Sven-Eric Reuterberg

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. ...

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.

On Differential Selection in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test

Abstract Group differences in admission test scores are often regarded as an indication of bias in the test without due consideration for the fact that the testees constitute self‐selected groups and may be unrepresentative. This study aimed to study the selection effects in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test due to socio‐economic background. The results show substantial differential selection effects, implying that test takers from low socio‐economic groups constitute the most positively selected group in spite of the fact that they obtain the lowest scores on the test. To some extent these differential selection effects are caused by group differences in variability. It is also shown that these selection effects mainly arise at the transition from compulsory school to upper secondary school. When upper secondary education is controlled for there are only very weak differential selection effects in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test.

On Comparing Transition Rate Gains.

Abstract Reuterberg, S.‐E. 1985. On Comparing Transition Rate Gains. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 29, 175‐190. Making transition rate gains comparable is a problem because it is much more difficult to change a very high or very low transition rate than to change a rate near the proportion 0.50. It is shown that measures based on the proportions themselves — i.e. the difference between proportions, the proportion ratio and the residual gain ratio — do not make the gains comparable. Instead a non‐linear transformation has to be done. Two such transformations are discussed: probits and logits. As shown in the report, they both make the transition gains comparable. A problem more important than the choice of transformation is that of sample error. Therefore, a statistical test is to be recommended. It is shown that log‐linear models are an appropriate test for this purpose.

Educational Careers for Gifted Students in Sweden.

The 10 per cent most able students from a nationally representative sample of Swedes is followed up from the age of 13 to the age of 26. The study aims at investigating the impact of different factors, i.e. school marks, support from teachers and parents, attitudes to school, self evaluation of achievement, and economic factors on entrance into higher education.

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 ...