“Measuring the efficiency of higher education: case of ”

Aleksandra Figurek Anatoliy Goncharuk http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9870-4679 AUTHORS http://www.researcherid.com/rid/M-8580-2015 Larysa Shynkarenko Oleksandr Kovalenko

Aleksandra Figurek, Anatoliy Goncharuk, Larysa Shynkarenko and Oleksandr ARTICLE INFO Kovalenko (2019). Measuring the efficiency of higher education: case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 17(2), 177-192. doi:10.21511/ppm.17(2).2019.13

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businessperspectives.org Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 17, Issue 2, 2019

Aleksandra Figurek (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Anatoliy Goncharuk (Ukraine), Larysa Shynkarenko (Ukraine), Oleksandr Kovalenko (Ukraine) Measuring the efficiency BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES of higher education: case of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract LLC “СPС “Business Perspectives” This paper is devoted to measuring the efficiency of the higher education of Bosnia Hryhorii Skovoroda lane, 10, and Herzegovina. The data envelopment analysis method was applied, considering the Sumy, 40022, Ukraine number of enrolled students, budget financing, co-financing, self-financing as inputs, and the number of graduated students according to the field of education as the out- www.businessperspectives.org put. Measuring the relative efficiency of main fields of the higher education system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the authors found that the agriculture is the most efficient field of higher education in this country. However, the engineering, manufacturing technologies and construction field have the lowest efficiency score due to the high consumption of budget expenditures, but the lowest education results. The hypothesis of the growing efficiency of the higher education system of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not confirmed. The downward trend in the total number of publications indicates a twofold deterioration in the scientific efficiency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the six-year period. Comparison with neighboring countries showed relatively low scien- tific efficiency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conclusion is that currently the higher Received on: 25th of March, 2019 education system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is relatively inefficient and its efficiency Accepted on: 6th of May, 2019 falls down.

Keywords efficiency, higher education, data envelopment analysis, Bosnia and Herzegovina JEL Classification I21, I23, C14 © Aleksandra Figurek, Anatoliy Goncharuk, Larysa Shynkarenko, Oleksandr Kovalenko, 2019 INTRODUCTION

Aleksandra Figurek, Ph.D., Assosiate Professor, , The development of education is a symbol of national strength and the Bosnia and Herzegovina. level of economic and social development. The objective of higher ed- Anatoliy Goncharuk, Ph.D., Dr. ucation consists in establishing adequate experts who are capable to habil., Professor, Department of Business Administration and transfer knowledge to the students, and also to increase the general the- Corporate Security, International oretical and professional levels. In fact, investment in the education sys- Humanitarian University, Ukraine. tem is an investment in the future of mankind. Hence, the improving Larysa Shynkarenko, Ph.D., Docent, International Humanitarian efficiency of higher education is a highly topical problem for society. University, Ukraine. Oleksandr Kovalenko, Ph.D., Dr. Education differs from other sectors in that the idea of mandat- habil., Professor, Odessa National Polytechnic University, Ukraine. ing is less defined and accepted and the means to achieve it is more fragmented due to the autonomous nature of institutions (A report by the Universities UK Efficiency and Modernisation Task, Group Universities UK, 2011).

Undoubtedly, the development of excellent subject knowledge is im- portant, but is not enough for an innovative society. In addition to raising academic achievement across all levels of education, innova- This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the tions policies need to pay more attention to the skills young people Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits acquire (Education Innovation and Research OECD, 2015). unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly Higher education helps countries build globally competitive economies cited. by creating, applying, and spreading new ideas and technologies, as well

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as developing a skilled, productive, and flexible labor force (Salmi, 2009). However, for this it is important that higher education should be efficient, i.e. when it produces high outcomes with relatively low inputs.

As Petlák (1995) defined, the efficiency of the learning process means its fulnessuse and degree of achievement of set objectives in the process of teaching. The efficiency isst mo often associated with time (needed to achieve the set objectives – within the teaching unit, but also in relation to the length of school attendance), energy (spent by the teacher, as well as by the student, to achieve the objectives), results of teaching activities, their adequacy in relation to time and energy.

In measuring efficiency of higher education, it is generally important toccount a for the multi-product nature of educational production (Thanassoulis et al., 2011). This has been done in a number of previous studies in the higher education sector, e.g. in Stevens (2005).

