10TH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM (HER)
Higher Education Reforms: Looking back - Looking Forward
Workshop Proceedings
Igor Cerar
WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS
10th International Workshop on Higher Education Reform (HER)
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education October 2-4, 2013
Workshop Theme
Higher Education Reforms: Looking Back - Looking Forward
Ljubljana, December 2013
International Advisory Committee
German Alvarez Mendiola, Centre of Educational Research and Studies, Mexico City, Mexico
W. James Jacob, Director, Institute for International Studies in Education (IISE), University of Pittsburgh, USA
Mei Li, Institute of Higher Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, PR China
Hans G. Schuetze, Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training, University of British Columbia at Vancouver, Canada
Maria Slowey, Centre for Higher Education Research and Development Dublin City University, Ireland Andra Wolter, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Shinichi Yamamoto, Graduate School of Higher Education Management, Oberlin University, Tokyo, Japan.
Organization committee
Pavel Zgaga, Director, Centre for Education Policy Studies (CEPS), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia (Workshop Chair)
Igor Repac, Centre for Education Policy Studies (CEPS), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia (Workshop Coordinator)
Sina Westa, PhD student, Centre for Education Policy Studies (CEPS), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia Sintayehu Alemu, PhD student, Centre for Education Policy Studies (CEPS), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia
Mira Metljak, Secretary, CEPS Journal, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia Katja Kamšek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Vanja Perovšek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
eg □ s
Published by the CEPS - Centre for Education Policy Studies University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education
Available at: https://www.pef.uni-lj.si/index.php?id=766
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
378.014.3(082)(0.034.2)
INTERNATIONAL Workshop on Higher Education Reform (10 ; 2013 ; Ljubljana)
Higher education reforms [Elektronski vir] : looking back - looking forward : workshop proceedings / 10th International Workshop on Higher Education Reform (HER), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, October 2-4, 2013. - El. knjiga. - Ljubljana : CEPS - Centre for Education Policy Studies, Faculty of Education, 2013
ISBN 978-961-253-153-9 (pdf)
1. Gl. stv. nasl.
32398685
© 2013 Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana
Table of Contents
Table of Contents...................................................................................................................................3
1.	Introduction...................................................................................................................................7
2.	Key Notes.......................................................................................................................................9
Catherine A Odora Hoppers: Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Past, the Present and the Future..................................................................................................................................................9
Peter Scott: Mass to Market Higher Education Systems: new transition or false detour?...............15
Ulrich Teichler: New Challenges for Higher Education and the Future of Higher Education Research ..........................................................................................................................................................17
3.	Panels...........................................................................................................................................23
Panel 1: Academic Freedom and University autonomy - Developments 1970 - 2025......................23
Panel 2: Globalization, privatization, financial crisis and the future of public higher education......24
Panel 3: Globalization, privatization, financial crisis and the future of public higher education......26
Panel 4: Changing higher education environments and missions, reforms and possible future directions and scenarios....................................................................................................................29
4.	Papers...........................................................................................................................................33
Sintayehu Kassaye Alemu: Rewards and Challenges of Internationalization of Higher Education in Africa.................................................................................................................................................33
Walter Archer and Kathleen Matheos: Globalization and Englishization of Higher Education: Looking Back to a Distant Precedent, Looking Forward to Some Practical Implications...................39
Bjorn Astrand: Diversity and homogeneity: notions on the role of higher education in democratic societies.............................................................................................................................................44
Iris BenDavid-Hadar: The Economics of MOOCs and its interrelationship to Competitiveness and Cohesiveness: The Case of Israel.......................................................................................................70
Wietse de Vries, German Alvarez Mendiola: Policy design and Path Dependence: Why do Mexican policies produce unusual results?......................................................................................................84
Davide Donina, Michele Meoli, Stefano Paleari: Higher Education Reform in Italy: Tightening Regulation Instead of Steering at a Distance....................................................................................94
Alejandro Gonzalez: Models of Higher Education funding in Mexico and Chile. Is there a possible equilibrium between the chronic lack of public funds and the student debt crisis?........................113
W. James Jacob and John N. Hawkins: Trends in Chinese Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges .......................................................................................................................................135
Marek Kwiek: Reforming European Universities and Reforming European Welfare States: Parallel Drivers of Change?..........................................................................................................................147
Maureen W. McClure: MOOCs: Hype or Hope: Conflicting Narratives in Higher Education Policy. 159
Tobias Nolting & Rainer Beedgen: Rethinking the relation between higher education and employment - The dual study system of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University as a new way of integrating theory and practice................................................................................172
Antigoni Papadimitriou, Bj0rn Stensaker: Capacity building as an EU policy instrument: the case of the Tempus program.......................................................................................................................177
Sonia Pavlenko, Cristina Bojan: Reclaiming the idea of the university as a possible solution to today's crisis....................................................................................................................................193
Andra Wolter: Massification and Diversity: Has the Expansion of Higher Education Led to a Changing Composition of the Student Body? European and German Experiences.........................202
5. Abstracts....................................................................................................................................221
Dominik Antonowicz: Mission Impossible? The Evaluation of Polish Research Units in 2013........221
Jozsef Beracs: Emerging entrepreneurial universities in university reforms - The moderating role of personalities and social/economic environment.............................................................................222
Darka Podmenik, Ivana Čančar: University: Autonomy versus Labor Market.................................224
Marek Frankowicz: From "Polonia Process" to Bologna Process and beyond: two decades of university reforms in Poland............................................................................................................225
Isak Froumin: From manpower planning to employability discourse - the evolution of post-Soviet education........................................................................................................................................226
Enes Gok: The Future of Higher Education in Turkey: From an Elite to a Mass Society..................227
Melanie Greene, Dale Kirby: Shifting Priorities amidst a Changing Demographic: Graduate Student Persistence in the United States and Canada..................................................................................228
Gustavo Gregorutti: The Almighty Research University Sieged by Massive Teaching Universities: Contradiction or Parallel Approaches?............................................................................................229
Dale Kirby: Madly off in all directions: The incoherence of approaches to higher education access across the Canadian provinces........................................................................................................230
Manja Klemenčič, Alenka Flander: The academic profession in Slovenia.......................................231
Gergely Kovats: The Position and Role of the Dean in a Transforming Higher Education System ..233
Mei Li: Governance Reforms of Higher Education in China: Driven Forces, Characteristics and Future Directions........................................................................................................................................235
SuminLi: The Development and Reform of Chinese Minban Higher Education...............................237
Mitzi Morales: The Configuration of the Mexican Private Higher Education. Trends and Changes in the last Thirty Years.........................................................................................................................238
Hans Pechar and Lesley Andres: Academic Career Trajectories: Transatlantic Comparisons.........239
Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Tanveer Hasan, Chetan Singai: Higher Education Reforms: A Method for
Looking Back - Looking Forward.....................................................................................................240
Emanuela Reale and Emilia Primeri: Redefining the role of the nation state in the Italian higher education system: evaluation as new instrument for the university governance?.........................242
Kojima Saeko: Frameworks of Collaborative Partnership Programmes between Students and Staff in Japanese Higher Education: A comparative study with the US cases.........................................244
Shinichi Yamamoto: Higher Education Reform: Why did it start and has never been ended? An analysis of Japanese case for a useful reference for other counties...............................................245
6. Participants'List........................................................................................................................246
1. Introduction
The Workshop on Higher Education Reforms: from an initiative to a global network
Ten years ago, the Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training (CHET) at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) organised a workshop on Reform of Higher Education in Six Countries. At that time, certainly nobody expected that the initiative will gradually develop into a global network. However, over the last ten years, a number of researchers in Higher Education in various countries have organized each year a series of international workshops. Four of these have taken place in North America (Canada, the US and Mexico), four in Europe (Austria, Ireland, Germany, and in Slovenia), and two in Asia (Japan and PR China).
Over the ten years the series has been in existence, workshop themes have covered various topics, ranging from internationalization and marketization of HE to issues of institutional governance. The major papers from the workshops have been published, either in the form of monographs, special issues of academic journals, or as individual articles or chapters. Organizers served also as editors, with occasional help from members of the international advisory group.
The workshops are organized by local teams, located at the university on whose premises the workshops are held. The workshop coordinators (directors) and their teams are assisted by members of a small international advisory group (in the past composed of the coordinators of earlier HER workshops), for example, with advertising the workshop in their respective countries or regions, identifying and providing contact with potential keynote speakers and principal panelists, adjudicating paper proposals, and suggesting themes, and workshop-related events as well as potential publishers for the proceedings,
In 2013, the Workshop on Higher Education Reforms was organised by the Centre for Education Policy Studies (CEPS) at the University of Ljubljana. This was the tenth international workshop and therefore an opportunity for celebration and reflection on the work done so far. Previous workshops have taken place in Vancouver (University of British Columbia; 2003, 2010), Vienna (University of Klagenfurt; 2004), Tokyo (University of Tsukuba; 2006), Dublin (Dublin City University; 2001), Shanghai (East China Normal University; 2008), Mexico City (Centre for Research and Advanced Studies - Department of Educational Research; 2009), Berlin (Humboldt University; 2011), and Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh University; 2012).
The 2013 Workshop was co-financed by the Centre of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational and Training Programmes (CMEPIUS). It was co-sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Higher Education Special Interest Group; the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education (CSSHE); the Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training, University of British Columbia at Vancouver, Canada; and the PASCAL International Observatory.
The Workshop Theme 2013: Looking back - Looking Forward
After four or five decades of far-reaching reforms, Higher Education has profoundly changed. The 2013 Workshop theme gave an opportunity to look at the larger picture of these changes, the drivers of change, and their effects. At the same time, the theme invites contributions about the likely futures of HE over the next generation, suggesting (or speculating on) developments that will further change HE.
Some drivers of future change are already manifest, whereas others might still be obscure. Among those manifest are the massive growth and increasing differentiation of higher education systems and the impact of globalization and international competition. Related to this latter development are the expanding marketization and privatization of higher education, international rankings of "world class universities", changing forms of university governance, and the changing role of students from "learners" to "consumers", enhanced in many countries by steep increases in tuition fees as the financial crisis and ensuing cuts of public budgets have forced HE institutions, especially universities, to look for additional resources from students and their families.
Meanwhile online learning and individual study will have a massive impact on traditional, campus and classroom based higher education. Although still in its infancy, the rise of "massive open online courses" (MOOC) is already attracting much attention. In one possible future, campus-based university education would be reserved for a few students whereas the majority would learn mostly or exclusively on-line, independently or in virtual classrooms (networks). Many of these developments and trends put in question the traditional role of universities as places for independent research and teaching and thus established notions of institutional autonomy and academic freedom.
As an international workshop should do, the 2013 meeting gave an opportunity for comparative analysis and discussion, either by geography (comparing, for example, reform policies within the same region, e.g. former Communist Eastern European or Latin American countries) or by theme (e.g. the growing importance of private HE institutions in various countries and the future of public HE). As far as possible, contributions considered development over time rather than at a particular point in time.
In these Proceedings we collected the main results of the workshop. First, we provide - in a short form - the content of the key notes and panels. The main part of this booklet contains finalized articles that were presented at the conference. In some cases, abstracts are published only because some articles had not been completed by the deadline. As usual, selected articles will be later published in a monograph or journal.
2. Key Notes
Catherine A Odora Hoppers: Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Past, the Present and the Future
DST/NRF SARChl Chair in Development Education
Funded by the South African Department of Science and Technology. Administered by the National Research Foundation.
Hosted by the University of South Africa (Unisa)
UN ISA
It is a mega-university (400,000 students) It is the biggest university in Africa It is the 8th biggest in the world
Introduction - Ljubjlana
* Higher education in sub-Saharan Africa:
in the form and shape we recognize today.
is a young and nascent phenomenon.
Inception to challenges
Since its inception,
through the incarnation of the educational
systems of colonial powers,
higher education in sub-Saharan Africa has
made significant strides,
but also faced major challenges.
The Questions
From Non-Existence to an Enterprise
Higher education in sub- Saharan Africa
•	has emerged from virtual nonexistence some four decades ago
•	to an enterprise that enrols several million students
•	and recruits hundreds and thousands of faculty and staff (Teferra 2006).
First conceptualizations
•	Taking the short-sighted vision the shortfall emerges right from the first conceptualisation of the African university.
•	In those early days, universities were conceived of as institutions for producing manpower to indigenise the civil service following independence.
Short-sight....
Clearly there was a gross underestimation of:
•	the intellectual and
•	political processes of development, and
•	nation building that followed independence, and the short-sightedness of it all became evident very quickly.
•	What are the major features of universities in Sub-Saharan Africa at the current time,
and
•	what are the major historical developments that have contributed to this situation?
•	Where do we go from here?
• To say today that this framework involved a complete misunderstanding of the tasks that lay ahead is an understatement (Mkandawire, 2000:1).
For instance
Once indigenisation was achieved,
•	governments had little reason continue to support universities,
•	especially after indigenisation was compounded by the dubious claims
•	of the World Bank that higher education in Africa had lower returns than secondary and primary levels of education - signalling to all donors to diminish their support for university education
an understatement
Repression
Soon thereafter,
•	the repressive politics became the norm across the continent (esp. in the 1970s)
•	entrenched the relativization of academe
•	left no room for intellectuals to occupy public space,
•	sending scores of Africa's best brains into exile, self-effacement and invisibility, self-imposed marginalisation, fawning adulation of power, jail or death.
The 5 projects
This project had five tenets:
•	complete decolonisation of the continent and national sovereignty;
•	nation building;
•	economic and social development;
•	democratisation; and
•	regional co-operation
Mutual tolerance
•	The university was seen as the institution that had to train human resources for "that" development.
•	This consensus generated mutual tolerance and amicable co-operation
The two sides of the road
•	Supported by donors, they were on one side of the road insisting (in a populist manner) on relevance
•	- which was by then reduced to the provision of manpower resources for "development"
•	- while the academics lined up on the other side of the road waving 'quality' placards at the government
African intellectuals shared these objectives and
•	were willing to submit themselves to the command of the nationalist and developmental state,
•	which they viewed as the custodian of the development process.
The mumblings
•	By the 1970s, however, things had began to sour, and
•	by the arrival of structural adjustment, African governments had turned elsewhere.
•	They began to mumble that local research was 'irrelevant', by which they meant that it was not usable in policy matters.
Gravitation towards applied research
In order to be relevant, universities were expected to gravitate:
•	towards the attainment of concrete and demonstrable goals,
•	with an emphasis on applied research.
Structural conservatism
A status quo in disrepute
Not surprisingly, the response to this pressure was structural conservatism
•	as universities whined about how such a move would detract them from their classical objectives of teaching and research (Sawyerr, 2002),
•	even though no serious questions were being asked about the nature of research questions.
Universities were defending a status quo
•	- which was itself in disrepute
•	- stressing the maintenance of a stale stability, and
•	vowing it would continue
•	to do the same thing, in the same direction, and at the same pace
You are on your own
Under enormous pressure to account for themselves (Mafeje, 1993)
•	many African intellectuals soul-searched about their role as intellectuals, and the
•	relevance of the institutions that they inhabited or ran, or were invited to occupy.
The beginnings....
It is from this soul-searching
•	that one picks up
•	the critical cultural analysis of the African university.
Focus on African society
Mazrui had long argued
•	that the African university was conceived of
•	as a transmission belt for Western high culture
•	rather than as an institution to contextualise standards, and
•	set parameters of excellence based on the needs of African society and people.
Second Level Indigenization
It is this latter conception that
•	enabled the grounding of the very process and agenda for learning and research in local conditions; and
•	which in the 21st century, some African universities are finally realizing 5 decades deep, that they could have started with "Second Level Indigenization" (SLI) at the very start.
Briefly: the difference
First Level indigenization (FLI) deals with the regulatory rules, accepting the plot and leaving the frame intact. Second level indigenization questions the rules of the game.
It goes into the constitutive rules that make the paradigms of practice, what I call, "the codes" (Odora Hoppers 2009, 2013).
For instance
Making transdisciplinarity in knowledge production be a focus. The disciplinary knowledge spectrums (Law, economics, education and science) are transformed by enlargement.
Science
Transformation of the Academy
1.	Ethical space imperatives and dialogues on epistemological and cultural jurisdictions
2.	Transformation by enlargement and restorative action
3.	African metaphysics and paradigms of livelihood
Economics
Economics is dealt with from its roots of notions
of scarcity,
•	which endorses the paradigm of 'survival of the fittest' and
•	which is boxing all graduates into thinking this is the only way
•	- into a paradigm of abundance—which deals with notions of human survival differently.
Introducing bi-cultural experts
The absence of bicultural experts at the epistemological level
•	has made it next to impossible
•	to break the cycle of hierarchisation of knowledge
•	endemic in the structures of the university.
•	That means that we have to create new notions of democracy; in fact democratising democrary.
•	Africa needs intellectuals who are able to see the link between science and citizenship,
•	democracy and epistemology, cognitive justice and peace,
Science is examined from the way it has created:
•	fundamental cognitive deficiencies in much of the African population,
•	resulting in the massive evacuation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems
•	and the lower hierachisation of IK producers.
Innovation based on these precepts
•	has excluded the knowledge that the African people have, and
•	therefore students need to be made aware of how innovation links to this enterprise and investment, and how it excludes in this process.
•	Transformation of the Academy is crucial;
•	Not just reform!
•	But, we have to repair the plane while it is flying...
The wings and one of the engines are done
•	and superimpose them on governance issues in the university
in fact meaning...
•	Create a context
in practice..
•	as the plane moves on...
Innovation
Repairing a flying plane
What do I mean???
•	Thus all theory must be linked with its epistemological locus and anchored in ethics.
•	The link with the "other" through the democratic imperative prevents duress from setting in.
•	This is the meaning and task of cognitive justice.
Cognitive Justice
•	Cognitive justice is the right of all forms or traditions of knowledge to co-exist without duress.
•	The approach is o free African knowledges to co-exist with other knowledges WITHOUT DURESS
Thank you!!!
I thank you for inviting me to Ljubljana and listening to me
Duress and Humiliation
From and African perspective,
•	Duress and humiliation are the "single" and most important weapon of mass destruction
•	It has imprisoned Africans and African academics and policy makers into a corner
The answers going forward
•	When we raise the ethical benchmarks in research and policy work;
•	We create a unique moment when the inner voice of disenfranchisement meets the outer voice of empowerment...
•	When the inner cry for self-determination meets the warm embrace of co-determination.
Peter Scott: Mass to Market Higher Education Systems: new transition or false detour?
CE
LONDON
Leading education and social research
Institute of Education University of London
Mass to Market Higher	
Education Systems:	
New Transition or False	L ft j I
Dawn?	
Peter Scott Professor of Higher Education Studies p.scott@ioe.ac.uk	
www.ioe.ac.uk	Centre for Higher Education Studies
My argument - in brief
Mass higher education systems were developed in the context of the 'welfare state' I 'social market. But since the 1980s new socio-economic (and ideological) conditions have emerged - and HE systems have struggled to adapt
Higher education systems seem to be evolved towards the 'market' - student fees, institutional competition, the global knowledge economy and new organisational cultures ('managerialism'). But what kind of 'market'?
Plan of presentation
Q Mass higher education - and its discontents (2) The 'neo-liberal turn'
(D Evolution of mass higher education systems © Drivers of massification - and marketisation (5) Conclusions and reflections
Evolution of mass HE systems
Drivers of mass higher education
© Drift towards 'cost-sharing', i.e. (higher) student	©
fees
© Transformation of organisational cultures:	©
© Autonomy - and managerialism
® The 'entrepreneurial university'	^
© National systems »> 'market' networks © Changing student cultures - and the new graduate class
Final stages in the educationa revolution (elementary » secondary » higher) Opening-up traditional professions -servicing new professions ('public sector') The 'spirit of the age' - social solidarity, modernisation and the Cold War
Drivers of 'market' higher education
© The knowledge economy - and more intense
(& global) competition © Narratives of (scientific) production - and
(student) consumption © The market state, public austerity and alternative funding
Ulrich Teichler: New Challenges for Higher Education and the Future of Higher Education Research
New Challenges for Higher Education and the Future of Higher Education Research
Keynote
Interational Workshop "Higher Education Reforms: Looking Back - Looking Forward" 2-4 October 2013. Ljubljana
By Ulrich Teicher
International Centre for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER-KASSEL) University of Kassel, 34109 Kassel, Germany Tel. ++49-561-804 2415, Fax ++49-561-804 7415 E-mail: teichler@lncher.uni-kassel.de
The Need for HE Policy and for HE Research to Look Forward
Ideally 30-50 years forward looks
Time span for problem identification, policy development, decision-making and implementation of reform: More than 10 years Professional life-span of future graduates and future academics influenced by current higher education: More than 30 years
Pragmatically: 10-20 years forward looks
The Need of Earlier Problem Awareness of HE Research
The Boring Futurology
Higher education research should reflect possible future directions of higher education and its context in order to explore possible future problems already in advance of the public problem awareness. HE research needs some time to identify the problems and their causes; if it starts doing this in advance, HE research is prepared when the public problem debate eventually looms.
Futurology often is viewed as boring and presence-oriented
Only extrapolation of current trends and fashions: the "end of history"
As at the beginning of industrialization: Demand for more horses
For example: ten-times more training courses for university presidents in 2025?
Understanding the Future Dynamic by Looking Backward
What has happened in the last 30-50 years? Dramatic expansion of student enrolment Substantial increase of the importance of research for the economic system
Dramatic increase of speed of knowledge transfer Continuous controversial debates as regards a "highly educated society"
Increasing legitimation/accountability pressures:
quality, relevance, efficiency
Gradual trend towards professsionalisation within
higher education (top management, academics,
higher education professionals, importance of
information systems and higher education
research)
Major Issues in HE in Europe in the First Decade of the 21st Century (I)
Five major issues (Teichler)
Management and strategy
Internationalisation/globalisation
Quality
Relevance ("knowledge economy", "employability", etc.)
Diversity
Source: U. Teichler. Equal Opportunity, Quality, Competitiveness (Contribution to the Conference „The Future of the European University after Bologna", Fondation Universitaire, Brussels, 13 December 2010)
Major Issues in HE in Europe in the First Decade of the 21st Century (II)
The Bologna Process (1999-)
Introduction/functioning of a cycle system of study programmes and degrees Expansion of lower ranks of higher/tertiary education (?)
Increasing inwards mobility of students from other parts of the world
Increasing intra-European student mobility "Employability"
Coordination of teaching/learning-related quality assurance
Strengthening the "social dimension" of HE (?)
The Need for Various Models of Possible Future Scenarios
Major Issues in HE in Europe in the First Decade of the 21st Century (III)
The Lisbon Process (2000-)
Increase of public and private expenditure on research
More research serving the "knowledge economy" (Europe as "most competitive economy") More intra-European research cooperation and mobility (?)
More competition within higher education and research (?)
A more stratified higher education and research system (?)
The Inclination to Establish Single-Dimension Scenarios
The "continuity of trends" and "consolidation of recent policies/measures" scenarios The "Great Expectation and Mixed Performance" (Cerych/Sabatier 1986) or "The glass is half empty and half full" scenarios
The "the past was beautiful" and "back to the past" scenarios
The "endemic crisis" scenarios
The "changing fashion" or "circular developments"
scenarios
The "completely new", "innovation" and "surprise"
Example: The OECD "Four Futures Scenarios for Higher Education" (2006)
Open Networking; Serving Local Communities; New Publication Management; Higher Education Inc.
All scenarios focus on higher education management and additionally core functions of HE
Proposal: Critical and Compensatory Role of Future Scenarios Undertaken by HE Researchers
Policy makers/actors are inclined to do "trend/consolidation", "half full and half empty" and "back to the past" scenarios; HE researchers should concentrate on endemic tension, just recently emerging and possibly surprising perspectives.
Future Scenarios (I)
"Higher Education Looking Forward" (HELF) Project of Key Higher Education Researchers Sponsored by European Science Foundation (ESF) (2005-2008)
"Knowledge society": The role of knowledge dynamics vs. external demand
Expansion and the changing role of HE as regards to social equity/ justice/cohesion vs. meritocracy and vs. acceptance of traditional privileges
Widening of functions (knowledge transfer, "third mission" etc.) or response to "mission overload"?
Steering and "academic power": the changing roles of governments, other external "stakeholders", "market forces", university managers and academic profession; a new "balance" or a new "steering overload"?
Pattern of the higher education system: extreme vertical stratification or flat hierarchy? Imitation of the top or "horizontal diversity" of profiles?
Source J. Brennan& U. Teichler. eds. Special Issue: The Future of Higher Education and the Future of Higher Education Research, Higher Education (56)3, 2008
Future Scenarios (II) OECD Project "Higher Education to 2030"
Three themes: "demography", "technology" and "globalisation"
"Four future scenarios for higher education" (2006);
(1)	" open networking",
(2)	"serving local communities",
(3)	"new public management", and
(4)	"higher education inc.".
Source: Four Future Scenarios for Higher Education. Paris: OECD, 2006; Higher Education to 2030. Volume 1: Demography. Paris: OECD, 2008; Higher Education to 2030. Volume 2: Clobalisation. Paris: OECD, 2010.
Future Scenarios (III)
European Commission: Youth on the Move (2010)
In general: "Increasing Attractiveness for the Knowledge Economy"
Expansion of higher education: Target for 2020: 40 % of 25-34 years olds with university degree or equivalent qualification (Bachelor or any tertiary qualification?) 2% public and private expenditures for HE in 2020 Modernisation of higher education according Bologna objectives (including 2020 target: 20 % mobility during the course of study)
Increased European cooperation in quality assurance Development of a multi-dimensional global HE ranking Closer links between education, research and innovation Increasing mobility during the course of study and after graduation
Future Scenarios (IV)
A Provisional Summary Conservative futurology
a.	Looking one or at most two decades ahead
b.	Assumption that current issues will remain salient
c.	Even no courage as regards popular futuristic slogans (e.g. life-long learning)
Major themes (similar to the first list presented): Expansion (additionally), management and strategy, internationalisation/globalisation, quality, relevance ("knowledge economy", "employability", etc.), diversity
The New Zeitgeist as Regards Diversity
The Future of Expansion
How will the dramatic increase of graduates already "in the pipeline" be absorbed, and how will this affect the higher education system?
A corresponding increase of typical graduate jobs (very unlikely)?
Smaller differences of educational attainment determine continuing substantial differences in status/work tasks/income? A flattening of the occupational hierarchy? Economic and social progress through a small knowledge elite or the wisdom of the many? Fierce competition for educational success? Loss of interest in education due to declining economic return?
Major Arguments in Favour of a Steep, Mostly Vertical Diversification (I)
The more diversity the better (no chance for profiles?)
Emphasis of steep stratification Crowing belief that steep stratification contributes to quality, relevance and efficiency of the higher education system
Increasing attention paid to ranks at the top and increasing belief that success at the top is important ("elite knowledge society"?) Assumption that top universities do not play anymore in national leagues, but rather in global leagues ("world-class universities")
Learning is more successful in relatively homogenous environments The HE institution as a whole is crucial for the quality of academic work of its parts (the quality of the academic work of the individual depends to a large extent on the institution) A steeper stratification of resources is needed to ensure quality at the top
Major Arguments in Favour of a Steep, Mostly Vertical Diversification (II)
Major Counter-Arguments Against a Steep, Mostly Vertical Diversification
The demand for research in higher education institutions is smaller than the demand for teaching
Quality of research is more steeply stratified than quality of teaching
A transparent steep hierarchy is a strong motivator for enhancement all over the higher education system
Learning benefits from moderate diversity There is always a certain degree of intra-institutional diversity
"Over-competition" undermines the valuable potentials of HE
In the global ICT-based society, quality of academic work is less dependent than ever before on the physical locality
Steep vertical diversity undermines horizontal diversity (imitation of the top instead of variety of profiles)
The Future of the "Utilitarian Drift" in Higher Education
Higher Education and the World of Work (I)
A "success story" of growing economic wealth and social well-being?
A growing "finalization" of research leading to losses in creativity?
"Free Humboldtian zones" as islands in the utilitarian sea?
The growing "employability thrust" in HE might undermine professional values Utility for visible "innovation", but not for solving the big crises of mankind and nature?
Three Conflicting Narratives, All Blaming Higher Education
The shortage and need for expansion narrative ("too few students and graduates") The "over-education" and inappropriate employment narrative ("too many students and graduates")
The "employability" narrative ("wrong competences")
Higher Education and the World of Work (II)
The "Employability" Narrative
Misleading term: "Youth at risk", "exchange dimension"
Better: "Professional relevance"
Between subordination or proactive role of HE
The Knowledge Society: A Cain or Loss for HE?
Peter Scott: The biggest crisis in the history of the university
Loss of social exclusiveness of scholars, students and graduates; loss of exclusiveness of the function of generating new knowledge, increasing competition between scholars and other knowledge experts; only survival of the "credentialing function"
Are there more positive scenarios in this respect?
What political climate in the future knowledge:
Satisfaction or complaints?
What climate of discourse: solidarity, rational
consensus, dogmatic/obstinate behaviour of the
experts?
Multi-Actor Decision-Making
Concurrent inflation of pre-higher education learning, initial study in higher education and continuing (professional and other) education? Or move towards a model of "recurrent education"? Will "continuing professional training" remain small, while continuing self-learning expands? Will HE, in hunting for new LLL territories, loose its distinctive character of a creative semi-distance to society and coaching?
In the past: Crisis of trust as regards collegial university, governmental planning, participatory decision-making?
In the near future: Crisis of trust as regards the "managerial university"? NPM: On the way to a better sorting of responsibilities or move from Burton Clark's "Triangle of coordination" (market, state and academic oligarchy) to a Heptagon or Octagon of coordination (additionally managers, participatory actors, external stake-holders, boards, etc.)?
Governance - a Short Glance
The Future of Governance
More managerial power
More external stakeholders' involvement
More evaluation activities
More incentives and incentive steering
Major narratives: "New Public Management" or
"Network coordination"
Question: More rationality and efficiency or
steering and evaluation "overkill"?
Strong management
Networking
What else?
Increasing Assessment Activities
Can the workload for reporting, being assessed and assessing others be balanced by increase of productivity?
Dramatic dichotomy of preciseness and accuracy within individual disciplines and relatively primitive measures of quality assessment in HE research What is the impact: "Qualities" or "over-homogeneous" aims and criteria? What safeguards "healthy competition", and what leads to "destructive competition"? Dramatic increase of faking of research results and faking of statistics/reports and dramatic increase of countermeasures?
Growing "Output", "Outcome" and "Impact" Awareness
The end of the Humboldtian idea: The utility of non-utilitarian thinking?
The new "evaluative culture": Permanent reflection of "what", "why", "how", "what results"? The opportunities and dangers of continuous evaluative reflection
Internationalisation of Higher Education
Decline of mobility (relatively primitive and costly mode of knowledge transfer); increase of "internationalisation at home", "virtual mobility" etc. Decline of "intentional" internationalisation along internationalisation of the daily life? Global communication or stronger nationalistic "globalisation policies"?
Persistence of supra-national market dominance and imperialism, or a stronger role of world-wide governance?
A Provisional Conclusion
Uncertainty about the future
The role of HE expansion: increasing the intellectual plateau of middle-level occupations? Between sufficient relevance and counterproductive instrumentalism
Will LLL remain a rhetorical phrase or become a reality?
Will student mobility continue to expand when it
continues to loose exceptionality?
Will there be a European convergence or continued
divergence as regards the quantitative targets of
graduation rates and mobility?
Will we move towards counterproductive rat-races or
balanced competition?
Will we realize intellectual elitism or the wisdom of the
Concurrent Trends of Professionalisation within HE
New Opportunities for Higher Education Research
The HE managers (presidents, heads of administration, deans etc. The scholars (teaching methods, research management, etc.)
Increase of higher educational professionals (guidance counsellors, international officers, fund raisers, quality management experts, etc.) Government
Increase of number, size and functions of umbrella organisations
Opportunities and dangers of increasing professionalisation
Increasing interest in evidence The dangers of simplistic evidence The different roles of the higher education experts (discipline-based researchers, higher education researchers, institutional researchers, consultants) Opportunities of collaboration between academically based higher education researchers and institutional researchers
The Future-looking Task of Higher Education Research
Futurology of potential surprises!
3. Panels
Panel 1: Academic Freedom and University autonomy - Developments 1970 -2025
Participants:
William Bruneau, University of British Columbia, Canada (chair)
Aleksa Bjeliš, Rector, University of Zagreb, Croatia, Vice President, Magna Charta Observatory of
Fundamental University Values and Rights, Bologna
Rosalie Pritchard, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
Rolf von Lude, University of Hamburg, Germany
Pavel Zgaga, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Individual presentations (Abstracts) William Bruneau
Academic freedom has been a central preoccupation in universities across the world since the early 19th century. Yet despite widespread discussion of academic freedom, government policy in many countries calls for increased levels of accountability, where "accountability" means detailed control of whole university systems. The rise of performance indicators, renewed emphasis on vocational and technical education at all levels, and declining public funding in many countries—all have added new complexity to traditional arguments about academic freedom. Our panel considers likely futures of academic freedom in the university, drawing on recent political, legal, cultural, and intellectual developments.
Rosalind Pritchard
The traditional German university model is characterised by two major freedoms: that of teaching (Lehrfreiheit) and of learning (Lernfreiheit); and three unities: those of knowledge; research and teaching; and teachers and learners. It has become almost an essentialist value system that has permeated many countries. It is associated with academic individuals rather than with higher education institutions (HEIs), and characteristic of institutions that do best in international rankings. In order to maintain it, universities must demonstrate resilience in the face of challenge from neo-liberal governments, e.g. in the United Kingdom where draconian fee increases may threaten the survival of the Humanities and Social Sciences, and even the survival of certain HEIs.
Rolf von Lude
In recent times universities have come under pressure through implementation of the governance principles of 'New Managerialism'. The 'organizational turn' in higher education and its realization are supposed to stimulate competition within and among universities. But they have produced antagonism (or non-complementary structures) as professors come to see themselves as autonomous professional actors. I shall ask if university actors are aware of this antagonism and which strategies they use to cope with it.
Pavel Zgaga
If we analyze key documents on academic autonomy in the last forty years, we see a significant conceptual shift: the concept of academic autonomy has morphed into a concept of institutional autonomy. Academic freedom has come to be seen as a self-evident result of institutional autonomy. Yet there is widespread belief that academic autonomy is threatened, not so much by the state as by the "free market". Although the academic community has become aware of this paradox around the world (as we shall show for the case of the Western Balkans), an open question remains: what kind of strategy is required under these circumstances if academic freedom is to be maximized?
Aleksa Bjeliš, discussant
Panel 2: Globalization, privatization, financial crisis and the future of public higher education
Participants:
German Alvarez Mendiola, DIE-CINVESTAV, Mexico City, Mexico (chair) Dale Kirby, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Marek Kwiek A. Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland Ivan Svetlik, Rector, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Individual presentations (Abstracts) Marek Kwiek
Higher education has been largely publicly-funded in its traditional European forms and its period of largest growth coincided with the development of the post-war welfare states across Europe. The massification processes in European higher education were closely linked to the growth and consolidation of European welfare states. Currently, massification (and universalization) processes are in full swing across Europe while welfare states are under most far-reaching restructuring in their post-war history.
We discuss links between reform agendas and their rationales in higher education and in the welfare state. Lessons learnt from welfare state reforms can be useful in understanding higher education reforms, and we see the links between the two under-researched. Assuming that higher education services have traditionally been state-funded welfare state services in postwar Continental Europe, welfare state reforms debates as a background to higher education reforms debates are a significant missing link. The paper is intended to fill this gap and explore possible links between the two largely isolated policy and research areas.
Reforming higher education systems has been high on the lists of national reform agendas across the continent for thirty years now and it has often been associated with theoretical and practical attempts to reform the state, especially with reforming state-provided public services. New ideas leading to changes in the overall functioning of the state and public sector services in Europe can have far-reaching consequences for the functioning of European universities because of, among others, their fundamental financial dependence on tax-based state subsidization. New Public Management ideas about the public sector and ideas associated with the changing state's roles under globalization and European integration processes seem to have directly and indirectly influenced policymakers' reformistic urge to change higher education systems.
Ivan Svetlik
The establishment of public universities has been based on the concept of widespread sharing of knowledge inside countries and across national borders. The shift of production towards knowledge-based one has on one side intensified the circulation of knowledge on the globe, and on the other increased the tendency to use knowledge as a means of competition including its limited availability, e.g. via industrial property rights, and to commercialize it in terms of various forms of knowledge intensive services, such as research and education. Public universities as the centres of research and teaching have therefore faced several challenges amplified by the financial crisis:
-	If they want to continue their activities under conditions of shrinking public financing they are advised to sell their teaching and research services in the form of tuition fees, development and consultancy work for industry etc.
-	This leads them to compete with each other, which includes also the limitation to the information and knowledge circulation.
-	The competition may have negative impacts on accessibility of higher education and social differentiation.
-	The competition within small countries may decrease rather than increase the quality of teaching and research.
-	Commercialization may cause the weakening and neglect of basic research.
-	Universities have reverted to international funding. To succeed in the increasing competition for international resources they have started to network and make alliances in order to achieve critical mass of references and other resources including lobbying for projects. Those from the margin or outside of these networks have increasing difficulties to obtain international research projects.
Panel 3: Globalization, privatization, financial crisis and the future of public higher education
Participants:
Maureen McClure, University of Pittsburg, USA (convener and co-chair)
Maria Slowey, Dublin City University, Ireland (co-chair)
Hans Pechar, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
Sisco Vallverdu, Universitas Politechnica, Barcelona, Spain
Jozsef Gyorkos, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Individual presentations (Abstracts) Maureen W. McClure
MOOCs: Hype or Hope: Conflicting Narratives in Higher Education Policy
To say the world of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) is changing rapidly is not news. What is news is how rapidly the field is evolving and in how many simultaneous and conflicting strategic directions. New narratives and counter-narratives are moving the field too rapidly and in too many conflicting ways to be easily captured by traditional policy research methods. This means a shift toward semi-structured methods of rapid data collection and policy analysis. This shift uses, for example, medium quality materials such as credible journalists and bloggers and not less credible Internet data.
MOOC narratives differ in their constructions of purpose. For example, "connectivist MOOCs" or cMOOCs began their life in Canada as a low cost, needs-driven way to use peer learning principles to build course networks across multiple platforms, scaffolding a strong history of online learning. Those with a modest level of expertise can join in either as students or designers. Course enrollment is often global, but not massive. The emerging narrative creates networks of distributed learning by inexpensively mixing and matching existing apps.
In the US "instructional MOOCs" or xMOOCs peer learning is a side benefit, not the major driver. Here experts with little direct interaction with students direct learning. Courseware designers made xMOOCs expensive to design and easy to use. They design 'standardized' course platforms. Some are proprietary; some are open source. These platforms made things like course registration, access and tracking ultra-user friendly and somewhat transparent. They also make intellectual property rights easier for an institution to control (and possibly profit from).
xMOOCs are a critical shift from more traditional forms in online learning because they un-sync technology development from content course construction. Platform design and control shifts to new types of organization - startup companies and NGOs whose primary purposes are technology design, maintenance and marketing. The quest for institutional sustainability, not service delivery becomes a primary narrative.
The UK's FutureLearn attempts to balance both Canadian and US narratives with "social architecture." It uses social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, etc,) that students are already likely to know how to use. In Spain, new ways of thinking about and measuring social interactions suggest
the use of QR icon scans. Finally, new narratives are emerging that create partnerships with the new MOOC organizations and technology firms such as Google and corporate training programs. Gamechanger or fad? Mapping these multi-directional narratives and their trajectories have become a focus for higher education policy too important to be ignored.
Jozsef Gyorkos
Being a digital native. Almost.
One of my most fascinating personal experience - after nearly thirty years of teaching - is the increasing gap in perception of the events in the history: that of students and my own. Relating the content to the common knowledge is crucial in my teaching - it offers a solid attention baseline. For example, communication history chapter in multidisciplinary media communication course requires both social reference and sound technological knowledge. This helps to perceive today even obsolete technologies. Internet converged many technologies and media. It is interrelated "thing" of protocol-driven physical structure giving a platform for omnipresent service layers - an ideal environment for sustainable (self) education.
What happened to the conventional HE classroom? It split and there is a new gap between two groups of students, even more, the third group is emerging as a cloud between first two groups. In the first group there are fully engaged students, expecting and requiring new technology supported means of teaching, asynchronous and full-time approach. They are keen to practice peer learning. In the second group - in spite of being a digital native - are those stemming for conventional methods and often resisting when the given approach/knowledge differs from syllabus. The third, emerging cloud of students consists of passionate and enthusiastic digital natives with very short attention span; they are often active in direct and e-contacts but fail at the exams. This is the group that is worth of additional attention.
The generation of non-digital native teachers is going to fade out in less than twenty years. This is still a long time for those who don't adopt - not at all in using ICT skills, but in facing/confronting the fact that they are standing in front of a digital native generation of students who can't understand when/why contemporary means are not used or allowed. Teacher's sound confidence is still or even more needed due to the dispersed or unreliable digital resources (we can expect significant moves towards reliability of resources with new EU focus to the re-use of public sector information also in culture and science).
The advent of MOOC's service-learning approach is an excellent occasion to revisit the basic principles of institutional competences and accountability. At the student level MOOC's are using approaches that are often neglected in higher education (e.g. obligatory attendance, home works etc). Does it ruin the values/"values" of academia? No, this is a clear call for asynchronous, geographical dispersed and highly personal engagement both of students and professors. It might be a nightmare for bureaucracy who still wants to count contact hours, manage lecture rooms and other less measurable categories.
In 2011 Slovenian Parliament adopted the National program on higher education (NPHE) 2011-2020. Use of ICT in general is considered as a disruptive technology and noted as one of the key measures. This entry in NPHE is adequate and does not limit the institution to develop their own solutions, however a common platform for public HE institutions is expected. The autonomy related concern on
unified platform should be untangled by applying interoperability standards instead of monopoly solutions.
Sisco Vallverdu
My first project applying technology to education (1988) was focused in Virtual Labs. The main goal was to allow the use of the UPC labs in electronics remotely. From that experience, many issues arise and had to be solved. Just as an example, we realized that distance learners where unable to pronounce mathematical formulas, even they were able to use them correctly. The problem was that they had never heard how the formula was read. To solve that problem we had to implement a math to speech convertor and embed it in any web page. The second issue was that different students need to run different paths, depending on their preview knowledge and personal skills, so a traditional text-book doesn't suit everybody. In this case, we developed a dynamic book that evolved in different ways depending on the learner feedback. In both examples, we realized that we had to overcome the lack of a "teacher", not for teaching in the traditional way but for interacting with the learner, interpret his evolution, correct when necessary and being a confident reference.
Why do people want to learn? May be because learning is a pleasure (from a personal point of view), may be because learning is a must (from a professional point of view), may be both of them. What is sure is that the number of people who want to learn, for one reason or another, is unmeasurable. We just have to consider how many people are enrolled in a course, at University level or not, just in the traditional and presential system. Before 1995, we have also to consider the number of people taking distance learning courses. They were as those middle-age closing monks, which spent a whole live studding (reading and copying books) and finally died in a cell taking all the wisdom with them. Fortunately, distance learners had the opportunity to certify their knowledge taking an exam, so a confident authority certifies the level that the learner has reached. Nevertheless, the learner was still a self-made man, very similar to the monk in his cell, he and his books. From 1995, Information and Communication technology changed everything. In one hand, just with a computer connected to internet, anyone, anywhere and anytime can get nearly any information just in seconds, so it makes it possible to learn nearly everything, independently of the place of residence, as anything the learner needs is in the net. In the other hand, it is possible to interact, so the learner is no more isolate as the monk in his cell, and becomes part of a team.
Is the "teacher" going to disappear in the near future? The role of the teacher and the student is changing. The student is no more passive, in fact, the student wants to learn, so, in some way, becomes the team leader. The student decides what to learn and how, is able to choose, and there is a wide offer out there. The point is that self-learning is very hard, so the student needs someone in the team that "coach" him in the learning process. Higher Education institutions may play this "coaching" role, offering flexible courses to meet the student demands. Any single teacher is just part of the coaching project, and has to be a master that is constantly adapting to the disciple needs. The main objective is to help the student to learn what he wants to learn, not what an official program states.
Technology is just a tool that makes these changes possible. When technology is mature enough, it becomes transparent. The question is; are we, teachers, prepared to change?
Panel 4: Changing higher education environments and missions, reforms and possible future directions and scenarios
Participants:
Hans G Schuetze, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (chair) Catherine A. Odora Hoppers, University of South Africa, South Africa Mei LI, East China Normal University, Shanghai, PR China Andra Wolter, Humboldt Universty, Berlin, Germany Shinichi Yamamoto, Oberlin University, Tokyo, Japan
Individual presentations (Abstracts) Mei Li
Since the late 1990s, with the expansion and restructure of higher education, fundamental transformation and development has been witnessed in China. Looking forward, the opportunities and challenges of HE reforms and development co-exist. Higher Education Sector in China faces some daunting tensions:
1.	How to balance the mass and elite higher education ?
On one hand, it is an urgent demand that China has a small number of selected prestigious universities which can make substantial contributions to build knowledge economy and innovation-oriented society and to compete with world-class universities abroad. On the other hand, China has to offer higher education opportunities for one-fifth of the world populations.
