Ane Qvortrup is a professor of general didactics with a particular focus on upper secondary and vocational education. She is head of Center for Upper Secondary and Vocational Education Research, which, with her as a leading figure, has established itself as a national leader in youth education research.

At the same time, she is the research leader for the program Education, Didactics, and Bildung. This program addresses both fundamental research questions and methodological and empirical issues related to education, didactics, and Bildung—where didactics encompasses both general and subject-specific didactics, and Bildung is understood as connected both to the formative process through which students develop into something or someone (creating an identity) and to educational purposes and social norms considered desirable. As part of the program, boundaries and connections between these fields are explored, along with the various methodological and theoretical approaches used nationally and internationally in studies of education, didactics, and formation. The program is thus open to different research traditions, such as educational psychology, educational sociology, and educational philosophy.

Ane Qvortrup’s own work spans both historical and contemporary issues across subjects, combining systematic theoretical studies with empirical research based on quantitative survey analyses and qualitative interview studies. In recent years, her research has particularly focused on:

• Subject knowledge in a historical perspective
• Participation and retention in vocational education
• Academic well-being
• Engagement
• Socializing democratic education
• Practice-oriented knowledge and experience-based didactics

Ane Qvortrup is a sought-after speaker and also contributes through a number of trusted positions in councils, committees, expert panels, and boards.