Kunnskap i virksomhet. En kvalitativ intervjustudie om kunnskapsoverføring fra høyere utdanning til arbeidsliv

This master`s thesis examines how individuals transfer knowledge between higher education and work. The purpose of this study is to create a research-based understanding of how employees with a master`s degree in the social sciences or humanities transfer knowledge to their workplace and occupational settings. Previous research on knowledge transfer between education and work seem to focus on professional and vocational educations. In contrast, master`s programs in the social sciences and humanities are often described as having very few links connecting them directly to a specific occupation or profession. Instead, they may lead to a wide range of career or work possibilities. The informants in this scientific research did not have any work related practice incorporated in their educational program. The master`s thesis takes form as a qualitative interview study. I have chosen to use semi-structured interviews as a method for data collection. I interviewed six informants in the fall of 2014. All of the informants are employees in different oc cupationsand have a master`s degree in the social sciences or humanities. Both interviews and analysis are conducted in accordance with a phenomenological approach. In addition to this, hermeneutical principles have been used in the interpretation of the data. The study shows that knowledge specific to the academic disciplines and more general forms of academic knowledge act a versatile tool in the informants' professional life contexts. However, there are significant variations regarding how and to what extent such knowledge is transferred. The informants with the fewest links between their education and workplace settings stated that it took some time before they discovered how different kinds of academic knowledge was transferred to their everyday work life. They also gave theimpression that knowledge specific to the academic discipline was transferred in more indirect than direct ways. The interviewees' descriptions formed the impression that their education could provide unrestricted opportunities in work life. But the responsibility to understand how academic knowledge can be transferred to workplace settings still rests on the individual. The informants also stated that knowledge transfer between a research-oriented university education and work could be a challenging task. Educational experiences that are linked to occupational contexts might therefore be important for a successful transfer of knowledge