REPORT 2018:10 HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN 2018 STATUS REPORT Introduction Higher education is Sweden’s largest public This report is based on the statistical data sector in terms of the number employed continually reported by the HEIs to Statis- and the concern of many stakeholders. It tics Sweden as well as on the data reported is important that discussions about higher directly to UKÄ in connection with the education, and decisions that affect the way submission of their annual reports to the it functions, are based on factual knowledge. Government. Higher Education in Sweden – 2018 status Initially, the report summarises some report is a short English version of the indicators for Swedish higher education annual statistical report on higher educa- from an international perspective and, tion in Sweden, published by the Swedish under the heading Facts about higher Higher Education Authority (Universitets- education in Sweden, provides a basic kanslersämbetet, UKÄ). The ambition is description of the structure of Swedish to provide accurate information about the higher education and the regulatory status of Sweden’s higher education. Here framework. The report then outlines you will find answers to questions such as: developments prior to and including the fiscal year of 2017 for public-sector and • How well is Sweden doing from an independent HEIs. The last chapter presents international perspective? key data about students, staff and finance • How much does the Swedish state for each HEI. invest in higher education and the research undertaken at the country’s HEIs? • How many students acquire qualifica- Anders Söderholm tions from higher education in Sweden? Director General Higher Education in Sweden 2018 Status Report Published by Swedish Higher Education Authority 2018 Report 2018:10 Editor: Aija Sadurskis Sweden in an international perspective: Marie Kahlroth Facts about higher education in Sweden: Aija Sadurskis Trends and developments: Anna Bengtsson, Sofia Berlin Kolm, Tomas Egeltoft, Julia Elenäs, Johan Gribbe, Tomas Gustavsson, Annika Haglund, Per Helldahl, Marie Kahlroth, Ingrid Pettersson, Aija Sadurskis, Eva Stening, Fredrik Svensson, Anders Viberg Key figures for higher education institutions: Aija Sadurskis, Eva-Marie Larsson Translator: Aija Sadurskis Graphic design and graphics: Consid Communication Cover: Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås, EXIT17. Design by Louise Christiansson. Print: Åtta45 Swedish Higher Education Authority • Löjtnantsgatan 21 • Box 7703, SE-103 95 Stockholm phone +46 8 563 085 00 • fax +46 8 563 085 50 • e-mail [email protected] • www.uka.se Contents Sweden in an international perspective .............................................................6 Facts about higher education in Sweden ........................................................14 Trends and developments .......................................................................................20 First and second-cycle courses and programmes ...........................................................21 Third-cycle courses and programmes ...............................................................................36 International mobility .............................................................................................................41 Education and employment .................................................................................................44 Teachers and researchers ....................................................................................................48 Finance and research funding ..............................................................................................54 Research ..................................................................................................................................59 Key figures for higher education institutions ................................................62 Higher education institutions in Sweden 2017 ............................................68 SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 6 HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN – 2018 STATUS REPORT INTERNATIONAL DATA ON education are separated from so called universities of can be used to put the progress of Swedish applied science. The latter are only found higher education into perspective. The in countries that have a binary system of Organisation for Economic Co-operation higher education, separating academic and Development (OECD), Eurostat and higher education from applied. On average, other international organisations regularly a little less than a quarter of HEIs in the 28 publish indicators at the level of individual EU countries are classified as universities of countries. In addition, a data base of higher applied science. Sweden and Iceland have education institutions (HEIs) in Europe is a homogenous system of higher education, under construction, intended to elucidate which sets them apart from the rest of the differences as well as similarities of higher Nordic countries. Norway, Finland, and education in different countries. Denmark have binary systems. In Sweden, the same regulation applies to all higher education. Higher education in Europe In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, a Here we use data from the European Tertiary majority of universities and university colle- Education Register (ETER) to describe ges are public-sector HEIs, while approx- European higher education institutions. imately half of Finnish and Icelandic institu- The Register contains information on a little tions are independent education providers more than 2,800 universities, colleges and (referred to as Government dependent other HEIs, in 36 European countries. providers by the OECD). With few excep- tions, Swedish independent education Figure 1. Categories of higher education institu- providers are small. In the 28 EU countries, tions in the Nordic countries as well as the estimated average for the EU. Source: ETER. on average, private institutions are more prevalent than in the Nordic countries. Per cent 100 90 Classification of education 80 To make it possible to compare interna- 70 tional data on education, international 60 organisations have used UNESCO’s Interna- 50 tional Standard Classification of Education 40 (ISCED) since the mid 1970’s. 30 Since countries organise their systems 20 of education differently, no comparison 10 will be perfect. For instance, the same type 0 of education may be classified as “short- Sweden Norway Finland Iceland Denmark cycle tertiary” (ISCED 5) in one country, but EU-average classified as “Bachelor's or equivalent higher Universities Universities of applied science education” (ISCED 6) in another country. Other As a consequence, higher education (ISCED 6-8) makes up a varying proportion of all ETER classifies HEIs into different categories tertiary education (ISCED 5-8). In addition, according to a standardised model of classi- educational systems have changed over fication. In this model, academic universities time. In recent years the so called Bologna SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE – 2018 STATUS REPORT 7 process, whereby many countries have there was a clear difference in favour of tried to make their higher education more women. comparable, is one example of such change. In Sweden women were better educated than men in 2006 and the diffe- rence has grown. In 2006, 35 per cent of the Educational attainment in women of Sweden’s adult population and OECD countries 26 per cent of the men had at least two years The level of education has risen considerably of tertiary education. The corresponding in OECD countries in the last decades, as shares in 2016 were 48 per cent for women a result of expansion of higher education, and just under 35 per cent for men. in Sweden and in many other countries. In In all countries where women were OECD countries, on average 27 per cent of the better educated than men in 2006, the adult population (25-64 years) had at least two differences between women and men have years of tertiary education in 2006. In 2016 the increased. In educational attainment men proportion had increased by 10 percentage fall ever more behind women. Judging points, to 37 per cent. The educational level of by this, women will eventually be better the Swedish population also increased in the educated than men in all OECD countries. ten-year period, from almost 31 to 41 per cent ISCED 2011 makes it possible to study who had a tertiary education. the educational level of the population In 2006 the level of education did not in greater depth. Tertiary education is differ greatly between women and men in divided into shorter studies (ISCED 5), OECD countries on average – 27 per cent of studies leading to a level corresponding to women and 26 per cent of men had at least a Bachelor qualification (ISCED 6), Master two years of tertiary education. Ten years qualification (ISCED 7) and Doctoral (third- later, in 2016, these percentages had risen, cycle) qualification (ISCED 8). The share of and with 38 and 33 per cent, respectively, the adult population (aged 25 – 64 years) Figure 2. Proportion of women and men (ages 25-64) with at least two years of tertiary education 2006 and 2016. Source: OECD Stat. Per cent 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 USA Italy Spain Latvia JapanIsrael* France Austria Turkey Mexico Canada FinlandNorway Ireland SwedenIcelandEstonia Belgium SloveniaGreecePoland Slovakia Australia Denmark GermanyPortugalHungary South Korea Switzerland Luxembourg New ZealandNetherlands United Kingdom OECD average Czech Republic Women 2016 Men 2016