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While many papers have focused on socially unequal admissions in higher education, this paper looks at the persistence of class differentials after enrolment. I examine the social class gap in bachelor's programme dropout and in the transition from bachelor's to master's in Denmark from the formal introduction of the bachelor's degree in 1993 up to recent cohorts. Using administrative data, I find that the class gap in bachelor's departures has remained constant from 1993 to 2006, with disadvantaged students being around 15 percentage points more likely to leave a bachelor's programme than advantaged students, even after adjusting for other factors such as grades from upper secondary school. Importantly, the class gap reappears at the master's level, with privileged students being more likely to pursue a master's degree than less privileged students. The size of the class gap is remarkable, given that this gap is found among a selected group of university enrolees. As other studies have found that educational expansion in higher education is not necessarily a remedy for narrowing the class gap in educational attainment, scholars need to pay more attention to keeping disadvantaged students from leaving higher education.

This study aims to identify the literacy skills of individuals whose highest level of education was in the field 'teacher training and educational sciences'. The study sample comprised 10,618 individuals in the field of teacher training and educational sciences, selected from 31 countries (participating in the International Adult Skills Assessment Programme during the 2014-2015 survey) using a multi-stage sampling method. The study employed multi-level latent class analysis and three-step analysis in order to determine both the number of multi-level latent classes of educators' literacy scores as well as the selected independent variables' success in predicting those latent classes. The analysis revealed that educators in Germany constituted the group with the highest literacy skills while educators from Singapore comprised the group with the lowest literacy skills. [This study was presented at the 9th International Congress of Educational Research. Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey.]

Early School Leaving (ESL) as an important societal issue has been a matter of debate in policy making for 30 years. But the differences in students' experiences have often been neglected, leading to a one-size fits all policy and pedagogical approach. This paper explores educational experiences of dropouts in England, Denmark and Hungary, and compares the measures related to ESL. Empirical data were collected from observations; a total of 28 interviews with students in three different country contexts. My original contribution to knowledge is that this study focused on students' experiences in education and career trajectories with a comparative lens and was able to give a more distinct image of dropouts. The paper recommends that rigid education systems need to adopt more flexible methods and adaptive learning pathways to work with challenging youth. Transitions to secondary education should be supported by career practitioners to help students find suitable pathways.

This paper analyses admission decisions when students from different high school tracks apply for admission to university programmes. I derive a criterion that is optimal in the sense that it maximizes the graduation rates of the university programmes. The paper contains an empirical analysis that documents the relevance of theory and illustrates how to apply optimal admission procedures. Indirect gains from optimal admission procedures include the potential for increasing entire cohorts of students' probability of graduating with a higher education degree, thereby increasing the skill level of the work force.

This paper presents one of the first cross-nationally comparative studies on the economic and social returns to grit (perseverance and passion for long-term goals). Specifically, we investigated whether grit incrementally predicted objective (income) and subjective (job satisfaction) career success over and above cognitive skills and educational attainment; whether grit's association with career success was moderated by individual characteristics; whether grit's associations with career success varied across countries; and whether this variation could be explained by labour market conditions (unemployment rates). Multi-group structural equation models with data from 6,738 respondents from 19 countries revealed that grit was incrementally associated with income and job satisfaction in some but not all countries. Grit's effect sizes were mostly modest, yet there were some indications for variations by education and labour market conditions. Overall, these findings suggest that the associations between grit and career success are not uniform but vary across individuals and contexts.

This paper performs multivariate analysis of skill differences in four Nordic countries as assessed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey of adults aged 16-65. The differences in average skills between Finland and each of the three Scandinavian countries are decomposed into a component that is due to different skill levels in subgroups of the population and a component that is due to differences in the composition of subgroups. The decompositions show that the high Finnish average skill level compared to the three Scandinavian countries can be attributed to the low share of immigrants in Finland and to high scores among Finns with high school and less than high school education. The Finnish average score is pulled substantially downwards as a consequence of the low numeracy skill level among older Finns, which is consistent with an increase in the quantity or quality of Finnish education over time, relative to the other three Nordic countries.

This paper examines the relationship between social background, choice of university programme and academic culture among Danish university students. Statistically and sociologically, university students are often treated as a homogeneous group, but the ever-increasing number of students in higher education demands a closer examination of the hidden heterogeneity in the students' social origin and educational strategies. Using a mixed-method approach (register data and ethnographic observations and interviews) the paper focuses on the students' class origins and on different cultural practices in three Danish university programmes. It is shown that the Danish university field is characterized by a significant variation in social selectivity from programme to programme, and it is argued that these different social profiles correspond with distinctively different cultural practices in the programmes. Correspondingly, the students have distinctively different strategies towards education and future work life. (Contains 7 notes, 1 table, and 1 figure.)

