Universities and businesses in?Denmark have been knocked sideways by?government plans to?compress the length of?some postgraduate programmes from two years to?one.

The reform would halve the length of 35?per cent of?master¡¯s degrees, with the squeeze being applied most heavily in?the social sciences and humanities, which would see 70?per cent of programmes compressed.

The changes, designed to ¡°prepare the students better for the labour market¡± in the words of the education minister, Jesper Petersen, would leave 90?per cent of medical and 70?per cent of natural sciences and technical courses untouched at two years in?length.

¡°What kind of understanding of those programmes is that?¡± asked Hanne Andersen, rector of Roskilde University, linking the uneven disciplinary squeeze to?long-standing pressure?on?the arts and humanities?by?recent Danish governments.

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¡°It is quite a thing to change an education system which is part of Bologna and has quality in it, to think you can take away one year and it will be better,¡± she said, referring to the intergovernmental process that has helped standardise three-year bachelor¡¯s and two-year master¡¯s across Europe.

She said one-year humanities master¡¯s would be ¡°less attractive¡± to students and would also be out of step with what companies want, citing a??commissioned by the Danish Engineering Association that predicted a shortage of 16,000 social studies graduates by 2030, versus 13,000 for engineering, technology and?IT.

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¡°We don¡¯t think that we could put genuine quality into a four-year university education,¡± said Jesper Langergaard, director of Danish Universities, which will represent the country¡¯s eight universities in talks with the Ministry of ÖйúAƬ and Science about the ¡°very radical¡± proposals.

¡°I have difficulty seeing [how] the ones who have difficulty getting jobs after five years?[will find it easier] after four,¡± said Mads Eriksen, head of education and research policy at the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

He said one of the strengths of the current Danish system was its longer master¡¯s programmes, which better prepared graduates for work by allowing time for internships. ¡°It¡¯s actually the balance between theory and practice which is challenged with this proposal,¡± he added.

¡°If you¡¯re going to do a good Sunday roast, you cannot just put it in the oven on 500?degrees and [hope] it will be ready in 20 minutes,¡± said Mr Langergaard. ¡°It takes time to prepare a good meal, and it takes time to get quality in education.¡±

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In addition to the new one-year master¡¯s programmes, the government wants vocational master¡¯s, which allow 25?hours of work a?week alongside studies, to be available for all subjects.

While the proposals were greeted with shock by many, they come after a government-appointed reform commission recommended ¡°a?fundamental rethinking¡± of Danish master¡¯s programmes.

The seven-strong commission panel, which included five academics and the chair of the national accreditation council, said new postgraduate options were needed, noting that almost all bachelor¡¯s students continue to their subject¡¯s respective master¡¯s course, which they said are best suited for training researchers or high-level specialists.

¡°It¡¯s a bit hard to hear the minister say on national television that we are only educating for research,¡± said Roskilde¡¯s Professor Andersen, adding that universities were not collectively consulted on the ¡°massive¡± reforms.

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ben.upton@timeshighereducation.com