This paper investigates how Swedish policy define what knowledge should form curricula for programmes in the Swedish post-secondary VET system called Higher Vocational Education (HVE) where curricula and course syllabi are created locally for each programme by employers. The analysis is led by the research question ‘How do policy define what knowledge should form curricula in HVE?’ and the analysis uses the conceptualisation of knowledge realised as either horizontal or vertical discourse (Bernstein, 1999).

The system of HVE is a market of both public and private provision and characterised by great employer influence and it is separate from academic and professional higher education.

HVE is one example of the many emerging formations of post-secondary VET in countries all across the world, in which diversity of provision in institutional contexts as well as in working life is expanding. An expansion that is widening accessibility to higher education and that may be providing possibilities of social mobility for disadvantaged groups historically excluded from higher education. However, research in the field raises the question if the expanded access and vocational pathways in higher education actually are reducing inequalities (e.g., Bathmaker, 2017; Giani & Fox, 2017; Marginson, 2016). Participation in higher education is not to be presumed as supporting processes for flattened social division.

The paper presents the results of a qualitative study using theoretical thematic analysis of policy documents. Fourteen Swedish public documents, published between 2006 and 2017, relating to post-secondary VET and the establishment of HVE have been analysed.

The analysis reveals two definitions of what knowledge should form HVE curricula, however these are inconsistent with each other. Originally, knowledge was defined as generated in the production of goods and services and selected by employers. This is segmented, context specific and procedural knowledge realised as horizontal discourse. In 2016 another definition based on the Swedish adaptation of the European Qualification Framework was introduced trough changes in regulation. The new definition mainly entails disciplinary knowledge realised in vertical discourse unbound by context. However, as the idea that curricula should be employer-driven is consistent throughout the material, as well as over time, the original definition of knowledge as horizontal discourse appears as the dominant one.

Bathmaker, A.-M. (2017). Post-secondary education and training, new vocational and hybrid pathways and questions of equity, inequality and social mobility: introduction to the special issue. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 69(1), 1-9. doi:10.1080/13636820.2017.1304680 

Bernstein, B. (1999). Vertical and Horizontal Discourse: An essay. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 20(2), 157-173. doi:10.1080/01425699995380 

Marginson, S. (2016). The worldwide trend to high participation higher education: dynamics of social stratification in inclusive systems. Higher Education, 72(4), 413-434. doi:10.1007/s10734-016-0016-x  

Giani, M., & Fox, L. (2017). Do stackable credentials reinforce stratification or promote upward mobility? An analysis of health professions pathways reform in a community college consortium. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 69(1), 100-122. doi:10.1080/13636820.2016.1238837