Secondary school students win award for essay on attitudes towards trans people

“One of the things we discovered that surprised us a little is that young people are perhaps not quite as liberal as we often assume them to be,” says award winner Malin Stedal.

Stedal and Helene Foss Iversen wrote the winning entry "Young people's attitudes towards transgender people":

• There, they examined young people's attitudes towards transgender people and views on issues related to their rights.
• Using a survey, they looked at whether factors such as religion and gender have an effect on the attitudes people hold.
• The essay concluded that there was a clear difference between the sexes in attitudes towards transgender people, and that the girls who took part stated that they were more positive than the boys.

Social science projects from all over Agder

As many as 53 social science research projects were carried out this spring by students in upper secondary schools in Agder and submitted for the competition for the Eilert Sundt award. The jury has now assessed the entries that came from the following upper secondary schools this year: Arendal, Dahlske, Drottningborg, Kristiansand Katedralskole Gimle (KKG), KVS-Lyngdal, Mandal and Vågsbygd.

Award winners Helene Foss Iversen, Malin Stedal, Karina Hodne Hanisch, Synne Strøm-Fadstad, Yasir Adbirashid Mohamed, Amalie Lorch-Falch and Anne Berggren. Here they are together with jury leader Kjell Andreas Magnus (left), teacher at KKG; and leader of the award committee Irene Trysnes (right), associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Work at UiA. Credit: Jo Vegard Aardal

On Friday 28 April, it was announced who came in first, second and third in the selection of the best social science research project.

• Read the jury's comments here and see the Eilert Sundt award winning entries since 2014 (Norwegian only).

Hot topic

The jury that selects the three best entries consists of representatives from UiA, upper secondary schools in Agder and Agder County Council.

In the jury's comments, emphasis is placed on the fact that the winning entry deals with a hot topic and makes “interesting and significant findings that confirm the hypotheses they made in advance.”

Storting representative Gro Anita Mykjåland (Sp) was a jury member this year. She was impressed by the award winners. Credit: Jo Vegard Aardal

The students receive praise for good methodological insight and awareness of possible sources of error. Furthermore, it says:

“The jury especially commends the candidates for how they manage to discuss their results in an orderly and good manner and link them to previous research and theory. The essay also stands out due to its exceptionally clear language and having an appropriate structure, which makes it a joy to read.”

The top three who made it to the podium were celebrated in a special event at UiA on 28 April, where the students received greetings from the various jury members. Storting representative and jury member Gro Anita Mykjåland said that she was hugely impressed and had gained a deeper understanding of the topics that the projects addressed.

“In politics, everyone wants quick answers. But it is important that we know enough about the consequences when we make decisions. We therefore need wise minds who can delve into the material and continue to ask questions when others have concluded,” she said.

Students get a taste of social science studies

“The work that the students put into these projects is fantastic, and the 53 entries address both creative and interesting issues. The students get a taste of what it is like to study and research social science phenomena, and we know that we recruit many of these students for further studies with us,” says associate professor and leader of the Eilert Sundt award Irene Trysnes.

“It has been a lot of work, but we’ve learned a lot. And I think it has been a great exercise with a view to our future studies,” says Helene Foss Iversen.