This paper analyses the efficiency of higher education in equalizing the feasible wages obtained for men and women in the labour market. To do that, It is estimated two stochastic frontiers. The first one measures the effect of higher education inside the group of men and women for six European countries. The results indicate that in Denmark, France and Italy men with higher education have higher gains in wages with respect men with the same characteristics with secondary education while for women appears the opposite result. In Germany and Spain, women with higher education experiment higher gains in terms of wages than obtain men. The second frontier shows the wages differentials obtained for women in each country by education level with respect men. Here, women with higher education experiment less wages differentials than do women with primary or secondary education. The data set is the ECHP (European Community Household Panel Data) from 1995 to 2001.

This paper provides important new insights into the reasons for the observed gap in educational attainment between children of immigrants and natives in Denmark using a dynamic discrete model of educational choices to determine at what stages of their educational careers children of immigrants face barriers to educational progression and how background characteristics affect educational choices at different points in the educational system. The main findings of the paper are that dropout rates from vocational upper secondary education are much higher among children of immigrants and that strengthening family characteristics reduces the dropout rates. However, behavioral differences and/or differences in constraints and institutional factors are also important barriers and thus determinants of the observed educational gaps as is age at immigration. (Contains 9 tables.)

This paper seeks to analyse the relationship between wages and education at a European level, using a quantile regression in order to be able to extend the study along the whole wage distribution. This analysis is carried out for a sample of 14 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom), using the European Community Household Panel data-set. The paper aims to investigate whether the relationship between wages and education at European level is homogeneous and stable through time by running regressions for average and current (log)wages. Policy implications are derived. (Contains 7 tables, 2 figures, and 3 notes.)

Education is the main vehicle for empowering adults, and can contribute to community wellbeing. However, regarding mature adults (MAs) (over 45 years old), age has been identified in various studies as a significant barrier to accessing educational activities. This paper focuses on MAs' motivations to learn through an exploratory survey undertaken in six European countries. A K-means cluster analysis based on 16 variables has been run on n = 846 valid cases. Four clusters describing distinctive behaviours and attitudes of MAs towards learning activities were identified. The study confirms that MAs' motivations to learn are very diverse, overcoming some of the so-called "myths of global aging," such as the homogeneity of MAs or the correlation between age and a decline in motivation to learn. Furthermore, analysing the main motivations of MA learners can be useful for adapting education to cater to their specific needs, boosting a more inclusive education, and promoting MAs' empowerment.

Background: Data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) revealed that countries systematically differ in their respondents' literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments skills; skill levels also vary by gender, age, level of education or migration background. Similarly, systematic differences have been documented with respect to adults' participation in education, which can be considered as a means to develop and maintain skills. From a psychological perspective, motivation to learn is considered a key factor associated with both skill development and participation in (further) education. In order to account for motivation when analyzing PIAAC data, four items from the PIAAC background questionnaire were recently compiled into a motivation-to-learn scale. This scale has been found to be invariant (i.e., showing full weak and partial strong measurement invariance) across 21 countries. Methods: This paper presents further analyses using multiple-group graded response models to scrutinize the validity of the motivation-to-learn scale for group comparisons. Results: Results indicate at least partial strong measurement invariance across gender, age groups, level of education, and migration background in most countries under study (all CFI > 0.95, all RMSEA < 0.08). Thus, the scale is suitable for comparing both means and associations across these groups. Conclusions:Results are discussed in light of country characteristics, challenges of measurement invariance testing, and potential future research using PIAAC data.

Background: Educational qualifications and literacy skills are highly related. This is not surprising as it is one aim of educational systems to equip individuals with competencies necessary to take part in society. Because of this relationship educational qualifications are often used as a proxy for "human capital". However, from a theoretical perspective, there are many reasons why this relationship is not perfect, and to some degree this is due to third variables. Thus, we want to explore the net relationship between educational attainment (harmonized according to the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED) and literacy skills, and how much skills vary within education levels across countries. Methods: We use data from 21 countries from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012. This paper compares the literacy skills of adults who achieved different levels of educational attainment across countries. Given the high degree of educational differentiation in most countries, we do this using a more differentiated educational attainment variable than what is commonly used. In our analyses we firstly adjust for factors that are likely to affect access to education and the acquisition of educational qualifications and literacy skills, such as parental education and language and migration background. In a second step, we also take into account factors affecting skill development after initial formal education, such as occupation and skill use at home. Results: We firstly find a high degree of heterogeneity of skills across countries for equivalent education categories. Secondly, we find skill similarities for equivalent education categories classified at different broad education levels, sometimes even breaking the hierarchical order of 'higher education entails higher competencies'. Conclusion: We conclude that ISCED levels cannot be taken as a cross-nationally comparable proxy for human capital in terms of literacy skills, and that education has to be harmonized in a substantively more meaningful way in future adult literacy surveys.

