Swedish doctoral education - Investment for innovation, international competitiveness and growth

Abstract

A milestone in Swedish postgraduate education is the 1969 reform, which aimed to enhancing the efficiency of doctoral education. One of the main problems to counteract with the Swedish doctoral programme was the long study times. On average, those who submitted a doctoral thesis had ten years of research studies behind them. This was due to how doctoral education was organised (i.e. limited teaching and supervision combined with high demands on the thesis work) and the financial situation of the doctoral students. As a result, few were able to devote themselves full-time to their thesis work, as many had to work alongside their studies. The 1969 reform established a new doctoral degree of four-year full-time studies, which replaced the previous one. Doctoral education would be more intensive and formalised, with a greater proportion of teaching and courses and significantly increased supervision. Inspired by the American doctoral programme, which had increasingly become an international benchmark, the study time should be reduced by lowering the quantitative requirements of the scope of the doctoral thesis. Against this backdrop, this article outlines and analyzes the historical trajectory of doctoral studies in Swedish higher education, and more specifically after the implementation of the 1969 reform, as well as featuring the current regulatory framework/status of doctoral studies in Sweden. Emphasis will be given on the funding aspect of doctoral education, the structure and content of the programme(s), the quality assurance of the education and the challenges it faces under current research policies.