The Dynamics of Change in Higher Education: Expansion and Contraction in an Organisational Field

This book deals with the development and transformation of the part of the educational system that has been called ‘the non-university higher education sector’, ‘the polytechnic sector’, and ‘the college sector’. In most Western European countries, higher education has to an increasing extent developed outside universities, partly through the establishment of new institutions, and partly through the up-grading of professional and vocational schools into higher education colleges. Yet, there is a shortage of in-depth studies on the changes that have taken place in this part of the educational system, and on the processes that have driven this development.

This book gives an overview of the stepwise transformation of higher education systems. It uses Norway as a national case for in-depth analyses, and then compares this with parallel developments in Western Europe. The development is discussed within the frames of three phases: fragmented expansion, horizontal integration, and vertical integration.