Allan Svensson

Changing Differences in Intelligence? Comparisons between groups of 13‐year‐olds tested from 1960 to 1990

Abstract The purpose of the investigation is to study changes in verbal, spatial and reasoning intelligence among Swedish 13 year‐olds between 1960 and 1990. Identical tests have been used for representative samples on five occasions. On the verbal test, the scores tend to rise up to 1980, whereupon the tendency is reversed. The consequence of these contradictory trends is that the pupils’ verbal ability seems to be the same in 1990 as it was thirty years before. However, behind this stability, big differences on item‐level are hidden. The results on the spatial and the reasoning tests have risen considerably up to 1990. However, the whole increment for the girls, and the largest part of that for the boys, have taken place during the 60s and 70s. The gender differences in all tests are rather small compared to the differences between youngsters with different social backgrounds. However, during the late 80s, the differences between boys and girls, as well as those between social groups have increased. ...

A Comparison between Thirteen‐Year‐Olds Tested in 1961, 1966 and 1980

Abstract: Emanuelsson, I. & Svensson, A. 1986. Does the Level of Intelligence Decrease? A Comparison between Thirteen‐Year‐Olds Tested in 1961, 1966 and 1980. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 30, 25‐38. The purpose of the investigation is to study changes in intelligence among Swedish thirteen‐year‐olds during a 20‐year period. The results show that the average of spatial and reasoning intelligence has successively risen. Concerning verbal intelligence, there is a clear increase during the beginning of the 1960s. After this period, some decrease has occurred. Between social groups no changes in the differences were observed. On the other hand, between boys and girls this was the case. In verbal ability, there were only small differences between the sexes in 1961. However, in 1980 the girls were clearly ahead of the boys. Concerning spatial and reasoning ability, the boys were superior in the early 1960s. 20 years later this difference had practically disappeared.

Changes in Intelligence Over a Quarter of a Century

Abstract The purpose of the investigation is to study changes in intelligence among Swedish 13 year‐olds during a 25‐year period. The results show that the average of spatial and reasoning intelligence has successively risen. Concerning verbal intelligence, there is a clear increase during the 1960s. After this period the growth has been more irregular. No changes in the differences between social groups were observed. On the other hand, this was the case between boys and girls. In verbal ability, there were only small differences between the sexes in 1961. However, in 1985 the girls were clearly ahead of the boys. In spatial and reasoning ability, the boys were superior in the early 1960s. Twenty‐five years later this difference had almost disappeared.

Financial Aid and Recruitment to Higher Education in Sweden: Changes between 1970 and 1990.

ABSTRACT The study aims to elucidate to what extent student financial aid has influenced enrolment into higher education. Four nationally representative samples of students entering higher education at different points of time from 1970 to 1990 are studied. The results show that student financial aid has had a great impact on the number of students entering higher education. It has also influenced enrolment differences between socio-economic groups as well as those between men and women. In 1989 the financial aid system was reformed. Among other things the repayment of the loans became income related—a change which is given special attention.

The Importance of Financial Aid: The Case of Higher Education in Sweden.

This is the first in a series of investigations planned with a view to studying the effects of the financial aid reform which was introduced in Sweden in the mid-1960s. The group studied is a nationally representative sample of those born in 1948. It is shown that social background is a strongly influential factor in the selection for higher education. However, this class bias would have been far greater if it had not been for the national financial aid system. The aid is not only important for recruitment but also to enable the students to complete a degree program and this is particularly true for those from lower socio-economic strata.

I: The Effects of Background Variables on Transition to Higher Education

Abstract: Reuterberg, S.‐E. & Svensson, A. 1987. Student Financial Aid and Participation in Swedish Higher Education. I: The Effects of Background Variables pn Transition to Higher Education. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 31, 139‐150. The effects of social background, sex and achievement on transition rate to higher education are studied in three nationally representative samples of the Swedish population (born in 1948, 1953 and 1963, respectively). Social background and achievement are shown to have about the same effect on transition rate within the oldest cohort, while sex has relatively little effect. During the period of the study, achievement was seen to become progressively more important and therefore to exert greatest influence on the transition rate of the youngest cohort. Sex, too, becomes progressively more important but at the same time its effect changes. For the 1953 cohort, sex is reflected in a higher transition rate among men than among women, but for the youngest cohort t...

II: Recruitment Effects of Student Financial Aid

Abstract: Reuterberg, S.‐E. & Svensson, A. 1987. Student Financial Aid and Participation in Swedish Higher Education. II: Recruitment Effects of Student Financial Aid. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 31, 151‐161. There is no evidence to support the assumption that student financial aid was responsible for the large decrease in transition rate from upper‐secondary school to higher education which occurred in Sweden from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. At the beginning of this period the aid had a significant socially equalizing effect – an effect which has now been lost. On the other hand, the aid has increased the importance of achievement for enrolment into higher education and this tendency has grown stronger. Regarding sex differences the recruitment effects have consistently been somewhat larger among female students. This means that student financial aid reduced sex differences in transition rate in the late 60s and early 70s. However, ten years on women are entering higher education ...