Lars Geschwind - Böcker

The book examines ongoing dynamics within the organizational fields of health and higher education, with a focus on collective (public universities and hospitals) and individual (professionals) actors, structures, processes and institutional logics. The fact that universities and hospitals share a number of important characteristics, both being hybrid organizations, professional bureaucracies, and operating within highly institutionalised environments, they are also characterised by their distinctive features such as the importance attributed to scientific autonomy and prestige (universities) and the needs and expectations of users and funders (hospitals). The volume brings together two relatively distinct scholarly traditions within the social sciences, namely, scholars - sociologists, educationalists, economists, political scientists and public administration researchers, etc. - involved with the study of change dynamics within the fields of health care and higher education in Europe and beyond. The authors resort to a variety of theoretical and conceptual perspectives emanating from the studies of organizational fields more generally and neo-institutionalism in particular.

This open access book investigates the effects of changes in leadership and managerial structures of Nordic universities resulting from reforms in the last decade. The volume provides critical insights to the larger phenomenon of change and adaptation within the public sector.

This book explores how the notion of the responsible university manifests itself at various levels within Nordic higher education.

This book explores how the notion of the responsible university manifests itself at various levels within Nordic higher education.

This Open Access book analyses the past, present and future of the technical university as a single faculty independent institution. The point of departure is a view of changing academic realities, through which the identity as a technical university is challenged and reconstituted. More specifically, the book connects the development of technical universities to changes in the structure and dimensioning of national higher education systems, to changes in the disciplinary basis of academic research and to changes in the governance of higher education institutions.Introduced in the age of industrialization, polytechnical schools rose to prominence in many national settings during the second half of the 19th century. Over time, new technologies have been developed and incorporated into the repertoire, and waves of academisation have swept over the former polytechnics, transforming them into technical universities. Their traditions and brands, however, prevail. Several technical universities are included among the most prestigious academic institutions of their nations and the training of engineers and engineering research still enjoys a high level of prestige and national priority, e.g. in the context of innovation and industrial policy. But the world keeps changing, and the higher education sector with it. Will technical universities have an equally attractive position within university systems in the decades to come?

This Open Access book analyses the past, present and future of the technical university as a single faculty independent institution. The point of departure is a view of changing academic realities, through which the identity as a technical university is challenged and reconstituted. More specifically, the book connects the development of technical universities to changes in the structure and dimensioning of national higher education systems, to changes in the disciplinary basis of academic research and to changes in the governance of higher education institutions.Introduced in the age of industrialization, polytechnical schools rose to prominence in many national settings during the second half of the 19th century. Over time, new technologies have been developed and incorporated into the repertoire, and waves of academisation have swept over the former polytechnics, transforming them into technical universities. Their traditions and brands, however, prevail. Several technical universities are included among the most prestigious academic institutions of their nations and the training of engineers and engineering research still enjoys a high level of prestige and national priority, e.g. in the context of innovation and industrial policy. But the world keeps changing, and the higher education sector with it. Will technical universities have an equally attractive position within university systems in the decades to come?

This open access volume explores peer review in the scientific community and academia. Consisting of three parts, the editors and contributors examine the history, problems and developments of peer review, as well as the specificities of various peer review practices.

This open access book expands the scholarly and policy debates surrounding digital transformation in higher education. The authors adopt a pluralistic conceptual framework which uncovers three analytical elements – contexts, mediations, and type of effects – for unpacking empirical manifestations. The publicly funded higher education systems in Nordic countries provide solid empirical insights into how digital transformations have gained ground before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and chapter contributions demonstrate how international digitalisation trends (such as in the global EdTech industry) impact on the core activities of higher education institutions (HEIs). The findings underscore the importance of assessments that consider multiple sub-systems within HEIs, as well as the complex relationships between them. By unpacking Nordic dynamics in the light of global processes and developments, the approach adopted and the results generated are of relevance to a much broader, global audience of students and researchers in higher education.

This open access book expands the scholarly and policy debates surrounding digital transformation in higher education. The authors adopt a pluralistic conceptual framework which uncovers three analytical elements – contexts, mediations, and type of effects – for unpacking empirical manifestations. The publicly funded higher education systems in Nordic countries provide solid empirical insights into how digital transformations have gained ground before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and chapter contributions demonstrate how international digitalisation trends (such as in the global EdTech industry) impact on the core activities of higher education institutions (HEIs). The findings underscore the importance of assessments that consider multiple sub-systems within HEIs, as well as the complex relationships between them. By unpacking Nordic dynamics in the light of global processes and developments, the approach adopted and the results generated are of relevance to a much broader, global audience of students and researchers in higher education.

