Val och urval till högre utbildning : En studie baserad på erfarenheterna av 1977 års tillträdesreform : [a study based on the experiences of the 1977 admissions reform in Sweden]

Sammanfattning: The central theme of this study is the process of choice and selectionin recruitment to higher education. The study is based on the experiences of the 1977 admissions reform in Sweden and subsequent developments. The traditional problem of individual choice is complemented by a further perspective-the decision-making process underlying the creation and successive modification of the admissions system-thereby enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms that determine recruitment to higher education.Several studies constitute the empirical basis for the thesis. Three investigations elucidate the effects of the admissions rules on individual choices at the end of secondary school, at the time of application and in the longer run. Two studies analyze the admissions reform from the system side. They all focus on the interplay between the individual and the admissions system. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used ("multi-method study").The empirical studies revealed that the uniform admissions rules had strong impact on inividuals expectations and produced different effects for different groups of applicants. These effects were less related to social background than to current situation and reactions of applicants. Changes in admission rules during the 1980s appeared to be the result of a complicated interplay between the political and the administrative power structures.The results of the study imply that it is necessary to view admission to higher education as a process over a long time period and as an interplay between the choices of individuals and selection by the system. The process takes on strongly cumulative effects over time, especially in a higher-education system with unchanged admissions capacity, as was the case in Sweden until the early 1990s. The analysis indicates several deficiencies in the underlying policy theory.The results are used to elaborate the conceptual framework, termed Blau's Model, as a basis for continued research. Fundamental features of Sweden's present-day admissions policy, still based on largely the same principles as in 1977, are also questioned on these grounds.