TILLIT: NYCKELN TILL FRIHET? En enkätstudie om sambandet mellan tillit och skolresultat i socioekonomiskt svagare områden.

Abstract

The political debate often mentions low socioeconomic status as the reason for the decreasing school results among pupils in socioeconomic disadvantaged areas. However not every child in schools located in socioeconomic disadvantaged areas perform badly. Based on Colemans (1988) theory regarding the importance of trust for desired outcomes as well as previous studies inquiring policymakers to implement activities enhancing trust in schools, I therefore hypothesize that trust in teachers leads to positive school results, regardless of socioeconomic status. Hence the aim is to see whether trust beats socioeconomic status and if lack of trust explains why some students fail in school. A questionnaire was handed out to ninth graders in three schools located in Bergsjön and Biskopsgården, two of Gothenburg’s most segregated areas.

Using linear regression, the results demonstrated that trust had a significant and positive impact on school results, even after controlling for socioeconomic status, trust within family, gender and length of Swedish residence. However, when using socioeconomic status as a moderating variable, no significant results were given.

This study – despite its minor scale – indicate that trust is important for schools, therefore policymakers should encourage trust building activities in the curriculum.