OECD THEMATIC REVIEW OF TERTIARY EDUCATION COUNTRY BACKGROUND REPORT FOR SWEDEN Swedish National Agency for Higher Education June 29, 2006 This report was prepared by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education on behalf of the Swedish Government as an input to the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education. The document was prepared in response to guidelines the OECD provided to all participating countries. The guidelines encouraged the author(s) to canvass a breadth of views and priorities on tertiary education issues. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Swedish Government, the OECD or its Member countries. Sweden has granted the OECD permission to include this document on the OECD Internet Home Page. The copyright conditions governing access to information on the OECD Home Page are provided at www.oecd.org/rights/ 1 PREFACE This background report on the Swedish tertiary education system has been prepared on behalf of the Swedish Government by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education. The report has been written by a working group within the Agency. The following persons at the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education have contributed to the text: Gunnar Enequist (Chapter 10), Marie Kahlroth (Chapter 5, compilation of statistical data for Chapters 5 and 7), Helena Mähler Lejon (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10), Maria Lönn (Chapters 4 and 5), Per-Gunnar Rosengren (Chapters 6 and 7) and Staffan Wahlén (Chapter 9). A number of other members of the Agency’s staff, as well as officials in the Ministry of Education, Research and Culture have contributed by providing facts and advice and reviewing drafts of the text. The project manager for the report and National Coordinator for the Swedish contribution to the OECD review was Helena Mähler Lejon. Most of the text was written in 2005 and therefore mainly reflects the situation at that time. A National Advisory Group has supported the writing of the report in various ways. The National Advisory Group contained the following members: Kristoffer Burstedt (Swedish National Union of Students), Lena Eriksson (Ministry of Education, Research and Culture), Carl Jacobsson, (Swedish Research Council), Marie Kahlroth, Torsten Kälvemark, Britta Lövgren (all Swedish National Agency for Higher Education), Inge-Bert Täljedal (Umeå University, representing the Association of Swedish Higher Education, SUHF). Carin Callerholm replaced Lena Eriksson from September 2005 as representative of the Ministry of Education, Research and Culture. In addition, Lena Lindell, of the Swedish Agency for Advanced Vocational Education, has provided facts and advice on Advanced Vocational Education. An overview of research regarding tertiary education in Sweden is annexed to the report. The research overview was written by Susan Marton, assistant professor at Karlstad University. A hearing was held on the 30 September, 2005 on the conclusions of the report with participants from organisations, agencies, etc. concerned with, or with an interest in, tertiary education. The list of organisations invited is annexed to the report. These parties have also been given the opportunity to comment on the full text of the report. Several of the organisations also submitted their comments and views on the report. The following participated in the hearing: Hans Ahréns Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth Karin Arvemo-Notstrand Statistics Sweden Ruth Bourke Berglund Swedish Net University Agency Kristoffer Burstedt Swedish National Union of Students (SFS), member of National Advisory Group Carin Callerholm Ministry of Education, Research and Culture, member of National Advisory Group Anna Dahlström Swedish Institute Gunnar Enequist Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Håkan Forsberg Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Ann Fritzell Swedish Association of University Teachers, SULF Karin Granevi International Programme Office for Education and Training Carl Jacobsson Swedish Research Council, member of National Advisory Group Peter Johansson Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Marie Kahlroth Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, member of National Advisory Group Bengt Karlsson Association of Swedish Higher Education, SUHF Staffan Karlsson Swedish Research Council Torsten Kälvemark Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, member of National Advisory Group Lena Lindell Swedish Agency for Advanced Vocational Education 2 Kristina Lutz Swedish National Union of Students (SFS) Maria Lönn Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Britta Lövgren Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, member of National Advisory Group Susan Marton Author of research overview Karin Morild The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees, TCO Helena Mähler Lejon Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, National Coordinator Per-Gunnar Rosengren Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Peter Schilling SISTER (Swedish Institute for Studies in Education and Research) Katarina Sjölander Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications Agneta Stark Dalarna University College Lennart