The purpose of this study was to explore participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among well-educated mature workers and compare it across four Nordic countries. Although this group generally is very active in LLL, the centrality of knowledge work in society, rapid pace of skills-renewal and rising learning demands for all qualifications levels, necessitates a better understanding of the patterns and factors affecting their skill development. The paper builds on theories of learning motivation, human capital and workplace learning. Data from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) by the OECD were used. In addition to high participation rates, systematic level differences in participation were found across the countries. Results of logit regression analyses revealed clear differences between countries in the models that explained participation, which gave limited support to a single "Nordic model" of LLL. Furthermore, the predictors of participation commonly found among adult populations, low-educated individuals and/or younger adults, appeared less valid for well-educated individuals.

This paper investigates whether social origin has an impact on graduation age among university students. A large number of social background factors are applied on a large data set of 4 successive cohorts of Danish university graduates born 1960-1975. These are cohorts for whom university attendance increased steeply. Contrary to recent findings on educational attainment in Scandinavia, the analyses show that the economic capital of the family of origin plays a somewhat greater role than does the cultural capital of the family of origin for getting their offspring through higher education on schedule. The impact of cultural capital decreases across cohorts, but the impact of economic capital is fairly constant.

Qualified and skilled sport coaches are vital to the development of sport in general and of elite sport in particular. Research suggests that the development of coaching expertise in elite sport is a complex matter involving mediated, unmediated and internal learning situations. However, it is less clear to what extent and in which ways these learning situations are woven together in the coaches' learning paths. In other words, what is the "gluey" link between these learning situations and the coach's idea of what constitutes expertise in coaching? The aim of this paper is to respond to this question by exploring the learning paths and learning situations of elite sport coaches from a biographical learning perspective. A micro-sociological cross-case analysis of qualitative research interviews with eight Danish elite soccer coaches about their pathways to coaching expertise laid the foundation for three insights. Firstly, an autopoietic (i.e. self-creative and self-organizing) resource more or less intentionally and deliberately pervades the thoughts and actions of coaches as they reinterpret what they learned in any given situation. The term breathing spaces may describe the process whereby the coaches' "biographicity" pervades and oxidises their sense of expertise and personal style. Secondly, important face-to-face interactions and dialogues with other coaches seem to portray a coach's learning paths and experience of coaching expertise. Thirdly, more nuanced descriptions of a coach's learning situations interweaving mediated, unmediated and internal learning situations may be fruitful to future studies of coaches' learning paths. It is suggested that future coach educations might incorporate an approach that favours the coaches' biographical learning and development of expertise as personal journeys in authentic learning situations, an encouragement to create breathing spaces in the coach's professional life and assistance in learning from them.

