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Report 2009:18 R

Following up the broader recruitment process in higher education, 2006-2008

In accordance with the Swedish Higher Education Act, Swedish universities and other higher education institutions must actively promote and extend recruitment to higher education. Högskoleverket (the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education), as assigned by the Swedish Government, has followed up the establishment of action plans by higher education institutions by applying quantifiable objectives on the basis of compilation of the institutions´ feedback reports.

This indicates that many higher education institutions report high standards, but that they focus on different on different types of operations. Several institutions also submitted inadequate reports on their efforts to achieve broader recruitment. There was often confusion between measures to augment the number of students and more qualitative aspects, involving background factors in the student population. The Government´s assignment fails to specify the aspects of broader recruitment involved. This has resulted in a situation in which the activities of higher education institutions and their descriptions of such activities are based on different definitions. But biased recruitment at different institutions may have different characteristics, and hence the definition may need to be flexible. As a result, only the institutions themselves can determine whether their strategies, goals and measures are relevant.

The results of the follow-up indicate that:

  • Almost half the institutions concerned have no quantifiable objectives for broader recruitment in their action plans
  • The extent to which the objectives in action plans have been achieved is not indicated
  • Most institutions have strategies to promote recruitment, but this does not necessarily mean that this promotes broader recruitment
  • A few institutions have strategies to equalise gender differences, instead, or to improve the prerequisites for people with functional impairments
  • Most institutions indicate that they have cooperated with upper-secondary schools in one way or another
  • Several institutions report that they have improved their information about various programmes and the labour market.

Good examples:

  • Broader participation — working with students in the entire field and taking responsibility for those who are accepted — from recruitment to qualification and follow-up.
  • Active operations to attract groups that are under-represented in higher education
  • Long-term efforts to integrate the recruitment process into regular operations.
Last updated: 2010-06-21
Contact: Magdalena Inkinen, Email: firstname.lastname@hsv.se
Swedish National Agency for Higher Education  Visting address: Luntmakargatan 13  Box 7851, 103 99 Stockholm
Phone: 08-563 085 00  Fax: 08-563 085 50  Email: hsv@hsv.se