grounded Theory		 Lara Stauvermann
12.15 – 12.30   Summary and outlook   

 

 

About the project

Research project:

School Attendance Problems in an International Comparative Perspective

The purpose of this study is to investigate national, organisational and individual dimensions of school attendance problems (SAP) among 15 to 17-year-olds in Sweden, the UK, Germany and Japan.

The project uses a mixed method approach combining quantitative analysis of large-scale data on the national level with qualitative case studies on the organisational and individual level.

  1. What can national and international comparative statistics contribute to our understanding of SAP among adolescents in Sweden, the UK, Germany and Japan
  2. What can we understand about SAP and its prevention from the perspective of professionals working with student health in these countries?
  3. How can we understand the situation of individuals who belong to certain risk groups and the adolescents perspectives on schooling and (lack of) social support in these countries?

Please read more about the project on our website:

School Attendance Problems in an International Comparative Perspective

 

 

Project team and collaboration

Project leader

Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg, Stockholm University, Department of Education

Project team in Sweden

Åsa Backlund, Stockholm University, Department of Social Work

Ulf Fredriksson, Stockholm University, Department of Education

Malin Gren Landell, Researcher and former gov. investigator on SAP

Joakim Isaksson, Stockholm University, Department of Social Work

Maria Rasmusson (Uppsala University, Department of Education

In Collaboration with:

Heinrich Ricking, Leipzig University

Chiara Enderle, Leipzig University/ Flensburg University

Misako Nukaga, The University of Tokyo

Takayoshi Beppu, The University of Tokyo

Dahab Jihar, University of Birmingham
 

 

Contact

Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg

Senior lecturer

susanne.kreitz-sandberg@edu.su.se
08-120 763 43

See profile page for Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg

Susanne
  • Visiting address
  • 2536
  • Frescativägen 54

  • Programme co-ordinator Master's Programme in Education with International and Comparative specialisation.

Last updated: October 23, 2025

Source: IPD

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