Higher education has become a mega-topic in both political and scientific debate. Developments
in systems of higher education and changes in the governance of this field have been discussed
in the literature. Such changes are brought about by collective actors within institutional
settings. Anett Schenk directs attention at Social Democratic governments in Sweden and in
Germany specifically in North-Rhine Westphalia in the latter case and at the policies of
higher education they have enacted from the mid-1960s to the year 2000. The empirical basis for
her study is a qualitative analysis of such policy documents as inaugural speeches
governmental bills and recommendations of expert groups. The focus of the policies has shifted
during the decades that were analysed from an input- to an output-orientation and from
addressing issues of class to addressing those of gender segregation. These shifts are
discussed against the background of a government's need for legitimation and the impact of
intermediate actors on policy development.
