Naturvetarna, ingenjr̲erna och valfrihetens samhl̃le: Rekrytering till teknik och naturvetenskap under svensk efterkrigstid

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"Scientists, engineers, and a free-choice society is a book about control, largely the governing of children and young people in Sweden and the efforts made to persuade them to choose careers-and identities-in science and technology in the period 1950-2000. It is very much part of an interdisciplinary research tradition in which perspectives taken from the history of science and education are combined with theories from the field of governmentality studies. The book begins by describing a new societal problem that confronted Sweden, like so many other Western countries, in the immediate post-war years, namely a lack of engineers and scientists. The period from the outbreak of the Second World War to the mid fifties saw a new appreciation for scientific research and its application in both the military and civilian sectors. With the reconstruction of Europe and the Marshall Plan at its height in the fifties, technology and science became gradually associated with rising industrial productivity and with economic growth in general. By the sixties this had left national employment policy with some markedly pronounced objectives. By the end of the decade, it was obvious that the determination to increase student numbers in science and engineering ran contrary to other political ambitions, and did not sit well with the right of the individual to freedom of choice in education. The attempt to respect people's autonomy while at the same time enabling more of them study these particular disciplines shaped a distinct set of strategies that made up the 'positive exercise of power'-what might also be called liberal governing-in which the main idea was to encourage students to come to science and engineering of their own free will. The book goes on to demonstrate how this strategy of governing through individual autonomy would result in a series of specific measures in the seventies and on, including changes to the curricula and teaching materials, which were matched by activities outside the traditional bounds of learning such as a travelling science shows, advertising campaigns, and the construction of science and technology centres. The book also spells out the sheer reach of this recruitment policy. Many leading figures in Sweden set out to encourage people to become scientists and engineers-these were voices heard not only from government quarters, but also from industry and special interest groups. Scientists, engineers and a free-choice society does not set out to answer the question of how best to set about attracting young people into science and technology; rather, it is concerned with how that question has been answered by others, and what impact their responses have had on power relations between society and the individual, and indeed on the place of science and engineering education in the present.

Naturvetarna, ingenjr̲erna och valfrihetens samhl̃le handlar om styrning av framfr̲allt barn och ungdomar i Sverige till att vl̃ja naturvetenskap och teknik som utbildning, yrke och identitet mellan r̄en 1950-2000. ♯mnesms̃sigt befinner sig texten i en tvr̃vetenskaplig forskningstradition dr̃ perspektiv frn̄ vetenskapshistoria och utbildningshistoria anvñds tillsammans med teoretisk inspiration frn̄ fl̃tet governmentality studies. I boken beskrivs inledningsvis framvx̃ten av en ny samhl̃lelig problembild i Sverige och v̲riga vs̃tvr̃lden under tidig efterkrigstid, nm̃ligen bristen p īngenjr̲er och naturvetare. Den period som strc̃kte sig frn̄ andra vr̃ldskriget krigets utbrott till 1950-Ư?talets mitt hade sett en ny vr̃dering av vetenskaplig forskning och tillm̃pning, bd̄e frn̄ de militr̃a och civila delarna av samhl̃let. I samband med t̄eruppbyggnaden av Europa och den pḡēnde Marshallhjl̃pen sammankopplades teknik och naturvetenskap alltmer med k̲ad industriell produktivitet men ocks m̄ed ekonomisk tillvx̃t. Ovanstēnde utveckling ledde under 1960-Ư?talet till att rekryteringspolitiska ml̄st̃tningar uttalades allt starkare. I slutet av decenniet blev det uppenbart att viljan att hj̲a antalet studerande i teknik och naturvetenskap kom att kollidera med andra utbildningspolitiska ambitioner, framfr̲allt den om individens rt̃t till ett fritt val av utbildning. I fr̲sk̲en att p s̄amma gn̄g respektera detta sjl̃vbestm̃mande och samtidigt skapa fler studerande inom de ovan nm̃nda disciplinerna vx̃te strategier fram i formen av ett slags "positiv maktutv̲ning" - vad som ocks k̄allas liberalt styre - dr̃ den br̃ande idň var att fr̲m ēlever att sk̲a sig till naturvetenskap och teknik av sin egen fria vilja. Boken ger fortst̃tningsvis prov p h̄ur denna strategi att styra genom individens autonomi frambringade en rad olika specifika pv̄erkansst̄gr̃der frn̄ 1970-Ư?talet och framt̄. Bland dessa t̄erfinns fr̲ñdrade kursplaner och lr̃omedel, men ocks īnsatser utanfr̲ den traditionella lr̃omiljn̲, ss̄om kringresande vetenskapsshower, reklamkampanjer och uppfr̲andet av teknik-Ư? och vetenskapscentra. Vad som ocks f̄ramtrd̃er i boken r̃ rekryteringspolitikens bredd. Mn̄ga aktr̲er i samhl̃let verkade fr̲ fler naturvetare och ingenjr̲er - inte endast p m̄yndighetsniv ūtan ṽen inom nr̃ingsliv och bland enskilda intresseorganisationer. Naturvetarna, ingenjr̲erna och valfrihetens samhl̃le ger inga svar inte p h̄ur fler ungdomar skall fr̲ms̄ bli intresserade av naturvetenskap och teknik. Snarare handlar boken om hur den frḡan besvarats av andra och vilka konsekvenser detta har ft̄t fr̲ uppkomsten av nya maktrelationer mellan samhl̃le och individ, men ocks f̄r̲ de naturvetenskapliga och tekniska utbildningarnas positioner i samtiden."

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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Swedish