The Hybridization of Vocational Training and Higher Education in Austria, Germany and Switzerland

The book analyses the emergence of hybrid institutional forms in vocational training and higher education in three European countries in the context of Europeanization processes

New EU Instruments for Education: Vertical, Horizontal and Internal Tensions in the European Qualifications Framework

Traditionally constrained by the Treaty to subsidiary action, a number of innovative approaches for joint European coordination in the area of education have emerged in recent years. This article analyses a particular new European Union (EU) instrument for education – the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) – by examining the vertical, horizontal, and internal tensions within the instrument. Analysis of the vertical dimension identifies widening EU capacity for joint coordination through an informal widening of the subsidiarity principle and opportunities for diffusing EU preferences. Analysis of the horizontal coordination processes suggest that there is still some fragmentation in terms of coordinating the EQF across relevant sectors, even if emerging coordination can be identified in some areas. The internal tensions are related to the nature of the instrument that covers all levels and types of education. It is argued that these internal tensions remain, but the EQF has facilitated the development of a new arena for discussing policy coordination (EQFAG) that can, in the long run, reduce these tensions. While the impact of the EQF has been uneven and its implementation proceeded with various speed at this point, it nevertheless is a successful case of a particular Commission policy preference that has been gaining widespread acceptance across Europe in an area where coordination previously had been met with resistance

Global rankings in the Nordic region: challenging the identity of research-intensive universities?

Global university rankings currently attract considerable attention, and it is often assumed that such rankings may cause universities to prioritize activities and outcomes that will have a positive effect in their ranking position. A possible consequence of this could be the spread of a particular model of an ‘‘ideal’’ university. This article tests this assumption through an analysis of a sample of research-intensive universities in the Nordic region. Through document analysis and interviews with institutional leaders and staff from central administration, the study explores whether high-ranked Nordic universities take strategic measures as a response to global rankings, and whether the traditional identities of the universities are changing, as they are influenced and affected by the rankings. The study shows that rankings have a relatively modest impact on decision-making and strategic actions in the Nordic universities studied, and that there are few signs of rankings challenging the existing identities of the universities in this region

Evaluering av faglig understruktur ved Høgskolen i Bergen

Høgskolen i Bergen ga høsten 2015 NIFU i oppdrag å gjennomføre en evaluering av den faglige understrukturen ved høgskolen. HiB ønsket å knytte til seg ekstern kompetanse som kunne bidra til å vurdere om nåværende faglige understruktur var tilpasset interne, pågående prosesser, høgskolens strategiske mål og de krav og endringer som var varslet i regjeringens «Strukturmelding». Det har vært foretatt en gjennomgang av nåværende understruktur samt en vurdering av hvorvidt den fungerer hensiktsmessig sett opp mot interne og eksterne målsettinger og krav. Resultatene fra denne gjennomgangen, samt NIFUs vurdering av dagens modell foreligger i denne rapporten. I tillegg, basert på gjennomgangen og vurderingen forslår NIFU tre mulige modeller for fremtidig organisering av den faglige understrukturen ved HiB: 1) Instituttmodellen, 2) Avdelingsmodellen og 3) Graduate school modellen

Evaluering av faglig understruktur ved Høgskolen i Bergen

Høgskolen i Bergen ga høsten 2015 NIFU i oppdrag å gjennomføre en evaluering av den faglige understrukturen ved høgskolen. HiB ønsket å knytte til seg ekstern kompetanse som kunne bidra til å vurdere om nåværende faglige understruktur var tilpasset interne, pågående prosesser, høgskolens strategiske mål og de krav og endringer som var varslet i regjeringens «Strukturmelding». Det har vært foretatt en gjennomgang av nåværende understruktur samt en vurdering av hvorvidt den fungerer hensiktsmessig sett opp mot interne og eksterne målsettinger og krav. Resultatene fra denne gjennomgangen, samt NIFUs vurdering av dagens modell foreligger i denne rapporten. I tillegg, basert på gjennomgangen og vurderingen forslår NIFU tre mulige modeller for fremtidig organisering av den faglige understrukturen ved HiB: 1) Instituttmodellen, 2) Avdelingsmodellen og 3) Graduate school modellen

