Thirty years of crisis? The disputed public value humanities research in the Netherlands 1982-2012 HERAVALUE (Measuring the value of arts & humanities research) Country Report. Country report 1, the Netherlands. Part of the ESF HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) ERA-NET Joint Research Programme Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) Universiteit Twente Postbus 217 7500 AE Enschede Tel : 053 – 4893809 / 4893263 Fax : 053 – 4340392 E-mail : [email protected] Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, University of Twente, the Netherlands. Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 5 2 THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ARTS & HUMANITIES RESEARCH VALUE ................................................ 7 2.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CHAPTER ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 THE RISE OF THE VALORISATION AGENDA ............................................................................................................ 8 2.2.1 Valorisation and the rise of the ‘third mission’ for universities ....................................................... 8 2.2.2 Valorisation as research’s contribution to innovation..................................................................... 9 2.2.3 The complexity of the valorisation case: a clear example of ‘public failure’? ............................... 10 2.3 VALORISATION WITHIN ARTS & HUMANITIES RESEARCH ....................................................................................... 11 2.3.1 From public values to public values in public policy domains ........................................................ 11 2.3.2 Is valorisation policy facing a public-value failure? ....................................................................... 13 2.3.3 The resistance within the field – arts & humanities research as different .................................... 14 2.4 PUBLIC VALUE AND VALORISATION IN ARTS & HUMANITIES RESEARCH ..................................................................... 15 2.4.1 The case to answer for a public value failure in arts & humanities research ................................ 15 2.4.2 Towards a public value approach for understanding valorisation in arts & humanities ............... 17 2.4.3 Operationalising the idea of a public values failure in arts & humanities research ...................... 18 3 HERAVALUE AND THE RESEARCH METHOD ........................................................................................... 21 3.1 FROM A CONSTRUCTIVIST METHODOLOGY TO THE INTERVIEW METHOD .................................................................. 21 3.2 THE EMERGENT DECISION FOR A HISTORICAL METHOD ......................................................................................... 25 3.3 INTEGRATING PUBLIC SOURCES AND INTERVIEWEE ANONYMITY ............................................................................. 26 4 THE CRISIS OF THE HUMANITIES IN THE NETHERLANDS ........................................................................ 28 4.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE STUDY: THE NETHERLANDS ...................................................................................... 28 4.2 HUMANITIES IN DUTCH UNIVERSITIES IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ......................................................................... 28 4.3 THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF HUMANITIES IN UNIVERSITIES IN THE NETHERLANDS ................................................. 29 5 HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM FOR SOCIAL ENDS: THE BACKGROUND TO THE ‘CRISIS OF THE HUMANITIES’ ................................................................................................................................................. 32 5.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................ 32 5.2 REFORMS IN THE AREA OF SCIENCE POLICY 1970-90 .......................................................................................... 32 5.2.1 Nota Wetenschapsbeleid (1975) ................................................................................................... 33 5.2.2 Nota Innovatie (1980) ................................................................................................................... 34 5.2.3 The shift from Pure to National Science Council (1988) ................................................................ 35 5.3 REFORMS IN THE AREA OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY 1970-90 ........................................................................... 35 5.4 IMPACTS OF THE REFORMS ON HUMANITIES ...................................................................................................... 38 6 THE CRISIS OF HUMANITIES AND THE SMALL LANGUAGES ................................................................... 45 6.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................ 45 6.2 COMMISSIONING A WAY OUT OF THE CRISIS?..................................................................................................... 46 6.2.1 Staal Commissie ............................................................................................................................ 46 6.2.2 Commissie Vonhoff ........................................................................................................................ 47 6.2.3 The Gerritsen Commission ............................................................................................................. 49 6.3 THE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE SOCIAL VALUE OF HUMANITIES IN THE NETHERLANDS, C. 2002. ..................................... 51 8 UNIVERSITIES AND MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................................... 55 8.1 DEFINING RESEARCH QUALITY AND EXCELLENCE IN ARTS & HUMANITIES RESEARCH.................................................... 55 8.1.1 Key features of Dutch definitions of academic excellence ............................................................. 56 8.1.2 Debates and forums shaping the evolution of ideas of A&HR excellence ..................................... 58 8.1.3 The issue of exceptionalism: A&HR as homogenous or heterogeneous ........................................ 60 8.2 IMPACT AND EXCELLENCE IN DUTCH ACADEMIA .................................................................................................. 63 8.2.1 The idea of impact and its relation to academic excellence .......................................................... 63 8.2.2 Differences in impact in Dutch humanities .................................................................................... 64 8.2.3 The strategic dimension to humanities impact in the Netherlands ............................................... 65 8.3 USERS & AUDIENCE IN HUMANITIES RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 66 Thirty Years of Crisis? the disputed societal value of humanities research in the Netherlands. 8.3.1 Understanding the audience: how perceptions of stakeholders shape action .............................. 66 8.3.2 Conceptual models for knowledge transfer in A&HR .................................................................... 67 8.3.3 Stakeholders and users for knowledge transfer in arts & humanities research ............................ 69 8.4 SYSTEM PRESSURES AND POTENTIAL FUTURE EVOLUTIONARY PATHWAYS ................................................................. 71 8.4.1 Perceived future directions and pressures for humanities ............................................................ 71 8.4.2 The future evolution of the strategic place of humanities in Dutch universities ........................... 72 9 POLICY DEBATES CONCERNING THE VALORISATION OF HUMANITIES RESEARCH POST-2007 ................ 75 9.1 THE BACKGROUND TO CONTEMPORARY POLICY DEBATES ...................................................................................... 75 9.1.1 Valorisation as a serious government industrial policy ................................................................. 75 9.1.2 The rise of science system assessment and impact assessment.................................................... 77 9.1.3 New kinds of institutional solutions – digital humanities and LMIs. ............................................. 78 9.2 THE FIELD OF POLICY ACTORS .......................................................................................................................... 79 9.2.1 Who are the key government actors in research policy as it affects arts & humanities research? 79 9.2.2 What are their key interests in an abstract, political and practical level? .................................... 80 9.2.3 Who are the non-governmental actors that are involved in shaping arts & humanities research policy, and what are their interests ............................................................................................................. 82 9.3 THE HISTORICAL PROCESS OF INTEREST NEGOTIATION .......................................................................................... 85 9.3.1 What were the defining events in the process of policy intervention? .......................................... 85 9.3.2 How did government perceive the arts & humanities research sector in the Netherlands?