In recent years Norway and Switzerland have introduced local training agencies (TAs), local intermediary organisations consisting of firms involved in apprentice training. In both countries, the starting point for the formation of the TA was roughly similar: enabling more firms to participate in apprentice training. Despite similar tasks, TAs have…

The article addresses the issues surrounding the importance and impact of 'hinterlands' in the construction of European higher education systems and in the formation of sectoral policy. It draws on studies of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom to illustrate different policy approaches and shows how in some countries…

Teacher shortages have intensified across several OECD countries, making this an urgent priority for education systems. Between 2015 and 2022, the share of students whose principals reported shortages rose from 29% to 46.7% on average across the OECD. Simultaneously, rapid technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and broader…

Interest in higher education institutions (HEIs) as instruments for development has increased in recent years. The main objective of this paper is to address the contribution of HEIs to development through their missions, models, and challenges. With this purpose, we perform a historical analysis and characterise higher-education systems through…

Traditionally, European doctoral education has principally taken place within the binary relationship of professors and their doctoral students according to the "apprenticeship model." However, in the last one to two decades, this model has been questioned. Governments and higher education institutions (HEIs) reform doctoral education by…

A social network recruitment campaign was prepared where applicants for information technology bachelor studies at a Norwegian university college were invited to join a Facebook group related to the subject of interest. Each Facebook group was assigned a contact person who received training to facilitate activities and in answering questions from…

Framed within a shift from a highly centralized system of higher education (HE) to a de-regulated system in Norway, this article addresses how the foci upon student recruitment and incentives in the governmental funding of HE have stimulated market dynamics which affect local configurations of bachelor degrees in sport, physical education and…

This paper examines whether graduates of high academic quality (as measured by their university or university college Grade Point Average or GPA) are recruited to and remain in school jobs. Extensive data from Norwegian administrative registers are used. The analyses show that graduates from specialised and concurrent general teacher programmes go…

Grades are important for admission of students in most higher education programs. Analyzing admission and student performance data at a major Norwegian business school, we find that the grading practice of teachers at regional colleges sending students to the school is affected by the average performance of the students being graded. Teachers at…

Performance indicators and performance-based funding are becoming integral components of higher education (HE) policy around the globe. We explore some of the implications of this type of policy on Norwegian HE. We believe the case will be of significant interest to policy-makers, stakeholders and academics alike, not least because our empirical…

The concept of the "professional teacher" is highly contestable, and the array of definitions that circulate in teacher education draw on competing theoretical and ideological positions. This paper explores what discourses about professionalism are currently available within Norwegian physical education teacher education (PETE) and, in…

Higher education institutions are becoming increasingly businesslike, a shift that is transforming student loyalty into an important strategic theme for universities and colleges. This paper reports a "cross-over" study that uses well-known theories from service marketing in a new context, that of educational services addressing customer…

This article sums up 8 years of experience with evidence-based programs in the treatment of conduct problems in children and youth. A conceptual model describing the implementation components relevant to the Norwegian project is presented and discussed. Next, we describe a case study of the implementation strategy accompanied by outcomes from the…

Despite strong trends in most Western countries towards gender equality in educational attainments, men are still considerably more likely to obtain doctoral degrees. Using data comprising nearly all students graduating from Norwegian universities during 1981-1996, separate event history analyses are carried out of recruitment to and completion of…