According to Kováčováa and Vackováa (2015), the success of practical implementation of ideas of the education efficiency depends on certain factors: special methodical training of teachers, cooperation of teachers and students, provision of the necessary learning, material, moral and psychological condi- tions. The teacher is an important attribute of the efficiency of educationd an should:

• study new trends in the field of his own subject; • pay attention to quality preparation of content and organization of education; • follow the news and legislative development in the field; • increase his own professional qualification and ensure his personal evelopment;d • increase his didactic and pedagogical profile of competencies; • actively participate in conferences and seminars, international workshops; • follow professional and pedagogical publications; • communicate with students; • cooperate with institutions and organizations active in a particular field.

However, the efficiency of higher education systems depends not only on teachers. In many ways, it is determined by organization, institutional settings, location, funding structure, and other internal and external factors (Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2014).

The aim of this study is to measure the efficiency of higher education system in ublicRep of Srpska (RS) that is a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), which primarily relates to the success of studying.

1. THE EDUCATION be to raise the creative and productive quality of SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC the working age population, since every aspect of society’s development is realized by people, so OF SRPSKA that the development of human resources should be the priority of the Republic, bearing in mind The goal of the education system is to play a key the negative rate of natural increase of the pop- role in the development of society through quality ulation, migration and an increasing share of the education, because quality education is a resource older population in the Republic of Srpska. for the development of the economy and society as a whole. This will be achieved through openness The Law on Higher Education of the Republic towards other systems that can lead to creative of Srpska, in accordance with the Bologna thinking based on which young person will know Declaration, established the principles of provid- how and where to find the appropriate informa- ing higher education in the Republic in accord- tion, how and when to use them. The task of the ance with European standards, such as: the prin- education system in the mentioned period should ciples of non-discrimination, the right to educa-

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Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017).

HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

64

43 39 35 32 32 34 33 25 24 26 24 24 21 22 21 20 21 1998/1999 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016

Number of students, teachers and associates 50000 3500 45000 3000 40000 35000 2500 30000 2000 25000 20000 1500 15000 1000 10000 500 5000 0 0 1998/1999 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016

Students Teachers and associates

Figure 1. The number of higher education institutions, students, teachers and associates

tion, the autonomy of universities, the integrated in the field of social sciences, business administra- university, the mobility of students and other aca- tion and law. On the other hand, the least licensed demic staff, and the functioning of the authorities academic programs are in the fields of natural responsible for law enforcement and other stand- sciences and mathematics (6%), and in agriculture, ards. This Law envisages the implementation of fishery, forestry and veterinary medicine (4%) four key principles of the Bologna Declaration: the (Strategy, 2016). introduction of a European credit transfer system – the ECTS, the introduction of a new structure of The Law regulates higher education in B&H studies that consists of three cycles, the promotion (Republic of Srpska part) in line with the Bologna of student and teacher mobility, and the adoption Declaration and European standards. In the of system of comparable degrees. Republic of Srpska, twenty one higher education institutions were established: nine universities, two Of the total number of licensed academic pro- of which are public and seven private, twelve high grams, the largest share (37%) has study programs schools, two of which are public and ten private.

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Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017).

Other universities 1478 111 University of 269 85 University of Business Engineering and Management 442 66 Independent University of Banja Luka 738 66 Pan-European University Apeiron 3227 71 Synergy University 555 66 Slobomir P University 627 117 University of East Sarajevo 10596 790 University of Banja Luka 15513 1300 Other more and higher schools 407 56 College of Cosmetology and Aesthetics College 43 17 High technical technical school 489 25 College of Applied and Legal Sciences 400 20 High School for Business Services 779 21 College of Communication College Banja Luka 87 13 College of Economics and Informatics 266 18 College of Banja Luka College 437 32 College of Tourism and Hotel Management 217 6 High medical school 820 44