2.	How to solve the dilemmas of expansion and quality of higher education ?
With the transition to mass higher education, the institution and student population diversified, and faculty and teaching staff have heavy workloads and are not all qualified. The average size of student enrolment and faculty member has increased dramatically, the complex and difficulty of management, administration and governance has enhanced.
3.	Access and inequity and limited resources and investment
As the largest developing country, China faces how to realize access to and access to and inequity of higher education for different socio-economic background students and rural and urban students.
4.	Tensions between centralization and decentralization
How to deal with the relationship between central government and provincial government, and how to guarantee the university autonomy and academic freedom in terms of academic development, mobilizing resources and funding, governing framework.
5.	Internationalization and nationalization/localization
-	National identity and cultural tradition,
-	Chinese model of university
Andra Wolter
Despite the fact that there are many varieties between different countries there are some developments and challenges common for many countries concerning higher education environments - e. g.:
-	demographic changes: the aging society
-	closer links between economic changes and higher education, particularly the increasing demand for a highly qualified workforce and technologically utilizable research results
-	changing concepts of state responsibility and changing relationships between the state and social institutions/organizations
-	existing social disparities in the participation rates in (higher) education.
I will explain these points with a particular focus on what is going on in German higher education. In national higher education systems these developments will have consequences at different levels -only some keywords:
-	the further expansion of higher education
-	reforming governance and management structures
-	the search for new funding sources
-	the continuation of internationalization
-	reforming studies
-	the university as a lifelong learning institution. Shinichi Yamamoto
Higher education in each country is now facing a very difficult situation. If I could borrow the phrase of IMHE/OECD general conference in 2010, higher education should do more with less resources. Why do more? It is because various kinds of expectation and demand for higher education are growing. Massification of higher education is on the one hand and the most advanced scientific research and development is on the other hand. Why do with less? It is because public funding has become more selective, competitive while total amount of funding for higher education is being squeezed. In this situation, future of higher education is quite uncertain and unstable.
A possible future of higher education, however, is determined by some very important trends that affect main frame of current higher education system and thus change the role of higher education in the future. The first important trend is globalization. Knowledge and people will more easily cross the national borders and higher education institutions themselves will no longer stay within the border. Like multinational corporations, major international universities may have global strategy more strongly and their activities will be more multinational.
Second, growing number of international students. Now 4 million international students around the world, mainly from the emerging or developing countries, are seeking better opportunity of higher
education that may help their future life. For the higher education institutions, getting more international students with good quality will help them become first-ranked institution around the world.
Third, development of ICTthat will broaden opportunity of higher education for those who have had difficulty of accessing higher education both by geographical reason and restriction of time. Some universities have already started to offer their courses by the internet. In the near future, web-based higher education will be a typical mode along with traditional type of universities with fixed campuses.
Fourth, nationally unique situations will also affect future higher education in each country. In Japan, for example, we have a serious problem of demographic decline of 18-year-olds. 1,200 thousand people of 18-year-old in 2010s will be only 600 thousand in 2060s. Since we heavily depend on these young people for recruiting students, the decline will be a big threat of institutional existence in the future. Thus reform of governance and management of higher education will be a serious issue of higher education policy in the near future.
4. Papers
Sintayehu Kassaye Alemu: Rewards and Challenges of Internationalization of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
The present process of internationalization has not only reframed the initial conceptual framework, but also reshaped the relationship between countries. Until recently, higher education in Africa, Latin America and Asian, even in the better developed nations of the East such as Japan, China and India, remained largely peripheral internationally. The mainstream of higher education has become that of Western Europe and the USA. This situation undoubtedly holds considerable challenges to the higher education institutions of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. It has also motivated them to search for alternatives.
In spite of the various attempts to find out regional revitalization strategies, African higher education, due to the "invisible hands", has continued to be peripheral. Higher Education Institutions are either impacted to accept the policies and roles of the centers or forced to change their policies in favor of the conditions of the centers. Actually, African Higher Education faces challenges from both external and internal factors such as, from the outside, the asymmetric partnership with the centre and un contextualized policy influence, and from the inside, poor political resolve and incapable capacity and lack of a working system.
For developing countries like in Africa, Higher education is an important instrument of knowledge production and application to narrow down the gap between them and the matured economies. Its improvement and development is indispensable. And one of the assumed strategies of improving and qualifying higher education (research and teaching) is internationalization. Many African universities considered it as having the benefits of enhancing networking, teaching and learning, and research. Internationalization has also risks since it causes grave loss of intellectual and professional resources in the form of brain drain, increases the hegemony of the mainstream/western knowledge and cultural values, further commodify higher education, and sustain inequality between North-South universities...
This paper will assess and analyze the rewards and challenges of the internationalization of higher education as a result of center-periphery relations, with particular emphasis on Africa. The paper will be developed on the basis of my own research.
Key words: Higher education, internationalization, center, periphery, rewards, challenges, Africa
Rewards and Challenges of Internationalization of Higher Education in Africa
One of the change aspects of Higher Education, since the second half of 20th century, is the dynamic transformation of Internationalization in scope, role, actors, concept, activities, aims, and rationales
The present process, aim, scope, actors and activities of internationalization of higher education are remarkably different from the past. Higher education internationalization has been understood by its traditional initiatives/activities such as student and staff mobility, curriculum change and institutional collaboration for both teaching and research. Due to the radically new, complex, differentiated, and globalized socio-economic, cultural and political context, internationalization of higher education has embedded new actors, aims, activities, rationales and processes. This transformation has led scholars to a re-examination of terminologies, conceptual frameworks, values, purposes, goals and means, and impacts of the internationalization of higher education. (IAU, 2012)
The purpose of this paper is to uncover the rewards and challenges of internationalization of higher education with special emphasis to Africa.
"Academic institutions are always been part of the international knowledge system" (Altbach, 2004), and in the age of what is known as globalization they are closely linked to the global/worldwide trends in science and scholarship. Scott (1998), however, argues that "universities, almost from their beginnings, were national institutions" that grew under the protection of nation states. And the idea that traditional universities were international is rhetoric and mythical because the universities of the Middle Ages first developed "into a world in which nation-states did not yet exist in a form we could recognize" (Scott, 1998). Even today, before a university has become an international institution, it had to be a national institution first. However, due to the dynamism of higher education and the production of knowledge, the emergence of phenomenon of globalization and the knowledge economy, the internationalization of higher education is in the process of transformation.
In the past five hundred years, since the times of the Reformation, universities have divorced from the "hitherto accepted value that knowledge is universal." (Wit, 1998) Since the second half of the 20th century, however, due to a number of "change forces", (Fullan et.al. 2009) the "universal-university world or the universalism of learning" has been restored and higher learning has entered into the process of knowledge economy/society and dynamically transformed internationalization. (Wit, 1998) The internationalization of higher education has become part of the priority agendas of many stakeholders such as national and supranational governments, international bodies, the industry, and higher education institutions...
Accordingly, the definition and concept of internationalization of higher education has gone through various stages in time and space. Higher education internationalization has been shaped and reshaped by the dynamic international context. For instance, globalization is an important contextual factor that shape higher education internationalization through the intensification of mobility of ideas, students and academics and expanded possibilities for collaboration and competitions and the global dimension of knowledge. In regard to competition, globalization has created what Duderstadt (2009) phrased as "Darwinian Competition" in which the fittest would survive and the winner-take-all.
With globalization emerged new aims, additional functions, activities/scope and actors attached to higher education, which also affected the internationalization of higher education. With the changes of the international context; the purpose, goals, meanings and strategies of internationalization of higher education also changed. (IAU, 2012) The changes include the following points: (Bulfin, 2009(
•	New activities such as trans-boundary Mc Donaldization of HEIs,
•	New aims such as preparing students for the global and the knowledge economy scenario,
•	Serving the development of national identity, promoting the international competitiveness, competence and accomplishment of stake-holders' specific rationales...
•	Institutional strategies and government policies to internationalize their HEIs' research and teaching
•	New actors such as industrialists, bankers and other stake holders
•	Promotion of multiculturalism, peace and mutual understanding, quality of life.
At least, the internationalization of higher education has been looked into four ways in the literature on the basis of the US1 practice and context. (Hamrick, 1999)
•	Traditionally, internationalization of higher education has been described and understood as international studies such as area studies as political science, cultural anthropology.
•	The second meaning includes such activities that promote the interaction of local students with students and staff from other countries.
•	Internationalization of higher education has been conceptualized as the technical and academic support rendered by US institutions to other institutions in other countries
•	The most recently applied definition of internationalization of higher education is broad in scope and function, and its rationale is to prepare "people to function in an increasingly international and culturally diverse environment" under the stronger and broader influences of phenomenon of globalization.
Currently, Internationalization of higher education is broadly defined as an imperative "process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension in the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education." (Knight, 2003 quoted in Altbach, et.al, 2009) It also includes a wider range of academic related activities such as student and staff mobility, internationalization and harmonization of curricula, quality assurance, and inter-institutional cooperation in teaching-learning, research and community services. (Vught, n.d)
Not only the conceptual framework of internationalization has got momentum, but also the relationship between countries also seems to be dynamically changing.
Until recently, higher education in Africa, Latin America and Asia (even in the better developed nations of the East such as Japan, China and India) has remained largely peripheral internationally. The leadership/mainstream of higher education has become that of Western Europe and the USA. This situation undoubtedly holds considerable challenges to the higher education institutions of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Globally, most of the higher education institutions in these countries were considered as peripheries; whereas higher education institutions in Western Europe and the US were regarded as benchmarks/mainstream/centers from where the
The idea of higher education internationalization seems to develop from the American political and educational concern
various higher education reform ideas were emanating and diffusing. "The powerful universities have always dominated the production and distribution of knowledge while weaker institutions and systems with fewer resources and lower academic standards have tended to follow in their wake." (Altbach, 2004b)
This does not seem to be the case for some of the peripheries, however. Asian and other universities have developed their own regional strategies to compete effectively. The establishment of regional higher education/university associations is part of such a strategy. And yet, universities are collaborating under the strategy of internationalization. Altbach (2004) has predicted that "as Asian universities grow in stature, they will need to become able to function in a highly competitive academic world. All of the elements of academic life, including research, the distribution of knowledge, the students, and the academic profession, are part of the internationally competitive market place."
For instance, Asian countries have become more popular destinations for study abroad and international exchanges. (Clothey, 2009) They are challenging the centrality of the traditional higher education mainstream. There seems to be a geographic shift in emerging centers of power from Europe to Asia Pacific, and particularly to East Asia.
The case of Africa is different. African Higher education continued to be peripheral as usual. In spite of the various attempts to find out regional revitalization strategies, African higher education, due to the "invisible hands", (Zgaga, 2013) has continued to be peripheral. Higher Education Institutions are either impacted to accept the policies and roles of the centers or forced to change their policies in favor of the conditions of the centers. Actually, African Higher Education faces challenges from both external and internal factors such as, from the outside, the asymmetric partnership with the centre and uncontextualized policy influence, and from the inside, poor political resolve and incapable capacity and lack of a working system.
As a result and, 'as internationalization of higher education evolves and grows in importance, a number of potentially adverse consequences of the process have begun to appear.' (IAU, 2012) Some of the benefits and adverse consequences are shown in the table below.
Academic Benefits
Improve quality of teaching, learning and research
Stakeholders deeply engage in national, regional, and global issues
Students will be better prepared as national and global citizens and as productive workforce
Provide students the opportunity to access to programs nationally unavailable
Adverse Consequences
The gradual dominance of English may diminish the evolvement of diversity of languages studied or to deliver HE
Global competition may adversely affect the diversity of institutional models, quality, and undermine HEIs of developing countries
The competition may lead to unethical practices of large-scale international student recruitment, which may also overshadow the intellectual and intercultural benefits of
Deteriorate the capacity of HE in developing countries through brain drain
internationalization
Enhance opportunities for faculty improvement and decrease the risk of academic 'inbreeding'
Prepare the ground for networked research
Transnational campuses and distance programs would have many potential disadvantages over the local HEIs, which are established to support the national socio-economic and political needs
Reputation and ranking may force HEIs and stakeholders to look for partner not on real academic and related interests but on the desire to gain prestige by associating themselves with ranking Universities. This trend may result in exclusions
Offer institutions to learn from the international good practices
Improves institutional policy-making, governance, student services, outreach, quality... through collaborative experience sharing
May result in asymmetrical relations that may depend on the capacity of resource and thus the capacity to implement internationalization strategies.
Bench marking of large countries for internationalization may pose many challenges for small/periphery countries. This may have far reaching effect on HEIs of small countries and their academic life
Issues for discussion
•	Do the adverse consequences question the inherent values and benefits of internationalization?
•	Are the challenges and the adverse consequences avoidable? If avoidable how? If not avoidable, what could be done to mitigate the impacts and the challenges?
•	Given the many-faceted adverse effects and impacts of internationalization of higher education, to what extent do impacted institutions have to respond and/or tolerate the challenges?
•	How can these countries/HEIs able to establish a knowledge society/economy and become part of the global knowledge area?
•	What are the requirements to be internationalized?
References
•	Altbach, Philip G. (2004) The Past and Future of Asian Universities: Twenty-First Century Challenges. In: Altbach, Philip G. & Umakoshi, Toru (eds.) Asian Universities-Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Challenges. (pp.13-32). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Presss.
•	Altbach, Philip G. (2004b). Globalization and the University: Myths and Realities in an unequal world. In Tertiary Education 10:3-25, 2004. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers Altbach, Philip G., Reisberg, Liz and Rumbley, Laura E. (2009). Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution. France: UNESCO.
•	Bulfin, Michael P. Perspectives on higher education in Africa: Field notes on trends, Themes, Challenges and Opportunities in Ufaham: A Journal of African Studies, 36(1)
•	Clothey, Rebecca. (2009). Current Trends in Higher Education: Internationalization in Asia and Oceania. Drexel University: Comparative and International Higher Education.
•	Duderstadt, James J. (2009). Current Global Trends in Higher Education and Research. Their Impact on Europe. Michigan: The University of Michigan.
•	Fullan, Michael and Scott, Geoff. (2009). Universities and Challenges of the 21st Century. In Turnaround Leadership for Higher Education. (pp.1-24). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
•	International Association of Universities (IAU). (2012).Affirming Academic Value in Internationalization of Higher Education: A Call for Action.
•	International Association of Universities. (2003). Internationalization of Higher Education Practices and Priorities: 2003 IAU Survey Report.
•	Mamrick, Jim. (1999). Internationalizing Higher Educational Institutions: Broadening the Approach to institutional Change. (Occasional Papers on Institutional Change and transformation in Higher Education) Michigan: Michigan University.
•	Scott, Peter.(1998). Massification, Internationalization and Globalization.
•	Singh, Mala. (2010). 'Re-orienting Internationalization in African Higher Education', Globalization, Societies and Education, 8:2, 269-282.
•	Vught, Frans Van. (n.d). Internationalization and globalization in European Higher Education. The Netherlands: University of Twente.
•	Wit, Hans de. (1998). Rationales for Internationalization of Higher Education. An article based on an address at the conference "The International Universities: Global and Local roles", April 3-5, 1998, Richmond, the American International University in London.
•	Zgaga, Pavel. (2013). Reconsidering Higher Education Reforms in Western Balkans: 'Policy Colonies' or 'Policy Autarchies'? in Zgaga, Pavel, Teichler, Ulrich, and Brennan, John (eds). (2013). The Globalization Challenges for European Higher Education. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Walter Archer and Kathleen Matheos: Globalization and Englishization of Higher Education: Looking Back to a Distant Precedent, Looking Forward to Some Practical Implications
The context
While some educational reforms are driven by internal considerations related to improvements in pedagogy, most are driven by external factors including demographic change, technological change, and overall government policies that entail educational change. One such external factor that is currently driving rapid change in higher education is globalization of the economy. This is resulting in the increased internationalization of higher education - a type of internationalization significantly different from earlier, more humanistic forms of internationalization designed to promote intercultural understanding and world peace. The new face of internationalized higher education is clearly oriented toward fitting graduates to take their places within the globalized economy (Altbach & Knight, 2007).
One aspect of this new type of internationalization is the rise of English as the lingua franca of higher education throughout much of the world (Green, Wang, Cochrane, Dyson & Paun, 2012), corresponding to the rise of English as the lingua franca of the globalized world economy. Universities offering programs designed to attract students from other countries are very likely to offer those programs in English, even when the majority of the students who will participate in those programs are from the home country and have done most of their primary and secondary education in the local language. This is very much the case when the local language is one that has few native speakers and is seldom learned as an additional language, as in the case of Finnish and Dutch, less so in the case of languages with many native speakers such as Spanish and Portuguese. However, even in China, the homeland of Mandarin Chinese, the language with by far the largest number of native speakers, universities are offering an increasing number of programs in English. The reason is, clearly, that incoming international students are not willing or able to learn the local language only for purposes of a year or so of university study. On the other hand, they are very likely to be already competent in English, assuming they aspire to a position in a globally mobile workforce, so can begin university level study immediately upon entry into the foreign university that offers them a program in English rather than the local language. The role of one language, in the current case the English language, as the lingua franca of higher education throughout much of the world is clearly an artifact of the role of that language as the lingua franca of the globalized economy. The resulting relative ease of international student mobility is a consequence of this role of the English language, not its cause.
Looking back - a distant precedent?
Since the theme of this conference is "Higher Education Reforms: Looking Back - Looking Forward," when considering the current position of English as the fast-emerging lingua franca of higher education we looked for a precedent to the current situation where higher education is frequently conducted in a language that is not spoken natively by either instructor or students. For those with any familiarity with European history the obvious example is Latin, which served as the lingua franca of not only education but also religion, administration, and diplomacy for a millennium and a half
over much of Europe (Ostler, 2010). Its use in the early European universities was unchallenged until some of the local languages, particularly French, German, and English, began to be adopted for instructional purposes in the 18th century. As does the use of English as a lingua franca of higher education in the 21st century, the use of Latin in a similar role permitted relatively easy movement of students and teachers across national and linguistic boundaries for many centuries.
However, there are significant differences between the two situations, as pointed out in the case of Danish universities in particular by Mortensen & Haberland (2012). As these authors note, higher education in medieval times was mainly for purposes of training clerics for service in the Catholic church. Since Latin was the language of the church, it was automatically the language of higher education also. In contrast, the purpose of higher education in the modern Englishized classroom is training of a globally mobile workforce. Furthermore, the local languages were not potential rivals to Latin in higher education since they hardly existed in standardized written form, had no significant body of literature, and no tradition of discussion of the abstract topics typically dealt with in higher education. In contract to this unchallengeable dominance of Latin in the medieval period, in the modern context English functions alongside fully developed national languages, all of which are also used in higher education. In general, then, the precedent of Latin's use as a previous lingua franca of higher education is not directly comparable to the current use of English in that role. What is comparable, however, is that Latin, like English, was primarily a lingua franca used for purposes other than education. Its use as an educational lingua franca followed from those other purposes - as is frequently the case with a lingua franca (Ostler, 2010).
Today - one issue raised by Englishization not being dealt with adequately
There is a large and growing literature detailing the rapid increase in international higher education and the motivations behind it - mostly economic, on the part of both institutions and governments, which often make no secret of their view of foreign students as a source of revenue. A very modest proportion of the internationalization literature notes the concurrent "Englishization" phenomenon, whereby classes are being taught mainly by instructors who are not native speakers of English to students who are also mainly non-native speakers of English. This lack of attention to the language issue is rather surprising, since, as deWit (2012) notes, "The issue of teaching in English has become a serious academic quality issue for all universities, whatever their mother language is."
Part of the limited literature on Englishization describes cultural factors that result in resistance to it in certain national and cultural contexts (e.g., Salamone, 2013; Cho, 2012; Hagers, 2009). However, a surprisingly small body of literature is devoted to the actual, practical problems of communication that arise within the Englishized classroom. This dearth of comment on what might be seen as an absolutely crucial issue in the Englishization phenomenon was also noticed and remarked on by Saarinen & Nikula, 2013, and Shohamy, 2013. Therefore, our conclusions as to how to deal with this situation are highly preliminary and tentative, based on a fairly small amount of reported experience and even less experimentation, and very much subject to change based on further research.
The issue of the communication problem within the Englishized classroom obviously has two sides: the communicative competence in English of the students, and the communicative competence in English of the instructor. The competence of the students involves considerations of their preparation in the primary and secondary school systems, as well as the support they receive from their institution of higher education. There is a substantial body of literature related to the student
side of the communication problem. There seems to be a much smaller body of literature (e.g., Vinke, Snippe, & Jochems, 1998; Hagers, 2009; Hou, Morse, Chiang, & Chen, 2013) related to the other side of the problem, the often limited ability of the non-anglophone instructor to teach in English. That is the subject of our own study and ongoing experimentation, and the focus of the remainder of this paper.
Some possible solutions
There are various administrative remedies that can be employed to assist the instructor who is assigned or volunteers to teach in English. One is to give that instructor release time to prepare materials and lecture notes in English in advance of the beginning of the course. Another is to give reduced teaching loads for instructors in the Englishized classroom since, as one lecturer in a Dutch university who was quoted in Hagers (2009) remarked, "These [English medium] classes generally require more energy and preparation and many teachers find the process 'exhausting'."
Another solution is to assign language specialists to team teach with content specialists in various ways, as appropriate to the particular situation. This is the desired solution when the technique known as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is implemented, as described in detail in Fortanet-Gomez, 2013. Provision of such remedies is, of course, dependent on administrators' recognition that there are communication issues in the Englishized classroom and that if they are not dealt with in one way or another they can lead to a serious deterioration of the quality of instruction in the Englishized programs. Another brake on the implementation of this solution is that the provision of a language specialist as a team teaching partner to the content specialist is expensive, and beyond the resources of many institutions.
A complementary measure to the team teaching solution mentioned above, or in many cases a lower cost substitute for it, is a partial retraining of the content instructor through some sort of program focused directly in improving his or her ability to teach in English. Such programs can be provided by a support centre internal to the institution, particularly when that institution teaches a significant number of programs in English so requires a fairly large number of instructors capable of teaching well in English. This is the case at the University of the Basque Country, as described in Ball & Lindsay, 2013.
In the case of institutions with fewer programs taught in English, or at an earlier stage of converting existing programs to English Medium of Instruction, such a training program might be obtained from an outside supplier, often a university in an Anglophone country. Such a program can be arranged either by bringing the pedagogy specialists to the institution requiring this training for some of its instructors, or by having the instructors sent to where the program is provided at the Anglophone institution. The obvious advantage to bringing the pedagogy specialists to the institution where the training is required is that it is much cheaper - paying the travel and living expenses of one or two pedagogy specialists is obviously less expensive than paying the travel and living expenses of twenty or so instructors. However, if the instructors are sent to the Anglophone institution they will be in an English immersion environment, and their general language competence should improve more rapidly. In addition, they may be able to observe regular classes being taught at that institution, which are likely to employ the more constructivist, learner-centered methods that many studies have shown are more effective in multilingual settings such as the Englishized classroom than are the
more didactic methods generally applied in higher education outside the Anglosphere (Fortanet-Gomez, 2013, p. 164; Wilkinson, 2013, p. 15).
In either case, instructors who enter or are thrown into Englishized classrooms are more likely to realize that they can benefit from pedagogical training, as compared to most higher education instructors who simply teach as they have been taught and don't believe that they need special training in pedagogy. The instructors in the Englishized classroom are encountering a situation that is new to them so may be at a "teachable moment" in their careers.
Conclusion
Instructors who choose to teach in an Englishized classroom or are thrust into one by their institution require some type of special support, provided either by a specialized unit within the institution or brought in from an outside source. Either solution to the problem of how to maintain quality of teaching and learning in the internationalized classroom may be appropriate, according to the particular circumstances of that institution. If no special support is provided there is a considerable risk that Englishization, while contributing to the mobility of students and their ability to find employment after graduation, may result in their receiving a lower quality of instruction than could have been provided to them in their native language.
References
Altbach, P.G., & Knight, J. (2007). The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11, 3&4, 290-305.
Ball, P., & Lindsay, D. (2013). Language demands and support for English-Medium Instruction in tertiary education: Learning from a specific context. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J.M. Sierra (Eds.), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 4461 .
Cho, J. (2012). Campus in English or campus in shock? English Today, 28,18-25. doi:10.1017/S026607841200020X
deWit, H. (2012). Teaching in English is not about politics but quality. University World News Global Edition, Issue 248. Downloaded 13-11-11 from
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20121114175515819&query=teaching+in+ english
Fortanet-Gomez, I. (2013). CLIL in higher education: Towards a multilingual language policy. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Green, A., Wang, F., Cochrane, P., Dyson, J. & Paun, C. (2012). English spreads as teaching language in universities worldwide. University World News Global Edition, Issue 229. Downloaded 13-11-11 from
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120621131543827&query=English+sprea ds
Hagers, M. (2009). English takes over at Dutch universities. NRCHandelsblad, March 20. Downloaded December 1, 2013 from
http://vorige.nrc.nl/international/article2187638.ece/English takes over at Dutch universities
Hou, A.Y.C., Morse, R., Chiang, C.L., & Chen, H.J. (2013). Challenges to quality of English medium instruction degree programs in Taiwanese universities and the role of local accreditors: a perspective of non-English-speaking Asian country [sic]. Asia Pacific Education Review, 14, 359-370. DOI10.1007/s12564-013-9267-8
Mortensen, J., & Haberland, H. (2012). English - the new Latin of academia? Danish universities as a case. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 216, pp. 175 - 197.
Ostler, N. (2010). The last lingua franca: English until the return of Babel. New York: Walker & Company.
Saarinen, T, & Nikula,T. (2013). Implicit policy, invisible language: Policies and practices of international degree programmes in Finnish higher education. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J.M. Sierra (Eds.), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 131-150.
Salomone, R. (2013). The rise of English in academe - A cautionary tale. University World News, Global Edition Issue 281. Downloaded 13-07-22 from
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130718115309353
Shohamy, E. (2013). A critical perspective on the use of English as a medium of instruction at Universities. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J.M. Sierra (Eds.), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 196-210.
Vinke, A. A., Snippe, J., & Jochems, W. (1998). English-medium content courses in Non-English higher education: A study of lecturer experiences and teaching behaviours. Teaching in Higher Education, 3, 3.
Wilkinson, R. (2013). English-medium instruction at a Dutch university: Challenges and pitfalls. In A. Doiz, D. Lasagabaster, & J.M. Sierra (Eds.), English-Medium Instruction at Universities: Global Challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 3-24.
The authors
Walter Archer, PhD, is the Academic Director of Teaching & Learning Programs in the Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta, Canada. He is also the current President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education.
Kathleen Matheos, PhD, is the Associate Dean, Extended Education, at the University of Manitoba, Canada. She is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Development, and the Program Coordinator of the Collaboration for Online Higher Education and Research.
Bjorn Astrand: Diversity and homogeneity: notions on the role of higher education in democratic societies
1. Introduction: mixed views on change and continuity
Educational systems, including higher education, appear to be as important and multidimensional as tricky to understand and describe. When it comes to higher education, listening to the societal debate, it tends to be characterized by being monolithic, traditional, looks the same year after year and in often, according to politicians, higher education has to change rapidly and profoundly to better fulfill its societal role, which at least when it comes to publicly funded institutions, equals to more payback to taxpayer and more of boosting economy by patents, products and profit.
Listening to discussions within the sector another picture evolves, arguing that institutional and departmental reforms are to frequent, programs are redesigned too often and condition for research are too short sighted to promote substantial progress. But, what's most important, when it comes to this mixed view of conflicting perspectives on continuity and change, it is of greatest importance whether there are sufficient continuity and sufficient change in key areas and with well-tuned direction and speed.
This paper is written in a context of a sense of growing need in higher education to envision a new contract between higher education and the wider society recognizing the importance of mass higher education in democratic society. The last decades of deliberation on autonomy in higher education have to be continued into a conversation on autonomy as prerequisite for higher education institutions democratic roles in increasingly complex societies. This paper studies this theme by bringing together studies of institutional strategies and practices as well as voices from leaders and teachers on key educational issues.
A split view on the education system
There seems to be a need for a perspective on higher education that does not lose sight of prior levels in the educational system. Swedish pre-, primary and secondary education became transformed profoundly and rapidly in the years around 1990. It shifted from one of the more centralized systems to a globally uniquely decentralized model.2 International scholars have argued that the Swedish school system nowadays is extreme.3 Sweden as a society has been characterized over the last decades by this kind of transformations and the pace, scope and willingness to reform seems maybe a bit unique.4 In the national discourse on higher education it is despite those two facts (the rapid change of school system and the profound reform orientation) rather unusual with perspectives contextualizing higher education to this reform intensity. According to a recent study it
2	Lundahl, L. (2005). Swedish, European, Global, World Yearbook of Education 2005, London; Lundahl, L. et al. (2010). Settings Things Right? Swedish Upper Secondary School Reform in a 40-Year Perspective. European Journal of Education, Vol. 45, No. 1, 2010
3	C.f. Levin, H. M. (2013). Vouchers in Sweden: Scores Fall, Inequality Grows. Se http://dianeravitch.net/2013/03/26/the-swedish-voucher-system-an-appraisal/
4	Gustafsson, L & Svensson, A. (1999), Public Sector Reform in Sweden. Malmo: Liber Ekonomi; Santesson, P. (2012), Reformpolitikens strategier, Stockholm: Atlantis. C.f. Astrand, B. (2013B). Svensk skola i ett nordiskt perspektiv: observationer och perspektiv. (forthcoming)
has though been observed internationally but studies bridging the divide between K-12 and post secondary education are rare.5
With growing seize and increased importance roles changes
In the beginning of the 1950s, the annual number of new students enrolled in higher education was approximately 4000, and the total number of students in higher education was barely 20000.6 At the time the total Swedish population amounted to 7 million.7 In 2005 the Swedish population had risen to 9 million, a quite modest growth. At the same time the number of students in Swedish higher education exploded to nearly 400000, in comparison a quite remarkable phenomena.8
This development in Sweden shares its basic features with educational change in most European countries during the period after Second World War and as such it included several important discussions on higher education issues as equal access, local and regional presence, quality etc. Taken together, growth in numbers, finance and debate displays the fact that post-secondary education was given another role in the postwar period than traditionally. In relation to this process a discussion on the purposes with higher education has of course also occurred. Furthering of knowledge, creating and promoting economic growth and/or developing and reinforcing democracy, has been advocated as appropriate societal aims. New knowledge and growth has had a prominent place in the debate, maybe less so with democracy and human rights. The right to speak freely is though profoundly essential for higher education why promotion of such rights seems to be important for the sector. Also, the massive shift in size of higher education and the proportion of citizens participating in the sector (students, teachers, researchers, administrators etc.) appears to call for a reformulation of, and increased emphasis on, democracy and values in higher education institutions, preferably on its societal role in general and particular on undergraduate studies.
A report from American colleges and universities though claimed:
Democracies are founded on a distinctive web of values: human dignity, equality, justice, responsibility, and freedom. The meanings and applications of these values are rarely self-evident and frequently contested. Moreover, most students never actually study such issues in any formal way, either in school or in college. Many students ... do not think that civic engagement is even a goal for their college studies.9
Usually, primary and secondary schools are assigned a responsibility to take on this task of anchoring democratic beliefs, behaviors and approaches. But, as mentioned above, the sheer seize of higher education attendance nowadays, calls for a rethinking of the role of higher education in this
5	Unemar Ost, I. (2009), Kampen om den hogre utbildningens syften och mal. En studie av svensk utbildningspolitik. Orebro: Orebro universitet, p26; C.f Astrand 2013B
6	Grundlaggande hogskoleutbildning. Former for politik och planering. Utredningar fran riksdagen, 1996/97:URD4, p8
7	Statistisk arsbok 2013, Stockholm: Statistics Sweden, p67
8	Richardsson, G. (2010), Svensk utbildningshistoria, skola och samhalle forr och nu, Lund: Studentlitteratur, s143. The figures are not fully compatible due to reforms of tertiary education in 1970s making the system more uniform (i.e. HE come to include also professional and vocational studies). Still, the figures display the post war massification of post-secondary education familiar tom most industrialized countries.
9	College Learning for the New Global Century. Association of American Colleges & Universities, Washington (2007), p22)
perspective. Also, it appears important for the future to explore what kind of learning experiences would be desirable in academic postsecondary programs in this respect. Pre-tertiary education has developed approaches to democracy and societal values and for higher education institutions it can be argued that according to its current importance and for future societies an increased or revitalized discussion on what the contribution from higher education more precisely should consists in is urgent.
The declaration on human rights states in the preamble that all peoples, all nations, every individual and every organ of society "shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms." The Swedish constitution requires all public institutions to take on this task, they "shall promote the ideals of democracy as guidelines in all sectors of society."10 Also, it is demanded from those institutions to exercise public power "with respect for the equal worth of all and the liberty and dignity of the individual" together with promotion of "sustainable development leading to a good environment for present and future generations." Of interest here is to what degree this impetus impacts the discourses within higher education institutions in contemporary Sweden and how institutions and individuals of the academic community have come internalize this and to what degree they give voice to such ideas.
Historical and contemporary ideas about the role of higher education
Higher education is obviously in a period of change on several levels.11 The Lisbon agenda pointed towards a particular understanding of the value of higher education. That utilitarian notion still persists in The Higher Education Modernization Agenda: "Higher education, with its links with research and innovation, plays a crucial role in personal development and economic growth, providing the highly qualified people and the articulate citizens that Europe needs to create jobs and prosperity."12 The agenda balances in this portal paragraph individual and societal aspects but in the following line it narrows what's it all about: "If Europe is not to lose out to global competition in the fields of education, research and innovation, national higher education systems must be able to respond effectively to the requirements of the knowledge economy." (European Commission). The argument is a bit surprising, as it does not follow by logic, that personal development leads to a commitment to international competition favoring Europe as a continent. Based on this we have to understand the position of European Commission on higher education along a tradition of understanding higher educations role as mainly economical on a societal level and reforms are directed towards change and promotion of initiatives along this idea.
Historically other ideas have been articulated. John Henry Newman focused in 19th century on another level, as his notion of the very idea of a university consisted in its character of being "a place of teaching universal knowledge."13 Accordingly, his emphasis was on the impact higher education
10	1 Ch 2§. The Instrument of Government. C.f. The Constitution of Sweden. The Fundamental Laws and the Riksdag Act, The Swedish Parliament, 2012.
11	C.f. Kezar, A. J. (2004), Obtaining Integrity? Reviewing and Examining the Charter between Higher Education and Society, The Review of Higher Education, Vol. 27, No. 4.
http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/agenda en.htm
13 Newman, J. H. (1852), The idea of a University, New Haven: Yale University Press, Reprint 1996, p3.
studies have on individual students and the university as an end in itself.14 We can add other ideas as well: the Humboldt model including the tradition of bildung and the classical research university as examples of ideas with higher education, partly challenged today by changing notions in the aftermath of MOOCs, private or public.15 Current traditions stretches between the more idealistic bildung-approach (romanticist in origin) and the profoundly utilitarian and employability oriented one.
There is a rich tradition of notions about higher education and universities. One of the more unusual texts is Clark Kerrs The Uses of the University. Initially it was a publication of his Godkin lectures at Harvard in 1963 but since then he has added new chapters more or less every decade commenting upon change and challenges and as such it displays how the university has become a "multiversity" harboring a variety of purposes.16 As for Kerr, change appears natural for another American scholar-Harold T Shapiro argues: "In an environment that is changing, the university will inevitably be the subject of debates about the relationship of existing programs' connectedness with its commitments to the changing needs of society."17
This short recollection of varied ideas on the purpose of higher education (as on what is understood as desirable) can be viewed as a bricolage of possibilities for institutional strategies in higher education in their understanding of their past and what's essential for the future. As indicated above, the overarching theme in this paper concerns the societal role of those institutions from the perspective of democracy. This paper starts with an analysis of institutional strategies and what is displayed in them regarding their role in society. Those findings are contextualized by an overview of governmental arguments on the role of higher education. The second part of the article shifts focus from institutional level to the level of individuals and outlines characteristics of the discourse present among leaders and teachers on democracy and values education in relation to notions of the purpose of studies. Finally, this paper engages in a discussion on key aspects of differences between institutional and individual approaches.
A final clarification is that the focus in this study is on purposes as intentions and ideas rather than how higher education in fact function in society or opinions primarily about that. Different aspects of higher educations societal role may well be captured in the later perspective, as for example Mitchell Stevens has pictured higher education functions with metaphors sieve, incubator, temple and hub.18 The perspective applied here is another, focusing on articulated ideas on the purpose from either within higher education or from its constituencies.
14	C.f. Shapiro, H. T. (2005), A Larger Sense of Purpose, Higher Education and Society, Princeton: Princeton University Press, p91ff and Nussbaum M. C. (1997), Cultivating Humanity. A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education, Cambridge: Harvard University Press
15	C.f. Karlsohn, T. (2012), Originalitetens former. Essaer om bildning och universitet, Goteborg: Daidalos. Ankarloo, D. & Friberg, T. (Ed), (2012), Den hogre utbildningen - ett falt av marknad och politik. Moklinta: Gidlunds forlag. MOOC stands for massive open online courses.
16	Kerr, C. (2001), The Uses of The University, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, C.f Christensen, C. M. & Eyring, H. J. (2011), The Innovative University. Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out, San Francesco: Jossey-Bass.
17	Shapiro, H. T. (2005), A Larger Sense of Purpose, Higher Education and Society, Princeton: Princeton University Press, p37
18	Stevens, M. L. et al, (2008), Sieve, Incubator, Temple, Hub: Empirical and Theoretical Advances in the Sociology of Higher Education, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol 34.
2. Strategies and practices - indications on top level homogeneity
Higher education is a remarkable mix of change and continuity. As such, and in institutionalized form, it has survived over a millennia and of course there has been challenging instances during history and it seems as if bot change and an enduring continuity has served as recipes for that. An emergent question seems though to be whether a sufficient amount of change had occurred, when and in what respect (as of necessary continuity). This study does not investigate this in full but in this part it is focused on what articulated strategies in higher education reveals about how those institutions understands the current situation and what it requires from them.
A: Dominant and absent positions in Swedish higher educations institutional strategies 2009-2012
What profiles and features have institutional strategies in current Swedish higher education and what does it reveals of their institutional understanding of the its role? Institutional strategy plans are not that easy to compare. One problem for a comparison is that strategies are developed in different years, with different scope and context. The occurrence of strategy documents in Swedish higher education institutions are not within a mandatory framework. If so had been the case, there had been opportunities to make selections from different years and study change over time. Of course there are internal documents of similar kind but they comes with the same differences as mentioned above. There are though a possibility to study strategic plans originating from a shared framework, a collection of documents in which institutions outwardly explains their analysis of contemporary society and sketches which direction they find desirable to take.
Swedish higher education contains both public and private institutions. In general they all depend on public funding and are regulated under the same laws. In 2007, the Swedish government (ministry of education) required all institutions to submit strategies for the period 2009-2012. The requirement can be viewed as part of the Swedish system of open consultations that precedes main decisions. In this case the outcome of the exercise was supposed to give input to the forthcoming governmental proposition on higher education and research.19 Institutions were asked to submit a document containing national and international analysis of current situation and describing how the institution in respects understand and planned for their future.20
The advantage with those strategies is in a comparative perspective, that they all emanate from one and the same governmental task. All institutions had to respond at the same time, all had the same opportunities to outline their understanding of higher education, its conditions, its challenges and optimal ways ahead together with a wider analysis of the society, local, national and global. Of course all institutions differ, as does their contexts and constraints. But that's the very point. Given that kind of diversity, together with regional situations and academic profiles, together with different local approaches (an administrative response from the local administration or a bottom up work giving voice to wider collegial deliberations?) etc. - what were their notions and primarily, what are theirs priorities??
19	If the opinions voiced in those documents were taken into account in the political process are an interesting issue but a one this study doesn't address.
20	Governmental decision of March 15 2007, Assignment to develop strategies for research and studies, U2007/2147/UH
Nearly forty institutions was required to submit those strategies, 37 did provide documents containing visions on their future.21 From experience it is known that institutions respond to such in more or less two ways. Always a comment on all questions raised, polite and correct but responses always also contains opinions that were not asked for, but of importance for the local institution. What is unusual in this case is the fact that the requested document cannot just be an internal administrative response, as it has to represent the official strategies for the institution. That aspect adds pressure to the writes and that makes those documents especially interesting.
On an average each of those documents contain 15 pages, many of them carefully designed and printed nicely as documents representing the institutions highest ambitions. Some are not that fashionable designed but some are, but they all bears sign of being carefully crafted. Together they amount to approximately 500 pages. If they all should have been administrative top down products, lets say that only three persons at each institution had been involved, then they represent dominant perspectives among more than 100 top academic leaders. If these documents have been into processes of some more collegial deliberation, lets say involving deans, faculty boards and committee's for research and program studies it is more likely that more then 1000 individuals (something like 30 persons per institution) have taken part in this.
So, - what do those strategies look like? What's the message within those strategies? The first impression is that they apply one and the same perspective and that they more or less utilize one and the same set of concepts as is listed below.
Tabel 1: Concepts in strategies for Swedish higher education institutions (2007, alphabetical order)
Autonomy	Innovation
Bologna process	Internationalization
Collaboration (with surrounding	Lisbon strategy
society)	Quality
Commercialization (of research)	Quality assurance
Employability	Prioritization/concentration
Environmental issues/climate change	Research based education
Excellence	(forskningsanknytning)
Globalization	Sustainable development
Growth	
21 One larger higher education institution was terminated and merged within Stockholm University (Stockholm Teacher College, LHS) and one other strategy is just absent in the collection at the ministry. All main institutions did meet the requirement and their strategy document is used here.
It appears as when one hundred, or maybe one thousand of assumingly the "best and the brightest" in Swedish higher education describes the current situation (2007), and what's most important, what to do, then less than 20 concepts dominate and creates the perspectives. What are we witnessing here? The institutional strategy documents differs significantly from a description in current research of four main discourses (Unemar Ost 2009, below). One can contemplate upon why these differences exist but what's most interesting here is something else - the fact that the institutional discourses appears to be without any main differences. It is as if all those institutions speaks with one voice, a mainstreaming that is astonishing! Have in mind that those institutions differs profoundly in:
•	Age (inaugurated in 15th century to 21st)
•	Seize (30 students up to 50000)
•	Focus (broad institutions - specialized)
•	Task (traditional - particular purposes, for ex widening participation)
•	Location (urban - rural)
•	Ranking (from invisible in rankings to different prestigious positions among European and Global higher education institutions, some among top 100 globally and some on top 30 of the institutions of age under 50 years age etc.)
The fact that they all seem to display similar analyses and views on the future is striking. Of course there are some differences, one concerns whether the strategies have a mainly outward or inward-looking approach:
Tabel 2: Strategic orientation
Type of institution	Inward	Outward	Articulated comb.
Broad	12	4	3
Specialized	6	6	1
Unclear: 5
Typical inward looking approach includes aims
•	to become a leading institution
•	at being upgraded from university college to university status
•	to raise quality in their business
•	at becoming an attractive alternative for a) higher education studies or b) allocation of research project.
All of those approaches follow the globalization discourse agenda. So do the more outward looking approaches as well. They aim to:
•	contribute to growth and societal development
•	become a driving actor/player in regional development
•	contribute to sustainable development
•	contribute to increased health and improved living conditions
In conclusion, 2 out of 3 institutions articulate a more inward oriented approach in the sense that their strategies displays priorities that relates to the higher education sector to larger extent than to the society. This tendency seems stronger among older, larger and broader type of institutions. Only one in the top cohort of six of this kind institution takes another approach than an inward looking.22 So, there are differences but they are not that particular strong. Instead is the overwhelming impression unison.
In a study on Swedish higher education institutions between 1992 and 2007 Ingrid Unemar Ost found four competing discourses on HE in the mainly governmental documents she used as source for her study:
•	The classical academic discourse
•	The discourse of globalization
•	The discourse of democracy
•	The discourse of individual identity
She argues that the globalization discourse has "hegemonic tendencies" in two senses. It presents concepts that other discourses has to fill with their own meaning but by this process the globalizing agenda sets the premises for others and the globalization discourse also includes concepts from the other discourses but reshape their meaning into denoting other aspects.
