New research project tackles educational inequalities by synthesizing large longitudinal studies across Europe
In the past few years, educational performance among schoolchildren has been on a downward trend in Finland and several other countries with high GDP (gross domestic product). This decline is most notable in mathematics where scores have plummeted, raising significant concerns. Educational inequality has also become a subject of intense debate in recent years.
A European research project titled MapIE - Mapping of Longitudinal data of Inequalities in Education was recently launched with the ambitious goal to discover the underlying factors contributing to disparities in educational outcomes and to identify the policy-level measures that compensate for these factors. The research consortium is headed by Mari-Pauliina Vainikainen, a Professor of Teaching and Learning and the leader of REAL at Tampere University.
The international team of researchers will analyse the findings from a series of local, national and international longitudinal studies carried out across Europe over the years. Their goal is to unravel the complexity of inequalities in basic education by examining an array of factors, including individual student characteristics, environmental conditions, and the local, regional, and national policies and practices.
“We will systematically identify relevant large-scale longitudinal studies that have consistently tracked the same cohort of learners over several years. Few such studies have been conducted, but by analysing their results we hope to pinpoint the factors contributing to educational inequality,” says Senior Research Fellow Meri Lintuvuori, who oversees longitudinal data mapping in the project.
Multiple factors contribute to the drop in student performance
According to Vainikainen, the slip in learning cannot be attributed to a single cause. Contrary to media reports that place the blame, for example, on the increased use of smartphones, the challenges of inclusive classrooms, or a lack of motivation among learners, the reality is that the problem is more complicated, stemming from a complex interplay of multiple factors.
“There is also a troubling trend of pupils questioning the importance of learning. Some young people adopt a utilitarian approach to education, valuing it primarily for the tangible benefits it provides. These pupils tend to lose interest if they perceive no practical benefits from learning,” Vainikainen says.
Local education policies and teaching guidelines also have an impact on learning. For instance, the adoption of a curriculum that places greater weight on certain subjects can have long-lasting effects.
Vainikainen and Lintuvuori anticipate that the MapIE project will yield practical development suggestions and policy recommendations.
“Our goal is to create a framework that facilitates the longitudinal study of educational inequalities in future research and acknowledges the role of local contexts while aiming for comparability at the European level.”
The MapIE project brings together educational assessment experts from six universities in Northern and Central Europe as well as the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). The large-scale project has received close to €2.7 million of funding from the EU’s Horizon programme.
Read more about the project in the Cordis database.
Further information
Mari-Pauliina Vainikainen
+358 50 437 7303
mari-pauliina.vainikainen [at] tuni.fi
Meri Lintuvuori
meri.lintuvuori [at] tuni.fi
Author: Anna Aatinen
