The future of the academic profession in Sweden will depend on the public commitment to developing equality, job security, and flexibility in a traditionally stratified profession at a time of relative financial inflexibility. A number of directions are now possible, determined by the relationship formed between policy and economy. (MSE)

Five models commonly used to analyze change in the Swedish higher education system are described, and a sixth model related more to public administration than to education is proposed. The public administration model approaches higher education as a system of institutions interrelated by an authority structure, a relationship not fully considered…