Ema Demir on Sveriges Radio: Building better data on student absenteeism
Student absenteeism is a growing challenge for Swedish schools, yet there is no national attendance register to show the full scale of the problem. CELE researcher Ema Demir spoke to Sveriges Radio about a new research project bringing together attendance data to better understand absenteeism and its consequences for students.
Photo: Linnea Nilsson/Sveriges Radio
More about the project
How widespread is student absenteeism in Sweden, which students are most affected, and what are the consequences over time?
These questions are at the heart of a research project at the Center for Educational Leadership and Excellence (CELE) at the Stockholm School of Economics. In a new feature by Sveriges Radio, project lead Ema Demir discusses why better data is needed to understand a problem facing schools across Sweden.
Building a clearer picture of absenteeism
Swedish schools routinely collect detailed information about student attendance, but the data is dispersed across municipalities, independent school organizations, and different digital systems. Without a national attendance register, researchers lack the infrastructure needed to study absenteeism systematically across schools and over time.
The CELE research project is working to address this gap by bringing together detailed attendance data from school providers across Sweden. The emerging research infrastructure will allow researchers to examine not only how much school students miss, but also different patterns of absence and how they relate to academic performance, long-term educational trajectories, and well-being.
Speaking to Sveriges Radio, Demir emphasized that despite growing concern about absenteeism, there is still too little knowledge about both its scale and its consequences for students.
From better data to better interventions
The project ultimately aims to provide a stronger evidence base for schools and policymakers seeking to prevent and respond to absenteeism.
By identifying when absenteeism becomes particularly consequential, which students are most affected, and how different patterns develop over time, the research can contribute to more targeted interventions and better attendance policies.
The project could also help demonstrate the value of a more systematic national infrastructure for attendance data in Sweden, making it possible to follow trends, identify inequalities, and evaluate interventions on a broader scale.