2015/2017 students 2015/2017 teaching staff

Figure 2. Students and teaching staff in RS universities

With the tendency to ensure the quality of work dents’ interest in study programs in the field of so- of higher education institutions, appropriate reg- cial sciences is significantly expressed. ulations have been established that stipulate the accreditation of higher education institutions and As Salmi (2009) wrote, one way of improving study programs. Accreditation is the process of the university up to a world-class university is determining the achieved level of quality in ac- to use internationalization strategies effectively. cordance with European standards in this field. Obviously, the multicultural dimension enriches For this reason, the Agency for Accreditation of the quality of the learning experience. Thereby, Higher Education Institutions was established in the current Strategy of Education Development 2011. The system of organization of the teaching of Republic of Srpska 2016–2021 (Strategy, 2016) process at most universities in the Republic envis- emphasizes the necessity to implement a series of ages a duration of 4 + 1 + 3 years, and high schools activities to strengthen staff and infrastructure perform the first cycle of studies for three years capacities, increase student and staff mobility, and for a period of four years. At the University of achieve internationalization of the teaching and Banja Luka, study programs were organized in cy- scientific research processes and increase the visi- cles lasting from 4 + 1 + 3 years and 3 + 2 + 3 years. bility of the domestic universities primarily in the The second cycle of studies lasts one or two years, regional and European, as well as the global aca- and the third cycle is organized after the second demic community. cycle and lasts for three years. The following four strategic goals of the interna- At public and private higher education institutions tionalization of the higher education in Republic in the academic year 2014–2015, there were 41,033 of Srpska have been defined: students. Figure 3 gives an overview of the num- ber of students in the academic year 2014–2015 by • internationalization of policies; fields of education and makes evident that the stu- • internationalization of science;

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Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017).

Enrolled students according to the field of Graduated students according to the field education of education

4 000,00 20 000 3 500,00 3 000,00 15 000 2 500,00 10 000 2 000,00 1 500,00 5 000 1 000,00 Health and social work 500,00 0 Engineering, manufacturing… Health and social work Social sciences, business… Engineering,… Education 0,00 Social sciences, business… Education

Education Education Humanities and arts Humanities and arts Social sciences, business and law Social sciences, business and law Natural sciences, mathematics and informatics Natural sciences, mathematics and informatics Engineering, manufacturing technologies and construction Engineering, manufacturing technologies and construction Agriculture Agriculture Health and social work Health and social work

Figure 3. Enrolled and graduated students according to the field of education

• internationalization of teaching; • multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary study • internationalization of the support system. programs at the university level with the possibility of teaching in English, and later Regionally and internationally recognized study in other foreign languages, within available program is aimed at improving the quality of the capacities; study program and their internationalization, and increasing incoming mobility and implementing • distinguished second and third cycle study “internationalization at home”: programs (created according to the Salzburg Principles) at the regional and international • course units in English in already existing level, with a focus on joint study programs study programs, in accordance with the ca- and/or double/multiple majors; pacities of individual members, aimed at pro- viding the possibility for a student to earn a • implementation of international standards in minimum of 30 ECTS credits within a study thesis supervision for the second and third cycle program; of studies in the segment of scientific research;

• introduction of “mobility windows” or “global • increased outgoing and incoming mobility of windows” into curricula; students and staff;

• utilization of open academic resources; • organization of student mobility as a manda- tory segment of curricula and programmers in • introduction of English language courses in the form of attending classes, doing research Ph.D. study programs; or traineeship abroad for the first and second

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cycle of studies, i.e. teaching and research for general population, in cooperation with part- the third cycle of studies; ners abroad;

• increased participation of students and staff of • organization of international cultural ac- the university in exchange programs, such as tivities and creating international cultural the CEEPUS and Erasmus+ Key Action 1 – in- contents. ternational credit mobility; The largest and most important program of mobil- • engagement of distinguished scientists, pro- ity of students and academic staff of the EU mem- fessors and experts from prestigious universi- ber states is represented by the EU Program for ties as visiting lecturers; Education, Training, Youth and Sports 2014–2020 (ERASMUS +), which includes teachers and stu- • organization of Serbian language courses for dents from the Republic. This is a new program foreign students to create the preconditions financed by the EU (as of January 1, 2014), which for the enrolment of foreign students to exist- represents the integration of European programs ing study programs at the university, and their implemented by the European Commission in introduction to Serbian history and tradition; the period from 2007 to 2013: Lifelong Learning Program, “Jean Monet”, “Youth in Action” • increased cooperation with higher education Tempus, Erasmus Mundus, Alfa, Edulink and the institution, which offer study programs of Developed Industrial Countries Higher Education Serbian language and literature; Program (Strategy, 2016).

