Higher Education Department Structures: Norway

Department structures, that is the organization of units within higher education institutions, clearly play a role in the governance of such institutions. This entry provides a brief overview of the origins and contemporary developments of department structures in Norwegian higher education institutions, emphasizing the significance of path dependencies in the formation of department structures. Historical trajectories and sequence still matter for the structure of Norwegian higher education departments. Older governance structures have not been replaced, but have been modified, recombined, and layered in a complex sedimented structure.