A problem of democracy: Stereotypical notions of intelligence and identity in college preparatory academic porgrammes in the Swedish upper secondary school

In the present article, based on a qualitative analysis, we focus stereotypes held by students on college preparatory academic programmes. Two stereotypes are in focus: those that these students attribute to themselves, and those that they attribute to students in vocational programmes. 224 students in grade 3 were involved. The stereotype of the academic student that emerged characterised emphatic language skills that provided an opportunity to develop one's intellect and participate actively in society. The stereotype of the vocational student was the antithesis of this. Vocational students were said to lack language ability and interests and to have an undeveloped or underdeveloped intellect due to not engaging in the same kind of language acts as academic students. The students also associated their skills with effort, interest and hard work as opposed to being innate.