‘EU-on-demand’: developing national qualifications frameworks in a multi-level context

The development of comprehensive national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) across Europe has been sparked by the introduction of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in 2008. Taking an institutional perspective, this article examines the development of NQFs in three countries, in light of developments that have taken place at the European level. The three cases (Estonia, Ireland, Norway) show how these processes are highly dependent on the links to the European level, the sequence of the process, how the European initiative is coupled to national issues, actor involvement locally and the time available. The article shows the potentially problematic nature of introducing European solutions on a national level as agenda-setting processes can become omitted and ad hoc linkages to national policy domains can be weakly developed

Standardizing education? The development of the European Qualifications Framework and national qualifications frameworks

This study will contribute to a better understanding of the development of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), a new policy solution proposed at the European level, with its stated aim being to create more transparency of qualifications across Europe by providing a standardized translation tool. The research problem of this study is to identify the main factors that have led to the introduction, development and implementation of the EQF. The study composes of four articles and an extended abstract. In this study, the EQF is conceptualized as a process of standardization, a process that can take different functions – the symbolic, instrumental and informational function. To zoom into the process of standardization, the analytical toolbox relies on three key themes that are based on an overall institutional perspectives. The first theme concerns decision-making about standards in the context of various formal and informal rules. Decision-making is conceptualised as a coupling between problems and solutions. This coupling is outlined according to four possible patterns: historical contingency, rational problem solving, solution driven normative process, and processes of chance. The second theme examines how specific structures can become institutionalized, in that they become taken-for-granted, acquire legitimacy and assure stable access to resources. The third theme is focused on the coupling between problems and solutions in a multi-level context, with emphasis on the scope of change and degree of coupling, highlighting possible patterns for how a European policy solution can be coupled to national policy problems. These three themes form a basis for examining the process through which the EQF was introduced, the intergovernmental structures that have been developed on European level, and the national processes that have taken place. Methodologically, the EQF is viewed as a case, and an unlikely case. The study has examined the process of developing a national qualifications framework (NQF) in three countries (Estonia, Ireland, and Norway). In Ireland the NQF was developed before the EQF, in Estonia and Norway the NQF was developed as a response to European initiatives. In addition, these countries provide a mix of other similarities and differences (EU attachment, policymaking context, NQF status, etc). The study is qualitative and relied on document analysis and expert interviews as data sources. The main time frame for the collected data here is from approximately year 2002 to 2013. The findings of this study are threefold. First, part examines the origins and development of the EQF. The analysis indicated a dual source for the EQF, with an expanding lifelong learning agenda in the EU, and the Bologna process as a source of inspiration. The analysis highlighted how the process of introducing the EQF was dialectic – being both problem driven and solution driven at times, and that serendipity and path-dependencies played a role at other times. The various interests that have been incorporated have also lead the EQF as a policy solution to be characterised by internal tension. Second, the study has examined the changing function of the EQF advisory group (EQFAG). The study shows how the EQFAG went through a process of rapid creation of procedures and norms, and fast expansion of informal power, to the extent that this can be considered stretching of the subsidiarity principle. Third, the study shows how national processes can vary substantially in how far European solutions are coupled to national policy problems. The distinct nature of processes that take place as a consequence of European initiatives is highlighted, and how this can lead to ad-hoc processes and weak links to national policy domain. The study shows how local policymaking traditions have an effect on the coupling of problems and solutions, where actor composition and interests have considerable effect on the process. From a standardization lens, the study discuses the EQF in light of the three functions. First, examining the symbolic function, the EQF can be seen to create common language, placing various educational systems in one larger meta-system, all of these represent an idea of a closer integrated Europe in the area of education. However, the EQF is not a very coherent and unified expression of values. The study proposes a view of “EU on demand”, where member states can pick and choose various ideas packed into the EQF. Second, examining the instrumental function, the EQF as a means for standardization can also be seen as a new mode of policymaking, where the Commission has taken the role of the standardizer, representing a more indirect mode of policymaking. Third, examining the informational function, the EQF is frequently presented as value-free, technical, the ultimate Babel fish that instantly translates any set of European educational qualifications into another set of qualifications. The case studies in this study have shown that this neutrality is to a large extent illusory