In this article we interrogate how University of Sweden (UoS), the leading Work-integrated learning (WIL) university in Sweden, represents WIL publicly, discussing this in relation to higher education’s changing role within an increasingly knowledge-based capitalism, in which knowledge and research become subsumed under demands for market utility and student employability. Through analysis of WIL literature we distil a theory-practice ‘gap’ with spatial, institutional, epistemological and pedagogical dimensions that WIL as a field of educational practice tries to ‘bridge’. We use this conception to deconstruct how (UoS) presents WIL to potential students, partners, employers, and society at large. We find that while the university at the central level presents WIL as a synergistic and multi-dimensional activity that bridges the theory/practice divide to produce ‘advanced knowledge’ and employable students, the actual educational programs articulate WIL in a manner which privileges practical usability and employability over theoretical knowledge, in line with an academic capitalist focus on utility. Further, there is a significant difference in how vocational and academic programmes implement WIL. Whereas WIL components seem relatively easily integrated into professional programs present, academic programs must undertake advanced discursive manoeuvres to incorporate WIL’s principles into what would otherwise be quite theory-focused programs.

While long part of vocational and professional training, forms of practice-based education like Work-integrated learning (WIL) arenow spreading to academic disciplines like Political Science. The pedagogical entailed in WIL is that student learning requires the theoretical knowledge and practice of both the classroom and theworkplace, and therefore pledges better employability for graduates. At the same time, this promise entails a potential threat to disciplinesthat may call into question the assumptions of market and staterelations. The question thus emerges: is it possible to do critical WIL,and what would it look like? This paper makes a normative case that a critical WIL is both desirable and possible by turning to Hanna Arendt and Richard Turner to differentiate ‘banal’ from ‘critical’education. It further argues that any ‘critical’ educationalprogramme must be based on three principles. First, students must learn about how social systems work and how to be successful inthem, but they must also learn to critically reflect on the systemsthemselves, and to do so in normative terms linked to ending domination. Second, are students required to develop both thedispositions and attributes required for working life, and those required for acting to end domination. Finally, there must besufficient institutional independence of the programme from its partner institutions to protect the critical WIL agenda. These claims are illustrated through reference to a real-world attempt toinstitutionalise WIL in a Political Studies Masters programme inSweden.

In this essay I revisit The Prince and the Discourses and argue that across the design of these two texts on the theme of conspiracy Machiavelli constructs an ambush on Medici princes. I reconsider Mary Dietz’s (1986), and Langton’s and Dietz’s (1987) suggestion that Machiavelli’s The Prince was a deceptive political act through an exploration of the link Dietz and Sheldon Wolin (2004) draw between Machiavelli’s method and Renaissance artistry. I suggest that Machiavelli applied a one-point linear perspective – a scientific and visual method of pictorial representation and geometrical modelling that emerged for the first time in the Renaissance – to the political field. I test this hypothesis on the theme of conspiracy in Machiavelli’s work by arguing that The Prince ultimately presents one vantage point – that of the prince–while the Discourses offers another – that of the conspirators. I argue that a blindspot is created by these two texts when they are jointly considered: conspirators seduced, recruited, and trained by the Discourses eliminate a prince caught off guard for having followed the advice on conspiracy in The Prince.

This article investigates how the Swedish forest industry, as represented by the three largest Swedish private forest companies (Svenska Cellulosa AB, Stora Enso, and Holmen), through their main public relations (PR) channels frame the current dominant Swedish forestry model and alternative models that are promoted by the European Union (EU). The content analysis of the three companies’ trade magazines published between 2019 and 2022 explores the patterns in the PR framing of the forest management models with respect to economic, environmental, and social aspects. The time interval is centered by the July 2021 announcement of the EU’s new Forest Strategy for 2030. The magazines’ target audience is private forest owners, from whom Svenska Cellulosa AB, Stora Enso, and Holmen buy 40–50% of the timber used in production. The main finding of the study is that these corporations did not present alternative methods as viable options to replace the Swedish forestry model. The magazines, with some individual variations, respond to the alternative methods promoted by the EU and environmental associations by an increased emphasis on the benefits, mainly environmental, of the Swedish forestry model–framing the model as not only the most profitable but also the most ecologically sustainable. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The article develops a model for how an academic discipline like Political Studies can embrace work-integrated learning (WIL) to the benefit of students, the discipline, and wider society by interpreting WIL in relation to discipline-specific forms of knowledge and knower. The model is of a new Master’s in WIL in Political Studies (WIPS) at University West, Sweden, an institution that is experimenting with the idea of WIL as a discipline beyond the mainstream framing of WIL as pedagogy only. In this innovative context, three ideas are central to WIPS. First, the content of WIPS is about research knowledge, rather than Political Studies knowledge. Second, drawing on political philosophy, the important relationship between theory or science (episteme) and practice (techne) is framed in terms of an additional concept of practical knowledge (phronesis) regarding the particulars of political action to equitable ends and wisdom (sophia) in regard to the philosophical and ethical nature of those ends. Third, WIPS re-thinks student learning in ontological ways that focus on the capabilities of the political knower. In sum, WIPS frames WIL as “reflective practice on research-intensive political work”, offering a novel and enriched theoretical model of higher education learning of interest to other academic disciplines looking to embrace WIL.

