The Netherlands

Abstract The Dutch case illustrates a model of high-skill creation characterized by broad skill demand in a knowledge economy primarily geared towards high-end services. It explores how a binary higher education system, traditionally heavily geared towards its practice-oriented subset of universities of applied sciences, facilitated incremental adjustments in line with labour market demands. The government seized for itself a role of facilitator in the relationship between higher education and the labour market, promoting initiatives like Centres of Expertise that enhanced knowledge circulation without triggering major structural reform. The low pressure from employers for discipline-specific graduates contributed to a stable political consensus and modest policy innovation.