Abstract
This paper presents a study that seeks to examine the messages conveyed in one of the initiatives that have been initialized in order to make young people interested in pursuing engineering studies at technological universities. The study is a case study of the web-based advertising (recruitment) campaign KTH from the Inside designed for KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The analysis draws on a theoretical framework from governmentality studies. The analysis of the campaign conclude that the ideal engineering constructed in the campaign is one of an individual who meets the requirements asked of a lifelong learner with cosmopolitan aspirations. This is an ideal that builds on a notion of progress associated with social progress and sustainability. This is a break with historical and cultural patterns, which symbolically have linked technology to capitalist profitability and masculinity. Though a break with gender patterns is suggested the ideal subject constructed in the campaign is almost exclusively based on the students on Masters’ level. This excludes students at Bachelor programmes. This I argue is problematic as it narrows the recruitment of students to technological universities to a small group of students.
Highlights
Since the 1960s transnational organisations, i.e. the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) and the European Commission (EU) have argued that nations with a high number of citizens with advanced knowledge in science and technology do betterP
The second research question is, who is invited and who is excluded from science and technology communities as a consequence of how the desired student is depicted in the campaign is discussed in the light of the themes that unfolded in the analysis and in relation to relevant research
The European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI) (FEANI 2005) defines advanced engineering as engineering work associated with research and innovation, creativity and progress, whereas applicationoriented engineering work is associated with less advanced engineering work
Summary
Since the 1960s transnational organisations, i.e. the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) and the European Commission (EU) have argued that nations with a high number of citizens with advanced knowledge in science and technology do better. According to a Norwegian study of first year STEM students as many as 95% of the students say they visited websites of universities or colleges before making their choice, and 60% say that these sites inspired them This is to be compared with advertising and campaigns on websites, that had hardly any influence at all on the participants of the Norwegian study (Schreiner et al 2010). This paper is foremost of interest for those who have an interest in the recruitment of students to technological universities Other than this it is of interest for the development of the theoretical framework that has been guiding in the analysis, namely governmentality studies (especially in education science). In the thesis the results from this study are compared with the results from a study of young people’s perceptions on engineering education and engineering students (Kingdon 2013)
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