Table 3: Education policy discourses in Sweden 1992-2007
DIS-COURSE	The classical academic discourse	The discourse of globalization	The discourse of democracy	The discourse of individual identity
Nodal point	Classical academic ideals	Internationalization	Democracy	Individual identity
Myth	The Magna Charta of the University	The European Higher Education Area	The open University	The multi cultural society
The aims and purposes of higher education Moment	To search for and hand over new knowledge and to contribute to the development of society -	Academic freedom - Research connection -	Scientific attitude	To strengthen Swedish and European competitiveness and to contribute to economic growth -The needs of the labor market -	Excellence -	Employability -	Comparability	To confirm democracy and contribute to equality and justice -	Cooperation and interaction -Diversity -	Widening participation -	Student -	Influence	To support the identity formation process and support those values that are common across cultural boundaries -	Multi culturalism -	Reflexive thinking -	Autonomy
Source: Unemar Ost 200923
22	Linkoping University presents an articulated combination.
23	Unemar Ost (2009), p234
My point here is, that when the finding above on current higher education strategies is viewed in the perspective of the analysis Unemar Ost provides on official and governmental documents (such as ministerial and parliamentarian inquires and governmental proposals) it seems as if those independent higher education institutions more or less exclusively voices only the globalization discourse, or at least that it by far appears to be the dominant discourse.24 This is a bit surprising and to deepen the picture it can be valuable to also try to pin point what is not voiced in the strategies (viewed from an educational perspective).
What's missing?
When studying higher education institutional strategies the easy part is of course to compare what's written in those texts, but of equal importance is as well to study what's not articulated. To look for something missing can be a tricky exercise why caution is needed. But if the analysis departs from something sector specific, like the four discourses above or the well-known models for higher education institutions we can derive some ideas of what worth looking for:
•	The Napoleonic/Imperial model (direct state control, emphasis on training elite and officials servants, knowledge transmission)
•	The Humboldtian model (independent from government interference, unity of research and teaching, knowledge production)
•	The British model (institutional autonomy, residentially, personal development, intellectual growth and knowledge production)
•	US model (market driven, combining features from the other models, pragmatism and service to national economy, student centered approach, particularly in liberal arts colleges)25
Given these different models, the impacts of studies on the individual student in a more profound and life shaping, formative sense appears important as does ideas on those institutions societal role. Consequently the classical bildung concept that runs deep in the academic history and notions of what role these institutions have in democratic societies will be the focus of next part of this study.
Bildung
The bildung aspect is not fully missing but it is only partially present due to a small set of institutions, none of the large and traditional universities, that at least touches on those aspects. Two of the Swedish higher education institutions have in their slogans or so concepts like bildung, citizen bildung.26 One institution that has distinguished itself as the one most articulated attempt to establish a liberal arts college in Sweden does not mention bildung but one can understand their approach as driven by such an approach.27 Three universities of the younger cohort are though more articulated. Karlstad University describes its role as also related to a bildung concept of a kind that has to do with formation of independent and autonomous individuals that takes responsibility in
24	Unemar Ost (2009) p104
25	After Taylor, J. The State and Higher Education Institutions: new pressures, new relationships and new tensions. In Goodman, R, Kariya, T & Taylor, J. (2013), Higher Education and The State: changing relationships in Europe and East Asia, Oxford Studies in Comparative Education, Vol. 22, No 1. Oxford: Symposium Books
Sodertorn University College and University College Malmo
27 University College Gotland, recently merged with Uppsala University. It should though be noted that this institution mainly argues for the value of a liberal arts education in terms of a being a proper preparation a changeable society, work life and for business/entrepreneurship.
society. Vaxjo University (nowadays merged with University College in Kalmar into Linnaeus University) comments in their strategies that they, as an higher education institution, has a wider mission for bildung than what is required from labor market and contemporary students. In addition MidSweden University states in their strategies that bildung is an import area of research within that institution.
So, the classical approach of bildung, a search for knowledge without predefined goals, is present but only marginal. In the wider perspective it seems more or less fully replaced by an educational idea of targeted learning for other purposes and bildung, regardless as understood as content, or a process, appears mainly absent from higher education institutional strategies in Sweden.
Democracy and values
Many higher education institutions in Sweden have extensive research relating to democracy why it is surprising that only four institutions mention democracy as a research focus within the institution.28 One could reflect upon whether that mirrors ideas on quality within the filed, or whether it is political incorrect to label relevant research as such or maybe it is renamed into something else, as sustainable development?
There are though some institutions that touch upon the issue. Uppsala University express that they expect that their students will develop democratic competence during their period of study. University College of Gavle positions the institution as such as a part of democratic process and University College in Boras states in their strategies that democracy is a prerequisite for higher education and research as for a desired societal development. Chalmers University of Technology advocates an approach based on democratic values, independent research and freedom of speech. In addition, they also recognizes that international collaboration with higher education institutions in non-democratic countries creates a problem and that they are in search of a balanced approach that recognize this problem but also the scientific need to find partners unconditioned of political agendas.
A small number of institutions voices as indicated above that they understand themselves in a societal perspective of democracy and a small number of higher education institutions also points to democratic values.
On the level of core concepts in strategies, higher education seems to surface as a societal sector with a high degree of consensus. Also it seems as they almost all institutions have avoided bildung and democracy in their articulated strategies. Bildung one could assume should be present by tradition and democracy by challenges in contemporary society. I guess, that if we approached those vice-chancellors and university presidents with questions on this - they almost all should respond that those issues are of such importance that they are taken for granted. I would though argue, that it is not by chance that they did use or articulate those concepts in their strategies, neither contextualized them on an articulated level as crucial perspectives. Many of them, I would argue, did mention emergent environmental issues - but not to the same level social and democratic issues etc. So, the main impression is that Swedish higher education institution presents on this level a high
28 for example Uppsala University, Gothenburg University, Orebro University and Lund University.
degree of homogeneity when it comes to strategically analysis and articulated strategies for the future.
Strategies of this kind can be understood as mainly outward and future oriented activities. To deepen the picture a second perspective will be presented, more inward and backward looking. The case is quality assurance systems and more particular, their features in the filed of teacher education, a strongly debated area that could call for elaborated and locally tuned models.
B: Applied quality assurance schemes in higher education institutions: the case of Swedish teacher education.
Above is presented indications on what appears to be cases of homogenization of strategically thinking in Swedish higher education. Now the attention is turned to a more inward looking activity in higher education, more precisely institutional systems for quality assurance. During last decades Swedish higher education system has been transformed by deregulation, decentralization and implementation of management by objectives, a shift toward a rule that has been termed "soft governance".29 As an integral consequence we have witnessed a growing emphasis on quality assurance procedures of different kind. Some procedures has external initiators, some has internal
roots.30
Quality assurance as an object of study can provide key information on institutional ideas on autonomy and societal role. But also it can be assumed that such systems displays not only institutional thinking in general and but also a more profound and critical view on how the institution in respect takes responsibility for programs and students learning as well as their ideas on what factors that produces risk in terms of low quality. Anchored in assumptions like those a case study of applied quality assurance systems Swedish teacher education was conducted in 2010.31 The result of that study will here be used as a case and the description below draws on that study.
For the analysis of local quality assurance system Astrand (2012) used self-evaluation reports from 2007. The context for those reports was a national evaluation of teacher education and all institutions described at the time their quality assurance system. Swedish legislation does not demand any particular elements in such a system; it only states where responsibility rests. As a consequence, it is up to each institution to design a quality assurance system that according to their understanding of their role and critical factors, in the best way secure a desired level of quality and in addition, provide information about quality levels at hand.
From such a perspective a framework for analysis was established using following distinctions between quality assurance systems and elements:
•	external and internal initiation;
•	primary and secondary activities (i.e. focused on teaching and learning or quality assurance procedures as such);
•	mandatory and voluntary;
•	top-down processes and bottom-up processes;
29	C.f. Lawn, M. (2006) that includes in the terms governing techniques as networks, seminars, reviews and uses of experts. In, Soft Governance and the Learning Spaces of Europe, Comparative European Politics, 4 (July 2006)
30	Eurydice 2006. c.f. EUA 2009:18
31	Astrand 2012
different types of bodies in charge; and different profiles of evaluators.
A description of the diverse institutional landscape for teachers' education was also provided as point of departure. Given fundamentally different conditions and developments among institutions it can be assumed that a) de facto risks for under achievement in terms of quality would be different and that b) institutional analysis of risks should be varied and thereby that c) the design of quality assurance approaches would follow the same variation. The study showed the opposite - all institutions appeared to apply one and the same approach to quality assurance.
Table 4: Quality assurance elements in use in Swedish teacher education institutions
Quality assurance elements	Institutions		
	Large	Mid-size	Small
Quality assurance plan for teacher education	Yes	Yes	Yes
Course evaluations	Yes	Yes	Yes
Semester evaluations (subject)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Programme evaluations	Yes	Yes	Yes
Collegial evaluations (internal)	No	Yes	Yes
Collegial evaluations (external)	Yes	Yes	No
Internal surveys	Yes	Yes	Yes
Use of national/international information for benchmarking	No	Yes	Yes
Collaboration with other institutions on quality assurance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Questionnaires to students	Yes	Yes	Yes
Questionnaires to alumna	Yes	Yes	Yes
Source: Self-evaluations reports from Swedish Teacher Education institutions submitted to The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education (SNAHE) in 2007.
Without going into details one can note that larger institutions seems to differ from smaller institutions only in the sense that they tend to not use internal collegial evaluation and less benchmarking (national and international). The more interesting questions are though, why the differentiation is so low. How come, that those 21 institutions, different in profound respects, all display more or less the same pattern for one of their most important tasks? It is striking that we find both a surprisingly homogenous strategically thinking (first case above) and also a similarly homogenous pattern of applied quality assurance schemes. How can that be explained? We turn to institutional theory for explanations.
C: Institutional theory and isomorphic behavior among organizations
The current situation in higher education with what appears to be rather mainstreamed policy positions seems a bit odd. Let me expand a bit on this from another angle. In our concern regarding environmental problem a core assumption points to the idea that biodiversity is necessary for nature and future of mankind. Diversity is not only about preservation of genes and such stuff, but also about the capacity to fit into particular context and the ability to capitalize on rather unique conditions. It can be argued that diversity in the kind of ecosystem of higher education historically have been an advantage and that maybe can be the case in the future as well - and, hence diversity is on the higher education agenda.32
Thus, institutions are policy wise encouraged to focus on what they are doing best and concentrate their resources, capacities and creativity along profiling strategies increasing their relative advantages. Partly, this aspect is included in the wider discourse on autonomy as it aims at creating institutional independence facilitating and making it possible for institutions to choice their own future direction. But when looking at the higher education landscape in Sweden today there are indications (as presented above) of something else, a kind of mainstreaming among higher education institutions and within. Instead of diversity and utilization of difference and relative advantages in an ecosystem like way institutions to some degree seems mainstreamed - the question here is how we can explain that.
Institutional theory have been used to understand industry and hospitals but also schools and educational phenomena and activities like textbooks, legal education and growth rate of duplicative programs in higher education.33 Institutional theory is usually used to explain stability rather than change but recent development in the filed utilizes the concept of organizational isomorphism to also explain change.34
It is argued, by DiMaggio & Powell (1991), that networked institutions in a kind of shared ecological system according to institutional theory, can display an isomorphic behavior, a " process of homogenization".35
Institutional theory in this respect draws upon Max Weber. For him, bureaucratization was caused mainly by:
•	competition among capitalist firms in the marketplace;
•	competition among state, increasing rulers' need to control their staff and citizenry;
32	Taylor, J. The State and Higher Education Institutions: new pressures, new relationships and new tensions. In Goodman, R, Kariya, T & Taylor, J. (2013), Higher Education and The State: changing relationships in Europe and East Asia, Oxford Studies in Comparative Education, Vol. 22, No 1. Oxford: Symposium Books
33	Paul DiMaggio & Walter Powell refers to studies by Barnouw (1966/8); Starr (1980); Tyack (1975); Katz (1975); Cosher, Kadushin & Powell (1982); Rothman (1982). In, DiMaggio, P. J. & Powell, W. W (1991), The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields, (in DiMaggio, P. J. & Powell, W. W, (Eds), (1991), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, Chicago: The Univesity of Chicago Press.) C.f. Morphew, C. C. & Huisman, J. (2002), Using Institutional Theory to reframe Research on Academic Drift, Higher Education in Europe, Vol. XXVII, No. 4.
34	Rusch, E. A. & Wilbur, C. (2007), Shaping Institutional Environments: The Process of Becoming Legitimate, The Review of Higher Education, Vol. 30. No. 3, Spring, p302. Describes a shift from "Why are there so many kinds of organizations?" to "why are there such a startling homogeneity in organizational forms and practices.
35	DiMaggio & Powell (1991), p66f
• bourgeois demand for equal protection under the law. 36
Among those causes, the market and its inherent logics, is the most important according to Weber and DiMaggio & Powell argue that the causes of bureaucratization have changed along the achievements regarding the corporations and state, but process as such is continuing. They add that today:
structural change in organizational seems less and less driven by competition or by the need for efficiency, Instead we will contend, bureaucratization and other forms of organizational change occur as result of processes that make organization more similar without necessarily making them more efficient.37
The focus of this this study is on the variety (or its absence) of articulated ideas on the role of higher education institutions. Those documents are analyzed and compared to earlier and later published institutional strategies from the perspective of the theory on isomorphism. Institutional "scripts" as accreditation processes are an example of process related to legitimacy that can push such homogenization.38 In such instances and other with some shared characteristics it can be assumed that different kinds of isomorphic pressure are at play. Institutionalized isomorphism acts through three types mechanics or processes; coercive, normative or mimetic.39
Coercive processes can according to theory be both formal and informal but are characterized by the fact that decision makers have the consequences of their decision-making on distance and that they to high degree apply a kind of one size fits all politics that assumingly makes actors in the field less adaptive. Normative isomorphic pressure is assumed to derive from processes of professionalization and selective procedures within (for example recruitment patterns). In situations of unclear conditions and otherwise uncertainty and competition more mimetic strategies can come into play. In such situations organizations "tend to model themselves after similar organizations in their field that they perceive to be more legitimate or successful."40 Most likely the process also can be fueled by ministries (or other funders and policymakers) from above repetitive references to institutions that they perceive as more prestigious and successful.
So the question is why is mainstreaming a feature of Swedish higher education? The answer institutional theory provide is - because it pays of more than other strategies. DiMaggio & Powell argues to that those processes may be driven by situations of uncertainty and constraints and they makes the point that "efforts to deal rationally with uncertainty and constraint often lead, in the aggregate, to homogeneity in structure, culture and output." Weber pointed to two phases of bureaucratization. The first one had its gain in increased efficiency and according to DiMaggio & Powell the continuation "provides legitimacy rather than improves performance".41 Higher education
36	Also DiMaggio, P.J. & Powell, W.W. (1983), The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields, American Sociological Review, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Apr., 1983). I wont follow DiMaggio & Powell in detail as they address a larger issue than I study in this paper.
37	DiMaggio & Powell (1983), p147
38	Rusch & Wilbur, (2007), p302
39	DiMaggio & Powell (1991), p66f.
40	DiMaggio & Powell (1983), p152
41	DiMaggio & Powell (1983), p148
institutions that identify themselves as of less status than main actors in the field in respect etc. can be assumed to be more sensitive and act develop and signal features that resemblance more
. . . . . 42
prestigious institutions.
If so, that in a second stage of organizational change, isomorphic behavior is not related to efficiency gains but gains in terms of legitimacy, then question is from where is higher education institutions (including teacher education institutions) seeking legitimacy? It can argued that it is their wider, their prime and superior organization, the state (ministries) and if that it the case it indicates a low level of executed autonomy.
The application of institutional theory and the concept of isomorphism here support an attempt to understand why higher education institutions seems to become more homogenous instead of less (as indicated by the two cases above). Theory suggests that defining characteristics such as competition and insufficient clarity when it comes to institutional conditions of the Swedish ecosystem of higher education pushes this process. It raises questions also when it comes to institutional autonomy as it may indicate that institutions understand themselves in such weak positions that they cannot develop a more selective and individual approach.
But the situation appears to be more complicated. As a colleague among other colleagues one cannot avoid recalling numerous discussions in which a wide diversity of opinions have been voiced. That diversity contrasts the above described homogeneity. It can be argued that the homogeneity relates to the fact that colleagues, active in institutions have had to come to consensus in issues like strategies and quality assurance schemes and it is that consensus that is mirrored in the homogeneity. For sure, both collegial and more management oriented approaches, has certainly had impact but the argument here is that it is not self evident that colleagues in institutions that differs in almost all respects from one another, will end up in very similar decisions. Something happens in between peer-to-peer conversation and institutional policy and practices and it is argued here that institutional theory on isomorphism can shed light on this. But to take the issue a bit further, focus is now turned to opinions among leader and teachers on one of the missing themes in the institutional strategies, namely on issues relating to democracy and values.
3. Divergences among colleagues and within institutions
One of the larger and older branches of higher education studies is teacher education. Teacher education is particular interesting as it relates to the national school system and thereby to national politics and policy as well as public debate. In addition those programs contains elements of most traditional academic studies but they also include substantial studies of other kind, for example school placed studies. Teacher education programs has as such strong professional profiles and relates as such to the teaching profession and their strive for professionalization and support for their work and their ambitions to fulfill stipulated goals for schools. Taken together, teacher education program, its leaders and teachers can serve as a case when it comes to study opinions and ideas on democracy and values in higher education.
42 Christensen & Eyring (2012) discuss in depth how schools of business globally have tried to model Harvard business school. The process seems to be of such profound impact that despite high cost and not that many obvious benefits it takes insights and leadership to diverge from that model.
Teacher education has to a higher degree than many other areas of studies a prescribed approach to democracy and values. Those programs degree requirements more or less operationalize defined aspects of democracy and values education for school into learning outcomes for the students at those programs. Students has to study those areas and to pass school placed modules (practicum) they have to not only display required dispositions but also to in action, in their teaching in classes, take stance in such issues.
Positions on democracy and values education in Swedish teacher education
The section draws upon a set of interviews with leaders and teachers in higher education institutions in Sweden inquiring the purpose of higher education and how that informs ideas on the kind of impact studies are supposed to have on individual students. According to Shapiro, the "ultimate test, of course, is not what we teach, but what students learn and what they become."43 While the two first studies presented in this paper focus on the institutional level, this section is geared toward understandings of key ideas on democracy and values in one of Swedish higher educations larger area of studies.
Have in mind that those close to 40 institutions in the study above has a predominant homogeneity at a top discourse level and that the leaders and teachers interviewed in this study are employees at those institutions. So what about asking a similar number of leaders and teachers on one of the tensed, meaning silenced, topics? On an individual level - what does the understanding of issues relating to democracy and values education in teacher education look like? This study focuses on how teacher educators and leaders of programs think about those things - or, if you wish, how they talk about them. The study was conducted in fall 2012 and is based upon a series of interviews at twelve higher education institutions.44
When it comes to conceptual understanding and notions on educational aims differences among leaders and teachers within same program and institutions are at hand. There are educators that accentuate the importance of teachers holding a more formal knowledge on democracy and values. The argue that teachers need to know things like how government works, how citizens rights are founded, and on citizens participation in elections and participatory processes at work as employees etc.45 Also they argue that teachers should have a "familiarity with the political system and how it works together with what happens if it does not work properly."46 These more formal and functional perspectives coexist with more normative perspectives (not necessarily mutually excluding).
Democracy can be understood in a variety of ways, among them functionalist and essentialist interpretations. A more functionalistic approach contains an emphasis on student participation in decision-making in In other words, its about "to experience what it means to have influence and to participate in the educational processes and the shared work can be viewed as a way of dealing with democracy and a preparation for working life."47
43	Shapiro, (2005), p94.
44	The section below follows closely Astrand 2013A. The references given in numbers and letter represent individual informants. U and UC indicate that the informant is employed at a university or a university college. The numbers are assigned randomly. For details check Astrand 2013A and Astrand 2013C.
45	16U; 20UC; 18U; 23U; 10UC
46	16U
47	5U, Cf. 25UC
Among the notions of democracy, a Deweyian understanding was present, an understanding in which democracy as a concept is presented as a set of values, a way of living, and a desirable approach in interpersonal relation humans. Teachers (and teacher educators) have to "preach" and promote those values and approaches.48 Democracy is also described widely as "everything.it is about how we understand each other, it is about behavior and how we approach each other" and about "being responsive to each other and trying to take the other's perspectives."49 Such dispositions and values are understood as of key importance for society, for education, and for becoming a teacher. Democracy is also understood as a fragile condition that has to be nurtured otherwise it will disappear and is something to be reconquered on a daily basis.50 Normative notions of education can be held together with functional understandings, and the normative approach appears to exist in proximity with values education.
When it comes to purposes for values education, informants mirrored two rather polar interpretations. Some understanding the term (foundational values) to represent a fixed set of values (these are the foundational values) and another that focuses on values as something that needs to be defined in dialogue (which values? what constitute them?). These two positions relate to the different understanding of what kind of impact values education is supposed to have on student teachers; opening up critical reflection, empathetic competences to take another persons perspective and/or inculcation of certain values?
There are teacher educators that express a belief to have an obligation to teach and promote democracy as part of their responsibility as a civil servant active in a public business and regulated by law. An example is an teacher educator that informed that he prefer to challenge students to make up their minds on whether they are prepared to take on this obligation by saying that teachers have "a mission of indoctrination."51 Such understanding of values education Is likely to also include combinations of fixed understandings of values in respect and an ambition for inculcating them among teacher students, but also that the public role as a teacher "sets limits as to how much personal resonance there can be."52
Another position argues that the aim is not the inculcation of certain values but to teach students to become aware of their individual priorities as they have to with themselves.53 Accordingly, programs have "to strengthen the individual by providing opportunities for self analysis" as they have to "develop an enhanced self understanding." In addition students needs come into a processes of reflections "upon who they are."54
In close proximity to tis position is another that draws upon the same logic but in a more traditionally academic way. The main emphasis is to equip students with certain analytical and critical skills and competences that foster integrity and autonomy together with the capabilities to reflect upon a diversity of values and related problems rather than carrying certain values: "Teacher education's first priority is to instill a critical reflective perspective on values education, not to transmit certain
48	21U
49	27U; 13U
50	19UC
51	23U. Cf. 13U; 24U; 10UC; 1U
52	17U
53	15U
54	7U
values," and is "to teach them to think and reflect, not to teach them to pity one another."55 The different positions described above are more or less mutually exclusive, but in some cases they are linked aspects of a notion of teacher teacherhood. What's of main interest here is to note how they differ from each other and what importance they are given.
Another important aspect is to what degree democracy and values education are held in high esteem. Democracy and values education are usually understood as important aspects of teacher education programs and of the process of becoming a teacher and for teaching as such, as one informant states, it is "our blood" and something you have to internalize as a teacher.56 Other key metaphors used that describe this is that these are foundation of society, a linchpin for schooling, the soul, and a nucleus in becoming a teacher and that these values should permeate teaching and learning. This indicates that democracy and values education on average are highly regarded but with partly different orientation towards the wider society, schooling, teacherhood, and becoming a teacher as for teacher education as such. But there are also divergences and divergent approaches in specific disciplinary traditions and aligned with those traditions there are a presence of different ideas regarding whether democracy and values education should be integrated into all subjects or not.
Epistemological differences seem also to be part of or underpinning differences in understandings of democracy and values education. This surface clearly when it comes to questions like, whether is possible to make a distinction between a knowledge side and a values side of the content. Some informants appear skeptical towards such possibilities and in addition there is also a voiced hesitancy towards hierarchical understandings. It is also emphasized that knowledge and values are interlinked and that agency and actions are key aspects what it is to know something.57 Others divide between values and knowledge and understand key content to for example consist of information on what constitutes a democracy includes things that students simply need to "know", an approach that makes it possible to test students by fairly traditional means.58 For some, also among those who share this epistemological position, it is perceived as insufficient in teacher education to teach accordingly as democracy and values are not primarily about knowing but a readiness to take stance and act along democratic values.59
Epistemological approaches connect to general notions on program objectives and informants understand this differently. For teacher education the main divergence has roots in questions of whether teacher education involves two parallel objectives, one more knowledge oriented and one more value and democracy oriented, and, if so, if they are in conflict or synergy.
Among interviewees there are expressions of teacher education having both those objectives. Some understand their role as a general assignment to promote democracy and certain values including a forming of individual students along those traits and that "all programs have a task to form students" in this respect.60 For others, this is not at all the task. One teacher educator had though developed a pedagogical approach in which teachers and students in the program take on roles as principals and
55	2U; 3U
56	20UC; 1U; 27U; 13U
57	2 6U
58	2 3U
59	6U
60	9U; 16U; Cf. 12U; 22UC
teachers in a school to have opportunities to inquiry into such approaches in education, as it was believed to be essential but outside his mandate.61
The interdependency between objectives is another issue dividing opinions but for those who rejected the idea of two objectives there was, of course, no such concern. Others expressed different opportunities including acknowledging a conflict between those objectives either in principle or due to institutional tradition and internal affairs.62 According to others, however, the two objectives are "not at all in conflict", neither "independent from each other".63
According to individual informants points of view, the field seem to carry an ambiguity between whether teaching toward acquisition of subject knowledge has priority over deliberation, inculcating and forming of dispositions, or even communicating democracy and values (or vice versa). Divergences on those issues appear related to different academic traditions connected to specific academic subjects and as such they impact on notions on what constitutes relevant content in a teacher education program and how that is to be understood. Such traditions are strong forces in Academia and well known. In fact they are so familiar to academics that the famous metaphorical description of Academia as "tribes and territories" is not only applicable but to my knowledge not even particular controversial.64
What is of interest here is that the homogeneity displayed in higher education institutions strategic plans is not at all present at this level. Also, that, divergent traditions expressed on this level seems appropriate grounds for nuanced quality assurance schemes, but that is not supported by the study of such presented above.
Interviews with deans in teacher education and teacher educators reveal high levels of diversity on core understandings of teachers' societal role, epistemology, higher education institutions role in democracy etc. There appears to exist a discrepancy between a top-level homogeneity visible in institutional analysis and strategies and personalized conceptual understanding of professional roles and institutional functions among individual faculties. One can ask - how it is to do research or to teach with a nagging feeling of discrepancy? Not just in details like "I rather teach that class than the I have been assigned to"-issues but more profound ones, like why are we here? What kind of impact is my teaching supposed to have on students? What is the most important contribution I can do as an employee at this institution?
4. Homogeneity and diversity in higher education - summary and reflections
It can be important to remind us about the difference between function and purpose. There can be purposes that not at all becomes realized, there can be functions that are not intentional etc.65 The above section deals with purpose and objectives and what is striking is that there is a wide variety of understandings and notions related to a core area (democracy and values) in one large higher
61	19UC; 11UC
62	Cf. 4U
63	10UC; 27U; 8U
64	Becher, T. & Trowler, P. R (1989), Academic Tribes and Territories, Open University Press
Stevens, M. L. et al, (2008), Sieve, Incubator, Temple, Hub: Empirical and Theoretical Advances in the Sociology of Higher Education, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol 34
education program sector (teacher education). The diversity at this level stands out in contrast with the homogeneity expressed on institutional level.
There is an apparently strong view in teacher education institutions on a democratic role of the program in several senses. It seems to exist in conflict with general higher educations institutional strategies as they are outlined. It is not particularly challenging that such differences are at hand as the compared levels differs as the points of departure, in short, there is of course differences between institutional points of views and purposes with undergraduate studies. The point made here is that they most likely would gain from having a more explicit relation to each other and that there seems to be forces promoting mainstreaming behavior at top institutions highest levels.
Questions that surface due to this is concerns how long term discrepancies between institutional strategies (homogenous) and individual understandings (heterogeneous) will impact research and program studies in higher education and how will such affect the development of a renewed academia-society contract that takes into account the changed societal role of higher education in its mass format in democratic societies.
A recent study of the institutional purpose with undergraduate studies in U.S. shows a general emphasis on democratic purposes on institutional level.66 This emphasis is found to be in contrast with expressed reasons for students to undertake theses studies. Students mainly prioritize getting insights into disciplines and thereafter get at well-paid job. From a Swedish perspective and in the context of this paper the democratic emphasis in U.S. higher education institutions appears not to be in line with Swedish higher education according to above presented findings on institutional strategies. It is maybe not so surprising that U.S. students and institutions differ in ideas on purpose but what is interesting is that Swedish institutions argues in a similar utilitarian way as U.S. students.
Such an approach is not an unfamiliar tradition when it comes to Swedish higher education. An analysis of articulated purposes for higher education as well as ideas on the value of investments in higher education shows a strong continuity of utilitarian approaches in the emphasis of higher educations impact on economic growth.
66 Chan, R. Y et al (2013), What is the purpose of higher education?: Comparing institutional and student perspectives for completing a U. S. Bachelor's degree in the 21st century. Roundtable paper presented at the annual Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) conference, November 2013.
Table 5: Swedish higher education, purposes articulated by government 1976 - 2014
Annually articulated purposes for Swedish Higher Education in respective governmental period					
Year	1976 -1982	1982 - 1991	1991-1994	1994 - 2005	2005-2014
Main political profile	Center	Socialdem.	Conserv.	Socialdem.	Conserv.
Socio-cultural development		X	X	X	X
Growth/ Economic development	X	X	X	X (sust.dev.)	X (sust.dev.)
Competitiveness/com petition			X	X	X
Prosperity/ welfare	X		X	X	X
Professional preparation of labor force	X			X	X
Personal development			X	X	X
Knowledge/competen ce		X	X	X	X
Bildung/critical thinking			X	X	X
Democracy, equity, values	X		X	X	X
Racism, xenophobia				X	
Future/Future problems.	X			X	X
Sources: budget bills for the working years 1977/78, 1981/82, 1984/85, 1987/88, 1992/93, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2005/06, 2007/08, 2010/11 and 2013/14. Articulation of purposes and arguments for proposed financial dispositions is mainly found appendix (general) and in part 16 concerning allocation to education and research.
As can be noted, there are also articulated ideas on the importance of higher education for democracy and values but as concluded above, institutional strategies does not usually put that argument in the forefront, rather they prioritize more growth related analyses and ideas in their strategies.
This paper draws mainly upon two main studies on institutional strategies and thinking about higher educations societal role among academic leaders. In addition has results from a prior study on quality assurance schemes on institutional level and a brief overview of governmental arguments for resource allocation into higher education been provided. Taken together those studies roughly cover three levels, national, institutional and individual. They are not fully compatible but they add important parts that are possible to put in relation to each other. The theme of continuity and change cannot in empirical sense be supported by those studies.
Above has been described how higher education institutions seem to voice current analysis and ideas for the future in a striking homogenous manner. Also it is found indications on mainstreaming practices in design of quality assurance models. Institutional theory on isomorphic behavior suggests that this is a typical outcome of the kind of ecosystem in which higher education operates and that this is likely to continue, disregarding increased inefficiency but in search for increased legitimacy. According to DiMaggio & Powell we can understand this as a mimetic "process of homogenization".67 This homogenization is not at all visible on individual level. The second main inquiry presented above deals with notions on democracy and values education and finds higher degree of diversity in ideas concerning this area and objectives for professional preparation.
It appears as if higher education institutions experience difficulties in expressing profiled and individual strategies anchored in both local and global analyses. In addition it is a remarkable "sound of silence" when it comes to institutional understandings of its role as a mass education institution in a democratic society. For the future it seem imperative that higher education institution acknowledge that they have important roles and that they make their interpretation articulated and develop strategies for taking identified responsibility.
Nationally and internationally there is an international concern regarding limited learning in higher education. Arum& Roksa voices in the U.S. context "student performance are disturbingly low."68 The argument align to a continuing debate that has been fueled by volumes like The Closing of the American Mind - How Higher Education Has failed democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students (Bloom 1987), What Matters in College? Four Critical Years Revisited (Astin1993) and Our Underachieving Colleges - A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More (Bok 2006) to name some. Derek Bok argues that there is less hope for "turning colleges into effective learning organizations."69
This kind debate is not an only a U.S. phenomena. During 2013 the levels of learning in higher education have been debated at a prominent Swedish daily newspaper.70 A short recollection of the those articles is illustrative:
•	Quality review is of low quality (130923),
•	Is it too lazy days as a student in higher education? (131121),
•	Higher education has acute problems (131123),
•	Students have to take personal responsibility for learning (131126) and
•	Many programs has too little impact on students (131128)
The point made here is not on the level of learning but rather that society should worry about what kind of learning that is or is not going on in HE and what impact this has on students in a wider
67	DiMaggio & Powell (1991), p61f
68	Arum& Roksa (2011), p31
69	Bloom, A. (1987) The Closing of the American Mind - How Higher Education Has failed democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, New York: Simon & Schuster, (reprint 2012); Astin, A. W. (1993), What Matters in College? Four Critical years Revisited, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; Bok, D. (2005), Our Underachieving Colleges - A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
70	Svenska Dagbladet. Guess which one of the articles that was written by the university chancellor, responsible for the national quality inspection of higher education. C.f DN-debatt 130404
perspective. Drawing on Biesta, and his emphasis on the idea that studies have three fold function (qualification, socialization and subjectification) and that they are interlinked in such a way that an intervention in qualification also impacts the other two and vice versa.71 This observations has its relevance here as higher education seems to have an awareness about it qualification function and looks for advancement in that respect omitting how that affect the other functions and how that relates to issues on identity, democracy etc.
Higher education institutions have by tradition had an autonomous role and researchers are seldom voiceless when the academic freedom is questioned and during the last decade a debate on institutional autonomy resulted in an increased institutional independence. Despite this -institutional analysis seems very much aligned to each other, holding similar opinions, not indicating a particular independent thinking about higher educations societal role for democracy. If institutional processes of homogenization continue society maybe at risk of having a decreasing number of alternative ideas on the table when it comes to understanding of key societal challenges. If the discrepancy between a homogenous top level outward communication and collegial diverse notions on key issues increases institutions reflective capacity can be at risk as well. Taken together, much calls for rethinking of what the ecosystem of higher education have to look like to secure the necessary biodiversity in the system and what conditions in higher education that is needed for securing diversity in terms of both continuity and change within institutions. In relation to the current national debate on autonomy in higher education it can be translated into an argument for a general shift in autonomy policy from only procedural autonomy to substantive autonomy.72
71	Biesta, G. J. J. (2010), Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy, Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, p19ff
72	Berdahl, R. (1990), Academic Freedom, Autonomy and Accountability in British Universities, Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 15,Issue no 2.
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Iris BenDavid-Hadar: The Economics of MOOCs and its interrelationship to Competitiveness and Cohesiveness: The Case of Israel
Abstract
Higher education contributes to state competitiveness (Green, Mostafa & Preston, 2010) via human capital development that provides future returns to the economy through increases in labor productivity (Hanushek & Kimko, 2000). Additionally, HE is an infrastructure for future state-level social cohesiveness. Those countries where the education system produces more equitable outcomes are likelier to promote future social cohesiveness (Green & Preston, 2001; BenDavid-Hadar, 2013a).
I argue that MOOCs, as a new factor in the global HE landscape, changes the dynamics amongst state competitiveness and cohesiveness. The economic discussion addresses MOOCs as a Pareto improvement. As such, it addresses state competitiveness as a country production, since possibility frontier is broader when compared to the previous era (i.e., before MOOCs). However, this discussion fails to addresses the issue of maintaining state social cohesiveness.
This paper develops a theoretical model that addresses these changes, taking into account the short run and long run dynamics and concludes with policy recommendations for countries aiming to sustaining their competitiveness while maintaining social cohesiveness.
1. Introduction
Higher education (HE) contributes to state competitiveness (Green, Mostafa & Preston, 2010) via human capital development that provides future returns to the economy through increases in labor productivity (Hanushek & Kimko, 2000). Additionally, education serves as an infrastructure for future state-level's social cohesiveness (SC). Countries whose education systems produce more equitable outcomes are likelier to promote futu re SC (Green & Preston, 2001; BenDavid-Hadar, 2013a). However, despite the growing need to compete while maintaining SC via education, in some countries, including Israel, the access to HE is still stratified by income, and lower than the OECDs average. Israel sees HE as an infrastructure for state future competitive ability. Therefore, it strives to increase access to HE and to decrease stratification in order to sustain or increase its future SC. Nevertheless, for students of lower social strata, access to HE is limited due to financial obstacles. Fiscal constraints limit the government's ability to adopt policies favorable to low-situated students. The recent proliferation of free-of-charge Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) potentially changes the face of HE. It makes HE more affordable to low-situated students. If indeed accessibility increases, both state competitiveness and SC will increase.
However, cultural and social barriers may prevent low situated students from benefiting from the MOOCs. They might not know about MOOCs or have the equipment or capabilities required to access such courses. Furthermore, the inequities at previous stages of education (e.g., at the secondary schools level) might diminish the ability of such students to go through HE successfully.
Moreover, institutions may wish to maintain the value of their on-campus degrees by offering only limited courses as MOOCs, thus leaving their MOOCs consumers in an inferior position when they need to compete.
Since MOOCs use is not subjected to local geographical borders, the interrelationships amongst accessibility, competitiveness, and cohesiveness should be re-visited. For example, people can acquire HE using MOOCs of universities that are more prestigious than their local universities, potentially gaining a competitive advantage over their peers and increasing their state's competitiveness. However, an adverse effect might occur: the highly prestigious universities might bring about a "brain drain" by encouraging excellent students to immigrate, leading to a "cream skimming" effect resulting in a decrease in state competitiveness (King & Sen, 2013; Voss, 2013).
This study addresses the following questions: What is the economics of MOOCs? How do MOOCs influence, if at all, the interrelationships between accessibility, competitiveness and cohesiveness? And what are its implications for countries that strive to compete globally (e.g., Israel)?
This paper develops a theoretical model that examines the relationships between MOOCs, accessibility to HE, state competitiveness, and SC, using Israel as a case study. Section 2 introduces the literature concerning the links between education and state competitiveness, and between education and SC. Section 3 explores the extent of accessibility to HE in Israel (Subsection 3.1) and the factors that lead to it, such as the extent of equity in school funding and the extent of equality of educational opportunity in previous stages of education (Subsection 3.2). Section 4 analyzes the economics of MOOCs and presents a theoretical model that explains the effect of MOOCs on accessibility to HE, state competitiveness and SC. The final part concludes with policy implications and future research (Section 5).
2. Education state competitiveness, and social cohesiveness
There is a body of literature that examines the effect of HE on state competitiveness and with almost no intersection, there is an additional body of literature which examines the effect of HE on SC. This paper conceptualizes a broader perspective that ties the triad relationship amongst competitiveness, SC, and HE. In this section the two bodies of literature are surveyed.
2.1 Education and state competitiveness
With the accelerating processes of globalization, many countries struggle to maintain their positions in the global market. (Green, Mostafa, & Preston, 2010).
The literature on the link between education and competitiveness typically views education as an infrastructure for advancing state competitiveness. Reiljan, Hinrikus, and Ivanov (2000) argue that the ability to achieve competitiveness is more important than competitiveness itself, because it guarantees recuperation if competitiveness is lost for some reason. The importance of
education accumulated in human capital development is highlighted in light of this argument. Furthermore, they claim that education is an important aspect that should be evaluated to predict a country's future competitiveness. Their model concludes that an individual's competitiveness is mainly a derivative of his or her education, whereas the competitiveness of a state depends upon the ability of a nation to create an environment that favors education for development.
This literature typically recognizes human capital development and demonstrates how increased investment in education provides future returns to the economy through an increase in labor productivity (Hanushek & Kimko, 2000; Krueger & Lindahl, 2000). Moreover, better quality education increases average earnings and productivity and reduces the likelihood of social problems that are harmful to economic development.
Sahlberg (2006) claims that successful economies compete on the basis of high human capital development, which is best guaranteed by educated personnel. He argues that globalization has increased economic competition between countries. Furthermore, Sahlberg highlights that to increase competitiveness citizens must acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for civic success and the knowledge-based economy. He concludes that the key features of education reform policies that are compatible with competitiveness are those that encourage flexibility in education systems and creativity in schools.
2.2 Education and social cohesiveness
A salient argument in the literature on the connection between education and SC is that the distribution of education attainment affects SC. Thus, countries with education systems producing more equal outcomes are more likely to promote future social cohesion than countries where education is distributed less equitably (Green & Preston, 2001).
Beauvais and Jenson's (2002) review of the literature concerning education and SC also indicates that state education is an important ingredient for fostering SC. Moreover, the state's economic and social policies (for example, its investment in children through education) are an important factor for achieving future SC. Additionally, this review points out that UNESCO also argues for the importance of education and education policy for SC. Beauvais and Jenson conclude, therefore, that if globalization produces greater demographic diversity, then public policy can be used to improve SC.
3. Accesses to higher education: Trends and explanations
MOOCs is a new actor in the HE arena, an arena characterized in many countries by less than desirable levels of stratifications and access to HE. Table 1 represents the changes in access to HE in the OECDs countries within the last decade (from 2000 to 2010). It shows that from an international perspective, access to HE has increased in the last decade (2000- 2010). Additionally, Table 1 presents three levels of accessibility rate. A higher level of accessibility (compared to the average of the OECDs) is evident is countries like Australia (96), Slovenia (77), and the US (74) (Table 1). In addition, a lower level of accessibility is evident in countries like Italy (49), Turkey (40), and Mexico (33).
Table 1: Longitudinal and International View on Research Based Tertiary Education
		2000	2005	2010
	Australia	58	52	%
	Iceland	66	74	S3
	Re rtu gal	-	-	as
	New Zealand	95	79	so
Above avEfage	Roland	65	76	£4
	Slcvenia	-	40	77
	Ncrvey	67	73	76
	Sweden	67	76	76
	Un led Stales	42	Si	74
	Korea	45	51	71
	Fin aid	71	73	53
	Austra	34	37	53
	Slovak Repueic	37	59	55
	De^mali	52	57	55
	Nettie?-ands	53	59	55
	Unied Kingdom	47	51	53
	OECD average	47	M	52
Ave'age				
	Israel	45	SB	60
	Cziedi Recublic	25	41	60
	Ireand	32	45	55
	Hirqary	55	6S	54
	Spain	47	43	52
	Jae=n	40	42	51
	taly	39	56	45
	Che	-	-	47
	Swtzerla'd	29	37	44
below ave'age	Esttrna	-	55	43
	Gemrany	30	36	42
	Tir<ey	21	27	40
	Greece	30	43	-
	Belgiun	-	33	33
	Meaicc	24	27	33
	LuKeniKurg	-	-	23
Source: Table c3.3 Education ar a Glance 2012 OEDC Indicators
It is evident that in average, in the OECDs countries, access has increased from 47 percent in 2000 to 62 percent in 2010. This trend is similar to other OECDs countries such as Austria, Slovak Republic, Denmark, Netherlands and UK, whereas similar yet smaller levels of accessibility are evident in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Hungary, Spain, Japan, and Israel.
The gradual increase in access to HE that we have witnessed in the last decade might accelerate due to the introduction of MOOCs. However, while the MOOCs phenomenon has the potential to diminish stratification, previous education levels, such as secondary education can hinder this process. Israel is an example of a country where on the one hand, MOOCs as a phenomenon is embraced and therefore stratification in HE might be reduced. On the other hand, secondary
education might still hinder stratification, as the extent of equity in both resource allocation and outcomes is questionable.
3.1 Trends of higher education accessibility in Israel
Israel provides an interesting case study for exploring the effect of MOOCs on the HE arena. The Israeli HE arena is characterized by a high level of competitiveness and a low level of SC. Israel views its HE system as an infrastructure for increasing both the state competitive ability and its future SC.
As mentioned above, access to HE in Israel has increased. Currently, some 194,129 students are enrolled in BA programs. Additionally, some 52,698 and 10,615 students are enrolled in MA or PhD programs, respectively. These numbers may be better understood by using a more relative perspective such as the percent of students amongst the relevant age group of 18-39. The following Table 2 presents the trends in access to HE in Israel from 2004 to 2012.
Table 2: Students in HE among Persons Aged 18-39, by Gender, Age, Population Group and Degree (percent)
		200*05	20W1Q	2D 11/12
	TOTAL	6.0	7.2	7.4
	GENDER			
	Men	56	6.3	6.4
	Women	65	6.1	5.3
	AGE			
	18-21	4-fl	5.5	5.5
	22-24	16 5	19.1	15.0
BA	25-29	B.6	11.4	12.3
	30-33 POPULATION GROUP	1.3	1.7	J .6
	Therecr Jews	7.1	6.2	5.4
	Arai'j	Z8	4.0	4.3
	TOTAL	11J	1.6	17
	GENDER			
	Men	1.6	1.3	'4
	Women	2.1	13	2.0
	AGE			
	22-24	1.0	o.a	0.6
	25-29	13	34	3.5
	30-34	1.7	2.1	2.4
MA:	35J9 POPULATION GROUP	0.7	1.0	12
	Therecr Jews	2.3	2.0	2.0
	ME	0.5	0.5	0.7
Source: Table B.53: Hue Israeli Ceutiial Bureau of Statistics Animal Rjepcit (2013)
Similar to the global trend of increasing access to HE, Table 2 presents the incremental trend in access to HE in Israel. The incremental trend is evident in both BA and MA programs. Specifically, this
trend is reflected by the increasing percent of student enrollment of the relevant age group from 6 percent in 2004 to 7.4 in 2012 at the BA program. A less dominant trend is evident in the MA programs were student enrollment was 1.8 in 2004 and is currently similar.
This incremental trend of access to HE in Israel is more dominant for the Arab than the Jewish students. Specifically, Arab access has increased by 53 percent (from 2.8 percent in 2004 to 4.3 percent in 2012). The Jewish sector exhibits a more modest incremental trend of 18 percent (from 7.1 in 2004 to 8.4 in 2012).