Ståhle Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Inge-Bert Täljedal Umeå University, Member of National Advisory Group Staffan Wahlén Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Margot Wojdas Swedish National Agency for Higher Education Eva Åkesson Lund University 3 LIST OF CONTENTS PREFACE 2 LIST OF CONTENTS 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 1. The national context of tertiary education 8 2. Overall description of the tertiary education system 8 3. The tertiary education system and the labour market 9 4. The regional role of tertiary education 9 5. The role of tertiary education in research and innovation 10 6. Achieving equity in and through tertiary education 11 7. Resourcing the tertiary education system 12 8. Planning, governing and regulating the system 12 9. Assuring and improving the quality of tertiary education 13 10. Internationalisation 14 11. Concluding discussion 14 1 THE NATIONAL CONTEXT OF TERTIARY EDUCATION 15 1.1 The economic, social and cultural background 15 1.2 Regional and local administration 15 1.3 The Swedish population 16 1.4 Developments on the labour market and in the economy 18 2 OVERALL DESCRIPTION OF THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM 19 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 Purposes, goals and objectives of the tertiary education system 21 2.3 The tertiary education system 23 2.4 Major changes during the last decade 26 2.5 Data on the tertiary education system 31 2.6 Governance and regulation of tertiary education 33 4 3 THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM AND THE LABOUR MARKET 37 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Forecasts and information about the labour market situation 37 3.3 The graduate labour market 38 3.4 National policies for aligning demand and supply on the labour market for tertiarygraduates 41 3.5 Sweden and the international labour market 43 4 THE REGIONAL ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION 44 4.1 The regions and tertiary education 44 4.2 HE as an instrument for growth: governmental policies for the regional role of tertiaryeducation 45 4.3 Effects of regionalisation 46 4.4 Funding for regional engagement 47 5 THE ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 49 5.1 Introduction 49 5.2 Funding for research at higher education institutions 50 5.3 Methods and policies used to allocate research funding 55 5.4 Higher education institutions in the knowledge and innovation system 56 6 ACHIEVING EQUITY IN AND THROUGH TERTIARY EDUCATION 61 6.1 Introduction 61 6.2 Composition of the Swedish student body 61 6.3 Policies for the advancement of equity goals 63 6.4 Advanced Vocational Education (AVE) 67 6.5 National admission guidelines to higher education 67 6.6 The costs of studying and equity 70 6.7 Tertiary education and social mobility 72 7 RESOURCING THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM 75 7.1 Staff 75 5 7.2 Financing 80 8 PLANNING, GOVERNING AND REGULATING THE SYSTEM 87 8.1 Introduction – general philosophy of governance 87 8.2 Governance of tertiary education 88 8.3 Decision making in tertiary education 90 8.4 Priorities in the expansion 92 8.5 Linkages between tertiary education institutions 92 9 ASSURING AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION 97 9.1 Introduction 97 9.2 Key audiences and stakeholders of higher education 97 9.3 External quality assurance of teaching and learning in higher education 97 9.4 Support for innovation in HE teaching and learning 102 9.5 Expansion and the relationship between inputs and outputs 102 9.6 Current trends and future developments in quality assurance of higher education 103 10 INTERNATIONALISATION 104 10.1 Higher education in Sweden and international cooperation 104 10.2 Support for internationalisation 105 10.3 The contents of internationalisation 107 10.4 Strengths and weaknesses of internationalisation 109 11 CONCLUDING DISCUSSION 111 11.1 The system today – expanding in size as well as responsibilities 111 11.2 Important issues in the higher education debate 112 11.3 Future developments in higher education policy 115 11.4 Strengths and weaknesses 116 REFERENCES 118 Legal texts 125 Government bills 125 6 Internet 126 GLOSSARIES AND LISTS 128 List of acronyms and abbreviations 128 Glossary of Key Terms 128 List of Swedish agencies and organisations mentioned in the report 129 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The national context of tertiary education 1. Sweden has a population of 9 million, unevenly distributed over an area of 450,000 square kilometres. The country is highly dependant on international trade, with exports amounting to a large portion of GDP. Important industries include those based on raw materials, as well as the engineering and high technology sectors. In international comparison, taxes are high and the public sector is large. The country is a parliamentary democracy. The national assembly is called the Riksdag. Sweden is a member of the European Union since 1995. 2. In international perspective, the Swedish labour market has been characterised by a high level of participation among both women and men and low unemployment. After a severe economic recession in the early 1990s and a short recession in the early 2000s, economic growth has picked up while interest and inflation rates remain low.