Taking Equity Seriously

Statssekretær Jens Revold, Kunnskapsdepartementet, tale på Peder Sather Symposium 2008. Arrangør: Institute of International Studies, 13. mars 2008. Berkeley universitet.

Ladies and gentlemen, global friends and colleagues! 

It is a great honour to speak here today in the commemoration of Peder Sather. Not only was he a Norwegian. He also made a living from fish before he emigrated in 1841. This is interesting as his home community is the definite inlands of Norway! 

Fish or the fishery science marked parts of my professional life. I previously worked at the Norwegian University College of Fishery Science in Tromsø, with international cooperation in fisheries aquaculture and research.  It should be added that the dried fish, the stockfish was one of the very first export products from Norway – believed to have a sales record of more than one thousand year.  

Yet, it is as representative of the Norwegian government that I am asked to share some of my ideas with you this afternoon – on higher education policy in an era of globalization.  

It might be strange to listen to a representative of a socialist party in Norway, especially on the role of public policy.  

The Norwegian political spectrum is located far to the left of its American equivalent. Our views of the role of the state sometimes seem like chalk and cheese. However, taking into account the political legacy of Berkeley, I doubt we will be like ships passing in the night.  

So, what challenges does globalization pose for higher education policy-making – from a Norwegian point of view?  

Critical voices might argue that Norway is untouched by globalization – that we are protected from significant economic competition since we rely on our large oil deposits. This is not true.  

The Norwegian economy and its knowledge institutions, such as universities, are to a large extent integrated in the global knowledge-based economy. Perhaps because of the oil economy, which has stimulated much technological research in the energy sector.

Globalization has not only changed the role of the Norwegian national government in its relation to international and foreign actors, including in the education sector.  

The content of the higher education polices is also changing. Our institutions of higher education and research have had to adapt.  

They have been granted with a large degree of autonomy to make their own priorities and strategic choices in the global competition. But the government is still engaged.  

Greater use of performance based incentives is a characteristic of the current model. Some would perhaps say that this represents the usual New Public Management formula to the challenges posed by globalization. Well, yes, but not only.  

I am not among those who believe that endless change in our economic life is inevitable, due to globalization, while political change of any consequence is impossible.[1]  

Neither do I believe that globalization just promotes convergence and standardisation in economic and social policy. If that had been the case, the Scandinavian Model would collapse long ago. 

That has not happened. Instead, it is highly competitive. Indeed, it demonstrates that a comprehensive social welfare system, including free access to higher education, is compatible with economic growth. 

My intent here today is not to be an evangelist for the Scandinavian Welfare-State Model. But, I do think it is relevant for our discussion later on. 

My point is that a social and economic model like the Scandinavian, where wage inequality is relatively small and higher education is free of charge, qualified and highly educated labour is reasonably priced. It is affordable for the employers. 

In a knowledge-based economy, a highly educated labour force is an unquestionable competitive advantage. Nobody would know that better than the Californians. 

Whereas knowledge can be described as borderless, the systems of knowledge behind this – like higher education – remain significantly nationally embedded. 

This “embeddeness” is product of history, since the development of higher education institutions coincided with nation-state building. In Norway, it was also concurrent with new ideas about the role of the state. 

This resulted in strong state activity in the higher education sector, among others. In hindsight, I think we can say that it has been to our advantage. The public commitment meant everybody had access to higher education, independent of social class, independent of material wealth. This now also clearly and firmly one of the very central aims of the present green-red government! 

No schools fees were required in public institutions of higher learning. And, in 1947, a subsidised, flexible, and universal student loan scheme was introduced to cover for students’ living expenses. 

Today as much as 87 percent of students attend state-run institutions of higher education. It can be mentioned that one private institution; the University of Business Administration is the  third biggest with respect to student number. 

These public universities and university colleges are directly subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Research, but have their own boards which are responsible for direction and organization. But we have an independent quality assurance agency, which accredits these institutions. 