In spite of the incremental trend of student' enrollment that represents a wider access to HE in Israel, the gap between ethnic groups, though narrowing down, is still extremely wide. Specifically, the gap between Jewish and Arab students enrolled in BA programs was reduced from more than 2.5 to less than 2 (in 2004 and 2012, respectively).
While a gender gap, does not exist in the general population, Arab woman are less likely to acquire higher education than Arab man or Jewish woman. Furthermore, amongst the recipients of higher degrees from universities, there was a reversal in the trend. Specifically, in the beginning of the 90's the gender gap was in favor of the men (BA: 48, and 52; MA: 56, and 44, and PhD: 67, and 33, percent for men and women, respectively). However, two decades later (2010) the gap was in favor of women (BA: 43, and 57; MA: 44, and 56, and PhD: 50, and 50, percent for men and women, respectively).
Table 3: Recipient of Degrees from Universities, by Gender, Population group, Religion and Origin of birth
	1 sea-Bo	199A-2000	2009-10
TOTAL - Absolute numbers	13,315	26,741	33,416
Percentage			
■Gender - total	100.0	1*U	104.0
Men	49.4	41J	434
Women	50.6	533	56.G
Population group, religion and origin of birth - total	100.0	1*U	104.0
Jewish	94.7	M4	S9.9
Born in Israel	75.5	761	74.4
Born abr&aJ	19.2	'7.3,	15.4
Arabs	5.2	5.5	7.7
The'ecF: Mo&srre	3.3	3.3	4.3
Ch-stiare	1.5	1.4	1.7
Druze	0.4	o_s	1.1
SouLce: Table 3.14: Hue Eaineli Ceiitiial Bnrcsn of Statistics Annual Report (2013)
Table 3 represents the improvement in the equality of educational opportunities between ethnic groups. At the beginning of the 90's the ratio between Jewish and Arabs recipients of degrees in the universities was 95:5, and in 2010 this ratio improved to 90:10 (the ratio in the population is some 80:20).
Although there is rise of inequality in HE, the access to HE remains stratified. Table 4 indicates the percentage of high school graduates who pursue a higher education.
Table 4: Continuation to HE among High School Graduates within Eight Years After Completing School
In schools where the curriculum is taught in Hebrew, some 53,300 graduates were entitled to a matriculation high school diploma in comparison to some 28, 300 who were not entitled to this diploma. High school matriculation diploma is a key factor in gaining access to HE in Israel. Some 70 percent of those who are eligible for high school matriculation diploma gain access to HE. In comparison, only some 8 percent of those who are not eligible for high school matriculation diploma gain access (Table 4).
Moreover, stratification is still evident (Volansky, 2012). Amongst the schools where the curriculum is taught in Hebrew, some 30 percent of those who are eligible to high school matriculation diploma did not gain access to HE. Additionally, some 90 percent of those who are not eligible to high school matriculation diploma did not gain access to HE.
In comparison, amongst high schools where the curriculum is taught in Arabic, some 9,000 were entitled to a matriculation high school diploma in comparison to some 6,600 who were not entitled to this diploma. In these schools, less than 50 percent of those eligible to high school matriculation diploma gain access to HE. In comparison, solely 3 percent of those not eligible to high school matriculation diploma gain access (Table 4).
Table 5 indicates the extent of stratification in access to HE in Israel. Table 5: Stratification in Access to Higher Education
Table Stratificarion in Access to Higher Education
SES	Access to Higher Educatoi Joercentage)
Hebrew	tobic
LwEES	36	29
high EES	67	29
Sonce; Table B.45: The tuneli Central Biueau of Statistics Annual Rjepcit (2013)
Most of those who have not gained access are either from an ethnic minority group or from low SES household. Specifically, within the low SES Jewish households, one of three gains access to HE. However, within the high SES Jewish households, two of three gained access. In addition, within the Arab households less than one out of three gains access to HE regardless the SES (Table 5).
The following subsection offers an explanation to these trends in access to HE and in its stratification.
3.2 Explanatory factors of higher education accessibility in Israel
This subsection focuses on the factors that explain access to HE and its stratification, such as (a) the extent of equal opportunity in previous schooling levels, and (b) the extent of equity in the method by which the state allocates resources to its schooling system.
It is argued that a low extent of equality in educational opportunity in previous schooling levels may account for the low levels of access and stratification in HE. Furthermore, inequitable resource allocation to education in previous stages of education may provide an explanation for the gap.
In the following subsections I will review the equality of educational opportunities in Israel's schooling system and the equity of its educational resource allocation.
3.3.1	Equality of opportunity
Equal opportunity can be perceived as a normalizing factor of the education achievement distribution (EAD) across students' various starting points. Since students' abilities are normally distributed, one expects the EAD to be normal. Any other type of EAD reflects an unfair access to resources, or a situation of unequal opportunities. In Roemer's (1998) words, "compensatory education [should] be provided for children from disadvantaged social backgrounds so that a larger proportion of them will acquire skills required to compete" (p. 1).
In my previous research, I have found a low level of equality of opportunity at the high school level. Furthermore, it was found that there is a high and positive correlation between the high school matriculation certificate eligibility rate and the student's SES (r= 0.790**). Additionally, I found that the negative correlation between the high school matriculation certificate eligibility rate and the percentage of minority students within the local student body is high (r= -0.610**). These findings indicate that students from high-SES perform better than students from low-SES, and that the performance of minority students is lower, compared to other students (BenDavid-Hadar, 2013b).
The low extent of equality of educational opportunity at the upper secondary school level may explain the stratification of HE in Israel.
Another explanation of the stratification in Israel's HE is the extent of equity in resource allocated to education. The school finance literature provides several concepts and statistical measurements for equity in resource allocation (e.g., Neutrality, Horizontal equity, Vertical equity). In the following subsection I address equity in terms of neutrality and present the extent of neutrality in Israel's resource allocation to schools.
3.2.2	Neutrality
Fiscal neutrality as a school finance equity concept specifies that no connection should exist between the education of children and the property wealth (or any other fiscal capacity) that supports the public funding of that education (Coons, Clune, & Sugarman, 1970; Berne & Stiefel, 1999).
Within this mindset, the varying starting points of students are addressed by ensuring equal overall funds. However, the issue of needy students who may require more educational dollars is not explicitly addressed. Yet, the strength of the concept of neutrality is in putting forward the need for a condition that allows for the advancement of equality of opportunities, so that no correlation exists
between the wealth characteristics of the students' community and the budget allocated to them. In the Israeli context, it is important to pay attention to wealth neutrality, as the total per-student funding was found to be positively correlated with wealth features.
Measuring Neutrality: In earlier research, I found that in addition to governmental funds, high SES students enjoy high levels of local investment per-student (BenDavid-Hadar, 2013b). This means that while the public financial resources should, at the very least, be equally available to all public school children, they are in fact positively correlated with the inequitable local authorities' per-student investment. The low extent of equity in the resource allocated to the schooling system may explain the variations in access to HE and the stratification of Israeli HE.
MOOCs is a new factor in the HE both worldwide and in Israel. It has the potential to change the above mentioned inequities, lower stratification, and increase access to HE. The following subsection introduces the model of the MOOCs effect and discusses it.
4. The theoretical model
From the economic perspective, MOOCs is perceived as a technological progress that improves the production-possibility frontier (PPF) (Figure 1) and may increase the rate of economic growth. In the theoretical two-goods PPF model, where the on-campus education and online education are the two goods or services that are produced, the MOOCs phenomenon is referred to as a Pareto improvement.
Pareto improvement: refers to a state in which, given an initial allocation of on-campus education and online education to two individuals (one of them only values on-campus education and the other values online education) (Point A, Figure 1), a change to a different allocation that makes at least one individual better off without making the other individual worse off (any point on the arc BA', Figure 1) is called a Pareto improvement.
Additionally, an allocation is defined as "Pareto efficient" when no further Pareto improvements can be made. Pareto efficiency does not necessarily result in a socially equitable (or equal) distribution of resources. Thus, a Pareto efficient outcome may be very inequitable. For example, the outcome in which one individual has all the goods and the other individual has nothing is also Pareto efficient (since there is no way to make someone better off without making the other worse off).
Figure 1: The production-possibility frontier of country Z
Gti-cainpui education ^C
Online education
Figure 1 represents one country production-possibility frontier before and after the MOOCs phenomenon. Points along the curve describe the trade-off between on-campus and online education.
A potential move from point A to point A' (Figure 1) represents a Pareto improvement because the online education is increased; however, on-campus education remains at the same level. That is, increasing online education does not entail a decreasing of on-campus education, because there is a technological progress.
Similarly, a potential move from point A to point B (Figure 1) also represents a Pareto improvement because the on-campus education is increased; however, online education remains on the same level. That is, increasing on-campus education does not entail the decreasing of online education.
To conclude, a potential move from point A to any point on the arc BA' (Figure 1) also represent Pareto improvement because both on-campus education and online education are increased.
However, a
potential move from point A to points D or C (Figure 1) does not represent Pareto improvement since there is a trade-off between on-campus and online education. Specifically, a potential move to point C results in an increased on-campus education yet decreased online education. Similarly, a move to point D results in an opposite outcome. In both cases, there is no Pareto improvement.
So what are the effects of the MOOCs' appearance in the HE scene, specifically, does it increase (a) competitiveness and (b) SC? Figure 1 addresses the issue of competitiveness. Since the possibility frontier has increased the competitive ability of 'country Z' has broadened.
However, to establish the effects of the MOOCs on the SC we will need an in-depth investigation. Country Z discussed above not only uses MOOCs but also provides (some of) them. However, there are other countries that are solely consumers (users) of MOOCs and are not in the position to provide such courses. If we look at both types of countries (providers and consumers of MOOCS) from a global perspective, we can see that theoretically, each country might increase its possibility frontier.
However, since on-campus education and online education (e.g., MOOCs) may be perceived, in the short run, as complementary services, the incremental trend of the supply side of online education may increase the demand for on-campus education. The question is whether the increased demand for on-campus education would remain local and thereby reduce stratification? Or would it take a global turn- that is- adding more on-campus students to the state that provides the MOOCs (and less to the state to merely consume these MOOCs), thereby accelerating the "cream skimming" effect and increasing the stratification? The effect of MOOCs may vary and might be determined by the interrelationships between cohesiveness and competitiveness within a country either consumer or producer (Figure 2).
Figure 2: MOOCs effect on state Competitiveness and Cohesiveness
HIGH
Cohesiveness
IV
I
LOW
HIGH
Competitiveness
III
II
LOW
Type I County: Type I courtiers are characterized by a high level of competitiveness and a high extent of SC (e.g., Finland). Increasing the supply of online education may increase the demand for local on-campus education because of the high level of competitiveness (i.e., local universities may be highly prestigious). And the future competitive ability of such a country will increase.
Type II Country: Similarly, type II countries are characterized by a high level of competitiveness but a low extent of SC (e.g., Israel). There might be a few possible effects. Since in such countries there is a low level of SC that may accrue due to stratification in HE (sometimes resulting from a low extent of equity in previous education levels), some social groups may immigrate and the demand for local, on-campus education may remain the same or even diminish. Therefore, future competitive ability might decline. As a result, a type II country may become a type III country.
Type III Country: In contrast with the above mentioned types, type III countries are characterized by a low level of competitiveness and a low extent of SC (e.g., Chile). The effect of MOOCs might be a "cream skimming" that might lead to an even lower extent of future competitive ability and to a larger SC. As a result, such a country may turn to be a type IV country.
Type IV Country: Similarly, countries of type IV are characterized by a low level of competitiveness and a high extent of SC (e.g., Third World countries). The effect of MOOCs on this country may be that of "cream skimming" and the future competitive ability of such a country will decline to an even lower level.
The above analysis may differ when looking at the long run: Massive open online courses (MOOCs) could be further developed to become massive open online programs (MOOPs). That is to provide not only courses but rather full online undergraduate or graduate programs or a hybrid form of online and on-campus programs. The long run analysis should therefore consider online and on-campus education as substitutes. This means that the increased and increasing supply side of online free or reduced cost education might decrease the demand for local on-campus programs. Therefore, that same policy reform at the HE level should take these trends into account. If such policies are enacted in the short run, when MOOCs are still at the courses level, than it might keep the local on-campus education on. However, if such policies are not enacted, than MOOPs might diminish on-campus local education to the minimum.
5. Policy implications
It is widely argued that HE is an infrastructure for state competitiveness and that it affects state SC. The significance of this paper, however, is in its combined viewpoint on the HE arena, which aims at tying the relationship amongst competitiveness, SC, and HE, thereby offering a broader perspective on the issue. Based on a theoretical model that examines this relationship, it is argued that MOOCs, as a new actor in the HE arena, challenges this relationship and changes the dynamics amongst state competitiveness and SC.
A prominent argument that should alert local policy makers is that the effect of MOOCs on the demand for on-campus local HE (at state level) varies according to the extent of a country competitive ability and SC. Specifically, type II countries (characterized by a high level of competitiveness, and, a low extent of SC), which are the main focus of this paper,73 should consider reforming their HE policy. Such reform should be comprised of a larger provision of MOOCs, and of accreditation of MOOCs in the local programs. Enacting such a policy might allow type II countries to enjoy the global rising tide offered by MOOCs. It might strengthen their competitive ability while increasing their SC. In turn, might assist such countries in becoming the desirable type I countries.
Nonetheless, local policy makers should be aware that while MOOCs have increased the access to HE, they might not decrease stratification. Specifically, type II countries might therefore consider reforming the lower levels of their educational systems (e.g., secondary level). Increasing the extent of equality of educational opportunity at earlier schooling levels and reforming the local resource allocation mechanism to a more equitable one might decrease stratification in HE. Following these recommendations may lead to becoming a type I country, where the high level of competitiveness is kept and SC is increased.
These recommendations may assist other type II countries (e.g., the US) that wish to sustain their competitive ability and to maintain or recover their SC. However, type III countries (characterized by a low level of competitiveness, and, a low extent of SC) and type IV countries (characterized by a low level of competitiveness and by a high extent of SC) may suffer from the rising tide of the global MOOCs as their level of competitiveness, low as it is, might be worsened. These countries are not in a position to offer MOOCs, and could only take the part of MOOCs consumers. If policy makers would adjust to the rising tide of the MOOCS they might face the "cream skimming" effect that will reduce the state competitiveness.
We are currently at the very early stages of MOOCs research. This paper analyses the economics of MOOCs on the macro level and develops a preliminary model that investigates the relationship between state competitiveness, SC and HE. However, there is a need for empirical research of the MOOCs' effect on the dynamics between the HE, state competitiveness, and SC. More work is also required to further understand the economics of MOOCs and (in)effective policies at the state and global level.
Local policy makers should acknowledge the strength of MOOCs in changing the face of HE (between states) globally and to reform their policy according to the country type, as presented in Section 4.
73 Because these countries are able to develop and become the desirable type I countries (represented by a high level of competitiveness, and, a high extent of SC) by relatively little effort.
References
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Wietse de Vries, German Alvarez Mendiola: Policy design and Path Dependence: Why do Mexican policies produce unusual results?
And I was horrified at the thought that things conceived in error are just as real as things conceived with good reason and of necessity.
Milan Kundera, The Joke
This paper seeks to clarify an apparent paradox regarding higher education policies in Mexico. By 2013, Mexican universities remained doing poorly in any international comparison. At the same time, government officials boasted about the progress made, thanks to the successful implementation of policies since the 1980s. As such, Mexican policies seem to be successful, but to produce outcomes that are different than those in other countries.
Explaining this contradiction is the purpose of our paper. We will look back at the past 25 years and analyze why certain policy decisions were made. This analysis of the past will serve as the backbone for our forecast of probable future scenarios.
Our analysis will be different from most others: research on Mexican policies has been mainly descriptive, narrating the implementation of different initiatives. Other research has been slightly more analytical, comparing the results or unexpected side-effects of policies to the initially proclaimed goals. On the whole, however, these studies fail to explain why, compared to other countries, Mexican policies are different and produce dissimilar results.
In our analysis, we will look at a central construct in organizational theory, called "path dependency". In organizational research, path dependency describes the mechanisms that link the past with the future. In our analysis, we seek to explain under which circumstances path dependency occurs, what the role of several actors is, and when it leads to inefficiencies or the persistence of problems policies sought to change.
We will especially explore the existence of third-degree path dependence. While in the first and second-degree stages mistakes can be made, these are mostly due to incomplete information and do not produce inefficiencies. However, "third-degree path dependence requires not only that the intertemporal effects propagate error, but also that the error was avoidable" (Liebowitz & Margolis, 1995).
We will explore the empirical existence and the consequences of third-degree path dependency by comparing developments in the Mexican public university sector (subject to public policies) with developments in the private sector (not subject to public policies), and with changes in other countries. Our conjecture is that third-degree path dependency does exist in Mexican higher education policies. Its presence, however, is not based on "historical reasons", but rather originates from particular (erroneous) visions held by central actors of how public universities should be
reformed. The resulting policy regime explains the permanence of inefficiencies and errors, which benefits certain interest groups, but also limits the options for future reforms.
Different ways to analyse policies
Policies are considered as courses of action put in place by the government in order to solve a specific problem. In theory, policies are formulated when a problem reaches the agenda of policy makers and some kind of action has to be taken. Once an issue is defined as a problem, the situation is analyzed and a solution is proposed. The next step in the process is implementation: the policy has to be put in practice. This means that lower levels in the governmental hierarchy need to take actions, in order to modify the behaviour or the situation of the final target group of the policy. Finally, after a certain span of time, the outcomes of the policy have to be evaluated, and decisions have to be made about the continuation, cancelation or modification of the policy. From there on the policy circle starts anew.
This model has received many criticisms for being far too simple and for presupposing strictly rational decision making. Following the sequence of the different stages, the first one of policy design turns out to be far more complicated in practice: policy makers have only partial information regarding the problem and its possible solutions, have limited resources, have to act under stress, all of which leads to bounded rationality (Kingdon, 1984; Powell & DiMaggio, 1991). Under such circumstances policy makers tend to turn to policies or strategies that proved to be effective in the past, or to borrow policies from other countries (Robertson & Waltman, 1992). As a result, a policy may turn out to be not the optimal solution, but rather the best possible.
The second stage of implementation also has been object of many studies, which describe numerous factors that influence the process and that can lead to the original intentions of the policy being modified or distorted (Ripley, 1985; Cerych & Sabatier, 1986). However, research on implementation has mainly highlighted the factors that impede correct implementation, such as the degree of change, the complexity of the policy, or the lack of clear procedures or instructions. Several empirical studies have put in doubt these suppositions. As Kogan (2005) points out, there have been proposals for gradual change that have not prospered, and radical proposals that have, contradicting forecasts.
The stage of results or outcomes is even more complicated to analyze. One obstacle is to define the point in time when reforms produce real and measurable change. Most policies proclaim change in the long term; others declare goals that are difficult to verify (improving quality). Another factor to take into account is the depth of change: some reforms can be superficial, others profound.
An additional complication is to assert in how far changes are due to policies. From the perspective of policy makers, positive changes tend to be considered the result of their policies, while negative outcomes are ascribed to a lack of policies or to a resistance to change on behalf of the institutions. However, institutions not subject to policies tend to change as well, and there is an increasing literature on forces of the market provoking changes. This however poses new challenges for analysis, as market forces itself are shaped by the state.
Path dependency
In order to analyze Mexican policies, we will use the notion of path dependency (PD). There are different definitions of PD, but in organizational research the term is used to describe how the past
shapes decisions and their outcomes. Decisions, from this perspective, are taking place in a context of already existing rules and regulations (formal and informal) that shape the behaviour of actors. According to North (1991), organizations (as a group of actors united around common goals) are defined by institutions (the rules of the game). Once these rules become institutionalized they create path dependency. As a result, organizations become resistant to change.
Research on reform in higher education has used the concept of PD in order to explain why similar public policies produce different outcomes. Comparative studies (de Boer et al, 2007, Hood et al, 2004) have pointed out that, even though several governments have formulated apparently similar policies and goals, in practice in each specific context differences persist due to particular path dependencies within each system. For example, De Boer et al. (2007) describe how changes in five countries are shaped by the historical context of each system of higher education and by the specific relation between higher education and the state or other stakeholders, creating several PD.
However, this focus on PD offers only limited elements to the analysis, as it primarily explains resistance to change. From this perspective, policies that seek reform are confronted, in the stage of implementation, by resistance from organizational actors that are behaving under already existing and institutionalized rules, and as a result changes tend to be gradual. This however aggregates little to the traditional focus of policy implementation as formulated by Lindblom (1959) or Cerych & Sabatier (1996), in that policies face resistance due to already existing practices.
Mostly absent in these analyses are the policies itself. Policies are seen as actions from the government or from the outside to alter the rules in place within the organizations. While this may have provided an adequate description for the situation in the 1980s, when governments started to formulate innovative policies, it should be considered that after three decades some policies have become institutionalized, i.e. they have become new path dependencies. In doing so, they have stopped to challenge the traditional rules of the game, and in many cases they have become the rules of the game.
According to Margolis y Liebowitz (1995) there are several degrees of Path Dependency:
►	First degree PD. A minimal form of path dependence is present whenever there is an element of persistence or durability in a decision. Once a decision has been taken, actors tend not to change their decision in the light of minor changes in their surroundings.
►	Second degree PD. Since information is always imperfect, and individuals fail to predict the future perfectly, it is likely that ex ante efficient decisions may not turn out to be efficient in retrospect. Here the inferiority of a chosen path is unknowable at the time a choice is made, but it is later recognized that some alternative path would have yielded greater wealth. In such a situation there is a dependence on past conditions that leads to outcomes that are regrettable and costly to change.
►	Third degree PD. In these occasions, decisions made in the beginning were not the best alternative from the outset, and introduced inefficiencies that could have been avoided ("remedial inefficiencies"). Perpetuation of the policy leads to ever greater inefficiencies, but the policy becomes hard to change because of vested interests.
As Liebowitz & Margolis observe:
"The three types of path dependence make progressively stronger claims. First-degree path dependence is a simple assertion of an intertemporal relationship, with no implied error of prediction or claim of inefficiency. Second-degree path dependence stipulates that intertemporal effects together with imperfect prediction result in actions that are regrettable, though not inefficient. Third-degree path dependence requires not only that the intertemporal effects propagate error, but also that the error was avoidable." (Liebowitz & Margolis, 1995).
So, from this perspective, policies should be analysed not only from the perspective of their institutionalization or path dependency, but also regarded according to the degree of path dependency. As such, this opens the possibility to typify policies as mistaken from the outset, successfully implemented and perpetuated, but leading to increasing inefficiencies and the propagation of errors.
According to Liebowitz & Margolis (1995), third degree PD is exceptional in the business world, where the perpetuation of errors sooner or later would lead to bankruptcy. In the case of higher education the case is less clear, as publicly funded universities may thrive by adopting public policies, however erroneous, because they will receive additional funding.
Our analysis in this paper will describe that third degree path dependency exists in Mexican Higher Education, and will look at the implications for the future.
Path dependency in Mexican policies
There are several examples of third degree dependency in Mexican policies. For example, Lopez-Zarate (2012) has pointed out that the model of strategic planning introduced by the federal government by 2000 is a fad, and has lead to an increasing bureaucracy, with increasing costs and inefficiencies, and all leading to the allocation of a small amount of the budget. Furthermore, as Lopez-Zarate observes, this kind of strategic planning was introduced in Mexico when it already was abandoned in other countries for being considered erroneous.
But in this paper we will analyze another case, that of the regulation of academic work. In this area, several policies have emerged over time. In 1984, the federal government created the National System of Researchers (SNI in Spanish), in order to avoid that, as result of the financial crisis, high ranked researchers would leave for better jobs abroad. The program consists in the creation of a central governmental agency, linked to the National Council for Science and Technology, which evaluates the productivity of individual researchers. Depending on the results of the evaluation, the researcher receives monthly payments that are considered as stipends, not as part of their salary. The policy was launched as a temporary program in order to mitigate the crisis, but continues till today.
In the 1990s, additional schemes arose. First, the federal government introduced a special fund to award merit payments or incentives to academics based on their productivity. This program is operated by the public universities but following federal guidelines, en consists in a complex tabulator where points are assigned to various activities (publications, teaching loads, degrees obtained, conferences attended, etc.). Professors have to submit proof of their activities once every two years, and, according to the points obtained in their evaluation, they receive additional funds that, once again, are considered stipends, not salary.
Second, in 1996 the federal government introduced the Program for the Improvement of the Professoriate (PROMEP). Initially, this program provided mainly financial support to professors in public universities for postgraduate studies, with the goal of increasing the number of full-time academics with a PhD. Later on however, the program introduced the PROMEP Profile, a sort of 'ideal professor' who dedicates him or herself "in a balanced way" to four functions: teaching, tutoring, research and management (Urbano-Vidales, et al., 2006). In order to qualify for the PROMEP Profile, a professor needs to have a postgraduate degree and to submit proof of his activities to the Undersecretary of Higher Education. Once admitted they receive a one-time payment to improve their working conditions. Additionally, these Profiles are supposed to work together in Academic Bodies, groups of professors working together around common lines of research and a part of an educational program. In order to qualify as an Academic Body, the group has to submit proof of its existence to the Sub-secretary, which judges its degree of consolidation.
After around 2000 the several policies started increasingly to interact: being a member of the SNI and to have a PROMEP Profile generates extra points in the program that awards additional merit payments in each university. In several universities, access to research funding has become dependent on having the PROMEP Profile and belonging to a recognized Academic Body. Decisions about tenure have also become more dependent on compliance with the Profile and being a member of the SNI.
Signals of third degree path dependency
While in the 1990s these policies seemed to have limited effects and participation was optional, after 2000 they increasingly became mandatory for full-time faculty who wanted to obtain additional funding. But from an organizational point of view, they also became institutionalized. At the governmental level, special offices were created to operate the SNI and the PROMEP programs. As the number of candidates and members grows, so do the paperwork and the complications for evaluation: at the start of the SNI, in 1984, the system registered 1,369 members, but by 2013, the number reached 19,659 (Atlas de la Ciencia Mexicana, 2013). In the PROMEP case, full time academics registered rose from 22,907 in 2002 to 31,542 in 2011, while the number of academics with the PROMEP Profile changed from 6,660 in 2002 to 16,054 in 2011. In 2002, 2,789 Academic Bodies were registered, of which 19% were judged as consolidated (SEP, 2011). In the case of the merit pay program, about half of full-time academics participate, around 15,000 individuals.
If one considers that each of these evaluations runs its separate course, and has its own time span (SNI member are evaluated every 3 or 5 years, but have to submit an annual report, PROMEP profiles have to submit evidence every 2 or 4 years, merit payment programs consider an evaluation every 2 years), it is evident that thousand of academics have to be evaluated every year. This implies that an increasing number of administrative personnel have to be hired by the federal government to coordinate evaluation procedures.
Within individual institutions, the same phenomenon occurs: special offices arose to organize evaluation procedures, to receive paperwork, and to add up points. Universities set out to introduce formal structures to evaluate professors and to send their papers to the federal government.
The institutionalization also takes place through an increasing amount of rules and regulations that have become imbedded within universities. Here an interesting phenomenon occurs: in most
universities no clear regulations existed regarding the hiring, permanence, promotion and tenure for academics. In these cases, public policies have superseded existing rules or have filled the void. Nowadays, the federal Secretary for Higher Education, from its offices in Mexico City, evaluates academics to assess whether or not they comply with the ideal Profile. These evaluations have also become increasingly linked to strategic planning exercises, where universities present development projects in order to obtain additional funding, and in the accreditation of programs (Rubio-Oca, 2006). Thus, gradually a new type of professor was introduced: one that is full time, has a PhD, and combines research and teaching on a regular basis (Urbano-Vidales, et al., 2006, p. X).
These policies have also institutionalized through "myth and ceremony" (Meyer & Rowan, 1977): year after year, universities pride themselves for registering the most Academic Bodies and PROMEP Profiles, or the number of members of the SNI. Government officials visit universities to hand out diplomas to those who comply with the new rules, diplomas that generate additional points for merit pay. Members of Academic Bodies come together for photo sessions, and for every meeting an official document is elaborated, signed by officials and the participants. A whole new culture of proof and accountability has emerged.
Third degree path dependency
While it is clear that these policies have become institutionalized and have introduced new path dependencies, there remains the question if this is a case of third degree path dependency. Several aspects point into that direction:
A first question concerns if this was the best available option. In the case of the SNI, one could argue that, in 1984, it might be considered as the best available option in times of crisis, as it was conceived as a sort of emergency plan. Even so, the Mexican government at the time introduced something unusual: a nationally coordinated reward scheme that compensates researchers for their effort in producing articles and papers. In the case of subsequent reward programs, it is more doubtful if this was the best available option: academics are evaluated by the government through complicated procedures, bypassing local rules. These policies also evade local decisions regarding hiring and promotion of academics, as well as salaries. Furthermore, these policies are completely different from those in other countries.
A second crucial question is whether the central assumption underlying these policies holds true. The conjecture for decades has been that, by increasing the number of full-time academics with a PhD, and by introducing reward systems based on the evaluation of their productivity, research and teaching will improve.
This assumption is highly doubtful, from different angles: as to research, this activity remains concentrated in a few public and private universities, and mainly in the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM): by 2013, the UNAM alone accounted for roughly a third of all scientific articles produced by Mexican researchers and indexed by the ISI Web of Knowledge. The second ranked Mexican university was the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), a private institution (Odorika & Lloyd, 2013). Academics from both institutions do participate in the SNI, but do not partake in the PROMEP Profile and Academic Bodies.
Even so, these flagship institutions are doing poorly in international rankings: in 2011, the UNAM ranked 169 in the QS ranking, and the ITESM at 320. Other Mexican universities do not qualify among the first 200. Though one may criticize international rankings for their focus on specific activities, it should be considered that Mexican federal policies, starting with the SNI, always have sought to position Mexican universities among the best world-wide. Even so, Mexican universities are poorly positioned in international rankings, even below similar countries like Brazil, Chile and Argentina, and public universities are not doing better than private universities in the area of scientific production. If one considers publication in indexed journals, Mexico stands in the 34th position, even though it is the 8th economy in the world. So, after year of applying these policies, no changes have occurred.
This leaves the possibility that teaching might have had improved. Here data are limited and sketchy. However, several studies (Luna-Serrano & Aramburo-Vizcarra, 2013; Estevez-Nenninger, 2009; De Vries, et al., 2008) have found that full-time academics with a PhD, who are a member of the SNI and PROMEP and receive additional merit payments, are not better evaluated by their students than part-time teachers, who are excluded from all benefits and receive low wages. In any case, the ideal type of professor has a very limited impact on undergraduate education: part-time faculty still makes up for 70 percent of professors, and teach around 85% of undergraduate courses (De Vries, et al., 2008).
In conclusion, it does not seem that the decisions made several decades ago were the best available options.
A third point is whether inefficiencies have continued or have increased over time. Here, the yearly evaluations of academic productivity at the national and institutional level imply increasing administrative costs. Additionally, academics who comply with the rules of the different evaluations have to be paid additional stipends. On many occasions, full-time academics are able to double their income through additional stipends. In practice this means that a full-time academic, who teaches around four hours a week, receives over 50 thousand pesos per month (equivalent to 4000 US$), whereas a part-time academic, who teaches 18 hours per week, receives only 3 thousand pesos (250US$) a month. It also means that merit payments represent an ever increasing part of the budget of government agencies: the budget of CONACYT has remained at less than one percent of GNP, but the number of members of the SNI has risen from 1,369 to nearly 20 thousand. In this sense, the success of the different federal policies also predicts its future failure: while the government proudly announces that more and more academics comply with the new rules, it forgets to point out that the costs are rising as well.
Implications for the future
The policies regarding academic work thus seem to comply with the title of a song by Elvis Costello: "It was a fine idea at the time, now it's a brilliant mistake". The introduction of path dependency in this area has important implications.
A first is that these policies, although strongly criticised from the outset (de Vries & Alvarez, 2005), have introduced several perverse effects, but cannot be terminated. With nearly 20 thousand academics receiving additional income from the SNI, and nearly 16 thousand academics being
recognized by PROMEP, drastically altering these policies would mean a mayor conflict. Apart from academics benefitting from these programs, there is also a huge bureaucracy dedicated to these programs. It is in this area where the apparent paradoxes arise: while Mexico might not do well in international comparisons, policy makers tend to point out that policies have been successful, since there are more and more academ ics in the SNI and with a PROMEP Profile.
A second implication, however, is that these policies seem to be unsustainable in the near future. Including more and more academics in the SNI, PROMEP and merit pay programme implies an increasing burden on the budget. As all policies assign stipends, not linked to salaries, problems begin to appear when academics come close to the age of retirement. For these highly ranked academics, retirement would mean the loss of at least half of their income, and most of them prefer to continue working. At the same time, this obstructs the hiring of new professors, who also face the problem of not complying; at the start of their career, with the requisites of the SNI and the PROMEP, and are thus condemned to very low salaries. In order to supply for the generational change, the system would need several millions of pesos. A central problem is that the policies of the last two decades have not attended salaries and pension plans, and have mainly addressed, through merit pay, academics of an advanced age (the average age of academics in public universities is 58 years).
A third problem is that these policies, despite important investments, did not improve research and teaching. Mexico keeps lagging behind other countries when it comes to research productivity. Progress in teaching and learning is also doubtful. Mexico does not seem to better than other countries that did not introduce complicated evaluation programs, linked to stipends and rewards. A crucial issue here is that the reward systems have become institutionalized and consequently hamper innovation rather than to promote it (Levine, 1980): academics are stimulated to do more of the same, but in higher quantities. The tendency is for academics and academic bodies to become 'consolidated', to comply with the institutionalized rules (Galaz-Fontes, 2010), not to question them or to embark on innovations or long term research (Odorika-Sacristan y Navarro-Trujillo 2006).
Thus, policies in Mexico seem to respond to third degree path dependency: the original policy decision was erroneous, or at least highly doubtful. However, these policies have become fully entrenched in both the federal and institutional bureaucracies, and the beneficiaries might criticize these policies, but will at the same time staunchly defend their continuity.
Conclusion
The above introduces a wholly new topic on the agenda for future studies on higher education reform. At the beginning of the 1990s, the central question was if policies could change the rules within the system of higher education, and at what a cost. Universities were seen as resistant to change, because of path dependency. Successful implementation became a central issue for policy makers. By 2013, however, the central issue seems to be that some policies have been erroneous from the outset, that their implementation has been successful, but that their apparent success propagates the original errors. As a result, the new question is whether it is possible to alter erroneous policies, and at what a cost.
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Davide Donina, Michele Meoli, Stefano Paleari: Higher Education Reform in Italy: Tightening Regulation Instead of Steering at a Distance
Abstract
In December 2010, a comprehensive reform (Law 240/2010, or 'Gelmini reform') changed the institutional governance and internal organization of Italian state universities. This paper describes the new legal framework and evaluates how it has affected the power-sharing arrangement and coordination mechanisms in the Italian higher education system thus far, by analysing the following governance dimensions: external regulation, external guidance, competition, academic self-governance, and managerial self-governance. Though Law 240 was presented as a fundamental change with respect to the traditional Italian governance regime, based on detailed state regulation and academic self-governance, it did not have any substantial impact on power distribution. The policy suffers from strong path dependency, presenting only reactions to solve previous inefficiencies, and stimulating adaptive behaviours of Italian universities. Law 240 does not depict a new governance regime for the Italian higher education, and bureaucratic fulfilment remains the dominant approach for universities.
Keywords: Institutional governance; Italian higher education; Gelmini Law (Law 240/2010); Higher education reform; Governance regime; University policy.
Introduction
Universities are increasingly expected to fulfil diverse needs and respond to demands from society. Changing expectations since the late 1970s have led European governments to reform the governance of higher education (HE) both at the systemic and institutional levels. These reforms have yielded a redefinition of the state's role and changed the balance of power within the HE sector (Ferlie et al., 2008).
Many European countries developed policies of 'steering at a distance' (Kickert, 1995) by reducing state control and increasing autonomy, and coordination mechanisms in the HE sector changed from a traditional state-dominated type of regulation to an approach wherein various actors play a role ('multi-actor governance'). However, reforms frequently express a path-dependent nature, and every HE system reflects country-specific regulatory and coordination regimes, which largely reflect national historical and institutional developments.
This reform process is occurring also in the Italian HE sector. The Parliament passed Law 240/2010 of 30 December ('Gelmini reform'), a comprehensive reform of institutional governance and internal organization of Italian state universities which proclaims autonomy and accountability as its basic principles (Article 1).
This paper describes the new legal framework and evaluates its effect on the power-sharing arrangement and coordination mechanisms in the Italian HE system hitherto, by analysing the governance dimensions identified by Schimank (2002): external regulation, external guidance, competition, academic self-governance, and managerial self-governance. This framework, already used in several comparative studies (Kehm and Lanzendorf, 2006; de Boer et al., 2007; CHEPS, 2009; Schimank and Lange, 2009; Westerheijden et al., 2009), facilitates both historical and international comparison. For this reason, we use it to analyse the reform trajectory of the Italian governance regime from a historical perspective.
The article starts with a literature review on the relationship between the state and universities and on the coordination mechanisms in HE systems. Afterwards, we focus on the Italian case and, before introducing the changes resulting from the reform, we present the historical context of the Italian HE governance policy and the climate in which the new act was passed. Finally, we analyse the new coordination mechanisms in Italian university governance and conclude with a discussion of how coordination mechanisms in the Italian HE sector have changed: although the new legal framework was supposed to represent a turnaround with respect to the past, it continues to tightly regulate the HE system and has not substantially affected the Italian HE governance regime.
Higher Education Governance: Models and Coordination Mechanisms
Higher Education institutions (HEIs) have always been regarded as a special type of organization. Mintzberg (1979) described universities as professional bureaucracies, because they operate within a strongly structured institutionalized field, while academics are characterized by a high degree of autonomy. Universities have been regarded as loosely coupled organizations (Weick, 1976) wherein single organizational units have great autonomy even if they formally belong to the same organization, and university governance has been considered a matter of 'organized anarchy' (Cohen et al., 1972; Cohen and March, 1974) because the units pursue autonomous interests with a limited influence of central decisions. Because of these specific features, during the 20th century, HE governance was generally studied as a 'stand-alone' sector of state intervention, not directly or easily comparable with other types of organization, even within the public sector (Maassen and Olsen, 2007; Ferlie et al., 2008).
The literature on HE reform (Braun and Merrien, 1999; Gornitzka and Maassen, 2000; Kehm and Lanzendorf, 2006; de Boer et al., 2007, 2010; de Boer and File, 2009; Huisman, 2009; Paradeise et al., 2009a; Amaral et al., 2012; 2013) widely reports how HE systems have transformed in European countries since the 1980s. These studies mainly present a country focus, because each national system is embedded into its own regulations and bears nuances and peculiarities. Different interpretive frameworks provide a lens through which the reform trajectories are assessed, and among the various frameworks, two main approaches are evident: the actor-centred and structure models (Orr and Jaeger, 2009).
Most publications emphasize the state-university relationship, focusing on public policies and instruments by public authority to qualify the role of the state (Olsen, 1988; Neave, 1988; van Vught, 1989; Neave and van Vught, 1991; Kickert, 1995). Recently, these studies (Ferlie et al., 2008) tried to evaluate HE sector reforms within the main narratives of public management reform identified by Pollitt and Bouckaert (2011) or within other conceptual frameworks of public services reform or
welfare regimes (e.g. Esping-Andersen, 1990; Peters, 2001). Other studies evaluated different relationships in the sector, such as that between the state and academic profession (Musselin, 2013). Though nowadays the state is still the most influential actor and retains a substantial amount of influence, the government role as a 'lone coordinator' has changed (Huisman, 2009), evolving towards the role of a market engineer ('meta-government'; de Boer and Jongbloed, 2012). Moreover, policy implementation depends on cooperation and negotiation involving other actors as well. Consequently, the actor perspective, focused on the role of the state, appeared limited, and a more holistic approach was needed.
Thus, another stream of research identified the (collective) actors involved in HE sector governance and described their relationships, taking into account fundamental potential tensions, in order to qualify the prevailing mode of regulation. In this perspective, studying public policy and its content is less important than understanding the policy regime producing them (Ferlie et al., 2008). The seminal framework for the structure model of governance was Clark's (1983) 'triangle of coordination' used to evaluate the institutional balance of power. According to Clark, the market, state, and academic oligarchy are the basic dimensions/mechanisms of coordination in the system of rules for actors in HE. His work provided a framework for analysing coordination in terms of relative influence and was useful in early comparative policy studies (Goedegebuure et al., 1994). The triad was further developed by different authors. Clark himself identified hierarchical and entrepreneurial leadership of HEIs ('organization') as a fourth basic mechanism (Clark, 1997; 1998). Braun and Merrien (1999) suggested that the state dimension can be further split into two different dimensions: regulation and guidance. Then, Schimank (2002) identified five governance dimensions as relevant and proposed the 'governance equalizer' model based on the ensuing five dimensions (Kehm and Landendorf, 2006; Schimank and Lange, 2009; Moscati, 2012):
1.	External regulation: refers to the strict determination of processes which must be observed by academics and universities with respect to the organization of their activities. External regulation is typically exercised by the state and concerns traditional top-down authority. It regulates by directives, with the promulgation of an authoritative set of rules, usually legal rules, through which the government prescribes detailed behaviours.
2.	External guidance: relies on the setting of overall development goals, general objectives and procedural rules, leaving universities room to manoeuvre. These goals may be prescribed or agreed upon by the actors involved. Therefore, external guidance is exercised by either the state, intermediary institutions, or other societal actors (representatives of industry or non-profit organizations) outside the science system to which certain powers to guide has been delegated. Government remains an important stakeholder but how and by what means goals are achieved are left to universities and academics.
3.	Competition: refers to the distribution of scarce resources (primarily public funds, but also students and academic staff) through competitive processes among and within universities. The success or failure is determined by either their quantitative performance indicators measured in terms of outputs (performance-related funding) or the quality of proposals (tenders) with respect to a given project (i.e. research project or overall planning objectives in the sector) for which money is available. The latter type of 'qualitative performance' is evaluated by peers or other experts.
4.	Academic self-governance: constituted by professional communities (i.e. disciplines) and their mechanisms of consensus building, based on strong egalitarianism balanced by the authority of
reputation, as well as on self-evaluation and control of activity through peer-review. The peer review-based self-steering of the academic community is wielded, for instance, in decisions of funding agencies. Within universities, this mechanism has been institutionalized in the form of collegial decision-making bodies. 5. Managerial self-governance: characterized by formal hierarchical leadership position within universities. The role of university leadership in internal goal setting, regulation, and decisionmaking is at stake. This means that the roles of the executive head (top-level of managerial self-governance) and middle management (intermediate level) are re-defined by strengthening their capacity to make decisions with a series of hierarchically well-distinguished roles. The leadership commitment is focused on reaching certain objectives and power is exercised as either intra-organizational regulation or intra-organizational guidance.
The weight of individual governance dimensions varies across countries, time, and policy fields. The particular strength or weakness of the individual mechanisms of coordination in a specific system of rules forms a power parallelogram representing a 'governance regime'. In the following sections, we will use these coordination dimensions to analyse the reform trajectory of the Italian governance regime from a historical perspective.
Background to University Governance in Italy
In the past, the Italian university system was seen as a typical example of the Napoleonic model: HE and research were seen as part of public services, and universities as public agencies. Academics were civil servants, teaching and research operations were centred around disciplines, recruitment was assisted by prominent academics representing the national disciplinary community (Paradeise et al., 2009b). Various laws defined detailed substantive and procedural rules for institutions, and thus, the university organizational culture of governance was highly legalistic and procedural (Reale and Poti, 2009). Consequently, Clark (1983, 127) described Italian HE governance as a 'combination of authority of state bureaucracy and faculty guilds in a power structure which expresses the interest of two groups: state officials and senior professors'. Institutional leadership was weak: the rector was elected as a primus inter pares whose main functions were internal consensus building and mediating among different, often divergent, interests of internal disciplinary groups (Capano, 2008). Elected academic leaders shared the floor with administratively appointed leaders, with dual leadership at each organizational level. The collegial decision-making bodies (Administrative Board, Academic Senate, and faculty councils), composed mainly of professors, dominated internal university governance.
Law 168/1989 introduced structural changes and greater autonomy as the new principle for regulating the relationship between the state and universities. However, the ministry preserved the same professional powers and duties (Capano, 2010): rules for recruitment, status of personnel, level of salaries, ceiling for tax on students and for the expenditure on personnel, and basic rules for the composition of HEIs' government bodies. Indeed, external regulation by the state through a large number of detailed rules and academic self-governance remained the dominant dimensions of governance.
