Welcome to a higher seminar with our external guest!
Speaker
Peter Bäckström, FOI
Title
A Tool for Social Integration? Social Sorting in Sweden’s Reinstated Conscription System
Abstract
Conscription is often viewed as a tool for promoting social representation in the military organisation, yet little is known about whether today’s selective conscription systems actually achieve this goal. This study examines socioeconomic differences in enrolment into military service under Sweden’s reactivated, gender‑neutral conscription system. Using linked administrative data on Swedish youth born between 2000 and 2004, I follow around 500,000 individuals throughout the enrolment process. The results show a clear social gradient: youths with highly educated parents are substantially more likely to be enrolled than those from low‑education backgrounds. These differences emerge early in the enrolment process and grow stronger at each stage, with youths from highly educated families especially overrepresented in selective leadership positions. To investigate the mechanisms behind these disparities, I estimate a series of linear probability models for different stages of the process. The analyses reveal that most of the socioeconomic gradient is explained by differences in medical eligibility and cognitive test performance. By contrast, individual motivation for military service accounts for little of the observed gap. Once health and ability measures are adjusted for, remaining socioeconomic differences become small. The findings suggest that institutional demand and active selection, rather than individual motivation and self‑selection, drives the social composition of Swedish conscripts, raising important questions about representation in contemporary conscription systems.