Preface

Socio-economic differences in health have been a widely discussed topic for the last few decades. In the Nordic countries, education plays a particularly important role in explaining health outcomes. This report aims to highlight knowledge gaps and describe the need for research to better understand the connections between education, health, and equality.

A trend in the Nordic countries is that men, as a group, fall behind when it comes to educational achievement and health outcomes. The Norwegian report Nye sjanser – bedre læring Kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner og utdanningsløp, written by an expert committee led by the Director General for the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Camilla Stoltenberg, shows that there are significant gender differences in educational achievement. At the end of elementary school (grundskolan), Norwegian girls have better grades than boys in all subjects except sports. There are also significant differences in the adult population when it comes to higher education. In Norway, 57 per cent of women aged 30–39 have a higher education; the corresponding rate for men is 40 per cent. A similar pattern can be found in all the Nordic countries.

Based on the findings in the Norwegian report, the Nordic research institution Nordforsk conducted the seminar Myths and facts: Gender gaps in Nordic educational achievement on 15 January 2020. The purpose of the seminar was to discuss the need for research on how gender differences in educational achievement will affect Nordic health, welfare, and working life in the future.

The main conclusions of this report were presented and discussed at the seminar, together with the findings from the Norwegian report 'Nye sjanser – bedre læring Kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner og utdanningsløp'.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the plan for a Nordic research programme in the field of health, education, and equality was put on hold. However, the pandemic has not diminished the need for knowledge in this field, rather the opposite. At the Nordic Welfare Centre, we hope that this report will nurture the discussion in the post-pandemic era, which we hope is soon to come.

Stockholm, April 2021

Eva Franzén Director Nordic Welfare Centre Helena Lohmann Operations manager Nordic Welfare Centre