In the 2000s, the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of governance structure were clearly perceived as a problem. The inherited governing structure led to a situation whereby internal governance ranges
from an assemblearistic state, where the Academic Senate and Administrative Board, who officially held power, simply satisfied the requirements of the most important internal interests, to a situation in which the rector prevailed, despite having little official power (Boffo and Dubois, 2005; Capano, 2008). Typical examples of the latter were rectors who renewed their terms many times. Moreover, the elected leaders (rectors, deans, and department heads), beholden to the electorate, could not act strategically or decisively, indeed were incapable of focusing resources on strategic research areas. Academic collegiality resulted in few decisions and were too slow (Moscati, 2012), complex because of the aversion to focus, and tangled up in red tape. Even though, in theory, there was a clear separation of powers between the two collegial governing bodies, in practice, the specialization was not real. There was a large-scale isomorphism in their composition and functioning, and almost bi-cameral dynamics characterized institutional decision making (Paletta, 2004): each issue that arose was scrutinized in some way by the collegial body that did not exercise formal power over it (Capano, 2008). The overlapping of competences produced a work overload on central decisionmaking, responsibilities were unclear, and a distributive approach to internal policy-making was generally adopted (Capano, 2010).
Consequently, in 2004, the then Minister of Education and University Letizia Moratti, and some highly regarded think tanks established advisory committees for reforming internal university governance (Capano, 2008). Two strategies emerged: incrementalist and radical The incrementalist proposal suggested maintaining the election of the rector, elected members in the Academic Senate, eliminating the traditional involvement of the deans, and a board appointed by the rector. The radical proposal suggested abandoning the election of institutional positions (rector and deans) in favour of an appointment-based system, and establishing a board with strong planning and financial powers, responsible for rector appointment and at least half-composed of lay members. Under the latter proposal, the Senate, through a special majority, could dismiss the rector, and greater substantial and procedural autonomy would be granted.
At the same time, the outside society demanded greater efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. In recent years, a climate of distrust has emerged in the public opinion, as universities have been associated with wasting financial resources and inefficiency: typical media headlines referred to professors as baroni ('barons', or privileged class). In the meanwhile, from a political viewpoint, HE has not been seen as an important issue (Capano, 2010; Banfi, 2013), the government has not pursued any real policy strategy, and universities have simply been perceived as a financial burden, although Italy is the state among OECD countries with the lowest percentage of public expenditure on tertiary education compared to total public expenditure (OECD, 2013). The pressure to reduce public expenditures has been felt as more and more urgent, due to the financial problem arising from the large public debt, and has put even more pressure on HEIs for efficiency. In this context of financial distress, the Parliament passed Law 240/2010 to reform the institutional governance of universities.
The New Legal Framework for Italian State Universities
This section describes the main tasks and changes introduced by the reform to the governing bodies and internal structures of Italian universities (Table 1).
Law 240/2010 is a comprehensive reform of Italian state university institutional governance. Like the previous framework law (Law 168/1989), Gelmini reform allows HEIs to draw their own statutes but, at the same time, governs constitution, attributions, organization, duties, and powers of various
bodies, forcing for the first time the rewriting of all Italian state university statutes through a dedicated committee nominated in every institution according to guidelines set by law. Consequently, Italian state universities show internal organizational uniformity. The new 'standard' framework for institutional governance provides for six central bodies: three governing bodies (Rector, Academic Senate, and Administrative Board), two auxiliary, evaluative and controlling bodies (Internal Evaluation Unit and Board of Auditors), and one managerial body (General Director) (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Organization chart of 'standard' institutional governance after the ratification of Law 240
Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)
Connection structures (not required by law) Coordination of teaching and research activities between more departments
The rector is the executive head of the university, continues to be elected directly from among full professors working at any Italian university, and is then appointed by the Minister of Education, University and Research. The electorate is composed of the three university estates, whose votes may be weighted differently according to each university. The rector performs directive tasks as well as operative and managerial assignments, being responsible for the pursuit of the university's objectives and for day-to-day management within the framework established by the Board. S/he is also the university legal representative, has powers of proposal and coordination of teaching and
research activities, and presents proposals for three-year planning, the annual and three-year budget, and of the annual consolidated account. Further, s/he recommends a candidate for the role of General Director and starts disciplinary procedures. A major innovation of the office is that the rector is elected for a non-renewable six-year term (formerly, each institution freely determined the length and renewability of the mandate). Moreover, the rector no longer has to come from the university where s/he is appointed, but may be selected from any Italian university. S/he is an ex-officio member of both the Academic Senate and Administrative Board and can chair both collegial bodies.
The internal governance clings to the dual collegial governing structure with both the Consiglio di Amministrazione (Administrative Board) and Senato Accademico (Academic Senate), but Law 240 revisits their decision-making powers, distinguishing their tasks. The main decision-making body becomes the Administrative Board, capped at 11 seats, making it smaller. The Board must include the Rector, student representatives (at least 15% of the members, elected from among the student body), and external stakeholders. While the former law allowed institutions to decide the representation of lay members, the reform requires a minimum number, dependent on the board size: two if the board has fewer than 11 posts, three if it has exactly 11 seats. The once compulsory representation of different academic staff status (full professors, associate professors, researchers) and of technical and administrative staff is now optional. Law 240 instead introduces the concept of professionalism for appointed board members, who are selected not as representatives of internal disciplines and constituencies, but based on individual skills, either 'managerial experience' or 'cultural-scientific competencies'. Every university can choose if the Board is chaired by the rector or an external member. The Board ratifies the rector's proposals for three-year planning, annual and three-year budgets, annual consolidated accounts, yearly and three-year financial and personnel planning, offering or closing academic courses, creation/transformation/closing of organizational units (with the advice of the Academic Senate), is responsible for institutional financial sustainability, the purchase or sale of the institution's assets and credit operations, tuition fees, and the appointment of the General Director. Finally, it ratifies changes to the statutes by an absolute majority vote.
The Academic Senate is the other collegial governing body. Its members are elected from among the academic community, and each university estate votes for its own representatives. The Senate may be larger than the Board but is capped at 35 members, proportional to the university size. Law 240 prescribes that, the rector apart, at least 15% of the members have to be elected from among the student body, and at least two-thirds from among the academic staff (one-third of them from among department heads), respecting institutional scientific-disciplinary differentiation. Among the latter group, not all middle-management executives must be included (faculty deans were ex-officio members under the former legislation). The Academic Senate oversees teaching and research activities, student services, offering/transforming/closing academic courses, facilities, departments, and other organizational units, and approving institutional rules. It provides advice regarding the annual and three-year budget and annual consolidated account. It must ratify alterations to the statutes with an absolute majority. Finally, the reform allows the Senate to propose a motion of no confidence in the rector, with a majority of two-thirds vote, after the rector has been in office for a minimum of two years. If this motion is approved by the rector's electorate, s/he is dismissed.
The Nucleo di Valutazione (Internal Evaluation Unit) and Collegio dei Revisori (Board of Auditors) are evaluative and controlling bodies. The Internal Evaluation Unit consists of a majority of external
members, for whom Law 240 introduces the concept of 'professionalism'. It is responsible for evaluating teaching, research, and personnel activities to improve individual and institutional performance; providing information for strategic orientation to university management; and linking internal and national evaluation, as an operative branch of the National Agency for Evaluation (ANVUR). The Board of Auditors instead is in charge of accountability and financial compliance. It includes three executive and two substitutes, all externals. Only the chairperson is chosen from the university; the other members are appointed respectively from MIUR and the Ministry of Economy, one executive and one substitute each.
Law 240 maintains dual leadership structure at each organizational level. At the central level, the rector shares the floor with the General Director, who replaces the Administrative Director. S/he is appointed from among candidates with multi-year experience in managerial tasks from the Board, by proposal of the rector, with the advice of the Senate. The change of name highlights the assignment to the General Director of not only the overall organization and management of administrative matters, but also non-academic personnel, according to the Administrative Board's guidelines.
Law 240 profoundly affects even internal organizational structures. Previous legal guidelines specified faculties and departments as internal organizational units, detailing their competencies, but without restricting their size. Gelmini reform establishes a single internal academic structure - the department - though providing for the possibility of a maximum of 12 'connection structures' to coordinate and rationalize teaching activities and manage common services, which are optional for institutions with fewer than 500 academic staff members. The reform defines the duties of the new departments and brings them together teaching and research activities, previously assigned, respectively, to the faculties and (old) departments. Every department must include a minimum of 35 academic members (40 if the university has more than 1000 academic staff members) from homogenous disciplinary areas and is headed by an elected director. S/he has a representative role, without budgetary allocation or personnel management powers. The real decision-making power is held by the department councils, the executive collegial body comprising all the departmental academic staff members, elected representatives of students and non-academic staff, and, optionally, other representations. They are responsible for making proposals about personnel recruitment, which are subsequently evaluated and approved by governing councils.
However, the main change regarding personnel is the introduction of the position of a non-tenure researcher, replacing the former status of tenured researcher. The new status applies only to new entrants. The contract for new researchers lasts three years and may be extended only once for two years. Following this, in the status of researcher, s/he may be given only another temporary contractual agreement of three years, neither renewable nor extendable. The reform, instead, does not affect the civil servant status of academic staff, who are hired according to public administration rules, with wages and working conditions governed by law.
Table 1: Key tasks and changes to the new main bodies and structures of Italian universities
Body	Key tasks	Changes
Rector	Main decision-making body	Term of office set by law (6 years)
	Legal representative	Term not renewable
	Responsible for political and strategic orientation	Major role in the governance
	Fulfil operational and managerial tasks	
	Residual competences	
Academic Senate	Responsible for teaching	Size cap (proportional to institutional dimension; maximum 35 members)
	Responsible for research	Can dismiss the Rector by a motion of no confidence
	Responsible for services to students	
Administrative Board	Main decision-making body	Size cap (11 members)
	Responsible for strategic decisions	Professionalism of members: managerial competences (previously elected)
	Responsible for financial sustainability	Presence of a minimum number of lay members
General Director	Management and organisation of services	Not only administrative tasks but also managerial ones
	Management and organisation of non-academic personnel	Becomes responsible of non-academic personnel management
Internal Evaluation Unit	Evaluation of teaching Evaluation of research Link internal and external governance	Professionalism of members Majority of lay members
Board of Auditors	Responsible for accountability and financial regularity	
Departments	Responsible for teaching and research	Unification into departments of teaching and research functions Composed by a minimum number of academic staff members
Coordination Mechanisms in the Italian HE Governance
This section discusses the consequences of recent policy changes deriving from the enforcement of Law 240/2010, by analysing the five coordination dimensions pinpointed by Schimank (2002).
External regulation
External regulation by the state was the traditional method of governing the HE sector. In recent decades, several European countries adopted New Public Management (NPM) principles, devolving authority to the external stakeholders and institutional level and introducing market-like mechanisms.
In Italy this process happened to a lesser degree than elsewhere. The Ministry still prescribes detailed regulation in certain areas such as degree structure, academic working conditions, rules for recruitment, and tuition fees. Egalitarian principles and the strong drive towards homogeneity (Minelli et al., 2012), aimed at granting citizens an equal footing when applying for public employment jobs, are fundamental to the structure of Italian public sector. Thus, the quality of educational programs offered by different Italian universities should be considered equal throughout the nation, justifying the attribution of the legal value to university academic qualifications, which safeguards the homogeneous value of the degree, even when institutional performances differ (Reale and Poti, 2009). As the reform does not modify it, the legal value of university academic qualification persists.
Legislative restrictions also impose a high level of standardization on the structure of academic degrees. Ministerial guidelines define educational objectives to be fulfilled, contents, duration, composition (number of examinations), minimum commitment expected from students, and minimum number of academic staff to start new programmes.
The state's regulatory role is evident even in personnel management. By law, personnel expenditures should not exceed 90 per cent of an institution's basic funding (Fondo di Finanziamento Oridinario, FFO), but this number is about the average in the system. Moreover, academic staff salaries are fixed nationally: institutions are not allowed to introduce performance-based contracts, and since 2011, personnel wages have been frozen. Even staff turnover is limited by law and the ministerial decree 95/2012 tightens it from 50 per cent (since 2009) to 20 per cent for the next three-year periods. Following these restrictions, academic and non-academic personnel have been rapidly declining (Table 2).
Academic staff internal promotion is possible only through an open recruitment selection procedure, wherein a disciplinary-based scientific evaluation panel, composed of Italian academics working in pertinent disciplinary field assesses the scientific merit of the candidates who previously obtained a national qualification, granted on the basis of previous individual research performance. Disciplinary fields have been revisited (ministerial decree 159/2012) and reduced in number, from 370 to 184, but the selection procedure is unchanged.
Table 2: Students, academic and non-academic staff in the Italian state universities on 31 December of each year
State Universities	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	D	D %
Bachelor & Master Students	n.a.	1.625.78 7	1.665.06 0	1.684.72 6	1.699.03 8	73.251	-4,3%
Tenure Academic Staff	52.45 6	53.901	55.199	58.307	60.254	-7.798	-12,9%
Full Professors	13.84 1	14.532	15.169	17.174	18.218	-4.377	-24,0°%
Associate Professors	15.43 5	15.884	16.229	16.858	17.547	-2.112	-12,0%
Tenure Researchers	23.18 0	23.485	23.801	24.275	24.489	-1.309	-5,3%
Non-tenured Researchers	1.770	1.049	732	408	304	1.466	482,2 %
Non-academic Staff	55.81 0	57.459	58.966	61.873	69.916	14.106	-20,2%
Personal processing based on Statistica MIUR and CINECA data. Figures refer to the 67 Italian state universities. For institutions with missing data, we estimated them as average between the previous and following years.
Finally, Law 240/2010 established outstanding organizational uniformity for institutional governance, creating smaller decision-making bodies and bigger departments, setting quantitative standards and restrictions, and governing their constitution, attributions, duties, and powers.
Clearly, the state is concerned with the preparation, promulgation, and enforcement of laws and ministerial decrees, with a tendency towards uniformity of administrative action. The bureaucratic stance tends to be rule following, with actions based on legal control. The hegemonic administrative paradigm (Capano, 2003) and principle of legality (law as the basis of administrative action) (Reale and Poti, 2009) persist in the HE sector: the relationship between the state and universities remains linked to a command and control policy scheme.
External guidance
External guidance entails authority devolving from the state to other actors who become involved in university development planning and defining objectives and priorities.
Funding policy is a powerful steering mechanism for the exercise of external guidance. However, the performance-based component of FFO is limited to a small amount (910 million in 2012, about 13 per cent of the total of 7 billion), and tolerance bands restrict losses of the worst performing institutions to prevent financial problems, decreasing efficacy. Research funds are allocated based on
ex-ante evaluations of research proposals, but project tenders are not driven by national priorities set by the government.
Law 43/2005 mandated that every university formulates a three-year development plan, but the plans are not used as steering mechanisms to select congruent performance indicators or for setting targets tied to strategic objectives. The ANVUR, the agency with authority to evaluate quality, focuses on collecting standard quantitative data and provides a low level of flexibility, not allowing institutions to choose their own quality assurance mechanisms and performance indicators.
The state instead has increasingly delegated financial management and coordination of university policies to the regional level; thus, regional stakeholders have acquired greater political influence on university decisions (Rossi, 2009). Strong local interests led universities to delocalize offers to peripheral towns (Lazzeretti and Tavoletti, 2006; Rebora and Turri, 2009), but this increased costs, so the government established new regulations on minimum standards (ministerial degrees 554/2007 and 17/2010) to favour the closure of small decentralized courses and locations.
Law 240/2010, instead, increased the role of external stakeholders in the institutional governance and in the decision-making process through the compulsory involvement of lay members in the Administrative Board, giving universities the opportunity to increase their presence above the minimum. However, including non-university actors in institutional governing bodies is not seen as an important steering mechanism and accountability measure but rather as an undue interference in internal university affairs. Thus, lay representation will not likely be increased from the minimum to a majority of seats, as happens frequently in other European countries.
Competition
Worldwide competition among and within universities for resources, students, and best academics is increasing, reflecting the belief in the market as an effective regulating force and the idea that competition should provide a mechanism for allocating resources efficiently.
Deregulation is one prerequisite for a competitive orientation. As described above, the level of regulation in Italy remains high. Consequently, competitive pressure at the institutional level in the Italian HE sector is modest.
The competition for students is limited by legal regulations and minimum standards for all courses, which constrain opportunities for innovation and differentiation. Further, the legal value of university academic qualification strongly limits students' interest to select the best university. The freedom to choose is also restricted by costs, particularly if the university is far from home, because of the lack of student accommodations (Minelli et al., 2012). Therefore, the mobility of Italian students is generally quite low (more than 85% of enrolled students study in their home area, a percentage that has held relatively constant over the last decade; CNVSU 2011), and geographically close universities compete with each other for students (Rossi, 2009). The fact that the performance-based component of FFO assigned to every university partially depends on the size of the (regular) student base, as well as tuition fees, has contributed to making increasing enrolment a priority for all institutions.
The government has tried to introduce competitive mechanisms in institutional funding through the performance-based component of FFO since 2008. However, the main portion is still allocated according to actual and historical expenditures, the formula used to calculate performance-based
component consists also of indicators tied to institutional dimension, and the introduction of tolerance bands to restrict the losses of weak performing institutions limit its efficacy.
Public research funding has also shrunk: Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) funds, the main research grants, decreased from 170 million in the biennium 2010/11 to 38 million in the PRIN 2012. These funds are earmarked for research projects selected by evaluation panels composed of academics and grounded on competitive ex-ante evaluations of proposals. Therefore, proposals are evaluated by peer review, and, until the PRIN 2010/11, the tenders were divided on the basis of 14 scientific-disciplinary areas. In the PRIN 2012, the areas were reformed on the basis of the three European Research Council macro-sectors. The distribution of scarcer resources and competition for funding increase competitive pressure among individual researchers and projects, making research grants more selective but, at the same time, lowering the number of successful projects and increasing the importance of accessing alternative funding sources such as foundations, industries, and the European Union grants.
Finally, competition for academic staff at the institutional level is limited by tight regulation and academic civil servant status: salaries are set at the national level; universities are not allowed to recruit according to their own methodologies and priorities; and the academic staff is subject to the minimum teaching duties defined by the Ministry. To recruit an outstanding academic from another institution, a university must find a candidate who previously obtained a qualification granted in a competitive procedure according to previous individual research results. The selection is therefore not fully managed by the recruiting university, because an independent evaluation panel consisting of prominent academics in relevant scientific-disciplinary field at other Italian universities determines who are the qualified candidates, from whom the university can choose the final recruit.
In summary, the modifications introduced by Law 240 and ensuing ministerial decrees do not substantially affect competition. Competitive pressures at the institutional level remain modest, limited by state regulation. Contrarily, they are high at the individual level, for both recruitment and obtaining research grants, and are furthered by the suppression of tenure privilege for newly entering researchers.
Academic self-governance
Academic self-governance, together with state regulation, was formerly the strongest coordination mechanism and supported the public's concept of the Italian university as an 'ivory tower'. Collegial bodies at the central and internal levels made decisions regarding general academic matters as well as financial and structural aspects of university development.
Law 240/2010 attempts to improve inefficient decision making in institutional governance. External members are included in governing councils to limit academics' self-governance, but their compulsory involvement in the Administrative Board only as a minority makes it unlikely that collegial, consensus-based decision making will disappear. Moreover, universities can keep the old representative method, in which academics, non-academic staff, and students, all have the right to elect representatives to legislative bodies.
Gelmini reform establishes a clearer separation of authorities between academic and administrative affairs but does not break the dual structure of co-determination through two-governing bodies. The
Academic Senate retains responsibility for teaching and research matters, and its functions are not limited to advisory roles as in other HE policy reforms (i.e. the Netherlands).
Academic self-governance remains prominent even in the allocation of research grants and recruitment procedures. PRIN project funding is based on peer judgements, and recruitment is based on disciplinary peer review. The recruitment reform of disciplinary fields, revisited and reduced in number, did not affect the procedure, and academics have retained a strong voice in the selection process. The academic staff selection procedure seems tied to an outdated, discipline-based focus, which does not address the more broad demands of new work places. Italian recruitment follows Mode 1 research (academic-driven, investigator-initiated, and discipline based), while international knowledge production is evolving towards to Mode 2: context-driven, problem-focused, and interdisciplinary (Gibbons et al., 1994; Nowotny et al., 2001).
In conclusion, academic self-governance as a coordination mechanism remains strong in Italy, not only in the allocation of research grants, but also in institutional decision making and personnel selection.
Managerial self-governance
In the past, managerial self-governance was nearly absent. The rector was a primus inter pares whose main role was to build internal consensus across disciplinary powers. However, HE policy reforms in many European countries devolved authorities to institutional management to speed up decisions and afford institutions in operating as a whole, strengthening their capacity to make strategic decisions. This entailed verticalization and centralization of decision-making powers, with opportunities for organizational leadership to act on behalf of the university. The appointment method eliminated the choice of top-leadership and middle management by election, implementing unitary governance, with one person in charge of both academic and administrative matters.
The Italian reform does not follow this trend; it does not modify shared leadership governance, wherein the elected academic leader shares the floor with the head of administration at each organizational level. The rector is still elected from among full professors, with academic staff, non-academic staff, and students all given the right to vote (with different weights, depending on each university's statute). S/he serves one six-year term and can no longer perform managerial tasks as a full-time job, since during office, s/he must continue fulfilling his/her teaching load (can ask only for a reduction), while managerial skills are not evaluated as a precondition of candidature. This demonstrates that the rector is still considered as a primus inter pares rather than as a manager. Additionally, s/he is accountable to the academic community, which can distrust him/her, and s/he will return to being a professor when the term ends; therefore, it is unlikely s/he will want to make enemies during the rectorship. This may prevent the rector from making decisions which harm other academic staff interests, limiting the strategic leeway and making the pursuit of consensus the most probable decision-making process.
The main powers of the rector regard internal management of the public financial budget (in accordance with the board), powers already in place before the reform. Law 537/1993 deregulated public resource management, introduced lump-sum global budgets, and allowed universities to decide how to allocate their budgetary resources, hence giving more leeway in the spending of public money (Reale and Poti, 2009; Rossi, 2009; Minelli et al., 2012). However, the shrinking of public
sources, which in 2013 will exceed the total personnel costs at the system level, significantly limits university management's financial autonomy and steering opportunities.
At the internal level, the department heads are elected from among the full professors in the department, just as primi inter pares. Their role is weak (coordination of different disciplinary areas and management of academic activities in their own department) and mainly representative: the main decision-making power lies in department councils, which are dominated by academic staff. This is another clear example of the predominance of academic self-governance in institutional governance, with only a limited role for managerial self-governance.
In summary, Law 240 did not empower the rector or department heads by giving them greater steering powers. Only the decision to limit the rector's office to one term makes him/her less preoccupied with building internal consensus in order to be re-elected. However, both the potential distrust by the Academic Senate and the fact that s/he becomes a professor again when the mandate ends could deter him/her from making decisions which harm other academic staff interests.
Conclusions
Historically, Italian governance was comparable to the 'continental model' wherein state bureaucrats and academics held the major power and dominated internal decision-making processes (Clark, 1983). However, university governance was seen as inefficient. This is why a comprehensive reform of institutional governance was approved in December 2010.
Law 240/2010 was presented as a turnaround in governance. However, instead of following the example of HE policy reforms in other European countries, which adopted a 'steering at a distance' approach, the Italian reform proceeded in its own direction. The changes are mainly reactions to solve previous inefficiencies, while ignoring important issues: institutions are not given autonomy to hire or manage their own academic staff; and the inability to act strategically is not dealt with. Consequently, the decision-making process will likely continue to be based on internal consensus building and, since different actors pursue personal and contrasting objectives (Minelli et al., 2012), even in the future, Italian universities might be unable to define and carry out a unitary institutional strategy. Overall, the reform presents a strong path dependency, preserves deeply rooted academic values, and only stimulates an adaptive behaviour to reduce 'pathologies' and the inefficacy of the previous HE governance system, rather than fostering real change of coordination mechanisms. Law 240 clearly adopts the incrementalist approach and continues to employ the inherited practices within an unchanged general framework, not depicting a new vision of what is higher education for: the reform does not substantially modify the Italian governance regime, and bureaucratic fulfilment remains the dominant approach for universities. The new legislative framework changed the HE system by even tightening regulation on institutional governance, internal structures, and turnover of employees. Competition at the institutional level remains modest even after the reform. The managerial approach to institutional governance is not promoted; on the contrary, Law 240 preserves the concept of the university as a 'representative democracy' (de Boer and Stensaker, 2007), reaffirming academic self-governance and the role of the rector and middle management as primi inter pares. Only the compulsory involvement of lay members of the Administrative Board, although just as a minority, somewhat increased the guidance by external stakeholders.
This paper therefore shows that in Italy, in contrast with the predominant 'steering at a distance' approach, detailed external regulation by the state and academic self-governance and collegiality still predominate. Consequently, a perspective considering a single convergent model of behaviour on HE policy in different countries is very limited. A natural future development of this stream of research would focus on a comparative study among states with similar background, but different reform trajectories, in order to shed light on which governance regime is better suitable to improve the university system as a whole.
Finally, this paper draws the attention of Italian policy makers on the fact that, despite the proclaims, a reform aiming to provide more autonomy to the HE institutions is not possible unless a change in the organizational form and culture of the Italian state is pursued at the same time.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge support by Fondazione Cariplo Rif: 2010-1106. We are grateful for their useful comments to the participants at workshop 'Policies for Science and Higher Education in Europe', Bergamo (Italy), June 2013, and at 10th International Workshop on Higher Education Reforms 'Looking Back - Looking Forward', Ljubljana (Sl ovenia), October 2013, where previous versions of the paper were presented.
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Alejandro Gonzalez: Models of Higher Education funding in Mexico and Chile. Is there a possible equilibrium between the chronic lack of public funds and the student debt crisis?
Abstract. In the present article, the author proposes an analysis of funding in higher education (HE), assuming the centrality of the government in this area of policy, either as the main financer (in public systems) or as author of the "rules of the game" (in private systems). Despite the fact that the creation of HE markets is a global tendency, the evidence accumulated for the past thirty years proves that are governments who have implemented a series of instruments for creating markets or market behaviors in higher education system (HES). In the same way, governments have intervened to face the so called "markets failures". In this context, the author proposes an analysis of the cases of Chile (private systems) and Mexico (combined system) from a comparative perspective, through the use of two theoretical models which encompass the funding policies, both at a systemic and institutional level. The objective is to contribute to the debate about funding of HE, by offering an analytical tool which could be useful for similar studies on other cases
INTRODUCTION
Higher education (HE) funding is, without doubt, one of the most controversial issues in the context of the ongoing reform to this educational level for at least 30 years now. Throughout the past few decades, the central point of the debate has been to define weather HE should be considered a public good, so long as it promotes social mobility and economical and cultural development of a country, or if it belongs to the private domain, which mainly benefits individuals. At present, higher education systems (HES) in Latin America -with the exception of Cuba- have ceased to be completely public, becoming combined systems which share in variable proportions, some (if not all) of the following characteristics: a) a part of the public funds are conditioned to the achievement of certain results; b) higher education institutions (HEI) are encouraged to recuperate the real costs of education by selling services and charging tariffs, and c) a growing participation of private HEIs in the total coverage of HE.
In the literature in charge of the matter of funding, the category of "quasi-markets" is frequently used to denominate HESs which, due to their characteristics, combine elements associated to the traditional, public sector (free access and free service, bureaucracy, etc.), with features characteristic of markets (competition, hierarchies, profitability, etcetera). In this respect, it is assumed that the main objective of the policies implemented in the past few years, inevitably directs the systems to their conversion into educational-service markets. However, understood this way, this category proves limited when trying to explain why, under certain conditions, governments make decisions which at first glance seem to contradict the mentioned objective. Looking beyond the State vs. market dilemma, the interesting point is that the context for the implementation of public policies is important, and that the formulation of a policy is not necessarily reflected faithfully during its
implementation, and even less when rendering the first results. The case of funding of HE is very illustrative in this sense.
Indeed, at almost thirty years from the beginning of the reform of HESs in Latin America, the progress varies considerably from one country to another. In the regional context, Chile is considered a particular case in this terrain due to the profound reforms made between 1981 and 1990. These reforms set the conditions enabling the emergence of a HES financed mainly with private funds and with a minimal participation of the State, limited almost only to funding the demand. In the last seven years however, the Chilean HES seems to be in crisis, mainly due to the growing private debt, derived from the student-credit system which has created a dangerous "bubble" threatening to burst. Conversely, in Mexico, HE depends mainly on financing the offer, through the allocation of block grants to the HEIs. In the same sense, despite the important growth in the private offer, the country lacks shared-funding mechanisms, so private HEIs survive only thanks to the resources they can generate.
The problematic results in both cases would be impossible to approach from a perspective that considers the invisible hand of the market as the governing principle of economy and society. Following this, we propose an analysis of the matter at hand, from the point of view of governments; that is, from the possible reforms in which systemic governance of HE uses certain policy instruments to promote or control the behaviors of the market. This choice isn't casual, since it's based on the conviction that, irrespectively of the changes imposed by the free market paradigm, the government maintains a central position as the hierarchical frame of systemic governance in higher education as in other policy sectors.
In the first part of this article, we will analyze higher education funding modalities from a systemic perspective, starting from a model which considers the State (centralized allocation of resources) and the market (decentralized allocation of resources) as two dimensions of the same central axis. In accordance, we propose a second model for the analysis of institutional modalities of funding, considering the degree of inclination of the HEIs towards the market, and the degree of financial autonomy they have. In both cases we consider that the quasi-market category can be useful if it is conceived as the possible combinations of the freedom of providers and consumers in the combined systems (Jongbloed, 2003). In the second section we will analyze the cases of Chile and Mexico in the light of the models proposed, pointing out the obvious contradictions in each case, with the purpose of enriching the present debate. Finally, we will dedicate a few lines to our thoughts on the following steps in our current research.
I.- Governance of HESs and funding modalities
The transformation of higher education systems is, with no doubt, a matter of global nature, based on a series of concrete ideas about how higher education should be administrated, financed and evaluated (Texeira et al., 2004; Neave, 2002; Kehm, 2011). This means that, independently of the particular history of each HES, we can presently identify numerous common elements regarding the objectives that should be pursued by HE, as well as the means it should use to achieve them. In the group of countries that conform the European Union (EU) for example, the process of change has been administrated in a more or less coordinated way, thanks to a series of agreements synthesized in the Bologne Declaration (1999) which has as a objective, the constitution of a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). In the same way, we can talk about the transformation of the HES in the
United States, Australia and Canada, where we have seen the implementation and refinement of managerial-type administrations in the HEIs; financial instruments decreasingly dependent on public funds, and ex-post evaluation mechanisms in every aspect of institutional performance.
But the history and tradition found at the base of the different HESs, as well as the national context in each case, importantly influence the results of these policies. If we consider the case of industrialized countries, we will see that the reform has been implemented in a relatively stable terrain, considering indicators as enrollment, levels of financing (greater, with respect to developing countries); and, in general, the socioeconomic conditions in which their systems are embedded. In Latin America, on the contrary, the reform to higher education has followed a process, chaotic in nature, contradictory, and not unusually confrontational, added to a series of structural problems (poverty, inequality, lack of funding, etc.) which complicate the scene, and often produce results which are completely different to the initial expectations of the policy-makers, as has been proven by the funding matter.
If we assume that the transformation of the funding policies points towards a growing privatization of higher education, it is necessary to analyze to what extent the governments of the region have implemented their own market mechanisms in the provision, administration and organization of their respective systems. Jongbloed (2003) suggests that, in order to do it, we must consider the extent to which HESs fulfill the eight minimal conditions (or "freedoms") for the existence of a market (see box 1). These conditions, widely cited in the literature (Texeira et al, 2004; Brunner, 2003; Amaral, 2010; Bhayani, 2013), are based on the level of sovereignty, both of the consumers and the providers of education services, as well as the interactions that result from the diverse possible combinations.
Box 1. Eight conditions for a market in Higher Education (Jongbloed, 2003:114)
'Four freedoms 'for providers	'Four freedoms' for consumers
Freedom of entry	Freedom to choose provider
Freedom to specify the product	Freedom to choose product
Freedom to use available resources	Adequate informations on prices and quality
Freedom to determine prices	Direct and cost-covering prices paid
HESs of a combined type (most of them) are classified in the literature as quasi-markets, because governments use certain policy instruments to create these eight conditions; however, they maintain a primary role in the regulation and financing of this educational level. In general terms, quasi-markets impose three fundamental dynamics on higher education: 1) promotion of competition between the providers of HE; 2) privatization of the system (the expansion of the system is based on private HEIs and on privatizing some academic and administrative aspects of public institutions), and 3) promotion of economic autonomy for public HEIs (Texeira, 2004: 4-6)
By looking at it this way, the quasi-market concept is useful because it offers an optimal starting point for analyzing the configuration of the financing policies in a particular system. Nonetheless, even if we consider the leading role of the government in the creation of markets (or market behaviors) in HESs, this model proves limited when trying to explain why, under certain circumstances, governments make decisions which at first glance seem to contradict this objective. In our opinion, the problem resides in the idea of governance underlying the analysis. In the cited text by Texeira (Ibid: 1), for example, he recuperates Neave and Van Vaught's (1991) statement in the sense that the authority of governments when elaborating HE policies (and in the public sector in general) has been profoundly questioned in the past few years, giving way to the experimentation of less hierarchical relationships between policy-makers and the providers of higher education, which tends to the familiar creation of markets within the system, together with the introduction of managerial forms of administration in public HEIs.
The role of the government has indeed shown significant change, going from a solitary coordinator, to becoming one-more of many actors in the decision-making arena. It is also true that this order of things has divided the opinion of researchers, between those who think that the role of the government has been exceeded, and those who consider there has only been a qualitative change in the government's way to act (Capano, 2011). However, the evidence accumulated over thirty years, has proven not only that the government is still there, but also that it continues to be the hierarchical frame of reference for governance. In the first place, markets (or market behaviors) aren't phenomena that sprout out from nature, since for every case it's been necessary to display public power and authority in order to create them, promote them and reproduce them (Tickell & Kell, 2006). In second place, for the majority of HESs, governments continue to determine the ends which the system should pursue, nonethelees granting a certain level of freedom to the rest of the actors for choosing the means to achieve them.
This modality of governance has been qualified, initially as the "evaluation State" and more recently as "steering-at-the-distance" (Neave and Van Vaught, 1991; Huisman, 2009; Capano, 2011). The steering-at-a-distance control (or government) is characterized by having numerous policy instruments which guarantee the stewardship of the government over the HES; with no doubt we can find the financing mechanisms among them. The general ends which a government can pursue are many in addition to the creation of markets, going from the levels of enrollment to the general quality of the system and the pertinence of HE (graduate profile and research). In fact, one of the most attractive characteristics of combined systems is the implementation of financing mechanisms which are conditioned to achievements, with the intention to reach these ends. In countries where the proportion of public funding covers most of the total budget of public HEIs, this way to govern results a very powerful tool to promote institutional change, so that, as Huisman (2009) declares, it is possible to observe a re-signification of the governmental power in the completion of specific results on the system's part.
If we assume that the funding policies are a constituent element of the broader frame of systemic governance of HE, it is clear that -just as Brunner states (2013B)- the process of change is not exclusively determined by the dynamics of the market. In fact, the cases of Mexico and Chile suggest that the political variable is still playing a fundamental role in the decision-making process at hand. In this sense, we believe that the analytical effort should be directed towards explaining why certain policies seem to reinforce the role of the State in HE, considering that the broader horizon of the
reform involves a more decisive key-part of the market. Or, in other words, if the intervention of the government responds exclusively to the "market failures" (so that the actions of the government would serve to "correct" the path, working for the improvement of indicators such as enrollment, quality and equality); or if such intervention suggests the existence of structural limits in the functioning of higher education as a market, and therefore the governmental action tends towards the configuration of a new type of equilibrium.
1. Systemic modalities for the funding of higher education
In order to study the process of change and the possible trajectories followed by the funding policies of HE at a systemic level, it is necessary to elaborate a conceptual mechanism which starts off from the two main actors in the process, the State and the market, as two dimensions (or gravity centers) around which the orientation and the form in which the delivery of resources necessary for the functioning of HE, are defined; either that they are based on results or in the accomplishment of the necessities of HEIs (inputs). The overlap of these elements renders four theoretical modalities of HES funding (figure 1): a) negotiated; b) by results; c) competitive and d) autonomous. While in the first two, the assignation of resources is concentrated mainly in the offer (i.e. in the HEIs), the last two are based on the funding of the demand (the students).
a) Model of negotiated funding. The government finances HE in a direct way and without conditions, through the designation of a yearly budget for public HEIs (block grants). Therefore, this is a type of funding directed to the offer, and the allocation depends, to a great extent, on the negotiation capacity of the higher education institutions. Where there is no criteria for equality in the distribution, the inequalities between HEIs will tend to grow, segmenting the system depending on the capacity of institutional actors to procure more resources from the government. Since it is a funding modality oriented towards the inputs, most of the resources are destined to paying salaries (professors, other workers and administration personnel), to maintenance of the facilities and to the creation of new infrastructure to satisfy the growth of the demand; to research projects, extension and -if it is the case- to cultural promotion. The costs of educational services per student are covered by the State, so there are no fees for students, or the amount is purely symbolic with respect to the real cost of higher education. In this context, if there is a private offer of HE, it is directed to the elites and, if we take the Latin American case, it is constituted mainly by institutions of a denominational character.
Figure 1. Higher education funding modalities at a systemic level
Centralized Allocations (State)
Negotiated (public)
Results {public/non-profit)
Supplies-Oriented
offer offer/demand
Results-Oriented
offer/demand demand
Autonomous (no-profit)
Competitive {for-profit)
Decentralized Allocations
(Market)
b)	Model of funding by results. In terms of ideal correspondence, this modality would be the "economical version" of steering at a distance. The government keeps playing a central role in the financing of HE, but the delivery of funds is conditioned to institutional performance (number of graduates, research results, patents, number of articles published, etc.), the quality of education (certification of syllabuses, etc.) the performance of teachers (extra-salaries, stimuli and professionalizing grants), and the implementation of institutional reforms (diversification of financing, improvement of administration efficiency, institutional decentralizing, etc.). The funding for infrastructure and equipment (labs, auditoriums, workshops) of the HEIs can also be conditioned to results, to the support of certain areas of knowledge or as part of the resources destined for a specific program dedicated to the improvement and modernization of infrastructure, for which private initiatives or international funding organisms can also contend. Even though this modality favors financing the public sector, the State gives incentives for the creation and expansion of private HEIs, be it thorough the exemption of tax payment, or by granting public property for the creation or expansion of these institutions. In the same sense, this modality contemplates some financial instruments for the demand (economical support for finalizing the graduation process, payment of monthly fees or living costs for students, as well as mobility grants), which benefit both public and private HEIs. An important aspect of this funding modality is that the students cover a symbolic percent of the cost of their education, although this has no considerable impact on the finances of public HEIs.
c)	Competitive financing model. Competitive financing supposes a decentralized allocation of resources and is fundamentally based on supply and demand criteria. In this sense, the resources of HEIs come almost exclusively from their potential clients (students, governments, private sector, etc.), from donations and from market agents which invest in them. Under this modality, competition determines the segmentation of the system because it assumes that the best HEIs attract a greater number of students and vice versa. The tariff scheme promotes the development of a private market of student credits in charge of banking institutions, which are granted depending on the future remuneration of the creditors. The State functions as guarantee for the talented students who, due to their socioeconomic condition, cannot pay for the cost of their education. The financing of research is conditioned to its potential applicability and profitability so that this activity depends directly on the private industry. Being a modality based on the selling of educational services, innovation is an imperative characteristic which forces HEIs to diversify their formative offer through graduate and continuous education programs, professionalizing courses, and services in the realm of the so called "e-learning".
d)	Autonomous financing model. The State assigns a certain amount of resources to finance the activities of public and private non-profit HEIs (offer). The main source of funding, however, depends on the resources generated by the institutions themselves, through the implementation of tariffs (demand), the selling of specialized services and by associating with the production world. Despite the co-responsibility in financing HE, the allocation of resources in exchange for results is not relevant, although institutional prestige plays a fundamental part in the survival of these HEIs. The autonomous model coincides with the financing schemes of the old elite universities in Europe, where HEIs supported themselves with State-sponsored contributions (although not always), and donations from private benefactors. HE was not conceived then as a social mobility factor, so the number of students was small and there were no institutionalized systems to support the poor, except for patronages.
2.- Institutional funding modalities
The reform to HE in Latin America has been accompanied by a considerable decrease of the budget directed to this educational level. The reduction of public spending, either because of budget cutbacks, stagnation of the assigned resources, or both, has resulted in two tension elements for HEIs: their orientation towards the market, meaning the way in which institutional proceedings reflect the necessities of the production world; and the need to reach financial autonomy, through the generation of their own resources. Considering these two dimensions, four theoretical modalities arise for the study of institutional financing (figure 2). The left hand quadrants correspond to public HEIs while the quadrants to the right represent private HEIs.
a) Formation for the labor market. This aspect covers public higher education institutions which depend on funding from the State. The syllabuses and the program profiles offered, are directed to satisfying the needs of concrete productive sectors (the car industry, agroindustry, computing, pharmacology, etc.) In the Latin American context we would be talking about universities and technological institutes, and other options of tertiary education of a professionalizing type and with short cycles, whose origin and development correspond to the last expansive wave of HE (19992000). The tariffs, in most cases, are symbolic or nonexistent. In addition, the students can benefit from institutional support or scholarships offered by the private sector. Being institutions which generate graduates qualified for the productive sector, it is not strange that representatives of the industries participate in the elaboration of syllabuses or in the creation of formative programs oriented towards a specific activity of the productive sector they represent.
Figure 2. Higher education funding modalities at the institutional level.
Degree of market orientation
+
Application of knowledge
(public and private productive enviroment)
Profitable application of knowledge (mostly private productive enviroment)
Traditional HEIs (cultivation of knowledge public problems solving)
+
Degree of financial autonomy
Elite private HEIs (consumer power)
b)	Profitable application of knowledge. It encompasses the range of private HEIs concentrated in satisfying the demand for higher training, considered the most profitable in the labor market. Unless there are formulas for shared financing (cost-sharing) with the government, the private providers of educational services conduct their activities almost exclusively with the funds generated by the sale of services, at the same time as they project the expansion of their activities -if it is the case- with the support of their stockholders. By functioning as service businesses in a competitive market, they dedicate a considerable part of their resources to publicity for advertising their image. Private HEIs usually associate directly with the production or service world through partnerships, directly involving their students in internships (stage), with the added value (in addition to experience) of opening the possibility for getting a future job in the company. It is worth pointing out that when funding depends mainly on tariffs and other services, the offer of these HEIs is concentrated towards profitable professions which don't involve big investments on infrastructure and materials (law, psychology, business administration, etc.). The development of activities related to applied research (engineering, biology, chemistry, etc.) will depend, to a great extent, on the financial capacity of these HEIs, or the freedom of the providers to have access to the available resources with the support of the government (Altbatch, 1999; Ruch, 2003).
c)	Traditional private HEIs. In matters of funding, these HEIs are characterized by a great financial independence, as well as the disposition of many resources for investment on institutional projects. The origin of the traditional, private HEIs, which are mainly denominatorial (if we look at the Latin American case), is previous to the period of reforms to higher education which started in the eighties, so that their formative characteristics somehow reflect those of traditional public universities. These HEIs offer bachelor, graduate and specialization programs which are typically considered of low value in the labor market (philosophy, history of art, anthropology, history, etc.), which are, nonetheless, highly profitable thanks to the costs they represent for the sector of population which can allow itself to take a course of this kind in an elite university. Due to their age, and the amount of resources they manage, this type of institution can afford a more costly educational offer (medicine, engineering, biology, chemistry, etc.), and usually have a wider acceptance in the labor market, which is why, irrespectively of the freedom of access restrictions (practices in public hospitals for medicine students, for example), they tend to maintain a modest presence in these areas.
d)Traditional	public HEIs. These are universities and higher education institutions with minimal economic independence and very little orientation towards the market. This order of things, as we know, derives from their origin as institutions for the formation of the intellectual elites of their corresponding countries, in addition to providers of the professional basis necessary for the functioning of a large-scale public sector (productive and service provider). The development of the humanities and social sciences has been fostered by these institutions, but also the hard sciences, engineering and medicine, etc. As public institutions, their objective is to find solutions to national problems, promote culture and, in general, be one of the pillars for the development of science and humanities in their respective countries. The State completely funds the traditional public HEIs, trying to satisfy their needs for infrastructure and materials, together with the growth in the offer with respect to the demand. The ex-ante type of evaluation is a tool for the planning of concrete policies for improvement. There is little salary differentiation (based on hierarchy and not on performance), and the cost per student is covered by the State, considering that HE and, education in general, is a social investment.
II.- Systemic and institutional funding modalities for HE in Chile and Mexico 1.- Chile; governing the stability of the free market from the State?
