How can the municipal responsibility to act support early school leavers on equal terms?

Project description

The project builds on the risks of early school leaving and addresses the lack of research on the MRA, which requires municipalities to support these young people aged 16-20 to resume education or gain employment. Despite Sweden’s commitment to welfare services on equal terms, the MRA’s implementation varies widely across municipalities—disparities that have not been thoroughly examined. Barriers related to gender, mental health, disability, socioeconomic background, migration status, and educational attainment that may prevent groups from receiving their entitled support have also been overlooked, making equity a relevant but neglected aspect of the MRA. 

Research questions

To fill this gap and improve early school leavers’ life chances and uptake of rights, the project addresses three research questions:

1. How do contacts with, participation in, and outcomes of the MRA differ among early school leavers with varying social and geographical dis/advantages?
2. What affects early school leavers’ engagements with the MRA, and how do the processes vary between municipalities?
3. Why are some municipalities more successful than others in promoting (re)engagement in education or employment among early school leavers through the MRA?
    

Plan for realisation

The project will be carried out in three substudies.

1. Register study to assess social and geographical inequities in early school leavers’ contacts with, participation in, and outcomes of the MRA.
2. Case study in six municipalities to explore early school leavers’ MRA engagements and explain how variations contribute to geographical inequities across municipalities.
3. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) including 42 to 56 municipalities to identify conditions that contribute to geographical inequities between municipalities in early school leavers’ (re)engagements in education or employment.