Bachelor thesis writing and supervision as potential practice-based WIL 

In Sweden, students are required to write a bachelor’s thesis in both vocational and academic university programs, though the writing and supervision process differ across disciplines and institutions. In our research on undergraduate education and work-integrated education (WIE) in the social sciences, we conceive of thesis writing and supervision, as performed in the undergraduate program, International Program in Politics and Economics (IPPE) at University West, as an example of practice-based education. While studying the educational practice of thesis writing from the viewpoint of work-integrated learning (WIL), we pose two sets of questions: how and what kind of knowledge or skills are required and acquired, and what is the role and kind of supervision involved throughout the research-thesis writing process? The second set of questions is whether the practice of thesis writing could be classified as WIE, and ultimately, if WIL is achieved; more precisely, we are investigating what kind of learning is acquired and processed, and in what ways the “knowledge” acquired through this kind of research practice is transferable to “work-life” and result in “life-long-learning”? Is the thesis writing bridging the “gap” between the university and post-graduate professional careers? To answer these interrelated questions, we construct a theoretical framework that conceptualizes work-integrated supervision as cognitive apprenticeship and dissects the supervision process which aims to develop a particular set of skills that will align (i) the aim of highquality academic university education, with; (ii) the new (mass-) diversity of student population, with; (iii) the increasing emphasis on employability and career advancement.

Material and method

Our specific object of study is an academic program in political science that according to national curriculum regulations must contain a scientific research thesis, which is closely followed by supervisors assigned to student groups of two. It is a hands-on approach to supervision (Sinclair, 2004) following a strict timeline and structure as well as support. We investigate thesis-writing as a practice, the role of the supervisor therein, and the relation between thesis writing, the curriculum, and work-life. The primary data in this qualitative small-N study is gathered by a combination of interviews and participant observation. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews and participated in 22 supervision sessions with 4 thesis groups. From the data collected, we identified p atterns, commonalities, and differences around how the students experience the practice of writing a thesis and its relation to their work life. 

Results and indications

The findings indicate that bachelor thesis writing and supervision in the form that it is practiced at IPPE is WIL. This specific model of supervision is that of an apprenticeship. While components of traditional (or vocational) apprenticeship is included in the relationship (especially when it comes to teaching/learning the actual p ractice of research), cognitive apprenticeship with a variety of methods to allow the apprentices to observe and actively engage in the practice through the supervisor’s strategic push toward independence (Collins, Brown, and Newman 1987) provides the basis of the relationship. The one-to-one hands-on cognitive apprenticeship supervision in the program is by far the most extensive task through which the students learn how to reflect on practice and become professional in what is a wide-open career trajectory. WIL is attained through working closely with a professional in their professional capacity as his/her apprentice and being trained in that very profession (as researchers) as a result of which they acquire the skills required for an increasingly intensive knowledge economy and the public sphere. The supervision model designed as an educative, supporting, and controlling process of seven steps ranging over 20 weeks complements the academic social science education students receive up to that point sealing the acquisition of epistemological skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, capacity for relearning, and coworking in groups as well as boosting ontological skills of time and project management in becoming confident professionals. 

Implications and contributions

While there have been previous studies on conceptualizing supervision within a WIL framework, they mostly focus on the supervision of students in the workplace/place of internship in relation to the work practices (Cooper et al., 2010), or supervision, mentorship, and feedback at the workplace (Eraut, 2010), rather than the academic thesis writing. These studies, therefore, focus on supervision more as a WIE practice, i.e., supervision with the intention of making sure that workplace experience of the supervisee serves certain learning outcomes (Billett, 2019), rather than as a WIL practice for learning to process experience for knowledge production. Our finding that the specific model of bachelor supervision within the context of WIL, based on the relationship between the supervisor and the supervisee(s) as a relationship of cognitive apprenticeship achieves WIL, is thus a novel contribution to the field. 

Thesis writing, at all levels of higher education, is considered the pinnacle of the learning process at that particular level, where the students get the opportunity to turn the core knowledge they acquired from coursework into a reflective experience. The way thesis writing is handled, therefore, seems to have special relevance from a WIE perspective, since the way this reflective experience is organized and guided by the supervisor has a significant impact on the extent to which the candidates can attain WIL: learning from experience as independent researchers and acquire the ability for “reflective” knowledge/learning (Billet 2012) on both practice and learning, as required for “progressive growth” (Dewey 1976-1983; see also Fleming & Haigh, 2018), as well as “critical reflections” (Trede & Mcewen, 2012). The result from our study thus contributes to the problem of knowledge transferability between the university and “work-life” (Eraut, M., 2010) be resolved through a “transformational” WIL model of academic supervision along the lines of Liberal Arts education’s broad appeal to knowledge and critical awareness that both question, analyze, and better prepare a diverse set of students for the knowledge economy, and a labor market that regularly sees people move in and out of different careers, not least as skills and even professions become obsolete (Crisp 2019; DeNis et al., 2003; Gannaway et. al., 2017).