For decades, the Chilean higher education system has caught the attention of policy-makers, HE researchers, analysts and the media in Latin America. This is not casual, considering the fact that the system is among the most privatized in the world, with market indicators (private funding, private coverage, competitive funds, etc.) which are way above the average for the countries conforming the OECD (UNESCO, 2005; Brunner, 2013A; 2013B; Brunner & Ferrada, 2011; OECD & WB, 2009). In terms of systemic governance, the Chilean HES is characterized by being primarily hierarchical (the government determines the ends and means of the HES), but with a few elements of the steering-at-a-distance government, particularly with respect to the administration management of the HEIs (Gonzalez, 2013). Considering the context out of which it emerged, and the way it has been administrated, the Chilean HES is an example of how a reform of the market can require a strong governmental intervention in order to take place.
Based on Clark's famous triangle (1983), Brunner (2013A) describes the trajectory of this system going from the prevalence of academic oligarchies (1970), passing through a brief period of State control (up to 1973), to later -after the coup d'etat- take a radical jump towards the market realm, with the Constitution of 1981. It is interesting to note, that from the optic of this author, the system begins to stir again towards the State after the constitutional reforms of 1990, and that it presently continues to do so, considering the changes implemented between 2005-2012. This, however, doesn't mean that the Chilean government is assuming the responsibility for financing HE. In fact, at present the public budget destined to this educational level is among the lowest of the countries that conform the OECD, being 0,28% of the GDP (Moreno & Ruiz, 2009). Following this, it is interesting to note that after the change in the economical paradigm (actively pushed by the dictatorship), the logic which has accompanied the resolution of new problems in the terrain of educational policy, has been to go deeper into the free market model.
1.1.-Systemic model for funding HE in Chile.
With the 1981 Constitution, the Chilean HES passed directly from the negotiated funding modality, to the competition-type model. The military government, led by Augusto Pinochet, established an institutional frame which allowed for the entrance of new private HEIs (with the only condition that they were politically acceptable for the regime); in addition, the government intervened in the two largest public universities in the country, decentralizing them into small self-funded entities (Fried & Abuhabdam 1991). Taking Brunner's words (2008:462), the HE market "had to operate without any major restriction on the behavior of the institutions and with little demands for information, quality control and accountability". At the same time, there was a substantial reduction in the budget for HE and the establishment of tariffs equivalent to the real cost of education was imposed on the public universities. The few remaining public funds were directed towards instruments for financing the demand, at the same time as the allocations for research were subject to competitive criteria.
In 1990, after the return of democracy, a new reform took place through the Constitutional, Organic Law for Teaching (LOCE74). Without changing the constitutive elements inherited to the system by the dictatorship, the LOCE intended to achieve six fundamental objectives: 1) consolidate the diversification of the HES; 2) promote an increase in enrollment; 3) ensure the quality and equality in HE; 4) support scientific research and cultural promotion; 5) increase and diversify funding with equality, efficiency and quality criteria; and 6) perfect the legal frame regulating this educational level. Essentially it was about correcting the negative externalities derived from the lack of equilibrium between the freedoms of the providers and those of the consumers, particularly in terms of the quality of private HEIs and the lack of access for the less favored socioeconomic sectors.
At present, HE funding is based on three pillars: a) direct tax contributions (AFD75), which are State resources channeled to the traditional universities grouped in the Council of Directors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH76), based on historical proportionality criteria; b) indirect tax contributions (AFI77), which consist of an economic incentive to HEIs for every student enrolled, and c) student support, which includes several credit programs (sponsored by State, university or private sector), and scholarships which totally or partially cover the tariffs, delivered by the State and the HEIs, based on economical condition and merit (Aedo, 2004; Gascon & Cepeda, 2008). Funding based on the demand, in a competition context, is reinforced significantly through this configuration while, on the other hand, the implementation of selective incentives of different types corresponds to the introduction of instruments characteristic of the modality of funding by results.
In fact, the LOCE considers a series of policy instruments for the ex-post evaluation of the HES, among them, a national autonomous system for the certification and accreditation of higher education institutions (dependent of the Education Higher Council); as well as the creation of various complementary organisms for evaluating the academic performance of students, like the System for Measuring the Quality of Teaching (SIMCE78) and the National System for Evaluating the Performance of the Subsidized Educational Establishments (SNED79), directed to the teaching staff and the institutions themselves (Nunez, 2012; Manzi y Rossetri, 2003). The funding of R&D (research and development), continues to be based on competition, but with more resources and new evaluation criteria (Brunner, 2008).
1.2-Institutional modalities for funding Chilean HEIs
However, funding policies at a systemic level aren't homogeneous for every HEI which conform it. In the opinion of those favoring the market formulas, this situation has created serious distortions regarding the freedom to access the available resources for the providers, and the freedom of choice for the consumers. In truth, at an institutional level, the offer of HE is primarily oriented towards the formative necessities of the market, nonetheless not all HEIs have access to the scholarships or the university credits, so financial autonomy is based exclusively on tariffs. This is the case of the Technical Formation Centers, the Professionalizing Institutes and the private universities which don't
74	Ley Organica Constitucional para la Ensenanza
75	Aportes fiscales directos
76	Consejo de Rectores de Universidades Chilenas
77	Aportes fiscales indirectos
78	Sistema de Medicion de Calidad de la Ensenanza
79	Sistema Nacional de Evaluacion de Desempeno de los Establecimientos Educacionales Subvencionados
belong to the CRUCH (for-profit), and which together cover 72% of the total enrollment of HE (Universidad de la Frontera, 2011). According to Aedo (Ibid: 132), the distortions are originated because the potential consumers decide not only depending on institutional quality or formative expectations, but also considering factors like the "possibility to get partial support to cover the costs of enrollment and monthly fees which is only possible in the traditional universities". This situation is exacerbated by the fact that private HEIs, by having less enrollment, see a decrease in their income from AFI.
The traditional universities of the CRUCH, on their part, are non-profit institutions (16 public and 19 private), which cover 28% of the total enrollment. They offer a wide range of undergraduate, specialization and graduate courses, including disciplines considered of little value for the labor market. With respect to financial autonomy, in addition to the AFD, the AFI and the tariffs, these institutions receive income through donations, external research contracts, consultations and continuous education programs (OECD & WB, 2008). The financial independence of these institutions, however, is relative, because 5% of the AFD depends on results, therefore the amounts vary through time. Moreover, the HEIs must fill the gap between the reference tariffs, established by the State as the parameter for assigning the Solidarity Fund for University Credit (FSCU80), which benefits 80% of the enrolled students, and the real tariffs which reflect the real cost of the service. In the same sense, the HEIs must pay the costs of risk coverage for other subsidy programs for the demand and the State-guarantee credits (also used for the private HEIs).
This means that "HEIs destine important sums of their own resources to guarantee the functioning of the student credit system, thus reducing their funding for other activities" (Gascon & Cepeda, 2008:44). The State imposes an ulterior element of pressure, by controlling the amount of the tariffs (which are already the lowest in the market) and hereby artificially decreasing the costs of opportunity for the less privileged sectors. On the long run, this has had negative effects on several levels of the institutional performance causing, among other things, the lack of mobility and renovation of the academic and administration sectors; the deterioration of the facilities and the lack of equipment, as well as restrictions to research and even the shutting down of unprofitable humanities programs (Radio Chile, 2004, cited by Gascon & Cepeda, Ibid: 50).
1.3.-A crisis in the Chilean funding system?
Despite the reforms implemented since 1990, the fact that the funding system still depends mainly on the demand, in other words, on the expenses of students and their families, has ended by causing an unforeseen crisis, making itself evident mostly with the student protests which began in 2006 and which continue up to this day with different levels of intensity. Already in 2003, numerous university authorities which are part of the CRUCH, were warning about the increase in arrears on the part of students who received student credits given by the HEIs themselves or by the State. In that year, the student debt was up to 25 billion Chilean pesos (49 million 647 thousand U.S. Dollars), but four years later, in 2007, this sum added up the scandalous proportion of 258 billion (512 million 448 thousand 195 dollars)81, considering only the 98 thousand 400 debtors of the FSCU from back then. This was only the tip of the iceberg: according to calculations by Elmo Moreno (2013), in 2016 the total student debt, contracted with public and private entities will sum 5 billion dollars.
80	Fondo Solidario de Credito Universitario (FSCU)
81	The conversion in dollars is done based on the current exchange rate of 1 CDP = 0.00198641 USD
The increase in the debt default is an indicator of a multidimensional discomfort which, in general tells us plenty about the economical conditions through which the South American country has been going for at least a decade now. If we pay attention to the observations of the educational authorities, researchers, and a few journalists, the main problem has to do with the real possibilities for job-placement of the graduates and the considerable increase in debts because of the yearly interest rates (which go from 6% in the case of State credits, but can reach up to 9 or 10% in private banks). Furthermore, the low rates of return of the State credits, with barely an annual 5% of the total credits granted since 2003 (Reveco, 2012) have direct repercussions on the availability of new credits for a constantly growing demand. In 2007, for example, from a total of 159 thousand 439 applications, it was possible to accept only 37 thousand, even though since 2003, the fund for student support has increased 40%. In terms of equality, this translates into a restriction of access to HE for the poorest quintile (15%), with respect to the richest one (70%) according to the data presented by Gascon & Cepeda (Ibid: 49).
Obviously, the economical instability has had direct repercussions on the HEIs which conform the whole Chilean Higher Education System. There is no doubt that the most affected are the HEIs which are part of the CRUCH, which count on an ever shrinking amount of resources to face their needs. However, private HEIs, which absorb most of the demand for HE, are going through an unedited condition of uncertainty, resulting in a greater precariousness of the education work, less investment in institutional growth projects, and a considerable loss in terms of competition to attract demand. Those who promote market solutions, propose the homogenization of the funding policies for the whole system, with a greater number of public resources made available through competition, and new strategies for financing the demand ( Aedo, Ibid:137-139). It is possible that before 2006, a proposal of this type would have been received with more interest on the government's part, however, the general discontent in the face of the crisis has favored the reactivation of traditional actors (professors, other workers, students, etc.) which add new elements of pressure to the decision-making arena.
The students are probably among the most active, articulating a series of demands tending towards guaranteeing a higher intervention of the government both in financing HE as in improving its quality (Duran, 2012; Urrua, 2012). The last two administrations (M. Bachelet and S. Pinera) have partially responded to these demands, imposing more control measures and requisites on private HEIs, at the same time as they intend to modify the State-guarantee credit system (functioning since 2005) into a system administrated by a public organism, which gives a greater number of scholarships to students in need, and credits with a 2% interest rate to all students except for the wealthiest 10% (Atria, 2012). Weather these measures will be more or less effective is still to be seen. The truth is that facing the crisis of the model, the Chilean authorities are betting for a solution which reinforces the funding scheme directed to the demand, contrary to the demands of the Chilean Student Confederation (CONFECH82) and not few representatives of the CRUCH, in the sense of giving more certainties to the public institutions, through more and better allocations to this type of HEIs.
82 Confederacion de Estudiantes de Chile
2-Mexico: choices facing the administration of a structural deficit
Well into the decade of the eighties, the higher education system in Mexico presented numerous features of the procedural modality of governance (the government determines the ends and means of the HES), even considering the independence of autonomous universities compared to other HEIs (for example the National Polytechnic Institute, IPN83, or the Rural teacher-training Schools84). Before then, the system had been characterized by its limited differentiation and the absolute dependence of HEIs on public budget, which was allocated following historical negotiation criteria. Private universities were scarce, mainly of a religious origin and with a formative offer directed exclusively to the elites (Ra ma, 2006; Gonzalez, 2013). A particularity of the Mexican HES was that the capacity to negotiate funding didn't only depend on the authorities of the HEIs in each case: every year, universities mobilized their worker unions, political organizations, professors and students with the purpose of creating pressure for obtaining more public resources. From Kent's point of view (2004:194), it was a paradoxical situation in which the Executive, beyond determining the agenda, was captive of the political forces within the university communities and their allies in the political system.
Just as in other countries of the region, the formulation of policies towards HE was profoundly altered with the debt crisis at the beginning of the eighties. After the 1982 crisis, the main concern of the government was to face the enormous weight of the external debt, so the administration of the educational system (as in other sectors of the public administration) was reduced to a drastic implementation of cutbacks in the budget. In this context, the measures adopted by the universities responded to an emergency situation, because it put their viability as institutions at risk. In a first moment, student admittance was controlled, passing from an open model to a restrictive one; there was no more hiring of personnel and nearly all projects for institutional growth were limited, both in the formative and research areas. The result was a noticeable stagnation of the HES, whose characteristics became the target for the promoters of modernization during the 1990's.
The critical juncture of the crisis set the conditions for popularizing the discourse on the need to modernize the HES (and the educational system as a whole). According to Kent (Ibid:195), in this context, modernization was understood as the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the public and private institutions, modifying the public administration to increase the national competitive status and adapt the norms and social values in accordance with the new international reality. So the idea that the intervention of the market and the market behaviors are the best way to integrate the country to the context of globalization became popular. In this respect, Kent states that, since then, policies about matters of HE have maintained a certain coherence -with some reformulations- along the last four administrations (1988-2012), in terms of financing, educational quality and institutional government.
At present it is not possible to affirm if the country is unavoidably directed towards a "privatization" of the higher education system or towards an alternative model of funding. Brunner (2013:15) points out that the case of Mexico (together with Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina), proves that HESs aren't submitted only to the dynamics of the market and, on the contrary, there is evidence of a revaluation of the public dimension of higher education. This statement is sustained on the present
83	Instituto Politecnico Nacional
84	Normales rurales
prominence of direct State funding; the diversification of the public offer of HE through the creation of technological institutes and other alternatives for short cycled tertiary education, and the fact that the flagship universities of the region (the UNAM in Mexico, or the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, for example) are all public institutions. However, if the revaluation of public HE is true, the legal ambiguity around the responsibilities of the Mexican State, and the consistent lack of certainties in the annual assignation of resources for the HEIs (which depend to a great extent on their negotiating capacity) suggest, if anything, the absence of a well defined and far-reaching funding policy.
2.1.-Systemic modality of HE funding in Mexico
In general terms, we can affirm that the financing policies of the Mexican HES are slowly moving from the negotiated modality towards funding in exchange for results. On average, 90% of the budget for public HEIs depends on public funding. These resources are divided in ordinary subsidies, which follow historical increase criteria and are strongly based on the negotiation capacity of the HEIs; the extraordinary subsidies which are resources associated to objectives and specific ends; and the funds destined to expanding and diversifying the educational offer, which are delivered to existing HEIs and those created recently. In the last ten years, the Mexican government has increased the proportion of the extraordinary subsidy in order to orient funding towards an allocation dependent on results; in fact, in 2009, 30% of the budget was delivered following this criterion (SEP, 2010: 23-24).
The extraordinary subsidies were divided into four areas: 1) funds for equity (one program); 2) funds and programs to improve and ensure quality (ten programs); 3) funds for the diversification of the offer (five programs) and 4) funds to address the structural problems (two programs). Through these programs, the government has increased its control over the ends that the system should pursue as a whole, particularly with respect to the administration of enrollment, the educational offer and quality. Indirectly (if we keep in mind the autonomous universities), these programs have also served to promote institutional reforms in the administration, academic, staff and financial sectors (SEP, Ibid: 28).
In addition to the extraordinary subsidies, the government has given incentives to the states of the Republic to assume a part of the financial responsibility over HE through the ordinary subsidy and in the diversification of the educational offer. Nowadays, the budget contribution of the Federation with respect to the states oscillates between 89 and 47 percent of the resources to the State-HEIs (SEP, Ibid:26). On the other hand, even though the criterion for allocating resources is overwhelmingly oriented towards the educational offer, in the last few years, some funding instruments for the demand have been implemented in the states of Sonora and Hidalgo, which grant scholarships, credits and funding for students. There are also some experimental programs in charge of non-profit HEIs, which through the Society for Promotion of Higher Education (SOFES85), grant student credits; as well as from the profiting private sector, through Educational Funding of Mexico (FINEM86) and the FINAE, (Nationwide Educational Financial) whose objective is to develop an educational credit market in the country.
85	Sociedad de Fomento a la Educacion Superior
86	Financiera Educativa de Mexico
On the other hand, the financial restrictions inherited from the economical crisis have favored the emergence and expansion of a considerable offer of private HE, which nowadays covers 30% of the total demand of the HES (OECD & WB, 2009). By not having any formula for shared funding, these institutions finance themselves almost exclusively with the resources they generate. The Mexican government, however, has granted considerable freedom of entry to private HEIs, which in addition to determining their offer with virtually no restrictions, operate with scarce demands for information about the quality of the academic programs they provide and their institutional performance.
2.2- Institutional modalities for financing Mexican HEIs
The public higher education institutions in Mexico, as we have mentioned, depend almost completely on governmental funding. To differing extents, almost all of them have introduced symbolic tariffs for the enrollment of students, as well as other charges for different services (exams, certificates, extra courses). In the face of fiscal pressures and the lack of certainty regarding public funding, many institutions have begun to experiment with some self-financing instruments, like continuous education programs, several modalities of collaboration with the productive sector, donations, renting facilities, etc. Considering the funding model at an institutional level, we can say that most of the public HEIs converge towards the most market-oriented quadrant of the model. This tendency is observable specially in the institutions which conform the technological subsystem of HE (Federal and State-managed Technological Institutes; Technological Universities and Polytechnic Universities); but also in a good part of the formative offer of the institutions which integrate the university subsystem (Federal and State-managed public universities; Intercultural universities and State-public universities for solidarity support), with the exception of the Rural teacher-training Schools.
Given the financial uncertainty conditions on which they operate, and the insufficiency of the public funds at their disposition, public HEIs dedicate a large part of their efforts to keeping their substantial activities "a float". From the beginning of the 1990's, the studies sponsored by international organisms like the World Bank (WB), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), or by private organizations which pay special attention to the matter of HE (such as the Ford Foundation or the Santander Bank through Universia), state that this situation could change if the public HEIs, in addition to diversifying their funding sources, established tuition fees which progressively reflected more and more the real cost of HE (Gonzalez, 2010). Nonetheless, the fees issue is one of the most controversial in the terrain of the financial reform to this educational level, being the cause of important conflicts in the UNAM between 1986 and 1999. On the contrary, the National Association of Higher Education Universities and Institutions (ANUIES87, 2010), which includes the most important public HEIs of the country, proposes a funding policy which is oriented towards some basic principles: certainty, institutionalization, sufficiency, equality, transparency, co-responsibility and recognition of the institutional performance and quality (SEP, 2010: 47).
The private HEIs which as a whole give service to almost a million students (SEP, Ibid: 28), are mainly located in the top right quadrant of our model. We are indeed talking about institutions with a strong orientation towards the needs of the market and a great financial autonomy. With the exception of some institutions (which have high standards of quality and a diverse and consolidated educational
87 Asociacion Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educacion Superior
offer), most of the private HEIs offer a limited number of bachelor programs, almost all of them focused on the immediate insertion of their graduates in the labor market and which involve a minimal investment in terms of infrastructure and inputs (psychology, law, business administration, accounting, etc.). During the first expansive phase of the private offer (1985-2000), the new HEIs could begin to operate with practically no restrictions, a situation which has had a negative impact on the quality of the educational offer of this type of institution. In the words of Kent (2004:192-92), at first the government accepted this situation because the growth in the private offer reduced the budget pressure caused by the educational demand.
However, along the second expansive phase (2000-2012), this type of institution has been subject to more strict controls on the government part, through the Public Education Secretariat (SEP88), as well as the autonomous crediting agencies like the COPAES89 (Council for Crediting Higher Education), and the Federation of Mexican Institutions of Higher Education (FIMPES90). At present, only 10% of the private HEIs have quality accreditation; barely 37 institutions have programs recognized by the COPAES while the SEP and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT91) have recognized 49 graduate programs. Furthermore, between 2000 and 2008, the SEP has rejected the certification of 99 other institutions (Revista Fortuna, 2008). If we analyze this situation under the light of the conditions for the existence of a higher education market, we will notice a serious disproportion between the advantages for the providers with respect to the consumers.
2.3.- Choices in the funding model for the HES in Mexico
Currently, the Mexican HES counts on combined funding, with elements from the negotiated modality and the one based on results for the case of public HEIs; and a competitive funding with incipient stimuli for the demand, between private HEIs. According to the documents consulted, the government proposes an increase in the proportion of extraordinary subsidies, progressively eliminating the negotiation as a determining factor in the allocation of ordinary funds. On the other hand, facing the lack of resources, the government recognizes that it'll be necessary to have a greater participation of private actors in this educational level, in addition to an increase in the financial independence on the part of public HEIs. Those who analyze the reform from a market perspective, consider that Mexico is in the face of a serious dilemma:
[...] either we have a true rupture in the procedures followed for more than two decades, which only render marginal and decreasing contributions, both to academics and to HEIs, or the continuity of this resource allocation scheme will prevent the development of long-term programs and processes at the individual and institutional levels, seriously increasing the costs of opportunity derived from the deferral of this necessary reform (Brunner & Ferrera, 2011:237).
The cited document urges Mexican authorities to make second generation reforms, establishing clear funding mechanisms increasingly oriented towards the demand (scholarships, school vouchers, private credits, etc.), and the perfection of competitive instruments for assigning resources, dependent on achieved results, guaranteeing a growing involvement of private HEIs. In summary,
88	Secretaria de Educacion Publica
89	Consejo para la Acreditacion de la Educacion Superior
90	Federacion de Instituciones Mexicanas de Educacion Superior
91	Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia
they suggest an agenda of reforms which use the current Chilean HES funding scheme as an example. Putting aside, for the moment, the possible trajectories of funding policy, the truth is that presently, the Mexican HES faces serious problems related, among other things, to: 1) the serious deficit in the offer of HE (which is getting worse in the face of the growing demographic pressure); 2) the geographical inequalities in the offer of HE; 3) the chronic insufficiency of resources in public HEIs, and 4) the questionable quality of private HEIs. Before a situation of this type, it is worth asking if the solution to these and other problems resides in the implementation of policies oriented towards the market; or if, on the contrary, a greater intervention of the State is necessary, in terms of funding and ensuring the quality of this educational level.
In the first place, the introduction of extraordinary funding has proven a useful instrument to promote institutional change, in addition to re-signifying the control of the government over HES. However, unless there's an intention to make this instrument into a discrimination tool in terms of quality (which would make vertical segmentation unavoidable), it is not clear up to what point it may function, specially if we consider that the percentages of this subsidy are not established by the law, or at least on a governmental route map which ends with a negotiated assignation. In fact, and contrary to what the government holds, the extraordinary resources show a decreasing tendency and presently cover 15% of the total budget. In second place, it's also not clear what type of criteria or mechanisms will be utilized to promote private investment on higher education. In the present conditions, even though the government has practically privatized the offer, the truth is that without funding mechanisms for the demand, it is difficult that the private HEIs will increase their present enrollment in the medium-term. On the other hand even if they existed, the Chilean and American experiences (Harlan, 2012) demonstrate that instruments like the student credits can, in effect, improve the coverage indicators in the long run, but with a potentially negative cost for the students and their families (falling in debt), and with devastating effects for equality, even taking into account the adoption of social buffers (tariff exemption, lost-fund credits, etc.)
Finally, although it's true that there have been a series of institutional reforms which add marked ingredients to the administration of public HEIs (salaries bound to productivity, centralized decisionmaking, reduction of the bureaucratic apparatus, etc.), there is still considerable pressure from the traditional actors (students, professors and other workers) towards universities and the government. These actors don't only resist the introduction of managerial-type reforms in HEIs but also, and above all, are a potential source of instability in any attempt to reform the present modalities of institutional funding. In this sense, together with the government, those responsible of HEIs have opted for advancing in other aspects of the reform (decentralization, syllabus modification, etc.), treating financial matters with extreme caution and protecting what has been achieved so far.
III. Final considerations
Along these pages, we have analyzed the problem of higher education funding from the perspective of systemic governance. This means that, despite that the present tendencies suggest a determinant intervention of the forces of the market, the empirical evidence suggests that the State continues to be the main articulating actor in this policy arena. Considering the prevalently combined character of the HESs in the majority of the countries in Latin America, this perspective allows us to consider a wider horizon of meanings, in which of course, we find the creation of higher education markets. In this respect, we have deliberately avoided the concept of quasi-markets as a synonym of governance,
in order to return its contingent character as a photograph which portrays the possible combinations of a combined system, in terms of the eight freedoms postulated by Jongbloed (2013).
From the Public Policy perspective, the problem resides in trying to explain policy variation, placing the funding policies in Mexico and Chile in a comparative perspective (Knill y Tosun, 2012). In other words, in what sense are the policies of these two countries different, and how can those differences be explained? Some pages back, we established that the diverse possible images of a quasi-market can, at least ideally, correspond to the funding modalities resulting from the overlap between two dimensions: State (centralized allocation) and market (decentralized allocation) as well as its orientation (inputs or results). In the same way, within each systemic modality (or from the combination of elements between modalities), we bel ieve that it's plausible to assume that the particular funding policies at an institutional level, reflect the tendencies of the context by overlapping the degree of financial autonomy with the degree of orientation towards the market. Proceeding in this manner, we have offered an approximation to variations in the funding policies between our cases of study. Looking ahead, it will be necessary to work more directly with the economical data produced by both systems, in the same way that we will have to make a more exhaustive revision of the programs and tools which orient financial matters in both countries.
A second aspect to analyze in more depth in the future, has to do with the existence, or at least a tendency of the Mexican HES towards the convergence of policy, through the development of a model similar to the Chilean one. Despite that the pressures imposed by the more relevant actors of the process point towards that path, the truth is that the process of change hasn't been easy and it doesn't seem that, in the short term, the Mexican government, and those responsible of institutions, are willing to risk the gained terrain with a tap of the hand. Moreover, the lack of concrete actions in either direction is causing a costly and dangerous accumulation of negative effects, with symptoms that are actively reflected on the increasing mobilizations in favor of the expansion of the public offer of higher education. In general, future research should analyze the relevance of the dynamics of the actors involved in this policy arena, the characteristics of the initiatives they carry, the resources available to promote them and, the effects that their interactions produce in the concrete policies relative to funding higher education.
Another subject which deserves an in-depth analysis is that of the instruments to finance the demand, particularly the student credits. The Chilean experience has proven that these instruments are crucial for the majority of students to access HE in a privatized system. But the dynamics of a minimally regulated market have perverse effects on the system as a whole, particularly the "financialization", considering that the enormous amount of resources which nowadays make the system function, are based on the promise of payment by future professionals which should insert themselves in an uncertain and precarious job market. This "bubble" effect created by this order of things (visible in Chile, but also in the US), should be a "heads-up" for the political decision makers who, in Mexico, and other countries of Latin America, see an alternative to the problem of public funding, in the institutionalization of the student debt.
It is worth recognizing that gratuity is not enough to guarantee the equality in the access (and specially the permanence) to the HES, and that in conditions like the ones in Mexico, this has become a subsidy for the middle and high classes, who are the ones who benefit the most from this order of things. In this sense, the free condition or not of HE is another aspect which must be analyzed and
discussed, keeping in mind that it is an unavoidably political debate, with implications that don't end with the mere application of technical prescriptions. Beyond the economical aspect, what is presently at stake is not only the future of higher education institutions, but also knowledge itself and its relationship with the general well-being of societies and the economical development of the countries of the region.
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W. James Jacob and John N. Hawkins: Trends in Chinese Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges
Abstract: This chapter summarizes key trends in Chinese higher education of significance for the comparative, international, and development education discourse. These trends often shape how higher education institutions (HEIs) adapt to dynamic local and global forces. Five trending themes are introduced—structural reforms, finance, re-emphasis on continuing education programs, mobility, and quality assurance and assessment. We also introduce the dominant higher educational paradigm (DHEP) and its role in influencing local, national, and global higher education systems. By understanding these trends and influences, we hope to shed some light on possible future directions of higher education in China and the significance, thereof, for comparative education.
Growth in the world's largest higher education market is often masked by the tremendous parallel growth in China's economy over the past two decades. National economic prowess has underpinned much of China's success in all social sectors, including in the development of higher education. This trend is projected to continue well into the future as China's robust economy is fueling an unprecedented boom in higher education. While its national GDP is on target to become the world's largest by 2030, China's higher education enrollments have already surpassed all other countries with current enrollments at 30 million in 2010 compared with about 20 million in the United States and 17 million in India (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012; University Grants Commission, 2012).
Table 1. Enrollments and Higher Education Institutional Trends in China, 1949-2010
						Enrollments7 in
			Non-	Enrollments in	Ethnic	Ethnic
		Enrollments in	State/Private	Non-State/	Nationality	Nationality
Year	Regular HEIs	Regular HEIs	HEIs	Private HEIs	HEIs	HEIs
1949	205	116,500	-	-	-	-
1965	434	678,946	-	-	-	-
1978	598	867,234	-	-	-	-
1980	675	1,165,304	-	-	-	-
1985	1,016	1,790,431	-	-	-	-
1990	1,075	2,155,718	-	-	11*	21,400*
1995	1,054	3,051,843	-	-	12	32,625
2000	1,041	5,862,139	-	-	12	52,098
2005	1,792	16,596,377	1,077	203,545	16	141,385
2010	2,358	23,856,345	836	595,048	18	197,882
Figures include both undergraduate- and graduate-student enrollments for the corresponding years.
+Figures include only undergraduate enrollments for the corresponding years. *Figures are from the year 1991. Sources: Department of Planning and Construction, State Education Commission, People's Republic of China (DP&C) (1992, 1996) and Department of Development and Planning, Ministry of Education, People's Republic of China (DD&P) (2001, 2006, 2011).
Ethnic minority students had roughly the same overall percentage of total enrollments in the past 30 years, comprising 6.64% of total enrollments in 2010, 5.71% in 2000, and 6.9% in 1991 (DP&C, 1991; DD&P, 2001, 2011). The number of ethnic nationality HEIs increased at modest rate over the past 30 years with enrollments following suit. The number of international enrollments also increased by 410% from 2000 to 2010, with 130,637 international students attending Chinese HEIs in 2010, compared to 74,323 in 2005 and 25,636 in 2000 (DD&P, 2001, 2006, 2011).
In this chapter, we discuss five trends that will continue to shape higher education in China well into the future: (1) structural reforms, (2) finance, (3) re-emphasis on continuing education programs, (4) mobility, and (5) quality assurance and assessment. Our visits with senior administrators in major urban centers and in more rural and remote parts of the country view these five trends as foundational to the direction Chinese higher education is heading in the next decade.
In many ways, these five trends mirror what the Ministry of Education (2010) Outline of China's National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development, 2010-2020 (hereafter referred to as the National Plan 2020) gives as a national strategic direction for higher education: quality, developing the talents of China's young professionals, research capacity, having higher education play a catalytic role to serve society, and solidifying a optimal higher education structure (pp. 18-21). Most senior policy makers and higher education administrators generally refer to this document as a guide for strategic planning purposes.
1. Structural Reform Trends
Several issues become apparent in the National Plan 2020. One issue that strikes us as critically important is the arena of structural reform of higher education. Even though this chapter focuses on higher education, it is important to look at the backward and forward linkages between higher education system and the K-12 system, that in some ways cut across secondary and higher education (e.g., non-regular higher education programs identified by the Ministry of Education as adult education, vocational education, skilled worker schools, and correctional work-study schools). One of the key structural reforms that many scholars and higher education administrators see as a bottle neck in the higher education training system is the gao kao (H#or "national higher education examination"). There has been a lot of discussion about how to possibly reform this system, how to improve it or adapt it, and how it appears to drive everything below that level. Much of the curriculum up to high school is focused on how to pass the gao kao with high scores in order to improve a student's chances of gaining admission to one of the key, elite universities such as Peking University or Tsinghua University. A primary question that is often raised regarding the gao kao has to do with its efficacy in assessing talent; is this the best method to do so? On one level, the response is often yes, as observers both in and outside China note that Chinese students from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taiwan continue to score high on international comparison examinations (Fong & Altbach, 2011; Mervis, 2010; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2010). They note that the gao kao is a merit-based system. One does not have to be rich to take it. Students who study hard and do well on the exam, you can gain high scores thus realizing their goal to attend the best universities in the country and receive full funding for higher education. Critics of the gao kao, on the other hand, argue with a social justice perspective, and say the gao kao sounds good in theory but in practice, children that do not live in the urban centers and children that live in
the Western Region of China, and minority students, and others are clearly at a disadvantage. These children are not equally represented at the best universities, even though they might be very smart. Some of the best talent in China may be falling through the cracks in the gao kao system. So there is arguably a bottle neck that these critics see in assessing the best talent. Determining how to potentially alter or adapt the current examination system has enormous implications for higher education. These are structural issues that many Chinese leaders want to focus on, which are also being notably addressed in the National Plan 2020.
Related to the discussion of the gao kao is the role of private higher education in China. It is not commonly referred to as "private higher education" in China; rather it is called "nongovernmental higher education." One such example of this new form of private education is the College for Science and Humanities (a private college in Changchun). The current President of the private college had a long history of service in a government HEI but has developed a unique and novel college with a business model that has resulted in accumulating large reserves for further development. Admissions into this private college does not hinge on the traditional gao kao system. Many private HEIs do not view the gao kao in the same way that government and more traditional HEIs do. Students are evaluated in a more holistic manner. Of course students pay fairly substantial amounts of tuition to attend colleges of this type. For those students who did not perform well on the gao kao and therefore were able to gain access to the first-tier elite HEIs, and who also did not want to go to the second-tier public HEIs, private colleges such as CSH are an attractive alternative. Many private higher education administrators and scholars feel that private HEIs like this will continue to grow and fill this void, by offering a valid alternative to the traditional model (Mok, 2000; Sall, 2004). This argument is especially compelling where private HEIs are able to provide skills-based curriculum that lead to competency-based credentials rather than simply degrees to graduates (Kirschner, 2012). The Ministry of Education monitors nongovernment HEIs carefully, but these institutions are not required to adhere to all of the same regulations as those in the public sector. In many ways, private HEIs are able to be innovative with their curriculum. They can add new courses and eliminate those that are no longer relevant. They can be more nimble, respond to the market place at a more rapid pace, and generally are viewed as more closely aligned with the marketplace. This is an interesting trend that will continue to expand nationwide in China. The government is focusing on policies to determine where private HEIs fit into the higher education system as a whole.
Another higher education structural reform issue involves the independence and governance of HEIs. This has a lot to do with the role of the Ministry of Education in the management and oversight of HEIs at all levels. It applies perhaps less so at the elite level (e.g., Project 211 and Project 985 institutions), which now have a fair amount of independence. This is more relevant to HEIs at the third-tier level, which according to the National Plan 2020 is the level most in need of decentralization and autonomy. It would help to facilitate this natural gravitation toward greater autonomy if the Ministry of Education released some of the oversight of HEIs in the form of self-governance at the local level. It falls under this general idea of redefining the relations between the government, Ministry of Education, and these HEIs.
2. Higher Education Finance
A second area of higher education change relates to financing the system. The form most commonly used in China involves multiple channels of higher education financing. For many years there existed only one channel of higher education financing—the government channel. Now there is an emerging and vibrant private sector, though it remains extremely small in comparison to the entire higher education system. Even within the government sector, there is a growing acceptance of multiple methods of financing higher education through a revised taxation system at the city, county, and national levels. Donations and endowments are other forms of financing on the rise. Investments the university can make through scientific innovations and other patent rights are additional potential areas of alternative financing in the future. So this multi-pronged approach of bringing in an income stream so it is not all falling on the Ministry of Education or provincial or city governments is an increasing trend in Chinese higher education.
The government plans to increase the total amount of public funding on education toward the goal of 4% of the total GDP (Jia, 2010; Xiong, 2012). The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2012a, 2012b, 2012c) indicates China allocated 13% of total government spending toward education in 2010, compared to 9.4% of total government expenditure (3.8% of GDP) in Japan and 15.8% of total government expenditure (5.0% of GDP) in the Republic of Korea. Government funding devoted to tertiary education comprised more than 20% of the total education allotment in China in 2010, compared to approximately 20% in Japan (in 2009) and 19% in the Republic of Korea in 2010 (see UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012a, 2012c; OECD, 2012).
Closely related to the multiple financing streams is the increasing cost of tuition. The private sector tuition costs are often significantly higher than those in the public sector, which is consistent with tuition comparisons across the globe (Bollag, 2007; Levy, 2010). Even the public sector now requires students to pay tuition, where this was traditionally never the case. Students at even the top universities in the country are required to pay tuition fees, which have been increasing over the past decade, and are foreseen to continue along this trend. As a response to these increases a variety of student subsidies and alternative means to support students is another important trend. The various personal costs that are incurred in preparing for ones college education have resulted in issues related to socio-economic class. A shadow educational system exists in the form of the buxiban (^ ^ ® or "cram schools which are expensive and outside the reach of many parents. Yet there is a high correlation between those students who attend these preparatory schools and admission to the best universities. Higher education finance in China is an evolving process and a fruitful area for further research.
3. Continuing Education Re-emphasis
Continuing education, lifelong learning, extension programs at the tertiary level were never a big part of the education sector, except perhaps during the Cultural Revolution, when this was a much emphasized form of training. Full- and short-term training programs that occurred during the post-1976 modernization movements included a local striving to be competitive abroad. This continuing education emphasis seemed to decrease in the higher education literature and policy discussions in the past 15 years. But it seems to be re-emerging as an important discussion point in many circles.
There is a need to produce well-trained workers in all areas of the economy. With recent findings of the lack of skilled and well-trained workers, there is a perceived need to offer higher education to adults throughout the country. There is also a huge need to provide quality skills to young people who are unable to enter the formal higher education system. The goal the government would like to reach is about 50% of the workforce at any one time would be in some sort of continuing education program.
The overall low-quality of the workforce sparked the need to further develop the continuing education subsector of higher education. In relation to the dominant educational paradigm (DEP) the focus of which is on human resource development continuing education fits in very well with striving as it does to build capacity within post-secondary schooling. There is an apparent difference in the overall paradigmatic perception between continuing education or professional development programs in China and the United States and other countries. In the United States, the bulk of continuing education programs focus on personal interests, talent acquisition, life skills, and personal growth. Religious-sponsored HEIs in the United States offer inspirational classes, seminars, and workshops for personal spiritual development, self-reliance, and entertainment. Continuing education programs and events in the US are often attended by adults and seniors, who, when they advance in years can learn new skills to keep themselves active, such as developing or learning a hobby (Gracy & Croft, 2007; Mirabella, 2007; Moore & Tonniges, 2004). In this respect, the US is similar to Japan. In China the emphasis of continuing education course and degree offerings are clearly on occupation-related skills development. The Chinese continuing education trend is to help build the overall, continued, sustainable economic growth of China. The focus is toward developing a workforce with sufficient skills to remain competitive in the local- and global-economic environments.
Project Yi in Hong Kong has helped provide a bridge between secondary education and higher education, especially for those students who did not perform as well as many of their counterparts on the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (Wong & Yeung, 2004). Advances in medicine and technology occur at such rapid rates that continuing education and professional development programs are often better suited to offer relevant curricula than traditional degree programs at most Chinese HEIs. In fact, the only probable way many HEIs in China and other countries can keep pace with these rapid changes is through robust continuing education programs closely aligned with industries and technological and medical advances (Herschock, Mason, & Hawkins, 2007). China's unusually large migrant worker population is another group of over a 100 million people often in need of retraining, retooling, and other types of continuing education (Jacob, 2006; Lu, 2009). Grounded on millennia of Confucius ideology, many people in China and much of East and Southeast Asia make lifelong learning a way of life—a formidable rationale and foundation in support of most higher education continuing education offerings.
4. Mobility
There is a continual trend to increase the internationalization of higher education throughout much of China. There is an increase in the number of international partnerships, such as establishing memorandums of understanding (MOUs), international exchange programs with faculty and students, and sending more Chinese students and faculty abroad. There is also a push to attract more
non-Chinese students and faculty members to attend and teach at Chinese HEIs. Many HEIs are beginning to establish degree programs in English so they can accommodate this internationalization process to a greater ability in the future. This is a reciprocal trend, where the push and pull factors for internationalization is in full force. HEIs from all over the world are reaching out to Chinese HEIs like never before in hopes of establishing these types of partnerships. Likewise, Chinese HEIs are reaching out to comparable and aspirational international HEIs. The more prestigious or elite HEIs in China are becoming more selective in their partnership identification and selection process.
There is a continued push for greater openness and mobility exchanges, and looking at the relationships between internationalization and modernization. From the Chinese perspective, these outreach efforts are mostly designed to help the nation continue to thrive and grow and develop economically and remain competitive at the global level. This fits within our notion of the DEP.
How much will these internationalization efforts potentially change the Chinese higher education system is yet to be determined. As faculty from abroad are invited to China to teach and Chinese faculty go abroad as visiting scholars there is some question about the viability of such an exchange. Of course one of the primary goals of this internationalization outreach effort is to bring in many of the top and innovative ideas and personnel from across the globe. When faculty members return and come back to China from Australia, Denmark, Finland, Japan, and the United States, they often bring back with them ideas that they could use to their advantage. This internationalization trend offers Chinese higher education administrators the ability to reflect on their current system and choose to fine tune or revise it based on optimal or innovative approaches learned abroad. But too much of an international influence can also have a negative long-lasting influence on China's higher education system. An overemphasis on internationalization may alter in a negative way the many good things about the Chinese higher education that should be retained.
How much internationalization is enough before the Chinese reach a point of no return? How much mobility conformation can occur before the Chinese begin to lose what is Chinese about their higher education system and their own national identity? There are at least two views on this dilemma in China today—one that would like to push for more openness, mobility, exchange, and internationalization of the higher education system. The other camp cautions that too much internationalization threatens China's unique national characteristics. Too much internationalization can cause China to lose its Chinese way of higher education. This view suggests that China needs to retain and strengthen its own distinctiveness and not just borrow policies, ideas, and approaches from overseas.
China will also continue to play an increasingly important role for many in Asia and especially in East Asia and the greater Pacific Rim as a destination country to receive higher education training, exchange experiences for students and faculty, and partnerships between institutions. No longer are prospective students looking only to the Western countries, like the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and those in Europe as the most optimal places to earn a higher education degree. China is offering many scholarships to students from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. As China's economy continues to grow and flex its international prowess on the global scene, these internationalization mobility trends will continue as well. Neighboring countries like Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, may view China as the top higher education destination as economic markets and relationships further develop and shift.
5. Quality Assurance and Accreditation
The National Plan 2020 emphasizes the huge demand for higher education and the capacity to meet this demand is growing but it remains short of the growing demand. The private sector is helping to fill this void. The question remains, especially about the new private sector and even the more traditional HEIs, as to the quality of the system. How good are the faculty members, curriculum, and the students who enter the system?
Areas such as the so-called science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are especially of interest to China's quality assessment specialists. It is in these areas that China's educational officials would especially like to be competitive with the rest of the world.
Governance is another important quality issue for Chinese higher education administrators. The process of accreditation is becoming increasingly important. What is the accreditation process? What are the measures used to assess faculty competence? In some ways there is a mechanical response to this QA goal. In order to get promoted from an assistant professor to an associate professor with tenure, you need to have a minimum mechanical equation of say 10 or 12 peer refereed journal articles published in SSCI or SCI journals, depending on the academic field. Many Chinese higher education administrators are surprised when they learn that this type of mechanical review process does not necessarily exist in the United States and other countries. In many top international universities, the tenure review process is different and may only require two or three influential and high quality publications that move the field forward in some way. Publication requirements differ substantially by academic fields as well. In history, for example, journal articles are helpful but a quality book published by a major university press (e.g., California, Harvard, Princeton, or Stanford) is perhaps the single most important indicator toward earning tenure in many international HEIs. But in the field of education, publication in top peer-reviewed journals outweighs other forms of publication. So while the tenure and promotion system of the top HEIs in other countries appear somewhat complex, it brings into question the more mechanical approach often found in Chinese HIEs. This trend of insisting on measuring faculty performance using a metrics-only model, is perhaps one of the most questionable aspects of the current status of quality assurance in Chinese higher education. A careful review and reform of the tenure and promotion system in China remains a need in most higher education settings.
The quality assurance issue of how much should be performed by the MOE as compared with external, nongovernmental agencies remains an important debate topic. The US regional model that has six regional accrediting agencies organizations and other nongovernmental associations (e.g., ABET) that accredit HEIs, schools, and programs is of some interest in China. Because of the highly centralized higher education system that remains largely in government control, it would be difficult for China to adopt the exact US model of higher education accreditation yet remains of interest among some policy makers.
Internal quality assurance is another important topic. What do universities do themselves to ensure that their programs are of high quality? The establishment of academic senates, senate committees, five-year reviews of departments, and five-year reviews of research centers are some of the features of this form of review. This continual review process bodes for a standard of internal quality. In China, this internal review process is not as well established, but is becoming an area of potential future direction. In the past, when a center was established in a Chinese HEI, so long as there was
funding available, it would continue to operate. The idea of internal versus external quality assurance remains an important discussion point and area for current and future reform in Chinese higher education.
Dominant Higher Educational Paradigm
We define the dominant higher educational paradigm (DHEP) as a predominantly Western structure of educational relationships that often inculcates a neoliberal higher education curriculum embedded in competition and linked to market-based skills development. The DHEP is not limited to higher education, or even the education sector as a whole, and often permeates into every major sector of society. Government agencies and organizations, private sector businesses, local communities, and citizens at all levels interact in many ways with the many facets of higher education systems throughout the earth. Individualism, entrepreneurship, and self-direction values are mainstays in several diverse sociopolitical regions within the DHEP. Quality assurance and global industry standards help to strengthen and perpetuate the DHEP and increasingly position global standards of excellence at the forefront of national policies, priorities, and standards.
