Structural Uniformity and Functional Diversification: Swedish Higher Education Ten Years after the Higher Education Reform

The Swedish higher education reform in 1977 was designed to create an integrated and unified system, by including all post-secondary education in a new structure. The governance and organizational pattern were designed to support flexibility, creativity and capacity for innovation. The inner life of higher education today reflects these intentions of the reform but is also characterized by market-orientation and market-dependency. These new and strange issues in the higher education context are influencing the everyday life of an educational system, in which notions of centralism, uniformity and state legitimation are still taken for granted.     

Swedish Universities towards Self-Regulation: A New Look at Institutional Autonomy

Swedish universities are required to change towards more effective self-regulation as the government has recently reduced state steering and devolved further responsibilities to them. In this paper, self-regulation is related to the concept of autonomy, a concept which is analysed on the two dimensions of purpose and authority, resulting in four models of state governance and consequently in a different space of action for the institutions. However, in order to develop self-regulation, the space granted must also be used effectively to realise autonomy. Six Swedish higher education institutions are analysed concerning how they have used their new space of action and what restrictions they have met in their efforts for self-regulation.     

Academic Leadership: Prescriptions,Practices and Paradoxes

Ideas from the new public managementphilosophy infusing higher education oftenstress the need for strong and strategicacademic leadership if successful adaptation toa changing environment is to take place. Byshowing some of the challenges facing academicleaders in Sweden and Norway, this articlequestions the wisdom of employing new publicmanagement ideas on leadership during changeprocesses in higher education. It is arguedthat an academic leadership able to attachmeaning to paradoxical situations and toilluminate challenging dilemmas may be a morepromising option for a sector where change inthe years to come will be more the standardsituation than the exception.     

The impact of intercultural contact on host families

This paper reports the results of programmatic research focusing upon the host family component of the Council of International Programs (CIP) exchange program that brings human service professionals to the United States each year. The study shows that four major dimensions of intercultural contact identified in intercultural literature (personal development, intimacy, international networks, and better understanding of foreign affairs) are clearly promoted through the CIP host family experience. The study supports the usefulness of a host family component as part of intercultural exchange programs.     

In Search of New Models of Institutional Governance: Some Swedish Experiences

Tertiary Education and Management - In many countries, the state has stepped down from its former role as the provider and legitimator of higher education and the institutions are expected to take...     

Swedish universities towards self‐regulation: A new look at institutional autonomy

Abstract

Swedish universities are required to change towards more effective self‐regulation as the government has recently reduced state steering and devolved further responsibilities to them. In this paper, ‘self‐regulation’ is related to the concept of ‘autonomy’, a concept which is analysed on the two dimensions of ‘purpose’ and ‘authority’, resulting in four models of state governance and consequently in a different ‘space of action’ for the institutions. However, in order to develop self‐regulation, the space granted must also be used effectively to realise autonomy. Six Swedish higher education institutions are analysed concerning how they have used their new space of action and what restrictions they have met in their efforts for self‐regulation.     

From participation to competition: Changes in the notion of decentralization in Swedish higher educational policy 1

Abstract

The relationships between higher education and the world of work are viewed, principally, as similar in economically advanced societies. The comparative study ‘Higher Education and Graduate Employment in Europe’, however, indicates substantial differences between European countries as regards transition to employment, as well as the employment and work situation, according to objective and subjective measures. The analysis is based on a survey of more than 30,000 graduates from 10 European countries about 3–4 years after graduation. The findings suggest that only a minority of 10–20% of graduates face substantial problems on the labour market or end up in positions not commensurate with their level of education. There is a clear North‐South differential in Europe with respect to transition and objective employment measures, while the pattern is more differentiated with respect to the perceived utilisation of knowledge, the self‐rated adequacy of position and the job satisfaction.     

Institutional Leadership and Leeway – Important Elements in a National System of Quality Assurance and Accreditation: Experiences from a Pilot Study

Experiences from the step-wiseimplementation of the Norwegian national systemfor quality assurance and accreditation providethe empirical base for discussing (1) thereadiness among higher education institutionsto take an active share in the national systemand (2) the potential of a national qualityassurance and accreditation system to fulfil adouble aim of controlling and enhancingquality. The findings indicate that akey element for a successful implementation ofthe new system is the institutions' ownunderstanding of the rationale behind thesystem. Internal evaluations, annual reportsand quantitative institutional basic data mustbe considered and also used by theinstitutional leaders and the academic staffmembers as ``tools' for meaningful internalquality work and not just looked upon asstrange elements requested from ``above'. Theinstitutions' quality work must be considered acrucial ``instrument' for strategic managementof the entire institution.