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The students of higher technical education in Sweden and Denmark, 1829–1929
Both Chalmers University of Technology (Chalmers) in Sweden and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) opened in 1829. The establishment of these polytechnic institutions was a response to the technological advances of the emerging industrial era. However, the two institutions differed in terms of their initial structure and entry requirements.
This paper examines the backgrounds of the students of Chalmers and DTU between 1829 and 1929. To what extent did the socioeconomic backgrounds of Chalmers’ and DTU’s students differ? Using machine learning techniques, I extract information on around 7000 students from biographies produced in connection with Chalmers’ and DTU’s centenaries in 1929. Data on fathers’ occupations is used to infer the socioeconomic background of students.