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Institutional Diversity in European Higher Education

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Institutional Diversity in European Higher Education INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY IN EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION Tensions and challenges for policy makers and institutional leaders by Sybille Reichert Copyright © 2009 by the European University Association All rights reserved. This information may be freely used and copied for non-commercial purposes, provided that the source is acknowledged (© European University Association). Additional copies of this publication are available for 20 Euros per copy. For ordering information, please contact [email protected] or write to: European University Association asbl Rue d’Egmont 13 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel +32 - 2 230 55 44 Fax +32 - 2 230 57 51 A free electronic version of this publication is available through www.eua.be ISBN: 9789078997153 INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY IN EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION Tensions and challenges for policy makers and institutional leaders by Sybille Reichert 4 Content 6 Foreword 7 Acknowledgements 8 Chapter1: InstitutionalDiversityinHigherEducation –AimsoftheStudyinLightofKeyConceptsand PreviousResearch 21 Chapter2: InstitutionalDiversityinEnglishHigherEducation 45 Chapter3: InstitutionalDiversityinFrenchHigherEducation 63 Chapter4: InstitutionalDiversityinNorwegianHigherEducation 83 Chapter5: InstitutionalDiversityinSlovakHigherEducation 98 Chapter6: InstitutionalDiversityinSwissHigherEducation 122 Chapter7: InstitutionalDiversityinFiveEuropeanHigher EducationSystems–SummaryofFindings 144 Chapter8: InstitutionalDiversityinEuropeanHigherEducation –Conclusions 156 References 5 Foreword The issue of institutional diversity has moved to the centre of policy discussions in Europe with such questions as how to ensure the competitiveness of knowledge-based societies and respond to the diversity of students’ and stakeholders’ demands and needs. Institutional diversity is seen as a positive goal; yet, when no parity of esteem exists across institutional types, institutional drift and mission overload set in. This study, commissioned by EUA, compares institutional diversity in five higher education systems – in England, France, Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland – and seeks to understand, empirically, the complex interplay of factors (legal frameworks, funding incentives, QA procedures, etc.) that drive diversification or convergence, at both the system and the institutional level. In addition, one of the main values of this study, as compared to the existing literature on the subject, lies in its examination of the attitudes held and norms followed by a wide range of actors (policymakers, institutional leaders, academics, external stakeholders, etc.) regarding the issue of diversity. This multidimensional, empirical approach results in conclusions that undermine accepted ideas, particularly regarding the concepts of social elite, excellence and autonomy in higher education, and should be of use to institutional leaders and policy makers. The study shows that understanding and measuring institutional diversity cannot be achieved by looking simply at the number of institutions of different profiles and orientations within a system. It needs to take into account the complex reality of institutional responses and the internal mix of their institutional missions. Systems that impose a typology of institutions and missions are not necessarily more or less effective than those that allow institutions to develop their own mission mixes. The study reveals that the opposition of binary and non-binary (or “post-binary”) integrated higher education systems is often exaggerated. Depending on the mix of regulatory, financial and reward instruments, as well as the norms which underpin or undermine them, binary systems may be less rigid than non-binary or “post-binary” integrated systems. Neither one is necessarily a more adapted response to diversity of needs, or seems more effective in widening access. The study also challenges accepted ideas about elite and access to higher education. In a sense, higher education seems to have difficulties with the idea, definition and support of social elites. It is “caught in the tension between the need to widen and broaden access and the requirement of some elite forms of provision”. While genuine meritocracy, equity and social justice are professed policy goals, the need to produce elites in some form seems to be usually met “obliquely rather than explicitly, with differentiated, often separate higher education provisions”. Thus, opportunities are lost to redefine the elite in more socially just and acceptable ways, and to implement effective measures to develop social mobility further. The issue of funding is shown to be even more important than that of autonomy. Parity of esteem among different institutional types or missions can only be possible if a variety of funding incentives are available and if there is significant funding to support the expanded functions. Thus, assumptions that increased autonomy, market forces and inter-institutional competition will increase institutional diversity are simplistic. Systems in which institutional types and mission diversity are regulated by law should not be perceived as lacking institutional autonomy, provided the reward system is sufficiently differentiated to allow institutions to develop a variety of niches. EUA will continue to work on these important issues, which are at the core of current policy debates in Europe, and in the context of EUA’s broader work on governance, autonomy and funding. LesleyWilson SecretaryGeneral 6 Acknowledgements After more than one and a half years of work on this project, its completion seems as yet somewhat unreal. There were times when it seemed there was too much detail to be taken into account to ever rise again from the depths of complexity to the surface of overarching observations and conclusions. That the study rose to some form of coherence and turned out to be a stimulating and rewarding experience after all, at least for the author, and hopefully a helpful study for the reader, owes a great deal to the support, reflections and encouragement of a few key people: The project was accompanied by a great team of European higher education experts who were responsible for the site visits to the five countries. The team was particularly helpful because it combined experienced internationally- versed higher education researchers, such as Pedro Teixeira and Lazar Vlasceanu, and higher education policy experts with international experience, namely Lars Ekholm and Jacqueline Smith, as well as experts from the national rectors conferences of the countries included in this comparative study, namely Maria Cikesova of the Slovak Rectors Conference, Oyvind Nystol of the Norwegian Higher Education Association, Harald Schraeder of the French CPU, Mathias Stauffacher of the Swiss CRUS, and Greg Wade of Universities UK. The multiple perspectives of this team proved to be invaluable for helping to tackle the complexity of the five national systems, for identifying key issues, debates, and tensions in the respective countries, for organising and conducting the site visits with its five-day marathon of 30 or more interviews, and as a sounding board for the overarching analysis and conclusions. EUA’s and my own deep thanks go to them for their commitment, comments, reflections and dedication to this study. It is a pity such a team cannot last beyond the duration of this project! In the last few months of refining, rewriting and editing the text of this study, tucked away on the other side of the Atlantic, I was fortunate to have had Andrée Sursock as my partner in crime. With her overview and sensitivity to the complexities of higher education systems and institutions, her clear mind and merciless eye for weak points in any text or argument, she was the most relentless, perfectionist, challenging and supportive reader and critic that I could imagine during that difficult final stretch. I do not regret any unforeseen labours invested in response to her comments and could not be more grateful for that dialogue. Last but not least, I would like to thank Lesley Wilson, for supporting this difficult undertaking from the very beginning – a rare example of someone who lives and thrives in a world of institutional diversity every day and can cheerfully make sense of complexity without diminishing its importance. SybilleReichert,September2009 7 Chapter 1:InstitutionalDiversityinHigherEducation–AimsoftheStudyinLightofKeyConceptsandPreviousResearch Chapter 1: Institutional Diversity in Higher Education – Aims of the Study in Light of Key Concepts and Previous Research Institutional diversity or differentiation is one of the These influences may derive from the practices and most intensely debated topics of higher education developments of science and scholarship itself, i.e. policyandresearch.InEurope,thesedebatestendto the demands of disciplinary and labour market focusonthediversityofinstitutionalprofilesandtheir specialisation and differentiation (Clark 1983, capacitytoaddressdiverseneedsandsocietaldemands, 1996). They may also derive from state regulation whichusuallyareassociatedwiththeexpansionand and funding sources and instruments or from the massificationofhighereducation(Trow,1979)1,and reward structures within higher education systems. the increasingly diverse profiles, competences, and While these intentional instruments of government qualifications of students. Institutional diversity is regulation, funding and quality monitoring act as becoming more central to higher education policy incentives for the behaviour of institutions
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