Higher education in Norway has in recent years opened its doors to a larger number of students, who are no longer a homogeneous group, both in age as well as in background. Experience acquired in the work life, when properly documented, can substitutes part of formal education from upper secondary schools and become the basis for acceptance in specific programs in higher education in Norway. Legislation passed by the Norwegian Parliament states that, from the academic year 2000-2001, universities and university-colleges have the obligation to consider and evaluate documented non- formal competence for validation of knowledge, as the basis for entrance to higher education for students over 25 years.
The research investigates how students with diverse backgrounds, I e with "formal" and "non-formal" competence, succeed in attaining a degree in higher education. Furthermore, it investigates the implications of the diversity of the students' background for teaching in higher education and further development of the students' competencies. The aim of the project is to develop a theory on different paths for attaining higher education and greater competence in the professional life. A grounded theory approach to qualitative analysis, as developed by Glaser and Strauss (1968), is used in this project. Thus, a continuous and permanent questioning is being carried out by means of semi-structured questionnaires and open interviews. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is a continuous interaction between the data collection and data analysis, and the subsequent formulation of new sets of questions. Results of data collection and analyses are fed back to the educational programs. This project might also be viewed as longitudinal research based evaluation.
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