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.
Skolungdom

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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?

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

Conference 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.

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

This project will combine inclusion as a normative perspective, reflecting socio-political ambitions and aims to reform school practices, with intersectionality as a theoretical and analytical lens. It will open up the internationally well-developed research field on school non-attendance to the Swedish audience and provide knowledge that can guide school leaders or student health teams in their preventive work. The project will contribute to the understanding of SAP by diversifying what is often generalized as international perspectives on SAP.

Project description pdf, 414.2 kB. (414 Kb)

Comparing school attendance problems in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic - – listening to school personnel in Sweden and Germany. Kreitz-Sandberg, S., Enderle, C., Isaksson, J., Fredriksson, U. & Backlund, Å. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.

Comparative Perspectives on School Attendance, Absenteeism, and Prevention - Kreitz-Sandberg S, Fredriksson U. (2023). European Education, 55(3–4), 137–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2023.2281394 Full title: "Comparative Perspectives on School Attendance, Absenteeism, and Preventive Measures in Europe and Beyond."

Which students skip school? - A comparative study of sociodemographic factors and student absenteeism using PISA data. Fredriksson U, Rasmusson M, Backlund Å, Isaksson J, Kreitz-Sandberg S. (2024). PLOS ONE [Internet]. 19(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300537

Secondary school students’ perspectives on supports for overcoming school attendance problems: - a qualitative case study in Germany Enderle C, Kreitz-Sandberg S, Backlund Å, Isaksson J, Fredriksson U, Ricking H. (2024). Frontiers in Education [Internet]. 9. Doi 10.3389/feduc.2024.1405395

School absenteeism among students in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom: - A comparative study using PISA data Fredriksson, U., Rasmusson, M., Backlund, Åsa, Isaksson, J., & Kreitz-Sandberg, S. (2023).Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 7(1). https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.5034

Recording and Reporting School Attendance and Absence: - International Comparative Views on Attendance Statistics in Sweden, Germany, England, and Japan Kreitz-Sandberg, S, Backlund, Å, Fredriksson, U, Isaksson, J, Rasmusson, M& Gren Landell, M (2023). ORBIS SCHOLAE. 16:3, s. 187-212

Seminar 15 January 2024

A special issue of the journal European Education was recently published entitled "Comparative perspectives on school attendance, absenteeism, and preventive measures in Europe and beyond". To mark the occasion, a Zoom seminar on school attendance, absenteeism and preventive measures was organised.

Here you will find a documentation of the presentations as well as links to the articles