To ensure that higher education is a public good, free of charge, and of high quality, is therefore a major priority in Norway, and runs almost across party lines. I say “almost”, since we have many more mainstream parties than in the US. 

A policy stance of this nature also benefits foreign students. 

Whereas Denmark and  Finland have (and Sweden discusses) introduced school fees for foreign students from so called “third countries”, those outside the EU geographical area, we continue to offer higher education free of charge to all!  In our opinion it is a relatively inexpensive way to internationalize our higher education institutions and to promote diversity and multiculturalism. 

In fact we would like to see even more international students in Norway, including more from your country. 

But Norway is not only committed to equal access to higher education of high quality at home. We work to ensure that Europe acts in an open, coordinated and generous fashion with non-European countries and regions, including developing countries.

Norway is convinced that the making of a Common Higher Education Area by 2010, has to be followed up externally. 

We took an active part in the Bologna Follow-Up Group, established in 2005, to provide a strategy for its global dimension. 

The next step is an action plan, a plan that takes the underlying principles of the Bologna Declaration of compatible degree structures, common grading system, and quality assurance system, to a global level. 

As globalization fosters rising migration, there is a growing need to develop global quality assurance systems. This is why Norway, last year, asked the Executive Board of UNESCO to strengthen its focus on migration and education. 

Apart from having its explicit mandate in higher education and more than 30 years experience of developing quality assurance mechanisms of various kinds, UNESCO has elaborated some “Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education” together with the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

They are based on United Nations and UNESCO principles and instruments, and aim to serve as an educational response to the growing commercialization of higher education in the wake of globalization. 

It is no secret that the American government was alarmed at our request. They argued that UNESCO had no right to intervene in matters which they considered were within the confines of state sovereignty. 

Well, I will say no more. But I think it illustrates the challenges that globalization represents for higher education policy-making. It is an endeavour where the nation state often has the last say. Yet, I believe that more common principles and instruments for quality assurance have to come – at a global level. 

Still, there is no doubt that the ongoing processes of globalization challenge the national “embeddedness” of public policy-making on higher education. 

This is not to say that the national dimension has diminished in its importance or that it has been increasingly replaced by other stakeholders. The example of the American intervention on UNESCO proves that. 

At the same time, we know that in order to meet a global challenge like climate change, national solutions are not enough. We need international solutions, and relatively quick. In fact, international cooperation is the only way forward. 

Scientists still disagree upon how soon the summer ice covering the North Pole will melt. The last prediction I heard – and which shocked me – was 2013! This in clear contrast to the IPCC original forecast of an ice free arctic in summer by 2050.

We could also mention that the Norwegian  Nansen expedition from 1893-96 where his ship Fram used three years to drift with the ice from east to west over the arctic seas. Last year a boat used only three months for the same distance! 

However, we have firm knowledge about the necessity of international cooperation in order to get a better grasp of what is happening, when, how fast – and, not least, how to slow down the pace and truly create a more sustainable and healthy planet. 

In this attempt, institutions of higher education and research play key roles, so does international research collaboration. 

California’s environmental commitment is extremely important. It has been very interesting to see for myself how you are able to bring new knowledge on the issue to the fore. 

Earlier this year, the Norwegian Minister for Environment visited Calufornia. He was very positive to the political attempts here in California to collaborate with industry and academia, in order to meet global challenges related to environmental changes and global warming. 

I just want to say that we are all looking forward to the continuation of your effort. 

To return to the theme of today: Globalization does put pressure on the ability of the nation state to develop their own paths in higher education. 

In Norway, we can see some international trends such as quantitative benchmarking of research quality and participation in various international standardisation processes such as the Bologna Process. 

At the same time, Norway has been able to put issues of equity at the heart of its national and international higher education policy. 

This includes

o      free access to higher education, including for foreign students,

o      a subsidised, flexible and universal student loan scheme

o      support for developing countries

o      and last, but not least: greater transferability of degrees between countries but within a system of international quality assurance. 

Taking equity seriously requires international collaboration between and among countries as much as institutions of higher learning! 

Thank you for your attention.