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Project description

About the project

Does the new emphasis on employability among university students lead to a superficial and instrumental approach to learning, which is contradictory to the equally fancied ideas of lifelong learning and entrepreneurship? And/or will it help to motivate more students, raise the rate of completion and   make them more accountable?

This project examines how – and to what extend - the increased political emphasis on employability influences university student's priorities and choices during their period of study. In doing so, the project aims to contribute with new insight to the discussion of central challenges and concerns in relation to the on-going reforms in Denmark and other Bologna member countries.

The project runs from autumn 2013 to autumn 2016. Its main components are:

  • Fieldwork and interview at selected HE study programmes in Demark (2013)
  • National survey, covering all disciplines, among 10.000 university students in Denmark (2014)
  • International review and fieldwork on the situation in England (2015)

The project is affiliated to Department of Education (DPU) at Aarhus University in Denmark, and funded by the Research Council for the Humanities. The project is part of the research program Education, Policy and Organization in the knowledge Economy, EPOKE.

Research Questions

  • How - and to what extend – are the choices and priorities of university students in Denmark influenced by a desire to increase their employability by collecting the ‘right’ competencies during their period of study?
  • How – and to what extend – will the increased flexibilisation and freedom of choice affect student’s considerations in relation to creating a personalised competency-cv? 
  • What are the international experiences?