 The new Masters in Work Integrated Political Studies is the first advanced program to combine Worked Integrated learning with Political Studies. In line with Work Integrated Learning, students learn, through their studies and placements, skills and knowledge required for their future employment careers. In line with the rationale behind Work Integrated Political Studies (WIPS), students bring to the workplace (within government or civil society) knowledge from their studies at the university, which enables them to invigorate and advance workplaces and their practices from within. More specifically, in the classroom, students learn theoretical principles that inform political and critical engagement on the one hand, and concrete methodological tools to conduct studies that will be required in their line of work, on the other.The Masters in Work-Integrated Political Studies includes in the second year an internship in a host organization in government or civil society, during which the students conduct applied research for the host. Both the students’ studies at the university and research for the host the institution serves as the basis for the Masters’ thesis. In the final year of their study, WIPS students thus operate at two levels of engagements: the first level is the work and study that the students conduct for the host institution. This work has its own methodological and theoretical dimensions that are negotiated and constructed in dialog between the university (supervisor/s),the student, and the host (work-place supervisor/s). The second level of activity surrounds is the Masters’ thesis that the students write. While the compilation thesis includes the study or studies from the host institutions, the “Kappa” of the thesis is centered around ethnographic reflections, comparisons, and articulation of the kind of work and knowledge produced at the university (designated as “theory” in the WIL literature) and the kind of work and knowledge produced at the host (designated as “practice” in the WIL literature), and their own role therein, as well as the interrelation and cross-fertilization of these two spheres of activity.

In this presentation, I will use my ethnographic notes from seminars and conversation with staff and students to reflect on the collaborative work between the host institutions, the students, and the supervisors at the university during the internship. Among other things, we have found that the students’ encounter at the host organization has informed what we teach at the university; we have modified our supervision sessions accordingly, and by doing so, expanded our own level of knowledge and engagement (i.e., incorporated knowledge from the "work-place"). Another observation is that in collaboration with us (i.e., the academic supervisors/university) the host institution together with the students have developed the studies/work practice in accordance with both established and new theoretical, methodological, and critical advancement within the academy. These preliminary findings thus suggest a knowledge exchange – a possible “hybrid” or “third space” –that bridge the "theory" (university) and "practice" (workplace) divide that underpin sthe WIL literature, on the one hand, and create new practices/studies that transform the workplace in line with the ethos of Political Studies, on the other.

HANDFAST MÖTE PÅ LIKA VILLKOR – INTEGRATIONSPROJEKTET KONSTEN ATT DELTA1.1 SAMMANFATTNING Detta är en studie av integrationsprojektet Konsten att delta: Bild och Form genom-förd under hösten 2018 på uppdrag av Konstnärernas Riksorganisation.1 Texten ger en inblick i projektets praktik av kollegiala möten mellan konstnärskollegor med bakgrund från olika nationella och internationella kultur- och konstfält med målet att nå yrkesintegration inom det svenska konst- och kulturfältet. Syftet är att undersöka konstnärers möten och aktivitet inom ramen för projektet, ge per-spektiv på de roller som utvecklats, och vilken nivå av integration som projektet når. Som framgår i denna studie, är svårigheterna som kan möta en nyanländ konstnär att över huvud taget bli sedd och erkänd som yrkesverksam konstnär, och därefter att komma in i sammanhang och konstnärliga nätverk där dennes kompetens kan tillvaratas. Konsten att delta har utifrån denna verklighet utformat mentorsprogrammet och arbetat aktivt gentemot olika kulturinstitutioner och myndigheter som en lösning på dessa två problem. Vi kommer till slutsatsen att mentorprogrammet fungerar som yrkesintegration på individnivå och att Konsten att delta och deltagarnas arbete emot institutioner över en längre tid har lett till en förändring. Integration blir här synlig som en tvåvägsprocess: då utlandsfödda eller konstnärer som är utbildade eller tidigare har varit verksamma utomlands, påskyndar en förändring också av de kulturinstitutioner och personer som dessa kommer i kontakt med. För att nå fram till en punkt där det svenska kultur- och konstfält speglar, och är representativt för dagens mångfaldssverige krävs det en förändring bland svenska kultur- och myndighetsinstitutioner. Det finns goda in-dikationer på att Konsten att delta är en del i denna förvandling. Vi föreslår ett antal rekommendationer, dels gällande att vidareutveckla Konsten att delta och dels för fortsatta studier som kan stärka projektet och ge ytterligare förståelse för integrationsprojekts bestående verkan och värden.