Chinese higher education has gone through several stages of development in its contemporary history (Hayhoe, 1989, 1996). Since the 1920s, particularly after 1949, one of the key characteristics of the dominant educational paradigm (DEP) and the DHEP is that there is a struggle between worldviews regarding the purpose of education—these views could range from those similar to Paulo Freire (1971) and Ivan Illich's (1971) notions of "deschooling society" to the current obsession with mass higher education.
China's educational history can not be summarized well in the limited space here but it is helpful to recognize that this history is long and varied. Notions of what has come to be called nonformal education existed in China during the "traditional period" in the form of the shuyuan	a kind of
private higher education institution that inspired many including China's preeminent leader Mao Zedong. Experiments later in Yan'an and the early People's Republic period with worker-peasant schools and other adult educational programs were also closely aligned with the thinking of those early non-formal educators (Hawkins, 1974). Thus China has a history of higher education far predating the arrival of Western forms and there are those today that argue it is these early Chinese characteristics that should be reconsidered when assessing higher education reform efforts.
When writers complain about the rigidity of the current system, and all the pressures caused by this system including the overemphasis on the gao kao, some historians would argue that China once had a system that was much more humane. China does have competing paradigms to draw upon.
After 1976, it is fairly clear that China's higher educations system reflects the current DEP which is a fairly structured, three-tiered system. It is heavily based on exams and metrics that can be used to measure quality. It has a primary focus on human resource development and capacity building. It is based largely upon a human resource development model emphasizing national growth and economic development (Becker, 1957, 1964, 1971).
Despite the national adoption of the DEP at all levels, including at the higher education level, there are some in China who are questioning if this is the best path forward for the country. But most recognize that the Western higher education model is so powerful and so dominant that it rolls right
over whatever anyone else tries to put in its way. Whether it is the Indian model of village schools and alike or the madrasahs in Indonesia and other Islamic nations, the DEP will continue to exert its intractable influence in shaping global higher education. Perhaps the Middle East has held out longer than other regions, but Philip G. Altbach and Jamil Salmi (2011) and others argue that it is only a matter of time before even the most resistant regions conform. The DEP or Western model has such a dominant influence on the current and projected future of global higher education, that higher education national systems that fail to conform will do so at their own peril.
While Chinese higher education will continue to borrow from the West, it is not likely that the 5,000 year culture and history of learning will just vanish. It is more likely that a hybrid higher educational paradigm will evolve and take shape in China, with several historical and cultural nuggets surfacing as unique in the China context. With China's growing influence on the global higher education scene, these unique Chinese aspects will most likely have a reciprocal and important influence on other higher education systems throughout the world.
Conclusion
Already boasting of the world's largest higher education system, China is at the cusp of a promising new era in higher education growth and world prominence. While the DHEP remains a major driver for higher education standards of excellence worldwide, including throughout most of China, the government remains committed to helping its higher education system develop in unique ways. This insistence upon including elements of the global DHEP is reticent throughout the continued government financial support as evidenced by Projects 211 and 985. The establishment of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute for Higher Education and Center for World-Class Universities are two proactive strategic initiatives toward ensuring China will have voice on the global stage in determining higher education prominence through rankings and reputations (Portnoi, Rust, & Bagley, 2010).
In this chapter we highlighted five trends that are shaping much of the higher education landscape in China today. Undoubtedly other trends will emerge as the higher education needs continue to evolve. The DHEP will continue to play an important role, but China's higher education influence-including the elements that are truly unique to the Chinese context—will also continue to grow on the world stage.
Inequalities that once permeated education at all levels—such as gender and ethnic minority higher education access opportunities—have improved dramatically in China in recent decades. Still, there are significant areas for improvement (Hawkins, Jacob, & Li, 2008). There remain areas for higher education improvement, especially in helping to continue to preserve the indigenous languages, cultures, and traditions of many of the rich ethnic minority groups in China (Jacob, Cheng, & Porter, forthcoming) and in relation to curbing the growing higher education gap between higher education opportunities for those who reside in the coastal Eastern Region of the country compared to the more Central and Western Regions.
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Marek Kwiek: Reforming European Universities and Reforming European Welfare States: Parallel Drivers of Change?
Introduction
Higher education has been largely publicly-funded in its traditional European forms. Its period of the largest growth coincided with the development of the post-war welfare states across Europe. The massification processes in European higher education were closely linked to the growth and consolidation of European welfare states. Currently, massification (and universalization) processes in higher education are in full swing across Europe - while welfare states are under most far-reaching restructuring in their postwar history.
Despite changes in the governance, management and funding of European universities that have been taking place for the last thirty years, European policymakers seem systematically focused on further structural changes in their national higher education systems. European-level developments and European-level and global discussions powerfully support these reformist attitudes.
On reading national governmental and international reports, transnational and EU visions, we can conclude that profound transformations of both the higher education sector in general and of the sector of research universities in particular are still ahead of us (EC 2011). The "modernization agenda" of European universities is strongly linked to wider organizational changes in public sector services.
"Transformation" is different from three other forms of change (adjustment, isolated change, and far-reaching change): "The depth of the change affects those underlying assumptions that tell an institution what is important; what to do, why, and how; and what to produce" (Adriana Kezar 2003: 31-33)
We are discussing here links between reform agendas and their rationales in higher education and in the welfare state. Lessons learnt from welfare state reforms can be useful in understanding higher education reforms, and we see the links between the two under-researched.
Assuming that higher education services have traditionally been state-funded welfare state services in postwar Continental Europe, welfare state reforms debates as a background to higher education reforms debates are a significant missing link. We intend to fill this gap and explore possible links between the two largely isolated policy and research areas.
Permanent processes of reforming universities in the last two or three decades do not lead to their complete reform. They rather lead to further, ever deeper, reforms across Europe. As Jurgen Enders and colleagues (2011: 1) put it recently, "nowhere today is higher education undergoing more substantial change than in Europe".
While arguments in favor of reforms vary over time and across European countries, today they seem to be becoming increasingly homogenous, especially at transnational levels represented by the OECD and the World Bank. The two organizations have been major providers of analytical frameworks, definitions, large-scale comparative datasets and their extended analyses of pensions, healthcare, and higher education in the last decade.
Higher education in Europe has been under powerful reform pressures and in the last three decades and the changes were always viewed as dramatic, critical or fundamental. Reforms increasingly, and throughout the European continent, tend to produce "further reforms", as shown in the organizational studies (Brunsson 2009: 91; Brunsson and Olsen 1993). Despite relatively convergent global and European-level arguments for reforms, there are different directions of current and projected academic restructuring in different national systems and different directions of their implementation (Kwiek 2013).
We expand the traditional scope of the "welfare state" term and instead of focusing on what some term its "semantic core" (such as old-age security or healthcare), we discuss one of its "sub-fields": education (Nullmeier and Kaufmann 2010: 89).
Consequently, recent paradigmatic changes in viewing welfare state futures are seen here as inevitably linked to possibly paradigmatic changes in viewing higher education futures. Historically, the dramatic growth of higher education coincided with the dramatic growth of welfare states in postwar Europe. Now the restructuring of the foundations of the latter may change the way both policymakers and European societies view the former.
What Stephan Leibfried and colleagues term "the golden-age constellation" of the four components of the modern nation-state (the territorial state, the constitutional state, the democratic welfare state and the interventionist state) is threatened: "different state functions are threatened to a greater or lesser degree, and subjected to pressures for internationalization of varying intensity" (Hurrelmann et al. 2007b: 9). One of the dimensions of the "golden-age constellation" under renegotiations today are higher education policies.
Therefore we move back and forth between the institution of the university and the institution of the state: problems perceived and solutions sought for the latter institution bring about problems perceived and solutions sought for the former institution.
New ideas leading to changes in the overall functioning of the state and public sector services in Europe can have far-reaching consequences for the functioning of European universities because of, among others, their fundamental financial dependence on tax-based state subsidization.
Higher education as a welfare state component
Transformations to the state, and the welfare state in particular, are viewed here as powerfully affecting - both directly and indirectly - public higher education systems in Europe. The two major dimensions studied are financial arguments and ideological arguments for further reforms in both wider welfare state services and higher education.
There is a complex interplay of influences between institutions and their environments. Universities are perfect examples of the powerful connectedness between changes in institutions and changes in the outside world (from which they draw their resources, founding ideas, and social legitimacy).
The institution of the university in Europe may thus be undergoing a fundamental transformation -along with the traditional institution of the state in general, and the welfare state in particular. Institutions change over time, and social attitudes to institutions change over time, too. What we may term "university attitudes" in European societies today may be studied in parallel to recently studied "welfare attitudes". Stefan Svallfors' large-scale comparative research project on "welfare attitudes" considered the following issues:
Attitudes toward the welfare state and other public institutions should be seen as central components of social order, governance, and legitimacy of modern societies. They tell us something about whether or not existing social arrangements are legitimate. Are they accepted only because people see no alternatives or think that action is futile, or are they normatively grounded? Are institutions considered to be fundamentally just or not? (Svallfors 2012: 2).
In a similar vein, questions about the existing social arrangements in higher education today, leading to ever deeper structural reforms, are about these arrangements' legitimacy, justice, and normative grounding (or about higher education's institutional "raison d'etre", Olsen 2007b).
Institutions and their supportive discourses
As it seems, the power of the modern university in the last two hundred years resulted from the power of the accompanying discourse of modernity in which the university held a central, highlighted, specific (and carefully secured) place in European societies (Rothblatt and Wittrock 1993, Wittrock 2003).
Any relocation of the institution in the social, cultural and economic architecture of European nations requires a new discourse which legitimizes and justifies it and sustains public confidence, without which, in the long run, it is hard to maintain a high level of public trust (and, consequently, a high level of public funding).
Therefore, the struggles over future forms of the institution are also, perhaps above all, the struggles over discourses which legitimize its place: in the last decade, those struggles have intensified and for the first time became global, with the strong engagement of international and transnational organizations and institutions.
To a large extent, the future of European universities and of the levels of their public subsidization will depend on the social and political acceptance of legitimizing discourses currently produced around them, especially at supranational levels increasingly accepted in policymaking communities across Europe, with stronger or lighter "national filters" (see Gornitzka and Maassen 2011). Early formulations of those discourses are already being translated into national contexts, fuelling reform programs in many countries (postcommunist new EU members being prime examples of national
translations of OECD reform recommendations, see Kwiek 2013). Widely accepted supportive discourses for public universities seem to be still in the making, amidst the transformations of their environments (Valimaa and Hoffman 2008).
The whole idea of the welfare state is under renegotiations, and the conditions for access to, and eligibility, for various tax-based public services are under discussions. It is increasingly related to possible individual contributions (co-funding and private policies in healthcare, multi-pillar schemes in pensions, and cost-sharing in higher education).
Transforming governments have been following in the last two decades the rules of a zero-sum game: higher expenditures in one sector of public services or public programs (pensions or higher education) occurred at the expense of expenditures in other sectors of public services (healthcare), programs or public infrastructure (roads, railroads, law and order etc.).
The financial dimension of changes in both welfare state and higher education seems crucial, especially that costs generated by all welfare state components and each of them separately cannot be easily reduced. Carlo Salerno formulated the dilemmas from the perspective which links resources to changeable social expectations. Salerno discussed an increasingly influential model of the university as a "service enterprise" (one of Johan P. Olsen's four models):
Society values what the University produces relative to how those resources could be used elsewhere; ... The "marketization" produces a set of relative prices for each [service] that reveals, in monetary terms, just how important these activities are when compared to issues such as healthcare, crime, social security or any other good/service that is funded by the public purse. It does nothing to reduce universities' roles as bastions of free inquiry or their promotion of democratic ideals; it only recasts the problem in terms of the resources available to achieve them (Salerno 2007: 121).
The higher education sector is a good example here: it has to compete permanently with a whole array of other socially attractive forms of public expenditures. In postcommunist Europe (much more than in Western European countries), the sector has to successfully compete with social needs whose public costs have been permanently growing. The ever fiercer battle between the claimants continues and can only intensify in the future.
Viewing state subsidization of higher education in the context of other competing welfare state claimants to the public purse introduces the "doing more with less" theme to the higher education reform agenda (Hall 2010). State-funded services and programs have traditionally included healthcare, pensions, and education; but today the costs of healthcare and pensions are expected to be escalating in aging Western societies while education, and especially higher education, is increasingly expected to show its "value for money".
It may be expected to cut its costs, according to the zero-sum logics of competing services and programs (especially under the fiscal crisis) and to draw ever more non-core non-state funding. The increase in the share of non-core non-state income in European universities has already been substantial, as various comparative data show (CHEPS 2010, Shattock 2009).
The welfare state after the "Golden Age" of the 1960s and 1970s entered an era of austerity that forced it "off the path of ever-increasing social spending and ever-expanding state responsibilities" (Leibfried and Mau 2008: xiii). Similarly, public higher education and research sectors in Europe also stopped being a permanent "growth industry" (Ziman 1994), with ever increasing numbers of institutions and faculty. The transformation paths of welfare state and higher education show close affinities.
Financial pressures, ideological pressures, and changing social beliefs
The first type of pressures on public services is financial. The costs of both teaching and research are escalating across Europe, as are the costs of maintaining advanced healthcare systems (Rothgang, Cacace, Frisina, Grimmeisen, Schmidt, and Wendt 2010) and pension systems for aging European populations. As Alex Dumas and Bryan S. Turner (2009: 50) argue,
pensions imply a social contract between the individual and society. ... It is well recognized that the welfare states of Europe have rested on an explicit social contract between generations.
Any changes in the contract will produce both winners and losers among different welfare state components. Some of state responsibilities in some policy areas may have to be scaled down. One of possible areas for social renegotiations is clearly the mass public subsidization of higher education. Even though their outcome is still undetermined, in many European countries the pressure to invest more private funding to higher education through fees and business contracts has been mounting.
The second type of pressures on public services is ideological. It comes mainly from global financial institutions and international organizations involved in the data collection and analysis of broader public sector services. They tend to disseminate the view - in different countries to different degrees - that, in general, the public sector is less efficient than the private sector; its maintenance costs may exceed social benefits brought by it; and, finally, that it deserves less unconditional social trust combined with unconditional public funding. Public perceptions of the public sector in general (just like public "welfare attitudes" towards public sector services) may gradually influence public perceptions of European universities.
So alongside with dealing with financial pressures, universities simultaneously have to deal with the effects of changes in the beliefs of European electorates (both "welfare attitudes" in general and what we might term "university attitudes"), of key importance for changes in positions of leading national political parties.
Conclusions
First, public higher education worldwide is a much less exceptional part of the public sector than it used to be a few decades ago: both in public perceptions and in organizational and institutional terms (governance and funding modes). This disappearing - cultural, social, and economic -
exceptionality of the institution of the university will heavily influence its future relationships with the state which, on a global scale, is increasingly involved in reforming all its public services.
Second , further reforms of higher education systems in Europe seem inevitable, as the policy communities promoting changes are global in nature and their recommendations are similar in kind throughout Europe. The forces of change in Europe seem structurally similar, although they seem to act through various "national filters" (Gornitzka and Maassen 2011). National governments still have considerable power in shaping the regulatory frameworks and incentive structures (Enders et al. 2011: 8-9) but national and international policy thinking about higher education becomes increasingly convergent. Mass (and often universal) higher education is no longer a dominant goal of governments as it has already been achieved: there are many other, competing, social needs, though.
Third, it is increasingly difficult to understand the dynamics of possible future transformations in European higher education without understanding the transformations of the wider social world. In particular, transformations to the state in general, and European welfare states.
Fourth, the notion of the increasingly competitive nature of public funding made available to different public services is very useful: the allocation of public resources among competing public services is increasingly based on understanding of comparative and relative advantages of various options. Social outputs of spending in one policy area are increasingly assessed against social outputs of spending in competing policy areas.
And finally, it is hard to imagine that the university would not follow transformations of all other public sector institutions and of the foundations of modern European welfare states. New ideas of functioning of the state indirectly give life to new ideas of functioning of universities - which in Continental Europe have traditionally been heavily, in both teaching and research, dependent on public funding. The dynamics of current reforms of European welfare states can be mirrored in the dynamics of current reforms of European universities. We suggest here that the better we understand the former, the better we understand the latter. Which provides fertile ground for both higher education research and higher education policy research.
Acknowledgement
The author gratefully acknowledges the support of the National Research Council (NCN) through its MAESTRO grant DEC-2011/02/A/HS6/00183 (2012-2017).
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Maureen W. McClure: MOOCs: Hype or Hope: Conflicting Narratives in Higher Education Policy
That the world of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) is rapidly evolving is not news. What is news are the directions of this evolution. In their first major year in the US, 2012, the media narratives presented them as both monolithic and emerging like Athena, fully formed from the head of Stanford engineering professors (Marginson 2012). MOOCs were a new technology destined to disrupt the structures of universities built over centuries (Fain 2012). Progressive technological advancements were assumed to be unilateral, rendering them impervious to the power of the past (Pappano 2012).
By 2013, the backlash had set in. The bloom was off the rose; results did not meet expectations; the conquering hero vanquished; and disappointment was now inevitable (Anderson 2012; Azavedo 2012). It took less than a year to move from Palm Sunday to Good Friday. The problem is that neither narrative accurately reflects the development of the MOOC movement (McClure 2013).
First, technology innovation often goes through what appears to be both over-hyped growth and backlash periods as described by the Gartner Hype Cycle™ (Tapson 2013). Gartner portrays the initial wave and later backlash. It suggests that each new technology goes through five phases: a) the Technology Trigger, b) the Peak of Inflated Expectations, c) the Trough of Disillusionment, d) the Slope of Enlightenment, and finally e) the Plateau of Productivity. Eventually the benefits of the new technology are sorted out, as people better understand their productive value, as seen in Figure 1 below (Tapson 2013).
Introduction
Figure 1
Gartner Hype Cycle
Slope of Enlightenment
Plateau of Productivity
Source: Gartner Hype Cycle
,TM
Second, MOOCs are not impervious to change. They are subject to interpretation within higher education institutions (HEIs). Their forms change as they encounter both the institutions and the history that created them. For example, how does senior university management frame MOOCs, as direct or indirect sources of revenue? Direct sources of revenue are more likely to be viewed as profit centers needing more investment and autonomy than indirect sources of revenue that are more likely to viewed as cost centers needing containment (Khan and Hildreth 2002).
Third, MOOCs are not monolithic. There are different kinds. Two of the most notable types have major differences in their strategic formulation, each working well in different conditions. Almost all of the attention has gone to xMOOCs, or those that focus on the value of teaching by experts (Daniel 2012; Oram 2012; "Massive Open Online Course" 2013). Less attention has been paid to cMOOCs, or those that focus on the value of peer learning (Mak 2012; "Massive Open Online Course" 2013).
Fourth, MOOCs did not spring from heads of Stanford professors, clever as they are. MOOCs are instead an exciting new development in the much older fields of open education and distance education, rooted in academic outreach and civil service programs ("Massive Open Online Course" 2013). In the US some date back to the 1800s and the rise of the land-grant university. Other sources of innovation in both of these areas include the Open University in the UK, Athabasca University in Canada, and MIT and the University of Phoenix in the US.
MOOCs do, however, generate new debates over critical policy questions related to price (free?), ownership (institutions, tech firms or professors?) and sustainability. MOOCs are not only sources of HEI profits and/or costs; they may also be sources of regional and national development, either as growth drivers or service providers. For example, to what extent might MOOCs serve national interests? Should they be included in national development debates?
Finally, MOOCs are not only technological phenomena driven solely by rational, objective, scientific thinking. Nor can they be; Thomas Kuhn reminded us the weight of culture shaped even the structure of scientific revolutions (Kuhn 1970).
These swirling eddies of narratives and counter-narratives are moving the field in conflicting ways, making it both intensely creative and subject to a lot of intense media speculation, misunderstanding and hype (McClure 2013).
Most of the rhetoric has been about how MOOCs will shape reform in higher education institutions and students. Discussed less often is how HEIs and student interactions will shape MOOCs. This paper looks briefly at the potential impact of institutional structures on MOOCs. The shifts have already started as some are already heralding a post-MOOC shift toward LOOCs (little open online courses) (Kolowich 2012) and SPOCs (small private online courses) (Rivard 2013a).
Thinking about MOOCs solely from a technology point of view is limited. We also need to think about the consequences of the interactions of MOOCs and the higher education and government institutions in which they will be embedded.
MOOCs Based On Conflicting Narratives
Conflicting narratives underlie MOOC development and policymaking. Divergent metaphors frame them. Conflicting narratives are often used without acknowledgement of this divergence. For example, narratives can simultaneously frame MOOCs as: a) instruments of moral concern for elites; b) public necessities for democratic cultures; and c) engines of economic competitiveness.
The first theme is elite, based on noblesse oblige, the social obligation of the well-respected rich to the poor. Professors from elite universities open their classrooms to the world, giving poorer people better opportunities for upward mobility. An example of this is the New York Times article that said the top student to finish a sophomore level MIT MOOC was a 15-year-old student living in Mongolia (Pappano 2013). MIT offered him a scholarship.
A second theme is less elite and more democratically oriented, but still idealistic. A Canadian example of it is the empowerment of the masses necessary for self-governance through the use of self-directed and peer learning (Siemens 2010a; 2010b). It builds on the lifelong learning movement related to open education. Another Canadian example encourages grassroots advocacy movements to use low cost social media and existing platforms to build networks and share ideas (Downes 2008; 2010).
A third theme is more pragmatic: an economic narrative based on privatization and the marketplace. Here education is framed as a consumer product to be bought and sold. Competitive systems of private choices generate personal demand with institutional consequences. Educational institutions are framed as service providers for the human capital (knowledge and skills) needed for globalizing, competitive economies (Paar 2012; Watters 2012).
Here diligent students can use MOOCs to pull themselves out of poverty or to meet shifting employment requirements. Udacity, a MOOC platform developed by Stanford professors, for example, for a short period promoted Udacity as a low cost path to college remediation (Carr 2013). More recently it has promoted MOOCs or low cost SPOCs for "niche certificates" that college graduates stuck in low paying jobs could take to strengthen their employability skills without returning to college for an additional degree (Chafkin 2013).
These themes are not always easily aligned, playing out sometimes in unison and other times in counterpoint. A problem arises when people in institutions hold contradictory positions both simultaneously and without self-awareness. This complicates thinking about them.
Narratives: Balance Not Resolution
For example, an elite university may simultaneously use both noblesse oblige and economic competiveness. It offers a young Mongolian student access to world-class education, and at the same time, gives MIT low cost recruiting mechanisms for the top students across the world. MIT is one of the best examples of this dual use. By providing open access to syllabi and other materials for many years, it made a good education more affordable. It also meant that more students could be better prepared to apply to MIT.
Further, MIT more recently invested $30 million in startup funds for edX, serving multiple purposes (edX 2013). It is cheap global marketing, not only to students and alumni, but also for research. This is not unreasonable. For every good deed, there has to be a cash flow to support it. Without institutional sustainability, good deeds can't happen and payrolls can't be met.
In the US, nonprofit and private startup companies are selling MOOC platforms using multiple narratives similar to those of MIT (Kolowich 2013a; 2013b). Noblesse oblige and human capital formation frame much of the discourse. In Canada, however, while noblesse oblige and human capital narratives remain important, there is more public emphasis on more democratic narratives around social, peer, lifelong learning and outreach to more remote areas (Downes 2008; 2010; 2013a; 2013c).
Canadian MOOCs (cMOOCs and distributed platforms)
MOOCs began their life not in Silicon Valley, but in Canada as a government-sponsored, low-cost way to design and share online learning across multiple platforms that people regularly own and use. This allows people to use self-taught social media and other apps to share knowledge and experiences globally, especially in remote areas without being mediated by a privately controlled platform, like Blackboard or Coursera.
Some Canadian MOOC designers tend to be university professors interested in more popular narratives of peer level collaboration at the lowest cost possible using existing technologies. Stephen Downes, Dave Cormier (who invented the term MOOC) and George Siemens (2010a; 2010b) promote a "connectivist theory" that assumes learning is a social activity that sometimes best occurs in peer networks. For example, in technology development, there are often few if any experts in the use of new technology, as the network may have received new knowledge simultaneously; hence the need to be connected - cMOOC for connectivist MOOCs. Crowdsourcing questions can be a cheap and valuable way to learn. They also support scholarly networks for peer engagement in simultaneous learning. These models are already familiar to both university researchers who regularly use self-organized, online peer learning.
Unlike most of the well-designed, easily accessed, centralized expert or xMOOC platforms, cMOOCs are designed to be cheap more than convenient. They are also a little tricky to use because they build uniquely designed, distributed networks that link distributed apps and open platforms. Students may use distributed platforms to respond to the same set of questions. For example, an email question crowdsourced on cMOOC network might produce responses in the form of email, discussion boards, blogs, Twitter, YouTube videos, Word documents or PowerPoints (Downes 2013a; 2013b; 2013c).
Unlike the US, technology and content designers are also often either the same people or part of a close knit team. Those with a modest level of expertise can join in either as students or designers. Course enrollments can be global, but not massive in the way US designers have generated. These "little brothers" of MOOCs are call Little Open Online Courses or LOOCs (Kolowich 2012). The course materials and discussions created within the course are open and often shared broadly. The narratives emerging here use networks to inexpensively mix and match existing apps to create new, more democratic forms of open approaches to distributed learning (McClure 2013).
US MOOCs (xMOOCs and centralized platforms)
In the US, expert or xMOOCs quickly morphed in a different direction. Courseware designers at startups such as Coursera, edX and Udacity made them expensive to design and build, but very easy to use (Daniel 2012; Oram 2012; "Massive Open Online Course" 2013). They were built for convenience over cost. They model traditional courses of instruction using experts and novices, not self-organizing models. Artificial intelligence engineers, researchers and instructors at Stanford and later Harvard and MIT designed centralized courseware to automate many course functions.
These platforms made things like course registration, access and tracking ultra-user friendly. Building off a centralized platform made it easy to generate course content using it. Licensing centralized platforms allowed partner universities to focus on content design.
Centralized platforms also made intellectual property rights easier to control. Some platforms are proprietary; others are open source (Peralta 2012). Some don't claim property rights to content; others do.
The development of convenient, centralized platforms is not all that different from the widespread use of similar platforms such as Blackboard. In the US, learning management systems (LMS) have basically un-synced technology from content course construction. Platform design and control shifted to a new, specialized type of technology organization outside the structure of HEIs- startup companies and NGOs whose primary functions included technical design, enrollment management, site maintenance and marketing. Content control largely remains in the hands of academics, although even that is shifting against another reform movement pushing for greater standardization across curriculum and more centralized evaluations.
In the US xMOOC efforts have focused on three major policy problems: a) improving access for a broader and more diverse range of students; b) generating solutions to the high costs of college; and c) providing closer alignment with employer recruitment and replacement. Underlying these issues is the chronic search for institutional sustainability. Narratives related to regional or national economic development, or to democratic self-governance have been limited.
Globalizing MOOCs And Institutional Innovations
The MOOC explosion is neither monolithic nor impervious to significant institutional adaptations. It is instead leading to more than simple copycat modeling of MOOC approaches. Some of the innovations are technological and globally adaptive. One of the most interesting is in Spain, offering new ways of thinking about and measuring social interactions that take place outside of current MOOC platforms. It includes offering students unique QR icons scans so they can record and share local meetups (Alario-Hoyos, Mar Perez-Sanagustin and Delgado-Kloos 2013).
Others are culturally integrative, rethinking MOOC motivations as important to national development, and worthy of public investment. For example, the UK's FutureLearn balances both Canadian and US narratives between the two through a 'social architecture' that links universities with national cultural treasures such as the British Library and the British Museum (FutureLearn
2013; Paar 2012; Watters, 2012). Together this social architecture helps build a strong national presence in a globalizing economy.
In addition, European networks such as iversity, Asian and other networks will provide new national and regional allies and competitors in global markets (Sharma 2013).
Finally, MOOCs are also creating new entrants and new partnerships in online education markets. They can provide both opportunities and threats to HEIs. Innovative entrants into the MOOC field include technology firms such as Google and Cisco, corporate training programs and publishing companies (Price 2013).
Where HEIs Place MOOCs Counts: Profit Centers or Cost Centers?
Most discourse treats MOOCs undisturbed by institutional intervention. This is, of course, incorrect. They are shaped by their interactions with the institutions that use them. Simple institutional positioning can have significant consequences for their sustainability within HEIs. It can be important to understand the structural decisions that place MOOCs within HEI's fiscal structures.
For example, MOOCs can be positioned either as profit or cost centers. This positioning within university planning and budgeting may be important if it helps set a course for MOOCs after the initial funding runs out. Profit centers may command higher priorities within universities because they are more likely to make direct contributions to institutional sustainability (after their related costs are accounted for) (Khan and Hildreth 2002).
If MOOCs eventually generate substantial revenues for an HEI, then, as profit centers they are more likely have greater autonomy than cost centers. Profit center contributions to revenues are more direct, and are more easily measured and aligned. Additional investments may be more likely to follow profit centers because they have greater responsibilities and because they contribute more directly to institutional sustainability (Khan and Hildreth 2002).
Cost centers, on the other hand, treat an activity as an indirect contribution to revenues generated elsewhere in the organization. If, for example, MOOCs are seen as relatively low cost global branding opportunities, or as a way of recruiting students, or of building alumni donations, then they are more likely to be framed as costs (Khan and Hildreth 2002).
MOOCs would then be positioned as indirect contributions to institutional sustainability. For example, if they are seen as "loss leader" marketing devices (Lesgold 2013), then MOOCs are more likely to be integrated into various existing cost centers such as recruitment, admissions, or alumni development. Consequently they may receive less longer-term investment than if they were framed as more independent profit centers.
Cost centers can be difficult to measure and align with revenues because there are many indirect contributions to larger institutional sustainability efforts. The counter-currents of cost containment remain a high priority in universities globally. Consequently, MOOCs positioned in cost centers are more likely to: a) have less autonomy, b) have tighter controls, and c) receive less investment.
At least for the time being MOOCs are more likely to be positioned as cost centers. The large shares of revenue that outside platform companies currently command suggest this thinking. In early contracts, for example, Coursera offered their higher education institutional partners only small shares of revenue streams (6 to 15%), 20% of gross profits and required the universities to pay for their own course development (Anderson 2012). Additionally, Coursera does not retain intellectual property rights, whereas the new Google- edX partnership does (edX 2013).
MOOCs And Regional or National Economic Development:
Growth Drivers or Service Providers?
Beyond institutional considerations, what impact could MOOCs have on regional or national development? Within the US, these conversations are minimal. For the most part they are limited to the relationships among public, private and nonprofit institutions. For larger conversations about MOOCs' contributions to development, the narratives need to shift the conversation from institutional-based positioning (profit and cost centers) to regional and national development positioning. From a development perspective, are MOOCs growth drivers or service providers?
If MOOCs are positioned as regional or national growth drivers, they may need to be managed as investments similar to institutional revenue or profit centers. If they are positioned as service providers, they are more likely to be managed as expenditures similar to institutional cost centers. These distinctions will matter in the future because under economic constraints, government budget allocations to HEIs may be more likely to go to growth drivers than to service providers.
MOOCs as Development: Innovation, Marketing And "Wicked" Problems
In the face of economic difficulty, how should HEIs frame MOOCs? Some will see opportunities for development. Others will see threats. The future of MOOCs and their next generation derivatives such as small private online courses or SPOCs, may rest in part on the extent that students, institutions and governments think of them either as income or expenses. Direct investments in future income? Students and governments may be more likely to invest. Indirect expenses that provide important services? They may be less likely to invest.
Tim Williams, a marketing consultant, quoted Peter Drucker, " The business enterprise has two -- and only two -- basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results: all the rest are costs" (Williams 2013). The heretical idea behind it is that businesses don't design, produce, price and push products into markets. Rather, products and services are responses to market demands; but all the effort in creating products is lost until they are used by customers.
Traditionally, research universities project themselves as innovation centers and growth drivers that specialize in knowledge creation. Less attention is paid to their marketing function, either for their research or teaching. But according to Drucker and Williams, innovation must be used in order for research to produce a return on public or private investment (Williams 2013). MOOCs may be able
to help fill this marketing niche by making innovative knowledge creation available on a large scale at a low cost.
MOOCs could also help showcase HEIs as institutions with unique contributions to development. Many globalizing corporations often succeed through technological innovation, engineered standardization and a convergence of goals and values. In contrast, HEIs not only have similar activities, they also manage an essential tradition of fostering divergent, contradictory and innovative ways of critical thinking. This includes not only scientific methods and engineering, but also a more comprehensive view of the world that also needs art and design, social sciences, humanities and moral concern.
HEIs may be particularly well adapted to address larger, complex development problems. Williams refers to the need both for logic and magic (2013). These "wicked problems" can at the same time appear to be critical and intractable (Camillus 1996). They cover complex and contradictory issues. In terms of global and generational interests, how could the innovative use of MOOCs provide relatively low cost support for environmental concerns? Human rights issues? Democratic governance? International and global education, etc.?
Using the Drucker model, MOOCs could provide relatively widespread, low cost access to HEI research and teaching. These marketing efforts could help close the current gaps between university innovation and use.
MOOCs Marketing the Higher Education Sector as a Growth Driver
What then are the strategic narratives that can form around MOOCs? Right now, in the US, the narratives are built around personal benefits from HEIs and MOOC platform partners. They provide low cost access to experts or peers for people who need them. They strengthen employability skills. They expose people to innovations in teaching and learning. They are also institutionally localized and competitive. There is nothing wrong with this. It is just limited.
What is needed is a broader vision that better links the higher education sector and MOOCs to development investments. For example, the UK's use of FutureLearn in a much more development-focused strategy, pulls tech firms, universities and cultural institutions together for the shared export of a UK national product (UK Department of Business Innovation and Skills 2013). The UK's rich history of open education and cultural export (British Council) gives it a serious strategic advantage for national development, and is well worth watching.
Countries outside the US may be more interested in the use of MOOCs for more integrated national development efforts. Indonesia, for example, building on its successes in distance education, might use MOOCs both for relatively low cost internal development across many islands, as well as for export (McClure 2013).
What might be the consequences of greater access to the higher education sector globally? How can higher education's use of MOOCs provide relatively low cost returns to this goal for both governments and the private sector? Investments in strengthening understanding across trading partners are a critical national interest. For example, could US-based MOOCs benefit from more of the European Union's Lifelong Learning approach to lowering transactions costs for students across member institutions? Could a more federal approach to US MOOCs also help strengthen the learning of languages and culture across trading partners?
In addition, MOOCs' institutional contributions to local development might include attracting high value recruits who not only attend the institution but who then later stay in the region/country and contribute to its development. The strategic positioning MOOCs within institutions as profit centers, and externally as development growth drivers provide them with their greatest opportunities for investment and autonomy.
MOOCs Marketing HEIs As Competitive Service Providers
Given current funding structures, HEIs appear to treat MOOCs less as profit centers and growth drivers, and more as cost centers and service providers. This provides MOOCs with fewer opportunities for investment and autonomy, but for most HEIs, this is currently the more realistic position. Within the shorter term in the US, the focus is likely to remain on individual and global networks of HEIs and not related to national interests.
Within this view, MOOCs are likely to be framed as institutional service providers. Given this positioning, MOOCs are likely to be seen as relatively inexpensive marketing approaches that allow HEIs to become more competitive beyond their current boundaries. Here are a few possibilities for these institutional narratives as profit or cost centers.
HEIs can:
1. Grow institutional revenues by extending boundaries
1.1.	Strengthen "brand" through "loss leadership"
1.1.1.HEIs	with established international reputations can expand their global markets by "offering free samples" (Lesgold 2013) of their expertise in teaching and learning and deepening their recruitment pools
1.1.2.HEIs	with more traditional national or regional reputations can expand their markets by crossing regional borders or deepening interest in the school
1.2.	Interest governments in expanding educational reach and improve quality as an investment in development
1.3.	Develop niche markets for continuing professional development and certification
1.4.	Develop alumni networks interested in staying in touch with their alma mater to pursue continuing professional development and/or life-long education - hopefully leading to increased alumni contributions
1.5.	Develop partnerships by working more closely with corporations to close the "skills gap" and/or to develop in-house professional development programs
1.5.1.Placement:	HEIs can build stronger partnership networks through alumni, research, internships, etc, - and lower student transactions costs
1.5.2.Expand	"skills gap" partnerships with governments for the provision of work-related certification (community colleges)
1.5.3.Re-imagine community colleges - school to work partnerships- changing adult populations attending college
2. Increase quality in academic services:
2.1.	Access: HEIs can better serve students in remote areas (rural, islands, etc.)
2.2.	Enrichment: HEIs can provide enrichment experiences for current students, alumni and others
2.3.	Improved teaching: HEIs interested in pedagogies well-suited for the automation that MOOCs provide, e.g. flipped classrooms
2.4.	Improved remediation: HEIs can automate remedial courses for new entrants - commonly referred to as development courses (e.g. mathematics, science, etc.)- Complex issues involved as many remedial students may not have the confidence and discipline needed to finish.
2.5.	Improved assessment: HEIs can develop and analyze the 'big data' generated by course participants- attendance, sequence of use, time on topic, discussions, quizzes, etc.
2.6.	Improved low cost peer learning networks
2.7.	Faculty recruitment: HEI's established 'star' systems can promote the university's visibility and recruitment strategy
2.8.	Student recruitment:
2.8.1.HEIs	can expand their pool of qualified candidates for admissions- particularly true for engineering schools concerned that not enough students have the math and science skills they need as a base for university work
2.8.2.HEIs	can identify more potential recruits from poorer regions or families in order to increase the diversity of their recruitment pools
MOOCs have only recently encountered HEIs. Beyond the initial media frenzy, their future lies not in the blogosphere but in their interactions with HEIs. How they will be positioned within institutions matters. They have a better chance as profit over cost centers, but that seems somewhat unlikely at this time. Outside of the US, MOOCs are being discussed as possible contributors to local and national development, either as growth drivers or service providers. Their future will be limited more by the imaginations of their users than their designers, as it will be users who will drive needs for innovation and marketing.
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Tobias Nolting & Rainer Beedgen: Rethinking the relation between higher education and employment - The dual study system of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University as a new way of integrating theory and practice92
Background
The Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) is one of the best-known locations for dual degree programs in Germany. Taking the success story of the University of Cooperative Education (Berufsakademie) into account, the DHBW with its main seat in Stuttgart is the first university in Germany to integrate academic studies with workplace training (cp. Zabeck, Weibel & Muller 1978; Zabeck & Zimmermann, 1995). Thus the DHBW has a large experience on carrying out practical orientated projects. The system of dual learning, in which employers and a state-run institution work closely together, has an outstanding reputation in Germany. Its trademarks are the participation of training companies and institutions and the dual learning principle of studies. With this strategy, DHBW provides a route to sought-after academic qualifications while enabling students to gain extensive practical experience. This foundation equips DHBW students and graduates to take on challenging tasks early in their professional careers, helping to launch them on successful career paths. Throughout its various locations, the DHBW offers a broad spectrum of nationally and internationally accredited Bachelor degree programs in the fields of business, engineering and social work. In addition, the university offers practice-integrated part-time Master programs.
History
In the beginning of the 1970s, various initiators from business politics developed a new study model, which was to combine the advantages of a dual system of vocational training with the demands of university studies. The innovative study model of the Berufsakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg was a practical application of knowledge and implementation in each section. Over the last 40 years, the institution has been growing rapidly and has developed a wide range of courses in the fields of business administration, engineering and social work. In 2009, the Berufsakademie was transformed into the Cooperative State University. Raising the institution's status was intended to ensure its national and international recognition. With the attainment of the university status, the DHBW received a new and, in Germany to date, unique organisational structure. Eight locations were united under the roof of a mutual committee, so that the newly created university is organised like a US-American university. This structure with one central and one decentralised level enables the university to create positive synergies while maintaining the strengths of individual locations and their respective connection to the regional businesses. What began in 1974 as a trial-run with 160 students in Stuttgart and Mannheim is today one of the largest universities in Germany.
92 This article has already been published in a similar form; cp. Nolting & Beedgen (2013). The Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University as a regional innovation driver - Integrating theory and practice in a close partnership between universities and businesses. Conference proceedings, 3rd ERSA International Workshop.
Challenges
The German system of tertiary education faces major challenges, following the demographic change and modified demands of the labour market (cp. Kehm, 2004; Wehrlin, 2011). The relationship between higher education and employment has to be reconsidered; alternative models need to be established. The recent developments, which took part in the last few years, can be described as a functional differentiation (cp. Teichler, 2005). The binary system of Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen) was split up. Developments such as the "Bologna Process" lead to the transformation of study programs, new structures of curricula and innovative forms of educational governance (cp. Schomburg, 2000; Mayer, Muller & Pollak, 2007). The race between higher education institutions is going to be highly competitive (cp. Pasternack, 2009; Erhardt, 2011). Even the German Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat) recommends a further diversification of the higher education sector (cp. Wissenschaftsrat, 2011). Within this ongoing process of internal differentiation, the dual study concept counts as a suitable answer to the changing demands of the economy (cp. Bachem & Pietschmann, 2011).
Approach
The entrepreneurial approach of the DHBW consists particularly of the close connection between scientific studies and professional experience. The key feature of dual, practice-oriented degree programs is alternating three-month phases, with students learning theory at the university and receiving practical training from an enterprise or social institution. A student enrolled at DHBW is both a student and a trainee. Additionally, the provision of key skills, personal development and cross-cultural competences are important building blocks for education. The curriculum and course content is tailored to the changing demands of industries and businesses (cp. Berthold et al., 2009). As dual partners of DHBW, the participating companies are integral members of the university and take on a large role in the curriculum. They personally select their students, pay for the practical training, support the vocational advancement process of the students and participate in the desired and potential breadth of their training. The cooperation between the university and its dual partners is characterised by its level of intensity, personal contact and institutionalised collaboration in committees. As a result of this integration, the dual partners routinely participate in important university decisions. This helps to ensure that degree programs are developed which are both academically sound as well as meet the needs of the labour market. In addition to the full time professors, courses are also taught by visiting lecturers from other universities and colleges, freelance trainers, consultants and executives who contribute cutting-edge knowledge and expertise from their professional fields. Students from different companies, public and social institutes come together during their study periods, work together in teams and implement joint projects. Networks result because of this, which benefit them beyond the end of their studies. But not only the students and the graduates are well connected: the DHBW is perfectly integrated in the diverse regional networks of higher education institutions, research institutions, social institutions and companies.
Relevance
More and more stakeholders are convinced of the idea and advantages of the dual study system. With more than 30.000 students, more than 9.000 partner companies and more than 100.000 alumni, the DHBW counts as one of the largest universities in the country. All partners work together to continuously develop and improve the dual study concept and achieve DHBW's mission and goals.
The success of the DHBW can be measured by the high rate of post-graduate employment and the positive career development of alumni at the companies where they are employed. Roughly 90% of the graduates are already holders of employment contracts before they have even finished their studies and they take on demanding jobs in industry and commerce immediately after graduation. They know and understand cross-departmental relationships, and have developed a high degree of autonomy, responsibility and team-oriented decision-making skills. The didactical concept aims on achieving professional competence that is built on the broad development of personal, technical, methodological and social competences. This goal is achieved through up-to-date and practice-oriented study content, by implementing student-oriented teaching and learning methods that reflect the successful integration of work experience and education, promote the transfer of knowledge between theory and practice and support autonomous learning.
Implications
One of the main future aims is to realize cooperative research projects in collaboration with the dual partners. The cooperative research at DHBW is both applied and transfer-oriented. It is supposed to develop innovative concepts, strategies and technologies that reflect the professional and technical reality in the field of business administration. It also serves to improve the teaching and training and offers an application-oriented benefit for the dual partners. Furthermore, internationalisation becomes one of the major topics in the field of higher education (cp. Teichler, 2004; Hahn & Teichler, 2012). DHBW supports the internationalisation of the curriculum and cultivates global cooperation with universities, companies and social institutions. Through international exchange programs for students and professors, by integrating theory and practical experience and through collaborative teaching and research projects, DHBW can engage in a diverse variety of professional fields worldwide. Further challenges are, for instance, questions concerning appeals procedures, salary (stipends), appointments, handling of tuition, establishment of a central data processing, involvement of the Student's Union(s) and the impact of the "Bologna Process" - just to name a few of the most important tasks.
Conclusion
The DHBW provides a new and, in Germany to date, unique organisational structure in the tertiary education sector. The growing success is the result of integrating theory and practical study concepts, smaller class sizes, intensive praxis phases, and an all-around focused teaching and learning plan. The dual studies combine academic learning with direct application and expansion of knowledge in professional practice. Both partners, the university and the companies, benefit from their close partnership in training qualified young professionals: students are able to focus their study goals accurately, while at the same time the companies know, what kinds of highly trained professionals they can expect in the future. The result of this close cooperation is professionally competent graduates, who can be used with or without a short training period in qualified clerk positions. Since the students already have 6 praxis phases to prove themselves, there is a minimal adjustment risk. By selecting students directly through the dual partners, it is ensured that top-notch, goal-oriented high school graduates with an affinity for practice-oriented education study at DHBW (cp. Kramer et al., 2011). Program offerings are continually improved, expanded and adapted to the specific demands of the economy. The continuing high rate of employability offers students excellent future prospects and business partners reliable employee retention.