Aim: To describe academic nurses' experiences engaging clinical nurses in utilizing and implementing developmental and research‐based knowledge in hospital settings. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative design. Fourteen academic nurses at Masters or PhD level from three different regions of Denmark participated in the study, relating their successful experiences engaging clinical nurses in utilizing and implementing developmental and research‐based knowledge. Data were collected in February 2020 through qualitative semi‐structured interviews and analysed using a qualitative manifest content analysis. Results: The main theme revealed was that academic nurses were 'Working towards creating a practice‐related culture for research' to engage clinical nurses. This was supported by three subthemes: 'Focusing on evidence‐based practice knowledge', 'Facilitating knowledge through a pedagogical approach' and 'Aiming for future changes'. Conclusions: The academic nurses experienced their engagement of clinical nurses and the subsequent change of practice in patient care and nurses' workflows in the department settings, as successful due to the academic nurses' pedagogical actions to educate clinical nurses and due to the academic nurses' practice‐related approach to research and implementation. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? Nurses who utilize research and work with evidence‐based practice are more satisfied with their work, have better patient outcomes and become advocates for patients as they focus on improving the quality of patient care.Engaging nurses in nursing research can be a difficult task due to barriers to research utilization. However, most nurses have positive attitudes towards research.Knowledge is needed about how nurses have been successfully engaged in utilizing and implementing developmental and research‐based knowledge. What this paper adds? Academic nurses have successfully engaged clinical nurses in research and development by creating a practice‐related research culture.Engaging clinical nurses in research and development can be improved by focusing on evidence‐based knowledge to solve practical problems in nursing.Facilitating knowledge of research through pedagogical actions of education and involvement is often more important than the academic knowledge itself. The implications of this paper: Engaging clinical nurses in research and development depends upon making practice‐related research culture a natural part of daily nursing practice.Dual management, consisting of two head nurses—one for practice and one for research—should be established to improve academic nurses' authority to implement changes in nursing practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of outlaw bikers is growing globally. Despite this, little research exists on these groups and their alleged violent tendencies. To address this, the current paper uses unique data to examine whether gang violence causes outlaw biker violence. The period examined runs from mid-2008 until early 2012 during which violent clashes occurred between outlaw bikers and street gang members involved in an alleged conflict in Copenhagen, Denmark. A precise description of each individual act of violence would make it possible to identify whether specific acts were carried out in furtherance of the alleged conflict. This would allow one to determine whether outlaw bikers commit violence on behalf of their club. However, such knowledge is unavailable. The paper therefore takes a different approach by examining whether acts of violence committed by the two groups are statistically associated. In other words, it considers whether one or more acts can be described as retaliatory during the observation periods. The sample consists of 640 individuals involved with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club or with non-biker street gangs–both of which are present in Copenhagen. Statistical models are used to predict 143 violent events committed by 196 outlaw bikers. The results suggest that violence committed by gang members predicts violence committed by outlaw bikers. This indicates that violent acts committed by outlaw bikers are at least partly a form of retaliation carried out on behalf of their club. The paper expands the literature on the kinds of inter-group, micro-level processes that can lead to reciprocal violence by including outlaw bikers in a literature that has previously focused on non-biker street gangs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students are often reluctant to report the academic dishonesty of their peers. Loyalty to friends and classmates has previously been identified as an important reason for this. This paper explores loyalty conflicts among students from upper secondary school, through bachelor's, to Ph.D. level. Drawing on semi-structured qualitative interviews (N = 72) conducted in Denmark, Ireland and Hungary, we show that loyalty considerations among students can be complex and draw on a range of norms including responsibility. The study demonstrates how students are often willing to assume substantial personal responsibility for dealing with the academic dishonesty of a peer, often preferring this to reporting. However, when deciding on the right course of action, they also perceive tensions between the norms of the good researcher and student and their own norms of being a good friend and person. The loyalty considerations and tension were identified in all three countries and across the educational levels, which suggests that this is a cross-cultural challenge. We argue that institutions should formally decide whether they want students to take some degree of responsibility themselves for addressing less serious cases of academic dishonesty and communicate their decision to their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the intersection of gender and class concerning welfare clients with medically unexplained symptoms. The study is conducted in Denmark using qualitative interviews with welfare officers and clients. The paper's focus is on how issues of gender and class intersect in the negotiation of illness among welfare officers and clients. The particular client group in question consists of individuals that are defined by their lack of a bio-medical diagnosis. Their 'lack' of identity accentuates how gender and class become central in the categorisation practices, constructing the ill person as either bio-medically sick or as a person who may be suffering but only from diffuse psychological problems. The paper shows that it is predominantly poorly educated women without a bio-medical diagnosis that welfare officers describe as suffering from psychological problems despite the fact that the women themselves focus on physical ailments in their illness stories. Men and better-educated women are described by the welfare officers as tired and exhausted or truly stressed after a long working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This paper aims to give a description of the Danish National Youth Study 2014 in terms of study design, study population and questionnaire content. The differences between participants and non-participants regarding socioeconomic characteristics are also described. Methods: The Danish National Youth Study 2014 was a web-based survey with data collected through self-completion questionnaires administered in the classroom. There were two questionnaires: one for students, with >250 core questions; and one for school leaders on the school environment. Data collection took place at 119 high schools and 10 vocational schools. Results: A total of 75,853 students participated (70,674 high school students and 5179 vocational school students). In the participating schools, 85% of high school students and 69% of vocational school students took part in the survey. A total of 166 school leaders responded. Among the