Diversity in Norwegian teacher education: migrant experiences and institutional pathways in accessing the teaching profession

Introduction This article investigates the tension between policy ambitions for diversity and the structural barriers as experienced and perceived by migrants in accessing teaching professions in Norway. Despite official discourse emphasising diversity and inclusion and an urgent need for qualified teachers, our analysis reveals a recurring contradiction that we conceptualise as the Open Demand / Closed Pathways Paradox . While policy frameworks champion openness to diversity and research highlights the benefits of a more diversified teaching staff, the institutional pathways through which migrants can enter and remain in the teaching profession are experienced as narrow, bureaucratic, and linguistically exclusive. We suggest that this paradox reflects a broader tension within welfare-state inclusion, where efforts to promote openness coexist with procedural mechanisms that effect closure. Methods Drawing on ten in-depth interviews with institutional actors, migrant teachers and teacher educators, and intermediary organisations, the article examines how mechanisms of recognition, admission, language, conversion and retention are understood and navigated by those engaging with teacher education pathways. Results Recognition systems often provide formal evaluation of foreign credentials, yet in regulated professions such as teaching this recognition does not automatically translate – in practice – into access to employment or further qualification pathways. Discussion In addressing the Open Demand / Closed Pathways Paradox , the article introduces the concept of credential nationalism to capture how national qualification systems regulate professional belonging with the aim of quality assurance. The study contributes to debates on diversity governance, professional recognition, and the politics of belonging in higher education.