This paper has been a long journey:
First grant application in 2015 (rejected)
Third attempt succeeded in 2019 with funding from the Independent Research Fund Denmark
Fieldwork in 2020
Now published—and we hope to share more articles from this rich dataset soon. Stay tuned!
A big thank you to Study Choice Denmark (Studievalg) for implementing the intervention and to all the high school students who participated! - And of course also to the Independent Research Fund Denmark for funding the project.
What we found:
Combining role-model videos with labor market information can reduce inequality in access to higher education.
✅ Effects are strongest for first-generation students with above-average grades.
We even created a short explainer video about the article
youtu.be/2vBQ4F7sOuU
Thrilled to share that Astrid Schrøder Olsen, Bent Sortkær, Rie Thomsen and I just published our article:
“Numbers and Narratives: The Effect of a Combined Information and Role Model Intervention in Reducing Inequalities in Access to Higher Education in Denmark” in EEPA
👉 doi.org/10.3102/0162...
Science (still) works! Amazing results. Now I need a fix for my peanut butter addiction... www.pbs.org/newshour/hea...
Excited to be starting this new Nordic collaboration on young people’s wellbeing, learning and educational trajectories with colleagues in Aarhus, Helsinki and Gothenburg and continuing with @davidreimer.bsky.social. Juuso Repo in an important role in getting this started!
While it's still uncertain whether our study will yield generalizable effects, receiving this positive feedback meant a lot! Huge thanks to Sif Einarsdóttir for the kind invitation, and to Rie Thomsen for originally introducing me to the field of career guidance (Rie also took the picture). 3/3
One of the absolute highlights was meeting two guidance counsellors from two upper secondary schools in Iceland who implemented our role-model & career guidance intervention as part of my ERC project. Their enthusiasm and interest in the results were very encouraging. 2/3
Had a great time at the NorNet, Transitions and Career Guidance Nordic Research Conference (NoRnet 2025) in Hveragerði this week. It was a real honour to deliver a keynote on how career guidance can help reduce inequalities in education. (1/3) see nornet2025.is
This from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social hit me over the head like a mallet of truth. This is the thing. This is what I’ve been trying to warn people about perfectly crystallized. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Great day at Copenhagen University. Rasmus Klokker (in the middle)successfully defended his PhD thesis on teacher sorting. Congrats!
Congrats. I need to do some serious googling in order to understand what this means though :-)
David and Thomas discuss Thomas’ recent work that examines occupational aspiration of adolescents based on PISA data. Then they talk about the topic of immigrant disadvantages in the education system – and how these disadvantages can be explained. A very informative episode 😀!
We did another episode for the Icelandic Sociology podcast! "Inequality in education: Occupational aspirations and immigrant disadvantages" heimildin.is/spila/1072/
In this new episode of the podcast David Reimer interviews Thomas Zimmermann from Goethe University in Frankfurt.
The chapter appeared in the Handbook of Education and Work (Elgar Handbooks in Education
Edited by Maarten H.J. Wolbers and Dieter Verhaest). See: www.elgaronline.com/edcollbook/b...
PS: We have not uploaded a pre-print yet - but just email me/us if you need one.
New Handbook chapter out on Field of Study choices together with Nicolaj Borgen. We discuss some recent findings and methodological developments. Main message: Field of study choice matters for labor market outcomes! Surprise surprise :-).
I did my first episode for the Icelandic sociology podcast. My guest was no other than the insightful Michelle Jackson from Stanford (@mivich.bsky.social). We talk about many things including Michelle's new book about developments in the division of labor. heimildin.is/spila/991/?f...
Can you spot the red cloud? Yes, another volcanic eruption. View from my office window!
It was a pleasure having you here!! Hope to have you back here soon!
Congrats to Astrid Olsen. On Monday she successfully defended her PhD thesis "The Role of Career Guidance in Reducing Access to Higher Education". It was a privilege to advise her. Thankfully we will have the opportunity to continue working together in the EDUCHANGE (www.educhange.hi.is) project.
My workday took an unexpected turn today when I came across this great report from 1977. Now I am trying to find the data. They have grand-parents, IQ-Tests. Mental Health questions...
I like this title much better. Scooter has also given us another great paper title btw: "It is nice to be important but it more important to be nice" Fill in subtitle on cooperation or whatever here!
You are thinking about a catchy title for your next paper that involves some kind of choice. Try to avoid The Clash this time...
Sometimes when I am sad, I read this review 🥲 journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Just found those 2 gems in the free giveaway bookshelf in the Social Science Building (Oddi)
