Bachelor Thesis K. Krug Towards changing higher education governance –a comparative study of North Rhine- Westphalian (German) and Lithuanian higher education– Bachelor Thesis | Katharina Krug Supervisor: Dr. L. Leisyte Co-reader: Dr. R. de Ruiter University of Twente | Faculty of Management and Governance BSC European Studies | Date of Delivery: 14/08/2011 i I. Abstract The study analyses the changes of higher education governance in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germa- ny) and Lithuania between 2000 and 2009. It focuses on two important steering mechanisms of fund- ing and quality assurance. The research question is how did governance modes in the higher education systems of the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia and Lithuania change since 2000 regarding the steering mecha- nisms of funding and quality assurance? The empirical evidence includes higher education laws of the North Rhine-Westphalia and Lithuania and expert interviews. The findings suggest that in both cases higher education governance is moving from a rather state regulated model towards a market- oriented model, with predominant elements of managerial self-governance and competition. This finding is in line with the general trend visible in European countries: the higher education govern- ance systems in these two cases converge towards the lines of the market-oriented model. i Table of Contents I. ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... I II. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. II III. LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. II IV. LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................... II 1. HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................... 1 2. CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................. 3 2.1 CONCEPTUALISATION: HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE AND IDEAL MODELS .............................. 4 2.2 OPERATIONALISATION: DIMENSIONS OF GOVERNANCE .............................................................................. 5 2.3 OPERATIONALISATION: STEERING MECHANISMS – FUNDING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 7 3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................................................. 11 3.2 CASE SELECTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 3.3 DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.4 DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 4. GOVERNANCE MODES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN GERMANY ................................... 15 4.1 THE GERMAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM ................................................................................................ 15 4.1.1 The regulatory framework and the main actors in the Higher Education system ......................... 15 4.1.2 The academic landscape in North Rhine-Westphalia ............................................................................ 19 4.1.3 Higher education reform in North Rhine-Westphalia ........................................................................... 19 4.2 GOVERNANCE DIMENSIONS: SHIFTS IN FUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES AND THE QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.2.1 Funding of universities in North Rhine-Westphalia .............................................................................. 20 4.2.2 Quality assurance system in North Rhine-Westphalia ........................................................................... 23 5. GOVERNANCE MODES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN LITHUANIA ................................ 26 5.1 THE LITHUANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM ......................................................................................... 26 5.1.1 The regulatory framework and the main actors in the Higher Education system ......................... 26 5.1.2 The academic landscape in Lithuania ......................................................................................................... 28 5.1.3 Higher education reform in Lithuania ....................................................................................................... 29 5.2 GOVERNANCE DIMENSIONS: SHIFTS IN FUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES AND THE QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM ....................................................................................................................................................... 30 5.2.1 Funding of universities in Lithuania ........................................................................................................... 30 5.2.2 Quality assurance system in Lithuania ....................................................................................................... 32 6. COMPARISON OF GOVERNANCE CHANGES OF LITHUANIAN AND NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIAN HIGHER EDUCATION ........................................................................... 35 6.1 FUNDING OF UNIVERSITIES ................................................................................................................................. 35 6.2 QUALITY ASSURANCE ............................................................................................................................................. 35 7. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................... 37 7.1 PUTTING FINDINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE: CHANGE IN GOVERNANCE MODELS IN THE TWO SYSTEMS – CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE? ...................................................................................................... 37 7.2 CONTRIBUTION OF THIS STUDY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH .................................... 41 APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................................................... 42 APPENDIX I: INTERVIEW SCHEDULES ..................................................................................................................... 42 APPENDIX II: PRIMARY DATA SOURCES .................................................................................................................. 46 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 48 i Bachelor Thesis K. Krug II. List of abbreviations AC: Accreditation Council: Foundation for the Accreditation of Study Programmes in Germany (Stiftung zur Akkreditierung von Studiengängen in Deutschland) BMBF: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) Centre: Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education in Lithuania (Stuijų kokybės vertinimo centro) EU: European Union HE: Higher Education HEI: Higher Education Institution KMK: Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in Germany (Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) LHE: Law on Higher Education for Lithuania LHER: Law on Higher Education and Research for Lithuania MIWF: Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Research in North Rhine-Westphalia MoES: Ministry of Education and Science in Lithuania NRW: North Rhine-Westphalia III. List of Figures FIGURE 1: THE STAGES OF THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................. 10 IV. List of Tables TABLE 1: RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 3 TABLE 2: HIGHER EDUCATION MODELS LINKED TO GOVERNANCE DIMENSIONS .............................. 6 TABLE 3: OVERVIEW OF POLICY ACTORS IN GERMAN AND NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS ..................................................................................................................................... 18 TABLE 4: OVERVIEW OF POLICY ACTORS IN LITHUANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM ............. 28 TABLE 5: SHIFTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN NRW, 2000-2009 ............................................ 37 TABLE 6: SHIFTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN LITHUANIA, 2000-2009 ............................ 38 TABLE 7: PRIMARY DATA SOURCES NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA .................................................................... 46 TABLE 8: PRIMARY DATA SOURCES LITHUANIA ..........................................................................................................