Could the labour market gender balance be improved by introducing new types of apprenticeship-trained workers? This article investigates what happened in the wake of the Norwegian VET programme for health and social care, a new approach introduced via the 1994 educational reform. By upgrading this traditionally female-dominated area of education,…

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…

Discussion of the pressures for expansion in Norwegian higher education looks at both long-term trends (need for a better-educated workforce and rising level in parents' education) and current demographic, individual, and political forces (a deteriorating labor market, younger students, competition for admission). Whether this situation is unique…

The establishment and development of the University of Tromso in Northern Norway are discussed. This case study is one of 10 undertaken as part of a project conducted by the Institute of Education of the European Cultural Foundation to compare higher education reforms that were introduced during the 1960s or early 1970s in various European…

The establishment of the Norwegian regional colleges is reviewed, based on an international project conducted by the Institute of Education of the European Cultural Foundation. This project involved 10 case studies of educational reforms or policy changes in European countries since the 1960s or early 1970s. Attention is directed to the original…