Anna Kristine Boulund

Education
Cand.soc. in Science of Education at Aarhus University, DPU, Copenhagen.

Bachelor in Science of Education at Aarhus University, DPU, Copenhagen.

In my master’s thesis I studied the Danish pilot scheme “erhvervskandidatordningen”. Launched in 2018, the scheme introduces a new educational structure in which students can combine their master's studies with relevant employment. In some ways resembling a dual education-model. The thesis was formulated as a case study and the aim was to understand 1) how the students experienced their conditions for learning at their university and workplace? And 2) what characterizes their subjectification processes within this new student category? The analytical approach had two strings: situated learning theory, and theory of subjectification. 

Field of research/work:
PH.D. PROJECT: HOW DOES GENDER, ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL CLASS FORM AND INFORM YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEIR VOCATIONAL EDUCATIONAL DECISION-MAKING?

"More young people needs to take a Vocational Education and Training (VET) degree" – that has been a political goal for more than 10 years in Denmark. Despite this, developments in the field show that there are difficulties in increasing enrollment. At the same time, statistics show that young people cluster together in post-compulsory education on the basis of their gender, ethnicity and social class. However, there is not much research into how the three factors give information to and form young people's vocational education decision-making.

This project concentrates on how ‘gender’, ‘ethnicity’ and ‘social class’ form young peoples vocational education decision-making by studying the different initiatives planned to support the decision-making processes. Furthermore, the project aims at exploring the effects of influences outside of school on the decision apply or not to apply to a VET.

The purpose of the PhD project is, through the perspectives of the young people about to make an educational decision, to contribute with new knowledge on how these three categories inform young people in their choice of education. That knowledge can, among other things, be of benefit to schools, municipalities and politicians in their work to introduce and organize decision-making support activities. The project is part of CeFU's collaboration with the Center for Knowledge of Vocational Education (CEVEU) and is carried out under the supervision of Associate Professor Arnt Vestergaard Louw. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.