Background: Educational opportunities and access vary according to location. In rural areas, the cultural, social and material consequences for local communities depend on the nature and degree of support for rural schools. There is a need to understand more about how the organisation of vocational education and training (VET), and the activities…

The study focuses on students in professional bachelor programs, how men and women navigate career opportunities after graduation. The research is based on longitudinal data from 969 Norwegian students. A crucial finding is that when men and women have equal expectations of entering a management position, they also attain such positions equally…

Global Employability Skills are skills that students acquire during their study period, that are in addition to their academic knowledge and skills, and that would help in their careers. As students continue their university journeys, they often overlook or underestimate the importance of developing Global Employability Skills that employers may…

Increased public investment in PhD education to drive innovation has led to a recent rapid growth in the number of PhD graduates. Academic labour markets have not developed at the same pace. An ever-larger share of the graduates is finding employment in industry. The transition from academia to industry is not always easy. The present study aims…

In this paper we address the transition from higher education to work among graduates with a master's degree, with a particular focus on over-education. We relate to an ongoing debate on whether too many students undertake a master's degree, and the consequences a surplus of graduates may have. Our data show that the transition from higher…

Across OECD countries, more and more individuals have attained tertiary education and the share of those with less education has declined. Although there are more tertiary-educated individuals than ever before, they still achieve good labour market outcomes. This confirms that labour market demand is generally keeping pace with rising educational…

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the return to pre-immigration education for non-western immigrants, and explain why it is so low. Returns to one extra year of education is three times higher for ethnic Norwegians than for non-western immigrants. Using the method "Over-Required-Under" (ORU) education approach, we reveal that…

A student's choice of a field of study is a personal decision that combines individual tastes, inclinations, preferences, and prospects related to the working life with a number of financial and academic constraints. Therefore, the analysis of the effects of degree field on job satisfaction should also address the unobserved heterogeneity among…

The educational system of Norway, which is organized into primary, secondary and higher education, is reviewed. Types of schools and/or courses in secondary education are listed including present enrollment figures by main types of secondary education and transfer rates of secondary to tertiary education. The system of tertiary education is…

This report provides information on the administration and structure of all levels of education and initial vocational training in 17 countries--the 15 Member States of the European Union and Iceland and Norway. Country reports are arranged in a similar way to facilitate comparison. Chapter 1 contains information on each country, the basic…

Reports on recent developments and problems in the diversification of tertiary education in seven Western European countries are presented by members of the Working Party on the Diversification of Tertiary Education. Policy analysis and evaluation and recommendations for future policy are also provided. As a policy, diversification refers to the…

This article describes quantitative growth in higher education and overall trends in the Norwegian economy and argues that the policy of expanding the capacity of higher education is being used as a buffer against youth unemployment. (JB)

In this report, learning conditions in Norwegian workplaces were examined to identify ways of making workplaces more conducive to learning. Data were collected through interviews in 11 firms and a questionnaire survey of 1,300 private sector and 200 public sector employees. Opportunities to learn through work varied widely. Older women with little…

A representative survey of over 30,000 people aged 16-64 years across the 15 member states of the European Union and Norway sought Europeans' preferences for increasing or reducing the number of hours worked per week. Key finding included the following: (1) 51% preferred to work fewer hours in exchange for lower earnings while 12% preferred to…