• provide students with foreign language in- According to the collected data (Institute of struction in order to implement “interna- Statistics of Republic of Srpska, 2017), the number tionalization at home” and increase outgoing of enrolled students is lower every year. mobility; The number of enrolled students in the school year • increase internal mobility by continually ed- 2010–2011 was 45,966, while that number in the ucating staff and opening up resources, pri- school year 2015–2016 was 37,390. A smaller num- marily course units, to all employees of the ber of enrolled students is most prominent in the university; field of social sciences, business and law, where in the six-year period, there is a decline of 6,730 stu- • organization of lifelong learning courses us- dents. Education, humanities and arts also record- ing online platforms to ensure any required ed a negative trend in the number of enrolled stu- qualifications for the staff, as well as for the dents. In the three scientific areas, there was a slight

Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017).

Graduated students per age 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 and more 2013 2014 2015 2016 Figure 4. Graduated students per age

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Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017). Students enrolled according to the method of financing and education area in the school year 2015/2016

Services Health and social work Agriculture Engineering, manufacturing technologies and construction Natural sciences, mathematics and informatics Social sciences, business and law Humanities and arts Education

0 5000 10000 15000

Self-financing Co-financing Budget financing Total

Figure 5. The number of students by scientific fields and according to the method of financing in the academic year 2015–2016

increase compared to the observed period. Health The age related to the completion of basic studies, and social work recorded growth of 568 students in addition to financial possibilities, also deter- in the last analyzed year compared to the initial mines the dependence of enrolment at the second year of observation. Also, in engineering, manufac- and third cycles and continuation of education at turing, technologies and agriculture, students are the university. The analysis concerning the age of more interested at the end of the observation period enrolled masters students and specialists shows compared to the first year, which accounts for more that in the category up to 25 years, 24% of students than 433 and 99 students respectively. were enrolled in the school year 2015–2016. In the category from 30 to 34 years, there are 15.5% of Analogously to the trend that accompanies the such students. The participation of students who number of enrolled students, the downward trend decided to continue their education at a later age is is evidenced by the number of graduated students. about 5% compared to their total number. The number of graduated students in 2011 was 7,855, while this number dropped in 2016 to 5,474. As for the doctoral students, their maximum par- By analyzing the number of graduated students ticipation is in the age category up to 30 years – according to the scientific area, it is evident that 27.38%, and then in the category from 30 to 34 the biggest drop was in the social sciences, busi- years – 21.43%, which confirms the fact that ness and law in 2011. There were 3,898 students younger generations have dominant participation and in 2016 – 2,454 students. It is important to in the total number of doctoral students. note that only in the field of agriculture, there was a small increase in the number of graduated stu- The total number of enrolled students in master and dents (50 students). doctoral studies is presented in Figure 7, where it is evident that the number of enrolled master stu- The age in which the largest number of students dents increases year by year, while the number of finishes their education is 30 years and more. doctoral students fluctuates over certain years. Almost 33% of students completed studies in this age category. In the category up to 22 years, there From the data relating to the distribution of master are only 5.5% of students who completed their reg- and doctoral students according to scientific fields, it ular studies in relation to the total number of stu- is evident that the second and third cycle of studies dents. In the age category up to 24 years, there are are followed by the selection of the scientific field of about 30% of students who completed their studies. students of the first cycle. Thus, RS has the largest

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Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017). Enrolled in masters and specialist studies by age in school year 2015/2016

60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 <25 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Total

Doctoral students by the age in the school year 2015/2016

60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 <30 0 5 10 15 20 25

Total

Figure 6. Enrolled in masters, specialist and doctoral studies by their age

Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017). Enrolled in master and specialist studies Doctorates 3 000,00 90 80 2 500,00 70 2 000,00 60 50 1 500,00 40 1 000,00 30 20 500,00 10 0,00 0

Figure 7. Enrolled in masters and specialist studies and doctoral studies number of master and doctoral students in the field The described trends in the development of high- of social sciences 38.79% and 48.94%, respectively. In er education system of B&H are somewhat con- the second place are Medical and Health Sciences tradictory. On the one hand, the number of stu- with 18.55% masters of science, masters and special- dents of the master’s programs (see Figure 7) and ists compared to their total number. teachers (see Figure 1) is growing. But on the other

