AICGS Seminar Institutional Change in German Higher Education. Towards a more Strategic and Stratified Organizational Field? Mike Zapp AICGS Johns Hopkins University University of Luxembourg
Institutional Change in German Higher Education. Towards a more Strategic and Stratified Organizational Field? Context Change processes Consequences internationalization & excellence professionalization & strategic thinking diversification & stratification
Internationalization from people to programs to campuses N of internationally mobile students between 2.8 to 3.2 M, increase by more than 53 % between 1999-2007 (OECD 2011; UNESCO 2009) Academic staff mobility: Switzerland, Canada, Australia, the US, Sweden and the UK have between 40 and 50% of foreign researchers International research collaboration: 25% of all publications now show international co-authorship (from 15% in 2005; UNESCO 2015) VUs listed in UNESCO s (2017) directory teach 11 M students international branch campuses (IBC) have quintupled between 2000 15, with 311 IBCs from 40 countries hosted by 90 countries around the world HE is the most frequently included educational sub-sector in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), currently 53 country commitments (WTO 2017)
Europeanization European integration in higher education Erasmus students: from 3K in 1988 to 3M in 2015 Staff mobility: the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and France have between 10 and 30% of their researchers from foreign countries Joint degrees: currently 3,000 (EQAR 2014) Quality assurance and accreditation architecture since Bologna: European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), European Students Union (ESU), European University Association (EUA) and European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE), the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), the European Network of Information Centres (ENIC) and National Academic Recognition Information Centres (NARIC) Funding: EU Framework Programmes and European Research Council
Excellence A Novel Global Phenomenon Excellence policies & initiatives China 1996 China 211 Project Singapore 1997 Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Universities Taiwan 1998 Program for Promoting Academic Excellence of China 1999 China 985 Project South Korea 1999 Brain Korea 21 Program Japan 2002 Japan Top 30 Program Germany 2004 Excellence Initiative France 2006 Opération Campus Taiwan 2006 Development Plan for World Class Universities and Japan 2007 Global Centers of Excellence Program Malaysia 2007 National HE Strategic Plan 2020 Singapore 2007 Research Centers of Excellence 2008/ South Korea World Class University/ Humanity Korea/ Social Science 2010 Canada 2009 Canada Global Excellence Research Chairs Japan 2014 Super Global Universities Project Excellence and global rankings 2003 Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities 2004 Times Higher Education QS World University Rankings 2004 Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2007 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities 2007 International Professional Classification of Higher Education Institutions 2008 Leiden Rankings 2009 Reitor Global Universities Ranking 2009 Development Plan for World Class Universities 2010 QS World University Rankings/ THE 2013 U-Multirank
Excellence A Novel Global Phenomenon Research evaluation systems UK Italy Portugal Chile Eastern and Central Europe All Nordic countries Flanders (Belgium) Example: Research Excellence Framework - in 5 year cycles since 1986 - based on peer review - rates from 4* world-leading to unclassified - allows performance-based funding (above 50%) Criticism: - demoralized staff - undermining relationship between teaching & research - leads to skewing of research output - concentration of funding = stratification 1
Germany: Change processes I New professionalism in HE management Management A new professional/ occupational field of higher education management appears in major recruitment portals (e.g. Die Zeit) New management positions follow structural change: research evaluation quality assurance and management student services (e.g. academic counseling) alumni services science communication knowledge transfer leadership becomes more important
Change processes II Universities as strategic actors New strategies N of universities with mission statements rose from 5 to 70 in the period 1998-2010 (Stifterverband 2010) Networks emerge and German universities join: e.g. GUNI; Compostella; YERUN English-speaking BA/ MA programs increase (N=150) recruitment strategies start to target international students external funding doubled between 2006 and 2013, now at an average of 15% of the total funding.
Consequences I Diversification Number of new university foundings
Consequences I Diversification - Only 1% of the student population has studied at a private HE organization in the mid-1990s, now 6% (Statist. Bundesamt 2014). - Private HE includes regional universities of applied sciences, large part-time and further education organizations, but also full-scale universities and aspiring top universities within a specific field with PhD and habilitation rights - They offer virtual studies, specialized degree programs that were formerly part of the vocational sector, a more international study program and, importantly, they emphasize their excellence.
Graduate Schools Consequences II: Stratification from above Federal level The German Excellence Initiative/ Excellence Strategy (2005) Clusters of Excellence Future Concepts Training young researchers N=40 receiving 1M p.a. sectors: 1 st line of funding unspecified RWTH Aachen University Freie Universität Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin Technical University Berlin (FU Berlin, HU Berlin) intra/extramural/corporate research N=30 receiving 6.5 M p.a. sectors: unspecified 2 nd line of funding Aachen Bonn Dresden Gießen Göttingen Medical School Hannover Saarland KIT Universities of Excellence N=11 receiving 13 M p.a. type: unspecified 3rd line of funding RWTH Aachen FU Berlin, Heidelberg University University of Konstanz LMU Munich Technical University of Munich From fictitious equality towards a new elite?
Consequences: Stratification from above Federal level In der Vereinbarung Exzellenzstrategie ist Dynamik verankert. Das heißt, dass Universitäten in die Exzellenzriege aufsteigen können. Wir haben jetzt beste Voraussetzungen dafür geschaffen, dass Deutschland in der ersten Liga der internationalen Spitzenforschung seine Position weiter ausbauen kann. Johanna Wanka, Bundesbildungsministerin
Consequences: Stratification from above State level Similar state initiatives have followed: - Bavaria: Elite Network Program comprising 9 universities and 21 elite study programs. - NRW: Graduate Schools, Research Schools and Brain Gain Program, private University of Witten/ Herdecke
Consequences: Stratification from below Universities - coalitions emerge between excellent universities: TU9 (*2006), U15 (*2012) - results from international ratings and rankings are displayed on websites
Consequences: Stratification from below Students Excellence status pays off, not only in terms of research funding as early studies show: - students from wealthy backgrounds & - those with better Abitur grades pick elite universities (Winkler 2014; Wagner 2015).
Is Germany caught in a trade-off between international excellence and equality in higher education?
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