Företagsekonomistudentens studieval

Lindell, E. (2016). Företagsekonomistudentens studieval: Mannen, individualisten och altruisten. Doktorsavhandling i företagsekonomi vid Mälardalens högskola.

Abstract (eng.)

Business administration is one of Sweden’s largest educational subjects, even so we know little about who applies to these study programs and why they do it. Through language we build representations of reality and through language this reality gets meaning. Interpretative repertoires can be described as locally produced discourse or locally available linguistic constructions. We use interpretative repertoires for positioning, which means linguistic construction of identity. Through language we can both construct positions, adopt positions, and resist adopting positions in a given social context. The aim of the thesis is to describe the business administration study choice as a socially constructed action – and thereby gain a greater understanding of business administration as education.

In this thesis I discuss how interpretative repertoires are used to explain business administration as a study choice and thereby how the businessman is positioned. Two empirical materials are presented: previous research on business administration as a study choice, and interviews with students at Mälardalen University and Stockholm School of Economics.

In previous research personality, career, making money and family are used as interpretative repertoires. In the interview material masculinity, management and leadership, building a family, personal finance, making money, profits and usefulness are used as interpretative repertoires. In relation to business administration as a study choice, the use of these interpretative repertoires create an ideological dilemma that needs handling by the business student. This is done by positioning the business economist as a man, an individualist and an altruist.

The thesis concludes with a discussion about the positions as man and individualist as reproductions of already known structures, and how these positions are challenged in the material by the position as altruist.