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Source: Institute of Statistics of Republic of Srpska (2017). 700 Humanities Education 600 Social science 500 Agricultural sciences 400 Medical and health sciences Engineering and technology 300 Natural science 200 100 0 0 100 200 300 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Doctors of science Masters of science, masters and specialists Masters of science, masters and specialists Doctors of science

Figure 8. Masters of science, masters, specialists and doctors of science according to the scientific area (2016) and for the period 2006–2018

hand, the total numbers of students and institu- The concept of efficiency presents process of estab- tions have been declining for the past 6 years (see lishing the relationship between inputs and outputs. Figure 1). Probably, such strengthening of teach- In the education sector, the production process is ing staff and the growing share of the magistra- characterized by multiple inputs and multiple out- cy should improve the efficiency of the education puts. The educational sector is defined as ‘efficient’ system. when it is not possible to produce more of some out- puts without reduction in the production of the other Therefore, we decided to test the hypothesis of the outputs. Using different allocation of the inputs can growing efficiency of the higher education system of produce more of some outputs, and can also lead to B&H. Besides, we are interested, which of the fields lower production of some of the other outputs. in this system are the most and the least effective. According to Kuah and Wong (2009), there is no So, in this study, we will try to answer on the fol- definitive standard to guide the inputs/outputs se- lowing questions: lection in university efficiency measurement.

How efficient are the main fields of higher educa- Ahn et al. (1989) selected faculty salaries, state re- tion system in Bosnia and Herzegovina? search funds, administrative overheads, and total investment in physical plants as inputs and num- Is the efficiency of the higher education system in ber of undergraduate enrolments, number of grad- Bosnia and Herzegovina growing with growing uate enrolments, total semester credit hours, and number of graduates and teachers, and shrinking federal and private research funds as outputs. number of institutes? The rationale for substituting “achievable output/ outcome” (that an effective and efficient organiza- 2. LITERATURE REVIEW tion can generate if all the potentially usable re- sources were deployed and utilized in pursuit of There are a lot of publications regarding meas- the objectives of the organization) for the actual uring the efficiency in higher education. Therein, targeted objectives of the organization is that the the efficiency measurement implies the selection measurement of relative efficiency should be inde- and availability of appropriate data, measures and pendent of any systematic biases in judgments that method. We turned to research literature to make organization may make in selecting their targeted the right choice. levels of output (Mensah, Lam, & Werner, 2005).

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According to Johnes (2006), the quantity and qual- As Goncharuk (2016) found, stochastic frontier ity of undergraduates, number of postgraduates, analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis number of teaching and research staffs, adminis- (DEA) are the most appropriate methods for meas- tration expenditures, library and computer facility uring the efficiency of higher education. However, expenditures, and value of interest payments and SFA is more appropriate if we have only one out- depreciations are inputs and quantity and quality put, need to decompose efficiency into main com- of first degree graduates, number of higher degree ponents and need to model the influence of vari- graduates, and research grants as outputs. ous factors on higher education institutions’ effi- ciency. In other cases, the DEA is better for meas- By solving the objective function using linear uring efficiency. However, in order to use DEA for programming, it is possible to determine the ef- HEIs efficiency analysis, we have to be sure that ficiency curve called also the production fron- our sample has enough data and this data does not tier, which covers all the most efficient units of have errors. the focus group. The graphical presentation of the efficiency curve is possible for models: 1 input DEA is a non-parametric frontier method, first and 1 output, 2 inputs and 1 output, or 1 input offered by Charnes et al. (1978) that has received and 2 outputs. In the case of multidimensional wide theoretical development and practical ap- models, the curve equivalent incorporates a few plication for the last decade in a management fragments of different hyperplanes linked to each of various fields of human activity, for example, other. Objects are believed to be technically effi- in water utilities (Lo Storto, 2014), banking and cient if they are located on the efficiency curve investments, postal service (Çakır et al., 2015), (Pietrzak et al., 2016). healthcare and pharmaceuticals (Lo Storto & Goncharuk, 2017), education (De Witte, 2015), Zhang and Luo (2016) explained the expansion of manufacturing (Goncharuk & Figurek, 2017), the scale of higher education, but at the same time energetics (Goncharuk & Lo Storto, 2017), etc. that the higher education of the country should Its essence consists in use of methods of linear take the road to the development of connotation, programming for construction of a piecewise lin- strengthen macro-control of the higher education, ear convex surface (frontier) for enterprises sam- and concluded that it makes the scale of education ple, and estimation of efficiency concerning this more in line with the development of the national surface. economy, further implement the strategy of reju- venating the country through science and educa- The DEA presents an important tool in the com- tion, speed up the reform of higher education sys- parative efficiency worldwide in higher education tem, created more favourable conditions for the institutions (Agasisti & Johnes, 2009; Thanassoulis development of higher education, the quality and & Dunstan, 1994; Worthington, 2001; Taylor & efficiency of higher education. Bains, 2004).

