Report 2009:12 R
Annual Report 2009
International perspective
Sweden has a relatively well-educated population. However, there many countries that have a larger proportion of the population with higher education than Sweden, which is in twelfth place of the OECD countries. Sweden has, like many other countries, expanded higher education since the early 1990s. In the OECD countries, the number of students in higher education increased by almost 50 percent from 1995 to 2004 — and somewhat more than this in Sweden.
International student mobility is increasingly rapidly — in 2006, almost three million students were studying in a country other than their homeland. TheUSAis the biggest host country and China is the biggest "departure country". There has been a noticeable increase in the number of incoming students to Sweden since the middle of the 1990s, and they are now considerably more than the number of Swedes who travel to other countries to study.
In international comparisons, Swedish students differ from other students in some regards — as do students in the other Nordic countries — from those of other countries. Swedish students are older, are more likely to have children and are not financially dependent on their own family.
Since the end of the 1990s, Sweden has participated in the Bologna Process and, on 1 July 2007, introduced a new structure for education and qualifications in higher education. Three levels have been introduced, first cycle, second cycle and third cycle, and a new qualification — a two-year Master's degree — is now included among Swedish qualifications. Master's degrees have generally attracted foreign students and, of a total of 9,300 people entrants to Master's programmes in the autumn of 2008, 62 percent were foreign students.
Of all the incoming students inSwedenin 2007/08 — over 31,000 — around half came from the Nordic area and 35 percent fromAsia . It is fromAsiathat the number of incoming students is increasing the most. A majority of Swedish students who study abroad choose Europe, but the number of those who travel toAsiais increasing fastest.
Increasing number of applicants, admissions and entrants
Ahead of autumn 2008, the number of applicants and entrants who had not previously been in higher education increased. Swedish applicants increased by 3 percent, while there were more than twice as many foreign applicants than autumn 2007. The number of university entrants for 2007/08 was greater than ever — more than 87,000. Most of the increase in entrants is explained by incoming students, but Swedish entrants also increased for the first time since the 2002/03 academic year. Incoming students now comprise one-quarter of all entrants.
The biggest increase in the number of first choice applicants between the autumn of 2007 and the autumn of 2008 was on programmes specialising in engineering and manufacturing, while the greatest reduction was on programmes specialising in education and teacher training. The increased interest in engineering programmes means that the number of university entrants on Masters of Science in Engineering programmes and Bachelors of Science in Engineering programmes increased by 6 and 7 percent, respectively, between the autumn of 2007 and the autumn of 2008. The declining interest in teacher training resulted in a reduction in the number of entrants on teacher training programmes by 10 percent.
Increasing number of students
The number of FTE (full-time equivalent students) increased in 2008, for the first time in four years — if slightly— by 1,800, to a total of 280,000 FTE. FTE increased particularly in the subject area of Social Science and Law, after having fallen for several years. Of the FTE for the 2007/08 academic year, one-third were on courses and two-thirds were on programmes, of which the majority were programmes in professional qualifications. The number of FTE on general programmes increased in the academic year of 2007/08; one reason for this was the new Masters programmes.
The number of registered students also increased in the 2007/08 academic year — there are considerably more of these than FTE — by 5,000, to a total of 385,000. More than one in four students was registered on one or more distance courses. The number of students studying at distance has more than trebled in the last ten years.
Establishment on the labour market
Of those who graduated from higher education in the 2005/06 academic year, 78 percent were established on the labour market in 2007, i.e. 1—1.5 years after graduation. This means that the proportion of graduates established on the labour market was 5 percent greater in 2007 than in 2006, which is due to the improved economic situation. Doctors, dentists, psychotherapists and specialist nurses were the groups that had the highest rate of establishment — more than 90 percent.
Third-cycle courses and study programmes
In 2008, 3,200 new doctoral students started third-cycle courses and programmes. This is somewhat of an increase compared to the previous year, but it is still considerably fewer than in 2002 and 2003, when doctoral entrants totalled around 3,800. Foreign doctoral entrants increased and were 33 percent of all entrants.
The gender distribution among entrants at third-cycle level has been relatively even over a period of 15 years, and 2008 was no exception; women were 47 percent of entrants.