high school students, 61% were girls, and among vocational school students, 24% were girls. The average age was 17.9 years for high school students and 20.9 years for vocational school students. Participants were more likely than non-participants to be of Danish origin and to have parents with higher educational levels and a higher disposable income. Conclusions: The Danish National Youth Study 2014 contributes to knowledge on adolescent health behaviour, health and well-being. It is unique in its size, diversity of questionnaire content, high participation rate and possibility of linkage to various national registers through the Danish Civil Registration System. The study offers great opportunities for health planning and a wide range of future research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the first rigorous account of the diverse characteristics of transgender individuals at the population level, using data from Danish population registers. We observe three transgender subpopulations within the same national setting: all who changed thier legal sex (T-Legal, n = 1,995), all who have been assigned trans-related diagnostic codes (T-ICD, n = 1,594), and those who self-identified as transgender in a representative survey (T-Survey, n = 197, weighted n = 44,958). Results show significant differences in the subpopulations' backgrounds, family, education and labour market characteristics, and healthcare use. These differences extend beyond comparisons with the general population to great variations between each of the transgender subpopulations. Individuals with legal sex changes, and particularly those with trans-related diagnostic codes, face substantial disadvantages across various outcomes. Compared to the general population and the T-Survey subpopulation, the T-Legal subpopulation and the T-ICD subpopulation have significantly higher numbers of psychiatric hospital visits, lower educational attainment, lower annual earnings, and reduced employment rates, also when controlling for background characteristics. Earnings and employment rates remained significantly lower also when controlling for educational attainment. Our results show that the strategy chosen to identify trans individuals in population data has a great impact on the characteristics observed, and that trans individuals captured by surveys do not necessarily represent all transgender individuals, including those who seek to medically or legally transition. Furthermore, our results indicate that high numbers of trans individuals observed in surveys do not necessarily correspond to high demands for gender-affirming treatments or legal sex change. Finally, we show that transgender individuals who seek gender-affirming healthcare constitute a distinct and significantly disadvantaged group, also compared to other trans subpopulations. • We identify three transgender subpopulations within the same national setting. • Subpopulations differ greatly in education, health care use, employment, and earnings. • Those with trans diagnostic codes make up the most disadvantaged subpopulation. • Those who self-identify as trans are largely similar to the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sibling correlation (SC), which estimates the total effect of family background (i.e., social origins), can be interpreted as measuring a society's inequality of opportunity. Its sensitivity to observed and unobserved factors makes the SC an all-encompassing measure and an attractive choice for comparative research. We gather and summarize all available estimates of SCs in educational attainment (M =.46, SD =.09) and employ meta-regression to explore variability in these estimates. First, we find significantly lower SCs in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark than in the United States, with U.S. correlations roughly.10 (i.e., 25%) higher. Most other (primarily European) countries in our study are estimated to fall in between these countries and the United States. Second, we find a novel Great Gatsby Curve–type positive association between income inequality in childhood and the SC, both cross-nationally and within countries over time. This finding supports theoretical accounts of the Great Gatsby Curve that emphasize the role of educational inequality as a link between economic inequality and social immobility. It implies that greater equality of educational opportunity likely requires reduced economic inequality. Additionally, correlations between sisters are modestly higher, on average, than those between brothers or all siblings, and we find no overall differences between cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, many European governments have passed pension reforms to incentivise participation in private pension plans. However, we still have minimal understanding of whether participation in such plans is concentrated in certain groups or spread uniformly across society, or what their stability over time is. To illuminate the social selectivity of these plans and potential changes in that selectivity over time, we analyse six waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in ten European countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Specifically, we focus on participation gaps in individual and occupational plans of workers across six dimensions: gender, education, age, social class, income, and risk preference. The results indicate large and persistent social divides in participation rates. As expected, rates are significantly higher among workers who are not close to retirement, those with an upper service occupation and those with high income. Importantly, these divides did not shrink significantly over the period considered – 2006 to 2021. Social selectivity is not consistently smaller in contexts of more mature private pension provision, whereas it is consistently smaller in countries with more generous public pensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inequity in healthcare utilisation refers to differences between groups that remain after adjustment for need for health care. To our knowledge, no previous studies have aimed to assess social inequity in chiropractic utilisation in a general population. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate social inequity in chiropractic utilisation in the general Danish population adjusted for health status as a proxy of need for chiropractic care. Methods: A population-based repeated cross-sectional study design was used based on the Danish National Health Survey in 2010 and 2017. Overall, we included 288,099 individuals aged 30 years or older in 2010 or 2017. For each individual, information on chiropractic utilisation, socioeconomic status, and health status as a proxy of need for chiropractic care was retrieved from nationwide registers using the unique personal identification number. Measures of health status included demographics, poor self-rated physical health, activity limitations, musculoskeletal pain, number of musculoskeletal conditions, and number of chronic diseases. We investigated social inequity in chiropractic utilisation (yes, no) using logistic regression adjusted for health status, stratified by sex and year. Three characteristics of socioeconomic status (educational level, employment status and income) were investigated. To further quantify the degree of social inequity in chiropractic utilisation, we estimated the concentration index of inequity for each of the three characteristics of socioeconomic status. Results: We found significantly higher odds of chiropractic utilisation among individuals with short or medium/long education compared with individuals with elementary education, and among employed individuals compared with individuals who were unemployed, receiving disability pension or retired. Furthermore, the odds of chiropractic utilisation increased with higher income. The concentration index indicated social inequity in chiropractic utilisation in favour of individuals with higher socioeconomic status, with income and employment status contributing more to inequity than educational level. Conclusion: The study demonstrated social inequity in chiropractic utilisation in Denmark beyond differences in health status as a proxy of need for chiropractic care in the general population. The results suggest that new strategies are required if equal treatment for equal need is the goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore Danish women's experiences with opting out of cervical cancer screening and the role of the nurse in the women's decision‐making process. Design: A qualitative study using semi‐structured, individual interviews with a phenomenological‐hermeneutic approach. