Abstract
AbstractIn Sweden, engineering education at the upper secondary school level was transformed in the early 1990s into a 2-year programme at the higher education level. This development could be seen as an opportunity for higher education institutions to expand the volume of engineering programmes, but also as a sign of external pressure for changes in organisational structure and identity. The main aim of this chapter is to analyse and understand how technical universities acted upon and responded to the proposals to change the system of engineering education in Sweden. The study underlying this chapter is a historical documentary research study, complemented by a select number of semi-structured elite interviews. The results show that while the university colleges embraced the idea of transformation, the leading technical universities were less supportive. In fact, three of the four leading technical universities/faculties structured their new engineering programmes as a dual system within the framework of a seemingly unified system. One reason was to protect the core of the organisations’ identities as strongly anchored in their research and master’s programmes. In reality, they used the change process as a way to preserve or even strengthen their existing identity, without adding or removing anything.
Highlights
By the end of the 1980s, engineering education in Sweden was being provided in two main forms: a relatively practice-oriented engineering degree at the upper secondary school level (Technical College Graduate, gymnasieingenjör) and a more theoretical engineering degree at the technical universities
Engineering education at the university level was concentrated in the existing technical universities, which ran educational programmes awarding the degree of master of science in engineering
This was a timely and welcome decision for many university colleges in Sweden that had been created after the Swedish higher education reform of 1977
Summary
By the end of the 1980s, engineering education in Sweden was being provided in two main forms: a relatively practice-oriented engineering degree at the upper secondary school level (Technical College Graduate, gymnasieingenjör) and a more theoretical engineering degree at the technical universities (master of science in engineering, civilingenjör) This was changed by a decision in the Swedish parliament (Riksdagen) in 1989 that upper secondary engineering would be transferred to the higher education level in the early 1990s and at the same time be extended. Engineering education at the university level was concentrated in the existing technical universities, which ran educational programmes awarding the degree of master of science in engineering (hereafter ‘master’s programmes’) This was a timely and welcome decision for many university colleges in Sweden that had been created after the Swedish higher education reform of 1977. The decision gave them an opportunity to broaden and expand their
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
