New working group to broaden recruitment and participation

Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto, Eva Malmström Jonsson and Martina Lahmann are all members of CBH's faculty board and form the newly formed working group, whose work is supported by Head of Department Marie Larsson and student representative Sanna Berglund.

The background to this is that KTH aims to expand its recruitment of students in order to create a mix of students that is representative of the population.

"KTH mainly recruits students whose parents are both academics. We want to reach out more broadly, so that we also recruit those who are not familiar with KTH or come from environments where studying is not the norm. We also want to reach out to talented individuals outside the major cities," says Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto.

Wanting students to stay

Broadening participation is about ensuring that students who are admitted stay and complete their studies.

“There is a high dropout rate. Many students start but then change programmes. Sometimes we don’t know if they switch to another university or within KTH. It may be that their family situation doesn’t work out, that they haven’t found study techniques or that for some other reason they can’t cope with their studies,” Al-Khalili Szigyarto says.

During December, all schools must have established plans for how work on broadened recruitment and broadened participation will proceed in 2026. The working group must therefore present a plan to be approved by the faculty board.

CBH driving force

Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto explains that CBH has already been a driving force in many of KTH's initiatives in this area, such as the collaboration with learning centres in Södertälje and Norrtälje, the activities at Vetenskapens hus and Lärarlyftet, where upper secondary school teachers receive help with skills development and information about KTH and its research.

"We also benefit from Eva Malmström Jonsson's experience and previous work in increasing interest in engineering and technology more generally among young people."

Inventory and streamlining

Right now, the work involves taking stock of the initiatives already underway at CBH.

“The plan is to map out what initiatives are being taken and at what level, and to integrate them with what KTH is already doing centrally,” Al-Khalili Szigyarto says.

One example of something that could be coordinated is the recruitment of students and the student-led study groups that are organised within various programmes and parts of the school.

Why is this issue important?

“It’s about the engineers of the future and access to expertise in society, but also about future colleagues and researchers. The groups we don’t really reach – young people from environments where studying is not the norm, or girls – don’t get a chance to contribute to their own development, CBH or society,” Al-Khalili Szigyarto says.

She says that a continuous flow of students from diverse backgrounds is important for KTH's development. Heterogeneous groups bring together different perspectives and develop individuals' critical thinking, which stimulates creativity and new innovative solutions.

"Both research and society itself benefit from KTH's students becoming more representative of Sweden," Al-Khalili Szigyarto says.

Text: Sabina Fabrizi