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 13 women with experience in opting out of cervical cancer screening. Women were recruited through a public flyer and interviewed virtually or by phone. The interviews were analysed using the theory of interpretation from Paul Ricoeur and consisted of three levels: naïve reading, structural analysis, and critical discussion and analysis. The present study adheres to the COREQ guidelines. Results: The women experience various personal causes for opting out of cervical cancer screening, such as low accessibility of screening appointments, discomfort during the smear test, fear of being sick, and insufficient information about the relevance of screening to the individual woman. The perceived disadvantages of screening outweighed their perceived advantages. The women's experiences did not include the role of the nurse in the procedures and knowledge sharing related to cervical cancer screening. However, nurses were described as having good communicative and relational qualifications relevant to being involved in cervical cancer screening. Conclusion: It was challenging for the women to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of cervical cancer screening and thus to make an informed decision about participation. They expressed a need for more information on which to base their decision. This places nurses in a much needed, yet unexplored, role of identifying and lowering potential personal barriers that may outweigh the women's perceived benefits of participating in screening. Implication for the profession and/or patient care: Nurses should play a more active role in cervical cancer screening such as improving general knowledge and facilitating two‐way communication about its relevance. Reporting Method: The present study adheres to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines. Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The health care systems in the Nordic countries and worldwide are under pressure due to increased longevity and a shortage of nurses. Providing nurses with a high level of education, such as advanced practice nursing, is of great importance to ensure effective, safe and high-quality care. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported competence using the Nurse Professional Competence Scale Short-Form for the first time among master's students of advanced practice nursing in the Nordic countries and to relate the findings to age, work obligations, child-rearing responsibilities, level of education and clinical nursing experience. Methods: A multicentre, cross-sectional design was used in this study conducted at five universities in Denmark, Finland and Norway. The Nurse Professional Competence Scale Short-Form consisting of six competence areas was used with a maximum score of 7 per item for the analysis of single items and a transformed scale from 14.3 to 100 for analysing the competence areas (higher score equals higher self-reported competence). Descriptive and comparative statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: The highest mean score was found for the competence area 'Value-based nursing care'. Students living with home-dwelling children (≤ 18 years) reported significantly higher competence in 'Nursing care', while students ≥33 years reported significantly higher competence in 'Nursing care' and 'Value-based nursing care'. No significant differences were found between students working and those not working alongside their studies, between students with and without further nursing-related education, or between students with long and short experience as nurses. Conclusions: The findings from this study might help to further develop curricula in advanced practice nursing master's programmes to ensure high-quality nursing and sustainable health care in the future. Future high-quality master's programmes might benefit from systematic collaboration between Nordic higher education institutions as also Sweden is planning master's programme. Higher age, having children at home and working while studying should not be considered causes for concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of foster care relative to residential group care on enrollment in upper secondary education among Danish children in out-of-home care who were placed out of home at the age six to 14 years (n = 4530). We address the proposition that children placed in family foster care generally have less severe emotional and/or behavioral problems than children placed in residential group care by utilizing a variation in the municipalities' relative use of foster care among all children placed in out-of-home care. We find evidence that children living in municipalities with a high inclination to use foster care will be more likely to enroll in upper secondary education (p = 0.004). When splitting the sample by gender, we see that the effects are significant only among girls. When looking at potential mechanisms, we find that children in foster care are more likely to attend the school-leaving exams after lower secondary school, while we find no effect on the average standardized test score in the school-leaving exams. As with the main results, these findings apply to the girls only. Highlights: This study investigates the effect of foster care relative to residential group care on educational attainment among children in out-of-home care. We found that children in residential group care have more severe emotional and/or behavioral problems than children in foster care. We found evidence that children living in municipalities with a higher inclination to use foster care were more likely to continue into upper secondary education. As a mechanism, our findings suggest that foster care have beneficial impacts on the school decision-making process, whereas it has no impact on the child's scholastic ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Integration of physical activity (PA) into the classroom may be an effective way of promoting the learning and academic achievement of children at elementary school. This paper describes the research design and methodology of an intervention study examining the effect of classroom-based PA on mathematical achievement, creativity, executive function, body mass index and aerobic fitness.Methods: The study was designed as a school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial targeting schoolchildren in 1st grade, and was carried out between August 2012 and June 2013. Eligible schools in two municipalities in the Region of Southern Denmark were invited to participate in the study. After stratification by municipality, twelve schools were randomized to either an intervention group or a control group, comprising a total of 505 children with mean age 7.2 ± 0.3 years. The intervention was a 9-month classroom-based PA program that involved integration of PA into the math lessons delivered by the schools' math teachers. The primary study outcome was change in math achievement, measured by a 45-minute standardized math test. Secondary outcomes were change in executive function (using a modified Eriksen flanker task and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) questionnaire filled out by the parents), creativity (using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, TTCT), aerobic fitness (by the Andersen intermittent shuttle-run test) and body mass index. PA during math lessons and total PA (including time spent outside school) were assessed using accelerometry. Math teachers used Short Message Service (SMS)-tracking to report on compliance with the PA intervention and on their motivation for implementing PA in math lessons. Parents used SMS-tracking to register their children's PA behavior in leisure time.Discussion: The results of this randomized controlled trial are expected to provide schools and policy-makers with significant new insights into the potential of classroom-based PA to improve cognition and academic achievement in children.Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02488460 (06/29/2015). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publicly funded pension systems are facing the challenge of remaining financially sustainable without lowering pensions. Raising the statutory retirement age gradually in line with the increase in life expectancy has been a key measure to solve the problem. The implicit assumption is that the additional years of life are lived in good health, or as a minimum that health status is compatible with work. However, some individuals may not have the ability to work. Furthermore, a uniform retirement age ignores the different exposures to morbidity and mortality risks across social groups. Consequently, it is important to examine whether the health of older individuals will allow them to continue working and whether there is significant heterogeneity in the ability to work. Combining the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with data from the Danish registers enables us to create a composite health index that includes an extensive range of health indicators. Utilising the health capacity to work approach, we estimate the health capacity to work among Danes aged 55 and above. We divide health capacity into physical and mental health. We investigate heterogeneity in health capacity across educational and occupational attainment. Substantial additional work capacity is found for older Danes. Depending on the type of health index applied, the health capacrk varies. There is evidence of a socio-economic gradient in work capacity. Results thereby show that policies that intend to utilise the additional work capacity should consider heterogeneity in health. Highlights We provide new evidence of the health capacity work in Denmark. The combination of survey and register data allow for comprehensive health indices. There is substantial additional health capacity to work. There is variation across health indices. There is variation across educational and occupational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent decades scholars have documented the increasing electoral salience across Western Europe of a new post-materialist or libertarian-authoritarian dimension. The theoretical status of this new dimension and its relation to extant cleavage structures - notably the class cleavage - has, however, been debated. This paper demonstrates that the dimension reflects a new education-based cleavage that has come into existence since the mid 1980s. Thus, analyses of Danish election surveys and party manifestoes show the linkage between the voters' educational level, their values, and their voting for authoritarian or libertarian parties - i.e. the existence of an education cleavage. Due to its status as one of the more advanced countries, Denmark can be seen as a least likely case for the existence of a structurally based cleavage; hence, the existence of the education cleavage in this country indicates that similar cleavages lie underneath the authoritarian-libertarian dimension in other countries as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voucher system in Denmark combines unrestricted generous subsidies with substantial autonomy of private schools as to schedule and teaching methods. This has produced a private school sector with a wide variety of school types. This paper uses data on eight cohorts of students (over 510,000 individuals) to compare educational attainment in public and private voucher schools, including religious schools (Catholic and Protestant) and various types of non-religious schools. The findings suggest that, after controlling for individual and peer characteristics, the average public student would attain moderately higher levels of education if he/she attended grammar or Catholic school, relative to the public alternative. Attainment of students at Protestant, international and German minority schools is not different from public schools. However, attending free, boarding and, particularly, little and Waldorf schools is associated with substantially lower completion rates at the upper secondary level, which is probably at least partly due to the clustering of special education students in these school types, which cannot be controlled for. At the tertiary level, differences between private and public schools generally vanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the number of ethnic minorities in Denmark has increased rapidly, now accounting for over 8 per cent of the total population. This paper presents results from a number of recent studies regarding the educational choices of minority children from less developed countries. An important social concern is that the educational attainment of these children is much lower than among native Danes. The studies show that that a main reason for the education gap is very high dropout rates from vocational schools among minority children and that inadequate Danish language proficiency of immigrants, parents and their children, is an important reason for the high dropout rates, as are inadequate educational preparedness from grade school and insufficient apprenticeship positions available for minority youth. Socio-economic background, however, has relatively little effect. Recent policy changes to reduce dropout rates from vocational schools are reviewed and additional policy interventions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of non‐ or low‐literate adult immigrants studying a new language is large and growing in many countries. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new instrument for the assessment of cognitive impairment that may hinder literacy learning in adult non‐ or low‐literate L2 learners, the Cognitive Assessment of Literacy Learning Difficulties (CALL), in a language center setting. This was a case–control study in which the CALL was validated in adult non‐ or low‐literate students, or students who were not literate in the Latin alphabet, in nine Danish language centers. Educator classification of students with very slow progression in learning basic Danish literacy was used as a benchmark for literacy learning difficulties. Classification was further based on the number of lessons participants had required to pass tests during Danish language program levels. An acceptable discriminative validity (AUC 0.76; specificity 0.94, sensitivity 0.64) for literacy learning difficulties (n = 32) versus schooling and sex matched control participants (n = 28) was found. In comparison, years of formal schooling had an AUC of 0.58. Age had a small effect on the ability of the CALL to predict literacy learning difficulties (OR = 1.097, p = 0.013), whereas sex and years of schooling did not. CALL was found to be a valid instrument for identification of cognitive impairment that may hinder literacy learning in adult non‐ or low‐literate L2 learners in a Danish language center setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Diabetes mellitus type 1 is one of the most common serious chronic diseases in childhood and