This paper focuses on the tension between two political rationalities coordinating Danish higher education (HE) -- a nativist politics of belonging and that of status competition and its technologies of university rankings, citation indexes, and performance management, explored historically drawing on Gramscian conjunctural analysis. The paper…

In response to global competition in higher education, university rankings have been developed. These have been interpreted as indicating the regions and countries with the most prestigious and competitive higher education institutions. The rankings are viewed as important in many countries, but their role is ambiguous and contested in the Nordic…

Quality in higher education (HE) can be considered a floating signifier that lacks a stable meaning due to the many possible interpretations different actors may ascribe to it in different contexts. We investigate how policy makers employ the term quality in HE policymaking attempting to legitimize policy reforms and find that it is employed in…

The relevance of academic self-efficacy for educational outcomes is well documented. Pre-academic self-efficacy has hardly been studied, and only one study was found to include an assessment of the measurement invariance of the scale used. The aims were to validate the Pre-Academic Learning Self-Efficacy (PAL-SE) scale in a non-university higher…

The purpose of this study is to determine the direction of causality between the quality of education and technological development for the selected Northern European countries over the period 2006-2017. To this end, we employ the bootstrap panel causality test. The findings of our study indicate that the quality of education leads to changes in…

This article engages critically with the conception of the temporality of artistic work taught in higher artistic education, which has recently been implemented through the Bologna Process. Through an analysis of new study regulations and assessments within fine arts and performing arts education in Denmark, this article proposes that not only is…

This study investigates how Denmark, Norway, and Sweden approach issues of gender equality in research differently. Based on a comparative document analysis of gender equality activities in six Scandinavian universities, together with an examination of the legislative and political frameworks surrounding these activities, the article provides new…

This paper presents the first results from a longitudinal qualitative study following 38 Danish students' choice of higher education. By using a narrative psychological framework it is shown how the choice of higher education is embedded in various dilemmas, making it difficult for the students to make meaningful choices. They believe the choice…

Current educational evaluation is institutionalized as an element in national educational policy in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This article analyses how higher education and primary and lower secondary education have adopted and institutionalized educational evaluation. The analysis shows similarities and differences in organizing and practicing…

An attempt to integrate psychological and sociological theories of student choice of higher education courses by drawing on the structuration theory of A. Giddens is discussed. Empirical support is given through studies of Danish higher education admission and student course selection by 1,084 secondary school graduates. (SLD)