This book addresses the critical knowledge gaps of mergers involving higher education institutions. It is based on a comparative research project (spring 2013-spring 2015) investigating the phenomena of mergers involving higher education institutions across the Nordic countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The study involved close to 30 scholars from the region, and aimed at shedding critical light on, and providing novel contributions around, the following key aspects: Conceptual and theoretical approaches – strengths and limitations - towards the study of the phenomena of mergers in higher education; Historical developments, leading to significant structural changes in the domestic higher education landscape, and, in turn, how mergers have been used as a policy/institutional mechanism to foster adaptation to a new external environment at the local, national, regional and international levels; The complex dynamicsinherent to merger processes by undertaking an in-depth investigation of a series of selected case studies, with a particular focus on the “black-box” associated with the implementation process; The implications of the findings as regards future policy and strategic endeavours, theory development and future research agenda.

This book addresses the critical knowledge gaps of mergers involving higher education institutions.

Mer världsledande forskning, mer internationalisering, mer mobilitet, mer open access, mer impact, mer humanistiska perspektiv på andra vetenskaper, mer forskningsanknytning i undervisningen. Mer av det mesta, helt enkelt Men hur bör svensk forskning organiseras och finansieras för att åstadkomma allt detta? Frågorna rymmer en rad problem och dilemman. Hur bör fördelningen mellan stora program och små projekt se ut? Ska forskningsansökningar utvärderas med hänsyn till de sökandes tidigare prestationer, exempelvis genom bibliometri, eller utifrån förväntade resultat? Vilken vikt ska fästas vid konkret samhällsnytta? Ska bedömningar i huvudsak ske av andra forskare genom peer review? Hur undviker man i så fall att allt mer av forskarnas tid går åt till att utvärdera andra forskare? Och vilken konkret roll ska forskningen spela i den akademiska undervisningen? På universiteten som helhet? Eller för den delen i politiken? Borde inte forskare i högre grad sprida sina resultat just till beslutsfattare och allmänhet nå ut långt mer än i dag? Numera betalas mer än hälften av svensk universitetsforskning av forskningsfinansiärer som står utanför lärosätena. Här finns statliga myndigheter men också fristående organ. Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) är en stiftelse som främjar och stöder humanistisk och samhällsvetenskaplig forskning. Denna bok ges ut med anledning av fondens femtioårsjubileum 2015 och är ett försök att tänka vidare i frågor om forskningens framtid.

More world-leading research; more internationalisation; more mobility; more open access; more impact; more arts and humanities perspectives on other disciplines; more research links in teaching; we want more of most things, quite simply But how should Swedish research be organised and funded to achieve all this? The question covers numerous problems and dilemmas. What should be the distribution between major programmes and minor projects? Should research proposals be evaluated with reference to the applicants earlier achievements bibliometrically, for example or to the results expected? How much weight should be given to practical social benefits? Should assessments mainly be done by other researchers (peer review)? If so, how can they avoid spending more and more of their time evaluating other researchers? What specific role should research play in academic teaching? At universities in general? Or in politics, for that matter? Shouldnt researchers, to a higher degree, impart their results to decision-makers and the public with far greater outreach than today? Nowadays, more than half of Swedens university research is paid for by research funders outside the higher education institutions. Such funders include central government agencies, but also independent bodies. Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ), the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences, fosters and supports research in these disciplines. This book, published to mark RJs Golden Jubilee in 2015, is an attempt to think ahead on issues concerning the future of research.

RJ:s årsbok 2015/2016 i två band: svensk och engelsk utgåva. Mer världsledande forskning, mer internationalisering, mer mobilitet, mer open access, mer impact, mer humanistiska perspektiv på andra vetenskaper, mer forskningsanknytning i undervisningen. Mer av det mesta, helt enkelt Men hur bör svensk forskning organiseras och finansieras för att åstadkomma allt detta? Frågorna rymmer en rad problem och dilemman. Hur bör fördelningen mellan stora program och små projekt se ut? Ska forskningsansökningar utvärderas med hänsyn till de sökandes tidigare prestationer, exempelvis genom bibliometri, eller utifrån förväntade resultat? Vilken vikt ska fästas vid konkret samhällsnytta? Ska bedömningar i huvudsak ske av andra forskare genom peer review? Hur undviker man i så fall att allt mer av forskarnas tid går åt till att utvärdera andra forskare? Och vilken konkret roll ska forskningen spela i den akademiska undervisningen? På universiteten som helhet? Eller för den delen i politiken? Borde inte forskare i högre grad sprida sina resultat just till beslutsfattare och allmänhet nå ut långt mer än i dag? Numera betalas mer än hälften av svensk universitetsforskning av forskningsfinansiärer som står utanför lärosätena. Här finns statliga myndigheter men också fristående organ. Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) är en stiftelse som främjar och stöder humanistisk och samhällsvetenskaplig forskning. Denna bok ges ut med anledning av fondens femtioårsjubileum 2015 och är ett försök att tänka vidare i frågor om forskningens framtid.