Umeå University's logo

umu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Academic resilience and policy reform in Sweden
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of applied educational science, Departement of Educational Measurement.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4625-4853
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Umeå School of Business and Economics (USBE), Economics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5640-2426
2026 (English)In: Risk, resilience, and recovery across global education systems: the long-term impact of pandemic reforms / [ed] Louis Volante; Kristof De Witte; Orazio Giancola; Luca Salmieri; Don A. Klinger, New York: Routledge, 2026, 1, p. 90-109Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

This chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of Sweden's educational policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the strategies employed to ensure educational continuity. Unlike many other countries, Sweden chose to keep compulsory schools (grundskola) open while shifting upper secondary schools (gymnasium) to distance learning. The chapter examines the immediate effects of these policies on academic performance, but also on non-cognitive measures. The findings indicate that there were minimal or no significant impacts on average educational attainment among Swedish students in compulsory nor in upper secondary school, as measured by school grades, national tests, and the Swedish Scholastic Assessment Test (SweSAT). The results from international surveys are mixed. The 2022 PISA survey, as well as the 2021 PIRLS survey, showed decline in performance, while the 2023 TIMSS survey indicated an improvement in mathematics. When it comes to measures of student well-being, the findings are inconclusive. The impact appears not to have been uniform across all student groups. While many students seem to have fared relatively well during the pandemic, there are concerns about students from lower SES backgrounds and other vulnerable groups, highlighting the importance of considering equity in educational policy responses to crises. The chapter discusses these findings and potential explanations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York: Routledge, 2026, 1. p. 90-109
Series
Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education
Keywords [en]
Education, Educational Measurement, Education Policy, Education Economics, Pandemic effects
National Category
Other Educational Sciences Economics
Research subject
didactics of educational measurement; Economics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-248249DOI: 10.4324/9781003608806-8Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105030536384ISBN: 978-1-032-98201-4 (print)ISBN: 978-1-041-00231-4 (print)ISBN: 978-1-003-60880-6 (electronic)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-248249DiVA, id: diva2:2025517
Available from: 2026-01-07 Created: 2026-01-07 Last updated: 2026-02-27Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Wikström, ChristinaWikström, Magnus

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Wikström, ChristinaWikström, Magnus
By organisation
Departement of Educational MeasurementEconomics
Other Educational SciencesEconomics

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
isbn
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
isbn
urn-nbn
Total: 103 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf