Empirical evidence suggests that educational attainment nurtures people's social outcomes and promotes active participation in society and stability. However, it is unclear to what extent other types of human capital also correlate with social outcomes. Hence, we explored the opportunity offered by the PIAAC survey through its provision of…

In this article, innovative activity is considered in the light of broader conceptualisations of innovativeness and what it means to be innovative. Central to the definition of innovativeness used in the analysis is that the worker actively seeks new knowledge and uses it for work-related tasks. This is based on previous research emphasising…

This article describes early school leaving in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, using examples to show a complex representation of early school leaving and its consequences for young people's subsequent access to the labour market. We show how measures taken by governments and school authorities in the respective countries have resulted in…

This article focuses on evidence regarding cross-national patterns of participation in adult education and an interpretation of these patterns from an institutional and public policy perspective. The interpretation follows from the perspective that sustaining high and widely distributed levels of investment in the development and maintenance of…

The national policies and historical roots of early childhood education (ECE) vary from society to society. In the Nordic countries, early childhood education and care (ECEC) policies have been built in the context of the welfare state. As such, they are closely connected to other welfare policy areas such as social policy, family policy and…

Patterns in college student mobility between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are examined, with attention given to challenges posed by having three of these countries within the European Union and two outside it. The role of several formal agreements is discussed, and implications for policy needs concerning interinstitutional and/or…