the incidence is increasing. Insight into risk factors may inform our etiologic understanding of the disease and subsequent prevention. Any socio-economic gradient in disease risk indicates a potential for prevention, since this points towards socially patterned environmental risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between measures of parental socio-economic position and the onset of type 1 diabetes in offspring based on individual data in the entire Danish population. Methods: In a study population of all children born in Denmark between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 2010, we examined the association between parental socio-economic position and the risk of type 1 diabetes up to the age of 25 years. The risk of type 1 diabetes was estimated according to maternal education, paternal education and household income using Cox proportional hazards regression, with adjustments for the a priori selected confounding variables: year of birth, maternal age at birth and parental type 1 diabetes. Results: In the study population of 1,433,584 children, a total of 4610 developed type 1 diabetes. We found no clear pattern in type 1 diabetes risk according to parental educational attainment or parental household income. Conclusions: In this large population covering study of the risk of type 1 diabetes according to individual-level parental socio-economic position, we found no strong indication of a socially patterned disease risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether education level influences screening, monitoring, and treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Epidemiological cohort study. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre. Cholesterol blood test results ordered by general practitioners in Greater Copenhagen were retrieved from 2000-2018. Using the International Standard Classification of Education classification, the population was categorized by length of education in three groups (basic education; up to 10 years, intermediate education; 11-12 years, advanced education; 13 years or more). The database comprised 13,019,486 blood sample results from 653,903 patients. Frequency of lipid measurement, prevalence of statin treatment, age and comorbidity at treatment initiation, total cholesterol threshold for statin treatment initiation, and achievement of treatment goal. The basic education group was measured more frequently (1.46% absolute percentage difference of total population measured [95% CI 0.86%–2.05%] in 2000 and 9.67% [95% CI 9.20%–10.15%] in 2018) over the period compared to the intermediate education group. The advanced education group was younger when receiving first statin prescription (1.87 years younger [95% CI 1.02–2.72] in 2000 and 1.06 years younger [95% CI 0.54–1.58 in 2018) compared to the intermediate education group. All education groups reached the treatment goals equally well when statin treatment was initiated. Higher education was associated with earlier statin prescription, although the higher educated group was monitored less frequently. There was no difference in reaching treatment goal between the three education groups. These findings suggest patients with higher education level achieve an earlier dyslipidemia prevention intervention with an equally satisfying result compared to lower education patients. Little is known about the role of social inequality as a possible barrier for managing hypercholesterolemia in general practice. Increasing education level was associated to less frequent measurement and less frequent statin treatment. Patients with higher education level were younger, and less comorbidity at first statin prescription. Education level had no effect on frequency of statin treatment-initiated patients reaching the treatment goal was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Ambient air pollution exposure has been associated with childhood asthma, but previous studies have primarily focused on prevalence of asthma and asthma-related outcomes and urban traffic-related exposures. OBJECTIVE: We examined nationwide associations between pre- and postnatal exposure to ambient air pollution components and asthma incidence in children age 0–19 y. METHODS: Asthma incidence was identified from hospital admission, emergency room, and outpatient contacts among all live-born singletons born in Denmark between 1998 and 2016. We linked registry data with monthly mean concentrations of particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) and PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen oxides, elemental carbon, and organic carbon (OC), sulfur dioxide, ozone, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, secondary organic aerosols, and sea salt. Associations were estimated with Cox proportional hazard models using fixed prenatal exposure means and time-varying postnatal exposures. RESULTS: Of the 1,060,154 children included, 6.1% had asthma during the mean follow-up period of 8.8 y. The risk of asthma increased with increasing prenatal exposure to all pollutants except for O3 and sea salt. We also observed increased risk after restriction to asthma after age 4 y, after additional adjustment for area-specific socioeconomic status, and for postnatal exposure to most pollutants. The hazard ratio (HR) associated with an interquartile range increase of 2.4 and 8.7 µg/m³ in prenatal exposure was 1.06 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.08] for PM2.5 and 1.04 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.05) for NO2, respectively. This association with PM2.5 was stable after adjustment for NO2, whereas it attenuated for NO2 to 1.01 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.03) after adjustment for PM2.5. For a 0.5-µg/m³ increase in prenatal OC exposure, for which biomass is an important source, the HR was 1.08 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.10), irrespective of adjustment for PM2.5. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that early-life exposure to ambient air pollution from multiple sources contributes to asthma development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Improvements in educational attainment, cognitive and sensory functions, and a decline in the prevalence of disabilities have been observed in older adults in Sweden and Denmark. In the present study, it was investigated whether better cognition, higher educational attainment, and improved sensory function among older adults aged 60 and older in these countries have contributed to decreasing rates of old-age disabilities. Methods The analyses were based on repeated cross-sectional data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe for the 2004–2017 period. Descriptive data were used to benchmark the declining prevalence of disabilities, improving cognitive and sensory functions, and increased educational level. The association between time and disabilities was analyzed with logistic regression models, and the contribution of the improved cognitive function, education, and sensory function to the declining prevalence of old-age disabilities was estimated using the Karlson–Holm–Breen method for mediation analysis. Results The analysis suggests that the declining prevalence of old-age disabilities in Sweden and Denmark between 2004 and 2017 can largely be attributed to improved cognitive function and vision and to a lesser extent by education and hearing ability. Discussion These findings raise important questions about the causal mechanisms producing the associations between cognition, education, and sensory functions and disability in older age. Future studies should explore the causal nature of the associations between these mediators and old-age disabilities. In addition, they should explore whether these findings differ across regional and cultural contexts and over different time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]