The number of PhDs significantly increased between 1990 and 2003. After this, the number of PhDs has continued to increase up until 2008, but only slightly: from 2,700 PhDs in 2003 to 2,800 PhDs in 2008. However, the number of Licentiate degrees awarded has dropped for three years in a row — from 1,140 Licentiate degrees in 2005 to 760 Licentiate degrees in 2008. This is equivalent to a 33 percent reduction.
In all disciplinary domains, including SLU, the number of third-cycle degrees exceeded the targets set by the government for the four-year period 2005—2008.
Women and men in higher education
Of the female students who finished upper secondary school in the academic year of 2004/05, 46 percent had started higher education within three years, i.e. by the academic year of 2007/08. The equivalent proportion among the male students was 35 percent, i.e. a difference of 11 percent. This means that women dominate both applicants and those accepted as entrants to higher education. Of those who start a course or programme in higher education, a larger proportion of women than men are awarded a degree. Of the 42,700 students who graduated from a first degree in the academic year of 2007/08, 64 percent were women.
Men have longer programme lengths for their degrees than women — 60 percent of the men who were awarded a degree in 2007/08 had a programme length of four years or more, compared to 44 percent of the women — and men are more likely than women to study at second-cycle level.
A larger proportion of men than women also continue to third-cycle education, but the female share of entrants and graduates from third-cycle courses and programmes is steadily increasing. In 2008, almost half of the PhDs awarded went to women, compared to a quarter in 1988.
Teachers and researchers
In 2008, researchers and teaching staff in higher education increased by 400 full-time posts, or 2 percent in comparison to 2007. In total, the number of researchers and teachers in 2008 was 24,000 full-time equivalents. The largest groups are senior lecturers — 27 percent — and lecturers — 24 percent. 18 percent are professors.
The number of lecturers (subject teachers) continued to fall in 2008 — a decline that started in 2003 — while the number of professors, senior lecturers and other research and teaching staff increased. The most teachers and researchers are found in the social sciences, followed by the technological sciences.
The gender distribution among teachers and researchers is becoming all the more equal. In 2008 the proportion of women was 42 percent, compared to the mid-1990s, when the proportion of women was 30 percent. The biggest increase in the proportion of women was among senior lecturers and research assistants. The proportion of women among professors was 19 percent in 2008, compared to 8 percent in the mid-1990s.
In 2008 there were a total of 1,100 lecturers (subject teachers) in higher education, more than 800 of which received their entire salary from an employer other than the higher education institution. Half of these lecturers were found in the medicine and 20 percent were in the technological sciences.
Increasing research income
In 2008, higher education institutions' income relating to research and third-cycle courses and study programmes increased by almost one billion kronor in constant prices. In current prices the increase was almost two billion kronor. The higher education institutions' income increased, from both direct government funding and from external financiers. Income amounted to 27.3 billion kronor in 2008, of which external funding was 53 percent. External funding may come from government or private financiers. After a few years of reduced income from private financing, this increased in 2008, if only slightly.
In total, 15,500 R&D annual work units (AWU) were carried out at Sweden's higher education institutions in 2007. One quarter of these were carried out by professors, senior lecturers and research assistants, while more than a third of the R&D AWU were carried out by doctoral students with doctoral studentships. In addition to this, there is research — approximately 2,000 R&D AWU — carried out by doctoral students who do not have doctoral studentships. In 2007, 70 percent of R&D income went to medicine, technology and the natural sciences.
Sweden has easily met the EU's target of reserving 3 percent of GNP for research and development. In 2007, Sweden reserved 3.6 percent of GNP for this purpose. Because a large number of the R&D investments in Sweden come from trade and industry, the target that two-thirds of the total investment should come from the private sector has been reached. However, the second part of that target has not been achieved — that public resources equivalent to 1 percent of GNP should be reserved for R&D.
Two-thirds of higher education institutions presented positive financial figures
In 2008 the cost of education and research in higher education was almost 50 billion kronor. More than half of this comprised costs for research and third-cycle education, and the rest was the cost of education at first and second-cycle levels.
Almost two-thirds of higher education institutions presented positive financial figures. LundUniversity and Karolinska institutet were responsible for a significant share of the sector's total profit, which was 624 million kronor. The total profit was from research and third-cycle education, while education at first and second-cycle levels broke even.
Despite some increase in the number of full-time students, higher education institutions were only able to settle 17.8 billion kronor of the total funding cap of 19 billion kronor. This means that there is capacity for more students in 2009.
Contact: Lena Eriksson, Email: firstname.lastname@hsv.se
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