Student Transitions in Nordic Higher Education: Diversity, Participation and Social Sustainability.
Welcome to the 7th Annual Nordic Educational Conversation!
The Conversation will be held virtually on Zoom. Time: 30 October 2026, 1-3 p.m. CET. You are hereby invited to participate in an exciting educational conversation (free of charge).
Nordic higher education is associated with ideals of equality, inclusion and democratic participation. Yet students do not necessarily enter, experience or move through higher education on equal terms. Factors such as socio-economic, linguistic, cultural background, gender, disciplinary cultures, professional expectations and changing labour-market conditions continue to shape students’ opportunities for participation, belonging, well-being and success.
This raises key questions such as: How does the Nordic educational system respond to growing student diversity through its resources, structures, and support? How do students navigate these conditions? And, most importantly, how is diversity recognised and used as a pedagogical and social asset?
This year’s conversation presents a forthcoming volume which is to be published in the book series Nordic Educational Inquires (Bloomsbury Academic). The volume brings together researchers from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden to examine student transitions into, through and beyond higher education, from a perspective of diversity and social sustainability. The chapters explore a wide range of topics, including transitions from upper secondary education, first-year experiences, disciplinary and professional identity formation, international mobility, linguistic inclusion, curriculum coherence, student workload and pathways from higher education into working life.
The editors and some of the contributing authors will present the book project and its key themes. The discussion will also engage with the book’s central contribution: a critical examination of the gap between Nordic egalitarian educational ideals and students’ lived experiences. Together, we will reflect on how higher education institutions can support equitable participation, meaningful learning, belonging, long-term professional development and fair access to future opportunities across diverse student groups.
13.05 – 13.30
Introduction by editors Åsa Mickwitz, Bo Klindt Poulsen, and Marina Prilutskaya
13.30-13.55 Breakout room session 1 (Participants may join one of four themed breakout rooms)
13.55-14.05 Short break
14.05-14.30 Breakout room session 2 (Participants may join one of four themed breakout rooms)
14.30-15.00 Plenum and good bye