The relationship among the different inputs and In order to measure the efficiency of 45 Canadian outputs of the educational process is called the edu- universities using 1992–1993 data, McMilan and cation production function. Education production Datta (1998) used DEA and they constructed functions examine the influence of various input nine models, which differ in inputs (the number factors on student efficiency. According to Webbink of faculties, total costs, other costs, etc.) and in (2012), it is important to note that inputs of the edu- outputs (the number of graduates, the number of cation process not only include financial resources, doctoral level graduate students, research quan- but also factors such as the social background, abil- tum, etc.). ity and educational history of the students. Measuring the efficiency of 72 German universi- Technical inefficiency is a measure of the real- ties for the period 1998–2003, Kempkes and Pohl ized school production versus the maximum of (2007) used the number of graduates and the the school production conditional on the budget amount of research grants as outputs and the re- (Blank, Hulst, & Koot, 2007). search and technical staff.

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n Mikusova (2015) took the following variables: the − sup ∑ xijλθ j+= s i xi iq , = 1,2,..., m , number of academic staff and other costs as inputs jq=1, ≠ n and the number of bachelor and master graduates, + the number of PhD graduates, the number of bach- ∑ yijλ j−= s i yi iq , = 1,2,..., r , (1) jq=1, ≠ elor and master students and the number of PhD −+ students as outputs.Therefore, based on the experi- λ ,ss ,≥ 0, ence of previous efficiency measurements and rec- ommendations, in particular by Goncharuk (2016), where θ sup is a scalar, λ is a weight of DMU j, j − + DEA is the most appropriate method for measuring xij , yij are inputs and outputs of DMU j, si , si an efficiency of higher education system. are input and output slacks.

With DEA method, it is possible to generate a re- 3. METHODOLOGY lationship between output and input in order to characterize the efficiency of education. Based on the rational approach in selecting and analyzing the structure of inputs and outputs, Further, to trace an efficiency trend, we examined with the aim of perceiving the success and deter- the scientific publication activity in RS for 7 years mining the efficiency of completing the studies, by types of research: fundamental, applied, and the authors decided to use the enrolled students developmental. according to the field of education, budget financ- ing, co-financing, self-financing as inputs, while In addition, the results of scientific productivity of the number of the graduated students according RS with total B&H and neighbouring Balkan coun- to the field of education was used as output. tries like , Slovenia and Croatia were compared to explore the contribution of the research compo- As the most appropriate efficiency measurement nent in the efficiency of the higher education system method for higher education, the DEA was used of RS, and clarify the international aspect of the rela- to get efficiency scores for 8 main fields of high- ed tive efficiency of B&H higher education system. ucation in B&H, partly referring to RS. For a com- plete ranking and identification of the most effi- cient fields of high education, the DEA model of 4. THE DATA super-efficiency was used. The descriptive statistics of a sample of collected Among existing DEA models in the context of giv- data on the main fields of higher education in RS en study, it is expedient to use the following: is framed in Table 1. Table 1. Descriptive statistics for a sample 1) to estimate an efficiency score using the com- mon input-oriented model with a constant re- Source: Authors’ calculations based on universities reports. Stand. turn of scale (CRS model form) (see Charnes Variables Mean Median dev. et al., 1978); Enrolled students according to 4,674 3,840 3,642 the field of education, people 2) to make full ranking using the DEA model Budget financing, 000 EUR 1,332 1,274 748 of super-efficiency, offered by Anderson and Co-financing, 000 EUR 133 120 86 Petersen (1993). Self-financing, 000 EUR 3,209 2,376 3,041 Graduated students according to the field of education, 685 458 737 Mathematically the input-oriented DEA model of people super-efficiency form inputs, r outputs and n de- cision-making units (DMUs) can be formalized in Total number of observed main fields of education the following way: is 8. The sample covers all the universities of the Republic of Srpska for 2015. The total number of sup graduated students for all the observed main fields minz = θ , subject to: of education was 5.5 thousand people.

