Every year around Christmas, the government decides on instructions for authorities, so-called regulation letters. The regulatory letters specify the tasks that the authorities will work on in the coming year. Here we have gone through the regulatory letters for the higher education sector and summarized the most important news.
The recruitment target for professors is no longer measurable
In previous years, there has been a concrete target as to what proportion of the new professors should be women in each university's own regulation letter. This target is now removed. Admittedly, there is a new wording in the university's common regulation letter that the universities must continue to work for an equal gender distribution when recruiting professors, but there is no longer any concrete goal.
SFS's assessment is that the previously numerical recruitment target for professors has contributed positively to gender equality among the most senior positions at our universities, which has also promoted the recruitment of the most competent researchers. There is strong evidence that women's merits are valued lower than men's in recruitment processes, which means that female applicants are sometimes screened out even though they actually have stronger merits.
Removing the measurable recruitment target risks leading to gender equality work coming to a halt. Although a majority of students and doctoral students today are women, the majority of professors are men. The risk is great that the skewed distribution will remain and valuable competence will be wasted.
Measures to reduce misuse of residence permits for studies
The Linnaeus University and the University of Halmstad have been given the goal of reporting how the admissions process ensures that fee-paying applicants have the prerequisites to be able to complete the education applied for, and how the universities follow up that fee-paying students complete their studies according to plan and report any deviations to the Swedish Migration Agency. The report must also show how the recruitment of fee-paying students, including through possible agents in another country, is followed up and quality assured.
This goal is given against the background of the task of measures to reduce abuse of residence permits for studies that are stated in the regulatory letters for universities and colleges this year and last year.
Other assignments to specific higher education institutions
Some limited assignments have been added to certain higher education institutions:
- Chalmers University of Technology receives 300 kroner for CDIO (Conceive – Design – Implement – Operate). The CDIO Initiative is a global network for the development of engineering education.
- Uppsala University receives 750 kroner for coordinating the work on developing courses for professionals. The news was already included in the budget bill.
- The University of Gothenburg receives SEK 3 to spread knowledge about working methods against anti-Semitism to actors who have an important role in countering anti-Semitism among children and young people, e.g. teachers and principals.
- The Karolinska Institute receives 3 kroner to develop the Center for Health Crises. They must also describe how the university plans to develop operations in the coming years and how the work can continue within the university's regular operations.
- The Swedish University of Agriculture is tasked with continuing to develop the work with open science with the aim that the activity should contribute to reaching the national direction for an open science system. The work includes contributing data to the Swedish Research Council's and Royal the library's respective tasks of coordinating, following up and promoting collaboration in the work for open access to research data and scientific publications respectively.
A further change is that previously distance education disappears. The assignment meant that 6 kroner is distributed to six universities with distance education with the aim of "increasing quality and throughput in distance studies, above all for students studying professional courses".
Assignment to the University Chancellor's Office (UKÄ)
UKÄ is tasked with mapping the administrative burden for evaluation and universities and colleges. The background to the assignment is probably that there has been criticism that the universities' quality assurance system is administratively heavy. The assignment includes presenting proposals on how the administrative burden can be reduced.
UKÄ is also tasked with making a mid-term evaluation of the strategy for participation in the seven-year research program Horizon Europe.
Assignment to the University and Higher Education Council (UHR)
In the regulatory letter, UHR receives three new assignments that are good to know.
UHR must follow up the trial activities with eligibility tests. It is a continuation of UHR's previous mission to develop a national qualification test for basic qualification and conduct a trial operation with such a test. SFS has previously answered a referral about this, Proposal for regulations on the implementation of experimental activities with eligibility tests for access to higher education, which we largely endorsed. In the assignment, UHR must also assess whether an eligibility test for basic eligibility is a socially effective measure and whether such a test should be introduced permanently, and if so, analyze the financial and other consequences of this and submit proposals on how the introduction should take place. This is a shorter assignment that must be completed in May 2024.
The second task is to analyze whether there is a need for further measures to prevent cheating on the university exam, and if so, to propose such measures.
The third mission is for UHR to develop information about higher education. This is a continuation of a previous mission to develop study information, and this new mission must take its starting point from the efforts that have begun and the conclusions that UHR states in its final report of the previous mission.
Assignment to the Equality Authority on gender-related study and career choices
The Gender Equality Authority is given a new task to promote collaboration between authorities in the area of gender-based study and career choices, this with particular regard to helping actors broaden their recruitment base and retain existing employees. The assignment has its background in a previous assignment on conditions for equal recruitment to welfare.
SFS views the assignment positively. Our view is that many institutions of higher learning have difficulty broadening recruitment with regard to gender, for example by recruiting more men to nursing courses or more women to technical courses. The fact that the student group within certain courses is too homogenous can lead to important perspectives being lost. In addition, it can become self-reinforcing, in the form of people with the underrepresented gender shying away from applying for the courses. Increasing knowledge and promoting collaboration can in the long run lead to better recruitment of underrepresented groups, for example women or men. It can increase the recruitment base for courses that lead to the shortage.
The equality authority still has a previous mission to support authorities including universities and colleges in their work with gender mainstreaming.