Historical Transformations Within Danish Higher Education

This chapter discusses the development of the Danish higher education system from three perspectives. Firstly, we outline the historical development of the educational structure from consisting of a number of loosely connected institutions, each with its own historical background, to a public educational system with clearly defined types of institutions and distribution of responsibilities. Secondly, we describe the management structure of the sector with particular emphasis on the management of the universities. The management structure has evolved from institutional autonomy to supranational governance and democratization and to the introduction of one-tier management and New Public Management. Thirdly, we describe the development of the management of education. Over the past 15 years, educational management has been characterized by increasing output control and by the implementation of the recommendations of the Bologna Process and EU requirements with respect to educational structure and quality assurance.