BackgroundIn a recent thesis concerning the working situation among human resource managers (Berglund, 2002), some interesting thoughts about feelings of inadequacy and strategies for coping with these feelings as well as strategies for changing the situation were expressed. In four different studies Berglund has explored how human resource work is described and perceived from different angles such as how it is described in a Swedish journal (Personnel and Leadership) and how a sample of human resource managers themselves try to give meaning to their work and which strategies they use to gain influence in their work environment. The results of the studies were in a way depressing. Human resource managers seemed to adapt too much to the existing structures in the organization, arguing for their position in terms of their expertise in their own area of behavioral science but are looked upon as not qualified in more general business terms and not valued for their real qualifications.Context and purposeAs a lecturer at the Human Resource program in the Department of Education, Lund University, my daily occupation is to prepare human resource students for the working life ahead of them. Empowering students is a key issue in relation to the results of the studies above. The questions addressed in this paper are several but a preliminary purpose can be formulated like this:The purpose of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach to the concept of student empowerment and to discuss the consequences this might have on content and organization of higher education with human resource programs as an example.Why then is the concept in need of rethinking?Traditionally student empowerment is described as a way of identifying and strengthening of underprivileged groups of students, such as female students, ethnic groups of students, disabled students and so on. Looking for a wider view of the concept of empowerment, I turned to literature on empowerment in the organizational area of interest. There you also find empowering of underprivileged groups as key concept but also empowerment as a strategy on an organizational level and, most important in this case, empowerment from an individual perspective. One focus of this paper is to explore how this knowledge can be used in a higher education contextFurthermore the concept of student empowerment needs to be related to and distinguished from the concept of competence development and the ongoing discussion on skills and transfer of skills in higher education as well as in working life. This forms the second focus of this paper and will draw on work of Sandberg (1994, 1996, 1998) and Barnett (1990,1994).As a third focus the consequenses of a wider view on student empowerment on planning and performing of teaching and learning will be discussed. Central concepts could be identity, self efficacy and attitude change within a learning context. ReferencesBarnett, R. (1990). The idea of Higher Education. Buckingham: Open University Press/SRHEBarnett, R. (1994). The Limits of Competence: Knowledge, Higher Education and Society. Buckingham: Open University Press/SRHEBennett, N., Dunne, E.,& Carre, C. (2000). Skills Development in Higher Education and Employment. Buckingham: Open University PressBerglund, J. (2002). De otillrackliga. Stockholm: EFI, Handelshogskolan (transl. The inadequates.)Ross, D., Bondy, E., & Kyle D.W. (1993). Reflective teaching for student empowerment: elementary curriculum and methods. New York: Macmillan.Sandberg, J. (1994). Human competence at work.Goteborg:BASSandberg, J., & Targama, A. (1998). Ledning och forståelse. Lund:Studentlitteratur