Europe is, in many ways, of central importance to discussions about higher education. Various European initiatives, such as the Bologna Process and the Erasmus mobility programme, have had a direct and material impact on the shape and nature of higher education across the continent. They have also been linked to wider political objectives, such as…

In this paper, we aim to understand the implications of the structural changes of the Bologna process from a student perspective. We investigate how bachelor's degree students' in a post-Bologna era with three-year bachelor's degree and two-year master's degree units construct their post-bachelor's choice narratives in two different science degree…

This book offers an original contribution to the area of international research on comparative education policies and the influence of transnational agencies on national school policy and reform. With a focus on grasping what "the Nordic model" or "the Nordic dimension" means in school and educational policy, the book explores…

It is often assumed within much of the academic literature and by many of those working in higher education that universities across Europe are homogenising, converging around an Anglo-American model as a result of neo-liberal pressures and the aim of creating a single European Higher Education Area. However, drawing on an analysis of 92 policy…

Because there is close cooperation on quality assurance in the Scandinavian countries, one would expect there to be convergence of quality assurance policies and practices in Scandinavian higher education. Few studies have analysed these quality assurance policies and practices from a comparative viewpoint. Based on empirical evidence produced in…

This article studies issues of coloniality in so-called capacity-building projects between universities in Africa and Scandinavia. Even fifty years after independence, the African higher education landscape is a product of the colonial powers and subsequent uneven power relations, as argued by a number of researchers. The uneven geography and…

This open access book presents an in-depth analysis of data from ICCS. An international group of scholars critically address the state of civic and citizenship education in the four Nordic countries that participated in the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) in 2009 and 2016. The findings are of particular relevance to…

Through an ethnographic exploration of policy documents, this paper aims to expose how outcome-oriented education standards gained international hegemonic status in the Bologna Process. Taking inspiration in the concept of hegemony and by connecting the invisible power of hegemony to soft governance, the paper shows how the outcome-based modular…

This chapter traces how national teacher education policy discourse in Denmark and Sweden is being transformed by opaque, albeit often inclusive, processes in transnational policy forums, such as the Bologna Process, OECD, and EU. This is facilitated by "soft law" surrounding the imagined needs of modern nations, if they are to succeed…

This article aims to analyse variances between some emerging projections for the master degree at high policy level and the diverse interpretations and forms observed in its implementation in the aftermath of the Bologna Process reforms. It thus examines European and national-level discourses regarding the master's place and purpose and,…

In Denmark, as in many other countries, international agendas represented by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment studies, the European Bologna process and the school effectiveness movement are important factors for educational policy. However, in national contexts,…

Denmark has a long tradition of adult learning with roots that go back to the 19th century folk high school movement. Since the late 1950s, an independent adult vocational education and training (VET) system has developed. In the last decades, attempts have been made to link adult VET systems with adult liberal education. More recently,…

This monograph examines vocational education and training (VT) in Denmark. Section 1 presents background information/framework data on the following: Denmark's political and administrative structure; population, employment, and unemployment; and the Danish economy. In section 2, the history of VT in Denmark is traced from before 1870 to the…