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5. RESULTS the entire education system, higher education in- stitutions are obliged to improve self-evaluation Using DEA, the following efficiency scores for every procedures and engage employees and students field of higher education were obtained (Table 2). in the continuous improvement of the teaching process, and based on the principle “student in Table 2. DEA results the learning center”. The unity of the internal and Source: Authors’ calculation. external quality assurance system is achieved by Main fields of higher Input-oriented CRS implementing the Standards and Guidelines for education in RC super efficiency scores Quality Assurance in the European Standards and Agriculture 2,31935 Social sciences, business and law 1,84187 Guidelines (ESG). Education 1,13531 Services 0,99770 The work of higher education teacher must be ba- Health and social work 0,79424 sically a scientific research activity, as well as the Natural sciences, mathematics and 0,75111 transfer of knowledge, informed scientific truths, informatics teaching, learning, leading the student to the Humanities and arts 0,74066 Engineering, manufacturing knowledge necessary for his professional engage- 0,63230 technologies and construction ment, for continuous improvement. Therefore, a teacher in a higher education institution must at Basing on the DEA results, it is evident that the the same time possess the competences of lectur- science field “agriculture” have achieved the high- ers, teachers, educators, mentors, scientists and re- est efficiency score. Social sciences, business and searchers with references. law and education are also efficient relatively. However, engineering, manufacturing technolo- Higher education needs to be directed towards gies and construction field has the lowest efficien- the European educational framework through cy score. The later consumes the highest budget, the application of European standards in edu- but gets the lowest results. cation. The level of achieving these standards can only be measured by a set of European indi- Agriculture in the Republic of Srpska occupies cators implemented in the statistical education a significant place in its economic structure. system. The share of agriculture in the gross domestic product is 8.9%. Although only 3,000 are for- Improving the professional, professional and sci- mally emploed, informal (permanent or tempo- entific competences of university teachers can be rary) employment in agriculture is much higher. realized through the following activities: Rural areas occupy about 95% of the territory of the Republic of Srpska and there live about • define the criteria for measuring the pedagog- 83% of its population (Strategic Plan, 2015). ical work of university teachers; Apparently, it is not by chance that the train- ing of specialists in this particular sector of the • provide provisions in the normative acts of economy has the highest efficiency, since it is higher education institutions, in which the agriculture that is developing at the highest criteria for determining pedagogical compe- rates (Statistical Report, 2018). tencies will be concretized;

The efficiency of higher education, taking into • perform periodic self-assessment and exter- account all the scientific fields, encompasses -ac nal evaluation of pedagogical, didactic-me- ademic and professional work and the quality of thodical and research qualities of university teaching, research, student results and the success teachers; of graduates. • establish a system of continuous profession- In order to identify the factors that influence the al training in the direction of further devel- improvement of the achieved student results, and opment of functional and multidisciplinary the strengthening of the quality of teaching and competences of university teachers;

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Source: Statistical Report (2018). 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total Fundamental Applied Developmental

Figure 9. Number of research and development works published in during the period 2009–2015

• introduce mandatory evaluations and reviews institutions with the obligation to publish the re- of scientific research work and results of this sults of the work, which will additionally ensure work according to internationally recognized the quality of higher education. standards and with the participation of inter- national experts; According to the data of the Republic Bureau of Statistics, 2,434 papers were published between • increase the number of scientific publications 2009 and 2015 (Figure 9). and papers in recognized journals; The most published works were applied research • define the system of internal and external (1.162), developmental research (820), and the least evaluation of scientific and research work at fundamental research (452). However, the down- universities and teaching-scientific process; ward trend in the total number of publications indicates a twofold deterioration in the scientific • to achieve cooperation within the EU’s re- efficiency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the six- search and development programs; year period.

• increase the number and participation of visiting Comparison with neighbouring countries showed scientists from abroad in the teaching process. that scientific efficiency in the B&H is much small- er than the scientific productivity of the countries Primary responsibility for the implementation of in the region (Table 3). these processes is provided by higher education

Table 3. Total number of WoS papers, quotations and citations from 2010 to 2014.

