Lighedspolitikkens udvikling i Danmark

This paper is part of an ongoing project analyzing the relationship between young people’s choice of higher education programme, different cultures of studying across different programmes and the student’s social background. Statistical data shows the persistency of social class – higher education enrolment continues to be socially unequal, despite the fact that higher education policy in Denmark has been characterized by a welfare state-driven equity paradigm. The paper traces the development of the discourse of equality and equal possibilities in higher education, politically and in relation to current discourses of modernization (New Public Management). These processes along with the historical change in higher education policy presents new challenges to the democratization of education, and to the efforts for keeping the equity issue on the political agenda.