Thomas Clausen
Thomas Clausen
Senior Researcher Thomas Clausen conducts research in Danish and international history of education, focusing on higher education, state-funded student support schemes and the central government administration of tertiary education.
Areas of expertise
Danish education policy
Expertise in the historical formation of the Danish higher education system and the impact from earlier decisions on current debates concerning higher education, student enrollment and quality.
The state and welfare
Perspectives on how the Danish state and public institutions have changed, and what this means for current questions of governance, responsibility and welfare.
Public administration and economics
Perspectives on public administration over time and the shifting legal and economic conditions under which education and the education system have operated.
Contact information
Thomas Clausen
Senior Researcher, PhD, Archivist
Thomas Clausen welcomes enquiries from researchers and journalists concerning his fields of research, research collaboration, and media participation.
For enquiries relating to the Danish National Archives as a public authority or to current administrative matters, please contact the Press Office.
Higher education: Economics, administration and governance
Thomas Clausen’s research centres on higher education in the second half of the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on the administrative, political and economic framework of the Danish education system. Current research topics include the development of governance relations between universities and the state, state financial support of students and internationalization of higher education.
Thomas Clausen conducts source-based studies using paper records and digital data created by public authorities and other actors. The overarching aim of his research is to place contemporary conditions and trends in a broader historical context and thereby generate knowledge about change and continuity in Danish education. Theoretically, his work is informed by institutional theory.
Current research
How did student financial support acquire its present form?
Thomas Clausen examines the development of SU between 1968 and 1982. Drawing on historical debates about SU reforms and the financing of higher education, he investigates how key political and administrative decisions helped shape the SU system as it is known today. The project focuses on the alternatives, preconditions and priorities that characterised the development of student financial support during a period in which higher education expanded substantially and the state’s role in financing education became increasingly important.
Sources for the historical development of the SU system
Thomas Clausen uses paper records from the collections of the Danish National Archives, including material from the Ministry of Education, the SU administration and other relevant public authorities. His sources include working papers, correspondence, minutes of meetings, commission reports and preparatory legislative documents. By combining archival records with published documents, he examines the decision-making processes underlying the development of state-funded educational support in Denmark.
New knowledge about student financial support and Danish education policy
Thomas Clausen contributes to an active field of research in which the period after 1970 has only to a limited extent been studied as a separate subject. The project will generate new insights into the significance of student financial support for the development of higher education and contribute to public debate on education policy in Denmark.
Who took out state-guaranteed student loans, and why?
Thomas Clausen examines the state-guaranteed student loans that students could obtain from banks between 1964 and 1990. The project analyses which groups of students used the scheme and what factors motivated them to take out loans to finance their education. It also focuses on the significance of student loans for social mobility and access to higher education during a period in which demand for such access was increasing.
Digital data and archival sources on student loans
Thomas Clausen combines paper records from the Danish National Archives with qualitative and quantitative digital data. Register data is applied to identify patterns in the social background of borrowers and their take-up of student loans,. This data is supplemented by published documents, including preparatory legislative documents and commission reports. Taken together, these sources make it possible to examine the distribution of borrowers by factors including geography, age and socioeconomic background.
New research on student loans and social mobility
Thomas Clausen addresses an area that has previously received only limited scholarly attention. No studies have yet examined the entire population of recipients of state-guaranteed student loans and the relationship between educational finance, social mobility and the development of higher education in Denmark.
How was Statens Voksenuddannelsesstøtte established?
Thomas Clausen examines the political intentions behind the establishment of Statens Voksenuddannelsesstøtte in the 1990s. The project analyses how a state-funded educational support system for adults was developed and the extent to which the scheme as implemented fulfilled the ambitions on which it was based. Drawing on contemporary discussions of lifelong learning, he investigates how political decision-makers sought to create new opportunities for education and skills development through financial support for adults in education.
Sources for the development of adult education support
Thomas Clausen uses paper records from the collections of the Danish National Archives, including material from relevant ministries and public authorities. The study also draws on published documents such as preparatory legislative materials, commission reports and other key sources for understanding the creation of the scheme. The project additionally incorporates qualitative and quantitative digital data transferred to the Danish National Archives. Thomas Clausen collaborates with university-based research colleagues on parts of the study.
New knowledge about adult education support and lifelong learning
Thomas Clausen addresses a field of research that has so far received limited attention. Adult education support has largely been treated as part of other education policy themes rather than as a research field in its own right. The project contributes new interdisciplinary historical knowledge about the relationship between education policy, financial support and lifelong learning. Its findings will strengthen our understanding of how adult education support has affected access to education and skills development in Denmark.
Publications and activities
An overview of Thomas Clausen’s publications, academic activities, and research projects is available through the Pure Research Information System.
- Clausen, T. (2024). På sporet af universitetshistorien – SDU og AAU i historisk perspektiv, Historisk Tidsskrift, 124(2), 478-493.
- Clausen, T. (2023). Uddannelsesstøtte mellem stat og marked 1952-2020. I N. Rosendahl Jensen, T. Clausen, B. Jensen, C. Christrup Kjeldsen, & A. Larson. (red.),Social ulighed set gennem uddannelse, 143-165. Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
- Pedersen, L., & Clausen, T. (2022). Kvalitetssikring af universitetsuddannelserne – lange linjer og perspektiver, Samfundsøkonomen (3), 82-92.
https://doi.org/10.7146/samfundsokonomen.v2022i3.133984 - Clausen, T. (2021). Demokratisering af arbejdslivet? ØD mellem makroøkonomi og medarbejderindflydelse, Tidsskrift for Arbejdsliv, 23(2).
https://doi.org/10.7146/tfa.v23i2.128241. - Clausen, T. (2020). From Decentralized Means-testing to the Centralized Management of Stipends and Loans: The Administration of Student Financial Aid in Denmark 1950–2000, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 52(4), 344-356.
- Clausen, T. (2018). Studiestøtte for de ubemidlede, dygtige og evnerige. Administrationen af Ungdommens uddannelsesfond 1952 – 1970, Historisk Tidsskrift, 118(2), 329-370.
Peer reviews and scholarly journals.
Other media, ie.:
Guidance and press
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