Source: Ministry of Science RS, Strategy of Education Development of Republic of Srpska 2017–2021.

Country/ Number of WoS papers No. of citations of WoS papers No. of WoS citations

Region (M2010-2014, M2010-2012) (M2010-2014, M2010-2012) (M2010-2014, M2010-2012) Serbia 31,679 (6,335.8, 6,141.67) 17,206 (3,411.2, 3,762.67) 119,979 (23,995.8, 31,353.0) Croatia 23,452 (4,690.4, 4,696.0) 13,020 (2,604.0, 2,944.33) 114,763 (22,952.6, 31,340.67) Slovenia 23,215 (4,643.0, 4,633.67) 14,640 (2,928.0, 3,128.67) 128,949 (25,789.8, 34,436.67) Republic of 780 (156.0, 151.33) 301 (60.2, 69.0) 1,161 (232.2, 294.0) Srpska Federation 2,537 (507.4, 554.33) 1,041 (208.2, 247.67) 5,943 (1,188.6, 1,611.0) B&H Total B&H 3,265 (653.0, 695.33) 1,320 (264.0, 311.67) 7,047 (1,409.4, 1,893.0)

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In 2015, only 237 scientific research papers were tered in total. This confirms relatively low scientific published in RS, the largest number of the papers efficiency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. belongs to applied research (50.2%), developmental research (30.4%) and fundamental research (19.4%). Thus, declining indicators of scientific efficiency In the period from 2010 to 2014, researchers from does not confirm the hypothesis about the dete- the RS published 780 papers (Web of Science), 301 rioration of the efficiency of higher education sys- of which were cited, and 1,161 citations were regis- tem in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Considering the relative efficiency of main fields of the higher education system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we found that agriculture is the most efficient field of higherucation ed in this country. However, the engineering, manufacturing technologies and construction has the lowest efficiency score, because they consume the highest budget, but get the lowest results.

However, the efficiency of higher education should taking into account all the scientific fields, and -en compasses academic and professional work and the quality of teaching, research, student results and the success of graduates.

The hypothesis of the growing efficiency of the higher education system of B&H was not confirmed. The downward trend in the total number of publications indicates a twofold deterioration in the scientific efficiency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the six-year period.

Comparison with neighbouring countries showed relatively low scientific efficiency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

All this indicates that currently the higher education system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is relatively in- efficient and its efficiency falls down.

The number of graduates in the field of social sciences and humanities is on the rise, while in natural sciences, it is decreasing. In the coming period, it is necessary to change the trend of decline in the number of graduates from study programs in the fields of natural sciences and mathematics, engineer- ing, technology and construction, because the personnel from these areas are the driving force of the economic and social development.

It is necessary to enable students to continually improve and to constantly modernize their professional competences. Modernization of study programs means that the concept of teaching/learning is scien- tifically based (in accordance with the latest scientific achievements and knowledge of the profession, psychology of learning, psychology of development and motivation, and teaching methods), that it is flexible, that the teacher, teacher and expert associate can successfully adapt new trends in education and perfect it according to the news that will be necessary for the future.

Measurement of competency requires the establishment of European indicators in the system of assess- ment and selection of higher education staff. In order to provide competent teaching staff, a system of new education is crucial, both in basic studies and in professional development. Improving the univer- sity teaching process next measures can be implemented through the following activities:

• improve the legal framework of higher education through upgrading existing ones and introducing new standards in the field of scientific education;

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• equalize minimum criteria and procedures for selection in scientific titles;

• increase the number of teachers who actively speak English and use modern technolo gies in work;

• introduce the mandatory presentation and discussion of scientific research projects in the field;

• establish an adequate system of scoring of subjects and evaluation of extra-curricular activities of students;

• adopt criteria for writing and publishing scientific papers and teaching textbooks.

In addition to the inadequate institutional framework, primarily in the field of elections to higher sci- entific and scientific institutions, the second most important reasonor f this situation is insufficient investment in research and development. As a rule, insufficient scientific and technological transfer is mainly a consequence of modest investments in research and development, or the protection of intel- lectual property.

The achievement of the international pre-qualification of the higher ucationed system of B&H and the positioning of its higher education institutions, without delay, should be set as one of the priority activ- ities of bodies and institutions in the field of higher education.

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