Svein Michelsen

European universities as complete organizations? Understanding identity, hierarchy and rationality in public organizations

Abstract This article investigates the form of European universities to determine the extent to which they resemble the characteristics of complete organizations and whether the forms are associated with modernization policy pressure, national institutional frames and organizational characteristics. An original data set of twenty-six universities from eight countries was used. Specialist universities have a stronger identity, whereas the level of hierarchy and rationality is clearly associated with the intensity of modernization policies. At the same time, evidence suggests limitations for universities to become complete, as mechanisms allowing the development of some dimensions seemingly constrain the capability to develop others.

Governmental Steering, Reform and the Institutionalization of Student Interest in Higher Education in Norway.

Abstract The article addresses the relationship between changes in the higher education landscape concerning its structure and governance, and the organization of student interest representation at the institutional and national level. Based on a historical analysis of the development of higher education in Norway, the article identifies close links between the re-organization of higher education and the re-organization of student interests, and how this process is causing a strengthened institutionalization of student interest organization within higher education in Norway.

Students and the Governance of Higher Education in Norway

The article discusses the question of student participation in higher education governance at the national and the institutional levels in Norway. Two ideal-type perspectives on governance are developed in order to illuminate the Norwegian case: a democratic perspective and a market perspective. The article provides a brief overview of the historical development of student participation in higher education governance, emphasizing how students view their own role in the governance arenas in which they participate. Close attention is paid to student participation and influence in quality assurance schemes at both the national and the institutional levels. In the conclusion, the article discusses how the recent developments are changing the balance towards the market model of higher education governance, without obliterating significant elements of the hitherto predominant democratic governance model.

University Governance—Organisational Centralisation and Engagement in European Universities

Few systematic comparative studies of European university organisations have been done so far. The chapter seeks to shed light on three questions: (1) Through what forms of organisational structures do universities make decisions? (2) To what extent do such forms vary across European universities? (3) How can the observed variation (or lack thereof) be explained? It develops a comparative organisational perspective and applies it in an analysis of decision-making structures in 26 European universities in eight countries focusing on two dimensions of decision-making in universities—engagement and decentralisation. The chapter investigates how pressures for reform in university governance are mediated by path dependencies created by political-administrative regimes and traditions which open up for and constrain internal governance and engagement processes.

Actor Constellations and Policy Making

The chapter focuses on the HE sector itself, and the way in which it shapes HE policies in the light of two different perspectives: The first emphasizes the importance of organizational arrangements of the HE sectors for the shaping of HE policies. Then a comparative analysis of three countries—England, Italy and Norway is developed. The second perspective focuses on the HE sectors as areas in which organized actors pursue certain goals and values, and is used to provide a detailed analysis of policy processes. The empirical analysis is limited to the same three cases mentioned above. The chapter concludes by suggesting a possible way of conceptualizing the relationship between the organizational setup of the HE sector, its policy processes, and HE policy.

Political-Administrative Structures and University Policies

The chapter develops a conceptual framework for a comparative analysis of HE policies that enables us to investigate the explanatory power of structural characteristics of political-administrative systems. It compares HE political-administrative structures and university policies in eight countries. The chapter focuses on policy trends in the eight countries, and discusses how the literature on comparative political and administrative systems can help formulate assumptions about public policy-making and policy change. The ideas that are developed are then applied on public reform policies in general and in the area of higher education (HE) in particular. A test of the assumptions on data on reform outcomes indicates that the framework is a useful contribution to understanding cross-national variation in HE reform policies in Europe.

Same, but different - The Emergence of VET in three Nordic Countries

The post-compulsory educational offers in Switzerland are characterised by a strong focus on professional qualifications. Even today, three out of four diplomas awarded at this level are vocational certificates (Cortesi/Imdorf 2013). Thereby, vocational education at companies and vocational schools is of great significance. In 2010, 87% of all vocational education learners in Switzerland completed their basic vocational training in the context of programmes happening simultaneously at the company and the vocational school. In the German-speaking part of Switzerland this share approached 90%, while in the French-speaking part the share was 76% (SBFI 2014, p. 12). Known for its alignment with the needs of the economy, this kind of educational organisation continues to guarantee its graduates a good labour market chance in Switzerland. Respectively, Switzerland is increasingly perceived as a showcase model for vocational education.Historically apprenticeship has developed very differently in the Nordic countries, either as a separate dual system (Denmark), as an integrated part of upper secondary education (Norway) or has almost disappeared (Sweden). The purpose of this paper is to examine the roots of these differences in the period of re-regulation following the deregulation caused by the dissolution of the guilds from the middle of the 19th century. The paper presents the first results of a comparative study of the roots of these differences in the historical transition of [vocational education and training] VET in three Nordic countries. A number of earlier studies (Archer 1979; Thelen 2004) have pointed to the significance of the formative transition period after the dissolution of the guilds for the subsequent trajectories of VET, especially the relation between artisans and industrialists and the relation between the labour market partners and the state in establishing new forms of regulation of collective skills formation. Even though the coalitions and institutions formed in this period do not determine subsequent development, they do make some policy options more likely than others (Dobbins and Busemeyer 2014).Austria with its specific ‘dual’ structure, including both, a strong fulltime school sector and a strong apprenticeship system, lies in-between the established classifications of VET. This structure is not a result of ‘systemic’ political decision-making; rather the different institutions have evolved more or less parallel. It is a remarkable phenomenon that the formal structure has remained quite stable through history, throughout very different regime periods (the Habsburg Empire, 1st Republic, two Fascisms, 2nd Republic). The challenges are first to identify the persistent structural traits, and second to explain the historical processes. Methodologically, the different versions of institutionalist approaches are used for the reanalysis of artefacts from historical studies; the main task is a consistent interpretation of the material, providing new insights about the long term patterns of education reform.