Getting Pole Position - Pre reform research strategies in the humanities at Swedish universities

Across Europe new forms of research funding and management arrangements are established. European higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly facing global competition and they are responsive to many stakeholders. As a consequence of more deregulated HE systems, performance based funding, strategic management and more extensive evaluation and follow up-systems have replaced the former state directed systems. Currently, also the Swedish HE sector is in a time of change. A number of state inquiries have reviewed the Swedish HE research landscape, including the resource allocation system and the academic career system. The implications of these inquiries have the potential to restructure the entire sector. Some of the issues will be presented in a government bill this fall, while other reforms are further ahead. The phase we study could thus be described as a pre-reform or policy formation phase. This paper explores research strategies in the Humanities at a selection of Swedish HEIs. The aim of the paper can be articulated in one straightforward question: in a period of pre-reform, which strategies are used by ten Swedish HEIs to increase research quality in the Humanities? The methodology used is primarily qualitative, including email enquiry, interviews and documentary studies on ten Swedish Universities which are the main producers of Humanities research in Sweden.