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Antigoni Papadimitriou, Bj0rn Stensaker: Capacity building as an EU policy instrument: the case of the Tempus program
ABSTRACT
Within the European Union (EU) different policy instruments have been applied as means to realize political ambitions. In the higher education sector capacity building initiatives have been particularly popular, and this article studies one of the oldest and most dominant instruments used by the EU during the last two decades: the Tempus program, aimed at modernizing the higher education sector in Central and East-European countries. Based on data from over 50 universities in the Western Balkans, we discuss whether the many Tempus projects in this region have had an impact at the institutional level. Comparisons are drawn between institutions deeply involved in the Tempus program and institutions with few or no affiliations with Tempus, to provide results offering few indications that Tempus projects have had direct effects in terms of institutional renewal. The article ends by discussing possible explanations for the apparent absence of effects.
KEY WORDS
capacity building; EU policy making; higher education management and governance;; policy instruments; Tempus programs; Western Balkans
INTRODUCTION
Within public administration and political science there is a renewed interest related to the design, functioning and effects of policy instruments, not least within an European Union (EU) context (Knill and Lehmkuhl 1999, 2002, Jordan et al. 2005, Hofmann 2008). From an EU perspective, many scholars have focused on the 'new governance' debate, where soft law and new policy instruments such as the Open Method of Coordination receive considerably attention (see, in particular, Borras & Jacobsson 2004, Gornitzka 2005, Tholoniat 2010). The use of soft law instruments has been considered as a key measure in areas where the EU lacks formal competence (Kassim and Le Gales 2010). One such area is higher education and to some extent the same can be said of research, where formal power and political authority still mainly rests within the nation state (Neave and Maassen 2007).
However, while soft law instruments such as the Open Method of Coordination have received considerable attention, this does not mean that established types of instruments have disappeared from the scene. One such instrument is capacity building, which is often described in the literature as focused (economic) investment in a particular area, with the aim of enhancing skills, competence and knowledge in the receiving agency or organization (McDonnell and Elmore 1987: 141). In this article we study one EU capacity building instrument - the Tempus program - and consider whether skills, competence, and knowledge can be said to have been developed as a result of this program.
The Tempus program was initiated in 1990 as an aid program for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, helping them to restructure their universities during the political transition process and to prepare for EU accession (Wilson 1993, Kehm 1996, van der Sleen 2003). Today, Tempus is a major education cooperation program promoting higher education modernization and development in various regions outside the EU, and is an example of how EU instruments can reach beyond formal members of the union, especially to those countries that want closer links with the EU (Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier 2005). Tempus has turned out to be one of the most visible forms
of EU public diplomacy towards its near and immediate neighbors. It has become a key policy instrument in the EU education and training landscape during the past 20 years.
Tempus currently supports a wide range of activities, funding university cooperation projects in the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Southern Mediterranean region. Since 1990, the EU has donated over 1.4 billion EUR to Tempus activities, funding more than 3800 cooperation projects. At present, 60 to 70 projects are selected annually, based on consortia of EU and Partner Country universities and using a total budget of approximately 60 Million EUR. The program promotes voluntary convergence with EU developments in the field of higher education deriving its aims from the Lisbon agenda and the Bologna process. This aim of convergence is also underlined, for example, by the website of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency where it is stated that "Tempus is the European Union's program which supports the modernization of higher education in the EU's surrounding area. Tempus promotes institutional cooperation that involves the European Union and Partner Countries and focuses on the reform and modernization of higher education systems in the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region....priority themes under Tempus are defined around the main components of the EU's higher education modernization agenda and are therefore structured in three building blocks: Curricular Reforms, Governance Reform, and Higher Education and Society".
In this study, we assess this potential role of Tempus by analyzing how Tempus projects have influenced university governance and management practices in the Western Balkans. We focus particularly on analyzing whether the institutional capacity for strategic planning, performance management and benchmarking can be seen as strengthened by university involvement in Tempus projects. This article proceeds as follows. A brief overview of the Tempus program is presented in the next section. Section 3 presents the conceptual framework. Sections 4 and 5 give an overview of the study's empirical design (methodology), data and the results. Section 6 presents the discussion. Finally the conclusion, section 7, discusses the broader implications of the findings.
THE TEMPUS PROGRAM - HISTORY, DEVELOPMENTS AND ORGANIZATION
From the inception of Tempus across the EU and Partner Countries, Tempus has contributed to promoting cooperation between higher education institutions by emphasizing capacity building activities (EACEA, 2012: 7). Four versions of the program have so far been implemented. Tempus I was formed as an 'Assistance Program' in the 1990s, not only for Central and Eastern European Countries, but also targeting a third group known as the 'Western Countries'. During Tempus I the establishing Council 'left the door open for participation of any of the countries of Central and
Eastern Europe, designated as eligible for economic aid... in any subsequent relevant legal act' (McCabe et al. 2011: 10). Although 'Yugoslavia joined in 1991', a year later it ceased to exist as Yugoslavia. 'Albanian followed suit in 1992' (ibid). As Tempus I grew in importance and (global) recognition, it contributed to socio-economic reforms though cooperation in higher education. Typically, Tempus projects involved cooperation between two or several universities, where partnership learning and networking were seen as key activities. The EC Tempus Office was established in Brussels in 1990 to manage the first call for proposals for Tempus projects. Tempus II covered the next six years (1994-2000), and took place in the context of major transitions for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which were moving 'to democracy and market economies and their preparations do accession to join the European Union' (McCabe et al. 2011: 10). Characterized as a 'Transition Program', Tempus II was extended to certain countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. One innovation initiated by Tempus II required the national authorities of the Partner Countries to define priority areas for reform in their national higher education systems.
These priorities included 'reform of university management and financing' and also the need for national regulatory reforms (McCabe et al. 2011: 11). van der Sleen (2003: ii) reported that "Tempus II aims thus went beyond the mobility objective and bottom-up innovation of curriculum development and university management that characterized Tempus I". However, "for the successful applicants, Tempus funding has also meant manna from heaven. [thus] Tempus has especially been important for sensitizing policy makers and senior academics to the need for and direction of legislative and regulatory reforms" (van der Sleen 2003: viii).
Tempus III (2000 - 2006) was further developed into a 'Modernization Program' (McCabe et al. 2011: 16). During Tempus III, the concept of cooperation between different countries in the same region was also introduced. The program was also extended to cover North Africa and the Middle East 'with a view to contributing to promoting socio-economic development in this region' (EACEA, 2012: 7).
The most recent version, Tempus IV, is still ongoing (2007-2013). McCabe et al. (2011: 17) described Tempus IV as "a partner country supporting national reforms". Tempus IV places emphasis on regional and cross-national cooperation and reinforcing links between higher education and society. The networking dimension of the program has thus been strengthened. In this version of the program it was acknowledged that that "impact could go no further, without national legislative reform and changes in national higher education systems as a whole" (McCabe et al. 2011: 17). However, the institutional capacity building heritage of Tempus is also continued in this version, and in essence the core activities of Tempus programs have remained quite stable over that past 23 years, although the means to achieve them has changed. The emphasis of Tempus has always been on higher education institutions rather than on individuals.
Numerous reports and ex-post evaluations are available on the Tempus website as well as several surveys concerning the impact of the Tempus programs on higher education development in the Tempus Partner Countries. More detailed information about the Tempus program can be found at http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In this section, we outline some theoretical arguments and factors that may influence potential effects of the Tempus program, both by taking into consideration the assumptions behind capacity building as a policy instrument, and by considering key characteristics of the target of the instrument - universities and their capacity for organizational change.
Expected effects of capacity building as a policy instrument
Capacity building is an instrument that is not easy to define. Within the literature on policy instruments, various classifications and definitions of capacity building exist, and it is not easy to find agreement on clear demarcations between various instruments. Hence, capacity building may be said to have some characteristics that overlap with instruments such as information and learning tools, symbolic tools and even organizational tools (Salamon 2002, Hood and Margetts 2007). However, capacity building arguably has some specific key characteristics. Compared to the Open Method of Coordination capacity building is not as politicized (with high level political participation) and it contains very few direct peer pressure mechanisms (Borras and Jacobsson 2004). Capacity building instruments also assume that those being targeted lack information, resources and skills, and that these features will - in an instrumental fashion - be corrected by the instrument (Schneider and Ingram 1990: 527). This does not imply that effects will appear immediately. Capacity building is generally considered to be an indirect policy tool, in the sense that building capacity in itself will not necessarily lead to direct effects such as new standards, rules and regulations. Capacity building is, in other words, an instrument intended for creating long-term effects (McDonnell and Elmore 1987:
143). However, the development of organizational capacity in the form of strategic planning, performance management and benchmarking systems are often seen by the EU as important ends in themselves (see also Heidbreder 2011: 723), and the existence of these activities in universities taking part in the Tempus program may be considered as a possible effect of the many projects initiated in the governance area. Of course, the absence of such activities within the universities involved in Tempus projects may also be a strong indication of a lack of effects of the Tempus program.
As illustrated in the previous section, Tempus has developed considerably over the years, and may be considered as a forerunner to the 'new governance' approach, with its emphasis on building networks both vertically and horizontally (Jordan et al. 2005), but also to facilitate direct learning from institutions within EU member countries. One could assume that certain governance tools will be have a better fit with the Tempus approach than others. Not least, benchmarking can be seen as a governance tool that is particularly relevant when networking is top of the Tempus program agenda, and consequently it might be expected to be more widely implemented than other governance tools.
Due to the emphasis on building administrative capacity in universities in Central and Eastern European countries through interconnected institutions, the latest versions of the Tempus program also resemble what is currently labeled as the 'twinning' instrument, which also aims to build capacity at the central administrative level in the targeted countries (Tomolova and Tulmets 2007, see also Borras and Jacobsson 2004: 189). These links to the national level may yield different expectations about the potential effects of the Tempus program, as an EU policy instrument. Since higher education is an area where the EU lacks formal competence (Neave and Maassen 2007),
national legislation may in some countries be an important mediating variable influencing the effects of Tempus. Examples include countries where activities such as strategic planning are mandatory at the national level (Stensaker et al. 2007), or where national de-regulation has created a more market-based higher education sector, forcing universities to adopt managerial practices for coping with increased competition (Huisman 2009). In addition, one might also expect to find that in countries where formal membership of the EU is high on the political agenda, that national authorities perceive Tempus as a means for transformation triggering additional national support for participating institutions, although such national capacity should not be taken for granted (Sissenich 2007). Controlling for national variations in the Tempus program may yield some indications as to the relevance of these arguments.
Universities as change agents - between inertia and innovation
While policy instruments may create effects on their own (Lascoumes and Le Gales 2007: 10), it is also important to consider the characteristics of those being targeted by the policy instrument, especially as networking activities and capacity building may activate an implementation process characterized by shared sovereignty between the program, the projects funded and the participating institutions (see, in particular, Hofmann 2008: 671).
The higher education sector in general, and universities in particular, are generally considered to make up an organizational field, or at least a set of institutions, where change is highly conditioned by factors such as history, national legislation, academic culture and organizational identity (Maassen and Olsen 2007). Universities are often seen as institutions which enjoy considerable autonomy with respect to their core functions (Clark 1983), although in recent decades they have been exposed to a number of reforms which aim to change the ways in which universities are governed and led. Studies have shown that many European universities have changed their governance and management structures (Amaral et al. 2003), although this does not necessarily imply changes in their core activities related to teaching and research (Musselin 2005, Huisman 2009, Stensaker et al. 2012). However, since universities are institutions that are highly dependent on external legitimacy, soft law
instruments such as capacity building may exert considerable influence on institutional behavior (Tholoniat 2010). On this basis one might expect Tempus projects to be difficult for universities to resist, especially when there is a great deal of pressure on universities to present themselves as more coherent and 'modern' organizational actors (Whitley 2008). Alternatively, universities may consider the potential 'risk' of adopting new (internally illegitimate) governance and management techniques as moderate all the time such activities can be shielded from core activities.
However, the capacity of the modern university to respond to change has remained an elusive enigma (Johnson et al. 2003). In the so-called Knowledge Society, universities are faced with an increasing number of societal expectations where adaptation may be difficult due to the complexity of the expectations or due to some of these expectations being contradictory or requiring conflicting organizational actions (Maassen and Stensaker 2011). Hence, for some universities participating in the Tempus program, strategic planning, performance management techniques or benchmarking activities may be seen as tools with little relevance to their core activities, or as tools which the institutions simply cannot adapt to, due to a lack of internal organizational capacity or cultural and structural characteristics. For example, several of the universities in the Western Balkan region have been quite de-centralized with extensive power and influence found at the faculty level (Vukasovic
2012); in such cases any efforts to develop the central administrative capacity of the university may be met with considerable resistance.
RESEARCH DESIGN, DATA AND METHODS
In general, capacity building can be considered as an instrument whose particular effects are difficult to detect, due to the fact that increased capacity may yield a range of actions, and also because its effects are generally long-term (Schneider and Ingram 1990: 517). Furthermore, as indicated in the description of the Tempus program, the partnership approach may result in quite fragmented and less consistent capacity building projects, making it difficult to trace effects across a set of organizations. Hence, capacity building is an instrument where identifying direct effects can be expected to pose a methodological challenge.
Due to this, the current study developed a 'quasi-experimental' approach, by comparing universities deeply involved and engaged in the Tempus program with universities with little of or no involvement in Tempus projects, and by including universities in different countries although within the same region - the Western Balkans - which in the current study includes the following countries: Serbia (SE), Croatia (CR), Montenegro (MO), Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Albania (AL), and Kosovo(KO). Based on the sample of institutions and the countries included, two general sets of assumptions, related to our theoretical discussion, can be tested in more detail:
•	The basic assumption is that universities deeply involved and engaged in Tempus governance projects should have a higher level of governance capacity than universities not involved with the Tempus program (A1).
•	An alternative assumption is that - due to the spread and acceptance of modern governance ideas in higher education - both universities with high and no involvement with Tempus have a high level of governance capacity (A2).
•	A third assumption is that - due to cultural resistance and lack of organizational capacity - both universities with high or no involvement with Tempus have a low level of governance capacity (A3).
•	Our final assumption is that there might be differences in the perceived validity of various governance instruments, and that governance activities related to benchmarking might be more attractive than other instruments among those universities with a high involvement with the Tempus program (A4).
•	Based on the belief that national legislation and regulation may impact on the governance capacity of universities, an assumption is that the effects of the Tempus program will vary between countries (B1).
•	An alternative assumption is that EU funded projects may be seen as attractive and so override national legislation and regulations, leading to no national differences in the governance capacity of universities (B2).
Data collection methods
For the current study two sets of data was compiled. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected in a multiple mixed methods design. The first data set was derived from the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency's website, containing information on all Tempus projects in the period from 2000 - 2012 (http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/). The second data set originated from a survey among 51 Western Balkan universities.
Tempus projects - identification and content analysis
Given the study's interest in institutional governance, Tempus projects related to this area were identified and selected for the study. Of particular interest were projects intended to strengthen institutional capacity for strategic planning, performance management, and benchmarking. Thematic analysis was used to identify key projects in this area (see, in particular, Boyatzis 1998: 5). Given the long history of Tempus, the selection of projects was concentrated on the last two versions of the Tempus program (Tempus III and IV) (hereafter also T3 and T4) covering the period from 2000 until 2012. The Western Balkan countries participated in total of 697 Tempus projects in this period (459 in Tempus III and 238 in Tempus IV). In the Tempus III and IV projects, several Western Balkan universities had a participating role as either coordinator or as a partner. For each project, the Tempus website provided the title of project, the year, the subject area, the objective, the duration, the amount (in Euros) of each grant, coordinators, and partners. The thematic analysis and consequently the selection of projects took into account the name of the project, the subject area, and most importantly, the objective of the project. From 697 projects, a total of 37 projects (17 T3 projects and 20 T4 projects) met our criteria and were chosen for further analysis. Across the 17 T3 projects 142 participants were counted reflecting n=36 Western Balkan universities taking part; across 20 T4 projects 102 participants were counted reflecting n=32 Western Balkan universities taking part. Across both Tempus programs (T3 and T4) there were a total of 244 projects, within which we counted n=41 Western Balkan universities taking part. For anonymity, we coded universities as A 1, A2 etc. Readers interested in details of the 37 selected T3 and T4 projects can contact the authors for specific information.
Survey
To test our assumptions about Tempus as a policy instrument a survey was undertaken among universities in the Western Balkan countries. A particular focus of the survey was to investigate and analyze institutional perceptions and concerns about organizational capacity building in the areas of strategic planning, performance management, and benchmarking. A questionnaire was derived from the U.S Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence in Education (hereafter MB). This questionnaire has been used in various national settings (see, in particular, Papadimitriou 2011) and included questions about the universities' characteristics such as country, city, age, size, as well as various statements about strategic planning, performance management, and benchmarking activities in the targeted universities.
The survey was distributed online to universities. All public and private universities in the Western Balkans were selected. The population of the survey consisted of 112 universities listed at that time by the Ministry of Education and Quality Assurance Agencies in all seven Western Balkan counties and that were in actual operation. Dillman's (2000) four-phase administration process was followed
to ensure a high response rate: phone calls and personal e-mails were used to provide reminders. Of the 112 universities sampled, 51 responded within a three-month period (November 2012-January 2013). The response rate for public universities was 62 percent. The response rate within private universities was 35 percent. Table 1 summarizes our sample.
Table 1 Respondents by country and ownership
Country	Public	MB Public	%	Private	MB Private	%
Albania	13	6	46,15	34	10	32,35
B&H	8	7	87,5	16	5	31,25
Croatia	7	5	71,42	0	0	
Kosovo	2	1	50	3	1	33,33
Monten egro	1	1	100	2	2	100
FYROM	5	2	40	8	3	37,5
Serbia	6	4	66,7	7	4	57,1
Total	42	27	64,28	70	25	35,71
Response bias
Response bias is the effect of non-responses on survey estimates (Fowler 1993). Bias means that if non-respondents had replied, their responses would have substantially changed the overall results of the survey. Creswell (2003) has suggested that an alternative check for response bias is to contact a few non-respondents by phone and determine if their answers differed substantiality from those of respondents. This study included such a non-respondent check for response bias.
Data from content analysis revealed that 41 (mostly public) universities were involved in Tempus activities. Data from our survey illustrated that 29 of these 41 Tempus universities replied (a response rate 71 percent). Babbie (1990) has suggested that a 60 percent response is a good and a 70 percent rate very good.
The survey data were first analyzed with descriptive statistical methods, calculating frequencies and means. Based on this, for each Tempus project (T3, T4, and T3+T4,) we identified a group with no Tempus participation and then divided the participant universities into groups with high and low Tempus involvement (50% and 50%). Thus we organized the universities based on their Tempus involvement in order to provide nine sub groups which could be compared using variance analysis (ANOVA). Additionally, because the survey collected data about age, size, and nationality, we were able to compare these independent variables to the dependent variables reflecting capacity building (strategic planning, performance management, and benchmarking) through the use of oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well. The post hoc procedures (Tukey HSD) was determined if any two groups in each ANOVA were significantly different at the .05 level.
RESULTS
To ascertain whether universities with high, low, and/or zero participation in Tempus projects had higher self-reported levels of implemented strategic planning, performance management and
benchmarking practices, an ANOVA was conducted. Figure 1 displays implementation scores i.e., whether organizational capacity in these areas can be found in surveyed universities.
Figure 1 Distribution of institutional governance capacity within Tempus and non-Tempus groups (scale from 1 = no implementation to 10 = fully implemented)
The ANOVA analysis showed no significant differences between the mean of each test group. The assumption (A1) that universities with a high level of involvement in Tempus projects in the governance area should display higher organizational capacity in these areas, compared to universities with no or little involvement in Tempus projects, is not supported. As figure 1 indicates, universities report quite high and quite similar governance capacity in the various areas analyzed. The alternative assumption (A2) that the spread and acceptance of modern governance ideas in higher education means that most universities have developed their governance capacity accordingly is, however, supported by the data. Assumption A3 cannot be rejected based on these results, as the average organizational capacity among the universities is still far from the top end of the scale. However, as figure 2 shows, the universities perceive organizational governance capacity as very important, indicating that it is not cultural resistance that is limiting the level of implementation.
It is also interesting to note that the governance capacity seems greatest among universities with low involvement in Tempus projects, and that those universities with no involvement with Tempus actually have a higher level of capacity that those with high involvement.
Figure 1 also shows a difference between the universities in terms of the various governance instruments. In general, benchmarking activities are not implemented as much as strategic planning and performance management tools among the surveyed universities. Hence, our assumption (A4) that benchmarking activities would be especially emphasized is not supported.
Figure 2 Distribution of beliefs concerning the importance of institutional governance capacity within Tempus and non-Tempus groups (scale from 1 = not important to 10 very important).
The survey data also enabled a series of additional analysis to be conducted to check the results further. Of particular interest was whether institutional governance capacity might have been affected by the age and size of the universities in the sample. In this analysis the ages of responding institutions were collapsed into 3 categories: universities which were established before 1989 were characterized as 'old', those established during the period 1990-2006 as 'new', and those established after 2007 as 'very new'. Each of the capacity building categories (importance and implementation) was compared to age using ANOVA and Tukey HSD post hoc procedures.
A significant difference was found between performance management implementation and age. The Tukey HSD procedure identified a significant difference between the mean scores of very new institutions (established since2007), F (6.542) =.003. Specifically, very new universities had higher self-reported performance management implementation (M=8,.80; SD=.84) than old universities (M=6.61; SD=2.02) and new universities (M=6.03; SD=1.99). In other words, old universities scored more highly than young universities, but not better than very new universities.
Another significant difference was also found between performance management importance (perceptions) and age. The Tukey HSD procedure identified a significant difference between the mean scores of very new institutions F (3.223) =.049. Specifically, very new universities had higher self-reported scores for the importance of performance management (M=9, 31; SD=.88) than old universities (M=8.62; SD=1.08) and new universities (M=8.03; SD=1.51).
The number of students enrolled (undergraduate and graduate) was used to determine the size of each institution and divide them into categories (splitting the sample in three using the 33.33% rule). Small universities had below 1,925 students, medium sized between 1,926 and 3,333, and large universities over 13,334 students. The ANOVA for size was non-significant.
The study aimed to see if and how Tempus projects are affected by various national legislation and regulations. To assess differences in self-reported levels of capacity building (strategic planning, performance management, and benchmarking implementation) with overall Tempus (T3+T4) involvement based on national status, an ANOVA was conducted to test these assumptions. The overall ANOVA was non-significant. The averages for self-reported implementation practices on
strategic planning, performance management and benchmarking, by overall Tempus groups and country are shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Influence of national regulations on institutional governance capacity (scale between 1 = no implementation and 10 = fully implemented)
As indicated in figure 3, there is no significant effect of national legislation and regulations on the effect of Tempus. Indeed, as figure 3 illustrates, there are sometimes greater differences among institutions within countries than between them. Based on this, our assumption that the national level might impact on Tempus implementation is not supported, while the alternative assumption concerning the potential impact of EU programs is strengthened.
DISCUSSION
The results from our study cannot be seen as providing any formal evaluation of the overall Tempus program, as the study has only focused on a specific area of Tempus projects and their effects in a specific region. However, the results are interesting in providing a 'control group' through the quasi-experimental design of the study, enabling a comparison between universities with varied degrees of involvement in the Tempus program. In general, the analysis is not encouraging with respect to the potential of capacity building as a policy instrument. While one might argue that the results are not surprising as capacity building is meant to lead to long-term effects, it should be underlined that the current analysis included Tempus projects back to 2000. This provides more than a decade since
some of the earliest projects were initiated, and it is hard to see any particular effects even in this relatively long-term perspective. However, it should be underlined that our methodological approach has not made it possible to check whether there might be qualitative differences between universities with similar levels of governance capacity; it is possible that universities with high levels of involvement with Tempus have established more efficient governance systems, even if there are few differences in their formal capacity.
A more optimistic explanation of the results is that Tempus programs, and capacity building instruments in general, might have a 'halo' effect beyond the targeted institutions. The fact that non-Tempus universities seem to have developed the same governance capacity as those universities
with a high-Tempus involvement could be an indication that capacity building instruments can be interpreted as important symbolic instruments as well (Salomon 2002). Since Tempus is a well-known program in the Western Balkans (see McCabe et al. 2011), reform agendas supported by the program might be seen as highly legitimate, thereby creating pressure on all universities in the region to emulate the activities supported by the program.
The fact that those universities with a high involvement in Tempus do not seems to have developed a greater governance capacity than other universities, despite some of them having participated in more than ten Tempus projects in the governance area, also invites speculation as to their underlying motives for participation in these programs. If Tempus projects are perceived as 'manna from heaven' as stated by van der Sleen (2003: ii), the high involvement in the program could simply be interpreted as institutions exploiting an alternative funding mechanism. This interpretation suggests diminishing effects of capacity building as a policy instrument, and that participating in a high number of projects may not necessarily imply greater effects. Although differences found in the survey are not significant, those universities with a low involvement - and participation in only a small number of projects - have developed slightly higher governance capacity than all other universities (see figure 1).
It is quite surprising that the age and size of universities have little impact on the effects of the Tempus projects. In principle, one might expect that age and size could have various effects on governance capacity. For example, larger institutions might have a greater need for well-developed governance systems, although the traditions of Western Balkan universities tend to encourage decentralization of authority to the faculty level (see, particular, Vukasovic 2012) and this may explain the perceived lack of need for more centralized governance capacity. With respect to age, there are some significant differences between old and new universities, in that very recently established universities report a higher capacity for performance management than older universities. This may be explained by a greater need for control in these universities, which may be more financially vulnerable than older universities. However, the implication is nevertheless that differences in governance capacity are not related to Tempus program participation, but to institutional characteristics.
When looking at national differences, our analysis identified no significant impact on Tempus effects when controlling for national legislation and regulation. This finding may be interpreted as supportive of current efforts to broaden Tempus projects, where institutional capacity building is seen in as part of a need for national reform and renewal. Still, this broader project approach has been a key characteristic of Tempus IV since 2007, and so far there are few indications that this
'quasi twinning' is working. While the twinning instrument is currently seen as a policy innovation within the EU (see, Tomolova and Tulmets 2007), our findings suggests that the coupling of national reform and renewal to institutional capacity building is not very strong. Perhaps the explanation for these results is related to a poorly developed national capacity for reform and renewal (see also Sissenich 2007), or that the more instrumental weight is put on developing certain organizational practices, the more the cultural and symbolic dimensions related to organizational change tend to be overlooked (Schneider and Ingram 1990).
CONCLUSION
Neave and Maassen (2007: 135) have argued that the Bologna process has been "one of the most studied, if not the most studied undertaking in the field of European higher education reforms". Less understood and studied are other European initiatives in the higher education sector. This study sheds some lights on the Tempus program and how this policy instrument has been received in a selected number of countries in the Western Balkans. In this way, the study contributes both to the
general debate about EU policy instruments and their effects, and to the increasing number of studies looking more closely at reform and change processes in higher education in Europe.
In terms of higher education the Tempus program is one of the oldest policy instruments in the EU tool box, and numerous evaluations have suggested that the program has contributed significantly to the development of universities and colleges in many countries (Kehm 1996, McCabe et al. 2011, Wilson 1993). While this might be true for the Tempus program as a whole, our study do show that capacity building may be an instrument with limits regarding its potential effectiveness and efficiency. With respect to effectiveness, the Tempus program has developed its profile substantially over the years and is now a much broader and less focused program than in the past. Indeed, the latest version of the Tempus program shares many characteristics with the Open Method of Coordination, in its emphasis on bridging common action and national autonomy, its non-sanction approach, and its focus on cooperative practices and networking (Borras and Jacobsson 2004, Tholoniat 2010). There might be good arguments for this broadening, but one could also argue also it has made the program less focused. Can such a lack of focus provide explanation for the seemingly limited effects of the capacity building projects in the institutional governance area? Has a program that used to be a pure capacity building tool been turned into a more blurred policy instrument, where symbolic dimensions and resource driven needs have the upper hand? Compared to the Open Method of Coordination the problem faced with capacity building is that strong mutual commitment between the various actors involved is lacking, and that intergovernmental engagement is quite weak. These elements are generally considered to be important in making soft law instruments work well, and without them it may be that Tempus is an illustration of fragmented and diverse actions being taken by the EU to stimulate administrative reforms in the Central and Eastern Europe (Heidbreder 2011: 722).
However, as discussed earlier, symbolic dimensions should not be underestimated as potential drivers of change - especially in higher education. The fact that most universities in our study actually report a quite high level of governance capacity with respect to strategic planning, performance management and benchmarking, does suggest that soft instruments may have impact far beyond their target groups (see also Tholoniat 2010). As such, it would be interesting to study the
driving forces behind the development of governance capacity in those universities not supported by the Tempus program.
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Sonia Pavlenko, Cristina Bojan: Reclaiming the idea of the university as a possible solution to today's crisis
Abstract:
Higher education has always been associated in one way or another with crisis. One could even argue that the university has always been against one type or another of crisis. The one debated the most is the economic crisis; however, along this one, there are many debates discussing other types of crisis. Furthermore, all major reforms in the history of higher education (starting with Humboldt's reform in 19th century Prussia, the views promoted by Y Gasset against the background of the Spanish revolution or even the Bologna process) have arisen as a result of a crisis.
Today the global economic crisis highlighted yet again the fact that the idea of the university, the very foundation on which it was built, is no longer present when addressing the contemporary issues in higher education. Our paper argues that there is an imperative need to re-claim and reconsider the idea of the university as this could provide a possible solution for today's crisis in higher education. Furthermore, we will attempt to show the reasons why this should happen as well as the manner in which this could be achievable.
The focus today is on too many minute, detailed aspects of higher education institutions, which are managed, evaluated, quality assured, ranked, assessed, and so forth while at the same time the global perspective on the university has been lost/ignored. Today's crisis could be used as an opportunity to re-assess and found again a relevant idea for today's university.
Introduction
The global status of higher education today might seem rosy to some eyes, but the reality of it is increasingly gloomy. Many debates centre on the role the university should play, or the manner in which it should relate to other stakeholders (from governments to parents and beyond). These are times that lack clarity in what the fundamental role of a higher education institution is. Detailed, specific aspects are discussed and debates and adjusted and changed, but one major aspect is constantly being overlooked, namely the fundamental idea of the university: what is a university and what its fundamental role is in today's world. We argue that thinking about the university and clearly defining its idea could provide a solution to the crisis of the university.
Most universities today are forced to be more preoccupied about surviving on short term (securing enough funding, mainly) rather than be concerned with their long term impact (more specifically, universities should not only be concerned about what percentage of their graduates find employment within six months of graduation, but also with what sort of people their graduates will become on long term - what kind of citizens they will be, how they will relate to the state, how they will develop as well-rounded individuals, etc.). Rankings only contribute to this problem by encouraging universities to focus on more minute, specific aspects that can be easily and quickly measured while ignoring the more difficult to measure or longer term aspects, such as quality of
teaching (in terms of what the individual student takes away from the university experience beyond just knowledge and measurable skills, i.e. soft skills, personal development, and so on). Furthermore, the popularity of rankings leads to serious distortions in the field of higher education. Just as for Marshal McLuhan the medium became the message, in the case of rankings the indicator becomes the objective (Munch 2009, Liessmann, 2008). In turn, this leads to a dangerous lack of diversity in the field (with most universities trying to get into top 100, or into the World Class group, etc.).
Quantitative criteria seem to take precedence over the qualitative one (one would rather measure employability, number of contact hours, ratios and so on rather than focus on the real content of the
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educational process and its long-term effects) . Long term evaluation is harder to carry out than measuring more immediate results. The very concept of "Bildung" has been lost from the educational process, being replaced by competence training/development. A philosophical debate regarding the very idea of the university (instead of focusing on topics such as higher education system policy, university's functions and role, its third stream activities and many others) could offer an easily identifiable target/goal to reach on long(er) term which in turn could offer a way out of the crisis situation. If we could define and/or carry out a foresight exercise of that the university should be as an institution in 40 years' time we could identify a series of values that lie at the basis of the institution on long term. The university could thus become more pro-active regarding the future make-up of today's world, training graduates so that they would be able to work in jobs that at this time do not exist on the labour market yet, that would be the active, aware and involved citizens of tomorrow's society.
Basic concepts that used to lay at the basis of the university have changed so much that even the idea of the university is often perceived as autarkical and the connection between the university and society changed for the worse. Universities no longer educate scientific and/or cultural personalities, well-rounded individuals, but rather "human capital"; training in the field has been replaced by the much narrower "competence development", "enlightenment" is today substituted by "being informed", "collegial rule" with "specialised management", "cultural innovation" with "ISI papers" and "impact factors", and so on. (Marga, 2006) This shift overlaps with the economic crisis.
Throughout the entire history of higher education crisis have been linked with such shifts as above. In some countries (such as Italy, Spain or Romania) there is a perception that the economic crisis has been used as a justification for passing legislation with stricter control of the sector, making the crisis the cause of further shifts. The idea of the university mirrors all these crises and shifts and it can even be used to identify possible solutions to it.
We argue that even though the university has constantly faced one type of crisis or another, today's fundamental crisis is one pertaining to the very core of the university, i.e. its idea. In times of uncertainty, going back to the core, to the roots provides a possible medium or even long term solution to the crisis, not just a momentary, temporary "patch".
93 This also happens to research, when the research output is measured in number of papers published and their impact, and not their impact on technology and culture - which takes a longer time to be measured.
The university and the crises
Any furtive look at any text or document tackling the field of higher education (and especially the universities) will, sooner or later, offer the encounter with the word "crisis". All major conferences dealing with higher education are bound to include lectures or presentations on the contemporary crisis connected to the university. The first part of this paper will investigate what the actual relationship between "university" and "crisis" is and will explore its various components.
If we are to start from asking the question whether there is a crisis related to the university in the first place, the great majority of the sources in the field would hurry to agree. The media covers story after story of the global or local university crisis; international associations (such as the European University Association) organize conferences and lectures analysing the crisis the university is going through, and many states (including Romania) recognize officially (through statements made by the President or the Minister of Education) that there is indeed a real, perceivable and un-ignorable crisis of the university.
However, we should start by asking how old this crisis is. Tracing back the co-occurrence of "university" and "crisis", one can go all the way back to the 13th century, to the early days of the Oxford University. A well-known crisis, a brawl between the "town" and "gown" lead to a number of scholars fleeing from Oxford and setting up the University in Cambridge in 1209. Jean Jacques Rousseau was also complaining in 1172 about the quality of the universities of his time, implying they were also undergoing a major crisis:
"Today there are no longer any French, Germans, Spanish or even English, in spite of what they say: there are only Europeans. They all have the same tastes, the same passions, the same morals, because none of them has received a national moulding from a particular institution." (JJ Rousseau, 1964)
So there is a crisis, and there has been one, alongside the university, for the biggest part of its history. Thus, one cannot help but wonder what kind of crisis we are dealing with. A short survey of the field yields a variety of types of crisis. The one debated the most is the economic/financial crisis which impacts the university in a very serious manner. Furthermore, one finds a lot of discussion concerning the crisis of identity of the university, a crisis of legitimacy, a crisis of purpose, a crisis of values, a crisis brought about by the globalization, the crisis of the idea of the university and so on. We argue that all these various types of crisis are in fact caused by a crisis connected to the idea of the university and that a possible solution for it is to be found precisely in the idea of the university.
In 1810 Wilhelm von Humboldt was lobbying for a university that would enjoy "Einsamkeit" and "Freiheit", i.e. "solitude" and "freedom" in all its relationships, including the state (Humboldt,
94
1970) . Nevertheless, despite his efforts and all other efforts carried out during the history of the university, the university has never been immune from unsettling economic tides. In the United
94 The idea of founding a new higher education institution in Prussia was born even before Humboldt's time -namely in 1800 as the brain child of Karl Friedrich Beyme and a select circle of thinkers. They put forward three possible concepts for a future institution: (a) a university specialized on "cameralistic" (economy and public administrative sciences), (b) an institution joined with a science academy or (c) a new type of educational institution, which would be radically different from the Spezialfachhochschule (specialized higher education institution).
States, for instance, the downturn in the investment and credit markets affected, among others, the endowment returns, access to capital and even the loan programmes for students. Reduced revenues were also accompanied by an increase in costs. However, there is a variety of ways of fighting against these tendencies. For instance, one can opt for increased student recruitment, for improved retention plans, for a greater diversification in the sources of funding, by building upon their individual competitive strengths, by reinforcing institutional accountability or by preparing for long-term economic recovery.
Typically, during recession periods, one expects to see increases in post-secondary enrolments, even though these take place mainly at graduate level. But the impact on the human resources is not limited only to the student body. Alex Usher was also predicting: "I think the economics of higher education for the foreseeable future are going to push institutions towards even more contract faculty."95
The economic crisis blurred many contour lines, even those that helped identify what a university is. However, the crisis of the university identity is not entirely new. During its existence, for more than nine centuries, the university was compared to a mere religious school, to an institution of the state, to an NGO or even to a business (think, for instance, of the emergence of the for profit university).
But the crisis of the university does not end with its identity. Many speak of a crisis of the legitimacy of the university, asking how the university acquires its legitimacy. George Fallis (2004) suggests that this is achieved through a "social contract", Jean Francois Lyotard (1993) argued that the university has legitimacy though creation (if it creates or innovates), while Andrei Marga proposed a legitimacy of the university through culture (2006).
Nevertheless, universities have long struggled to meet almost irreconcilable demands: to be practical as well as transcendent; to assist immediate national needs and to pursue knowledge for its own sake; to both add value and question values and so on. Sybille Reichert96 (2010) at the EUA conference in Palermo suggested also the following list of the great expectations from universities.
"Universities should...
educate graduates to be critically minded, innovative, analytical, internationally adept, with good communication and team skills
train and retrain people of different backgrounds and qualifications for diverse working contexts/ levels / life phases
produce frontier research to compete internationally for best qualified researchers and research funds and help market knowledge environment to attract foreign investment
produce applied research of relevance for regional and national innovation
solve global environmental, technical, economic, social problems (climate, energy, hunger, health, mobility, access)"
95	http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/article/will-the-recession-affect-higher-education/ [accessed on 24th October 2010]
96	http://www.eua.be/Libraries/EUA Annual Meeting Palermo 2010/Sybille Reichert.sflb.ashx
The crisis of purpose is reflected also in the manner in which universities and also the society at large relate to research and technology and their funding mechanisms. The pressure to yield immediate quantifiable results may alter the purpose of university. In Drew Faust's words: "Higher education is not about results in the next quarter but about discoveries that may take — and last — decades or even centuries." Also, "neither the abiding questions of humanistic inquiry nor the winding path of scientific research that leads ultimately to innovation and discovery can be neatly fitted within a predictable budget and timetable." However, the economic side is prevailing in an increasing manner in the approach often taken by university leadership. George Fallis (2004) was noting that "University leaders have embraced a market model of university purpose to justify themselves to the society that supports them with philanthropy and tax dollars. Higher education has the responsibility to serve not just as a source of economic growth, but as society's critic and conscience." Moreover, "universities are meant to be producers not just of knowledge but also of (often inconvenient) doubt." [...] "They are creative and unruly places, homes to a polyphony of voices. But at this moment in our history, universities might well ask if they have in fact done enough to raise the deep and unsettling questions necessary to any society."
Thus, one cannot help but wonder whether universities should have made greater efforts to predict and then expose the crisis, presenting a firmer counterweight to economic irresponsibility, or whether they have become too captive to the immediate and worldly purposes they serve or even whether the market model has become so powerful that it is now the fundamental and defining identity of higher education institutions. Despite all these raised issues, the top positions in world rankings are held to a vast majority by US and UK institutions.
We argue that nowadays the university is undergoing a crisis of values as well. "The cooperative search for truth" seems to be a widely recognized fundamental value of the university, while other values taken into consideration might be "academic freedom", "institutional autonomy", and so on. There is no definite list, as every institution is expected to create one of its own.
The globalization process in its turn also created unsettlement for the university, as it no longer competes at local, regional or national level - it has to be competitive at global level, taking into account the latest, cutting-edge research and innovation, has to be pro-active, no longer only reactive.
Last but not least, one can also speak about a crisis of the idea of the university, as we cannot help but wonder whether one can still speak of an "idea of the university".
The German idealist movement is credited by Sheldon Rothblatt (1989) with the idea of the "idea of the university". For the first time, they attempted to capture the essence of the university at a more abstract, conceptualised level, by looking at what a university should be, what roles it should fulfil and what training (and changes) should it instil upon its graduates. The Humboldtian idea of the university (Humboldt 1970) combined teaching and research, solitude and freedom; the research university (Perkins, 1973) chose to focus mainly on research activities; the entrepreneurial university (Burton R Clark 2001 and 2004) strived for a professionalized management and diversification of activities, pro-activeness rather than just "reactiveness" to changes and opportunities. The idea of university became so varied that at the end of the 20th century Habermas argued that one can no longer speak about a sole idea of the university. However, keeping in mind the recent changes brought about by the Bologna Process (1999 - 2010) and by the European Higher Education Area
(2010 -...), we cannot help but wonder whether there is a new emergent idea of the university resulting from these reform processes.
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It is estimated that the economic crisis triggered an increase in the number of fixed-term staff to almost three quarters of the total number of academics, with foreseeable consequences on a wide range of issues, starting from academic freedom and all the way to financial security.
In Europe, the effects of the financial crisis vary widely. The economic crisis has triggered a reassessment of the way in which public funds are allocated. In times of plenty, there was enough to go around to most actors (or at least to a big number of actors). However, in times of economic scarcity, governments must set up priorities and decide not only who needs the money the most but also which the most important expenses to be covered are.
At European level, there are three major trends that have been developing in the last few years: countries that chose to increase the funds for higher education, countries that decreased the amount of funds and an empty category (for countries which had a constant budget allocation). The manner of funding and funding choices made by governments have effects on the movement of competencies and human resources around European countries (example: Austria - Germany, students going to study to England or Germany even though there are high study fees in England!). Funding trends should also be related with inflation, which paints a different picture of the funding trends in Europe. Furthermore, the crisis has also been seen as a kind of "Trojan horse", being used by government to pass tough reforms (Italy, Spain, Romania). Thus, the crisis opens the opportunity for a re-evaluation of the direction in which higher education systems are heading.
Given all of the above, one has to ask: how does the state relate itself to the university / the higher education system? The countries which invested in higher education see it as a possible solution to the crisis (as [higher] education generated innovation, which in turn generates development, which in turn leads to economic growth and ultimately general welfare), while the other group of countries seem to see it as a burden (to be lessened as much as possible) on the state budget.
So what implications do all these have for institutional autonomy, for the civic role of the university, for university's third mission, for the internal structure of the university and many other aspects? The idea of the university mirrors all these crises and can also offer possible solutions for them.
For the purpose of this paper, we assume a hierarchy in what the concepts of idea, ideal, mission, functions and roles of the university are concerned. The most abstract of them is the idea. In itself, it can never be reached or realised. The Humboldtian idea of the university was something that was aimed at, but never achieved/reached (Mitchel Ash, 1997). One can only reach as far as the level of the ideal, at a less abstract level of thought. Starting from the idea (once it is clearly defined), one can build various models of higher education institutions (useful illustrations of this process are the humboldtian university as well as the research university - starting from the humboldtian ideal, as well as the Napoleonian university or the civic university; the civic university can also be mentioned here). The model in turn can be transferred to the mission, vision and functions of the university, the latter being situated at the most concrete level of the concepts mentioned above.
97 See for instance http://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/20100903 IHERC fullreader en.pdf and http://www.ei-ie.org/highereducation/en/articleshow.php?id=153&theme=highereducation
If at the beginning of the 19th century there were only two main university models (based on clear ideals and ideas, namely the humboldtian one and the Napoleonian one), today we can speak about a great diversity of types universities that could be classified in a variety of ways (using distinct criteria). University models are abundant, and range from World Class University to multiversity to online university and many more. This diversification was so intense that 20th century Jurgen Habermas (2003) argued that one cannot speak anymore about an idea of the university. One important function of the university is to keep up with the changes in society (or even to anticipate them and act accordingly), and this ability should be found as well at all the levels of the institution. The university should be an exemplary way of living embodied in an institution. However, Habermas argues that today institutions no longer have an idea at their core, as this would limit the lifeworld shared in an intersubjective manner by the members of the institution. We argue that today there is a stringent need for an idea, as it would instil coherence (and not convergence) in highly diversified systems and within individual institutions as well.
The main changes in the field of higher education came about at the turn of the centuries. The beginning of the 19th century witnessed the birth of the humboldtian and Napoleonian models, the beginning of the 20th century hosted a renewed debate around the idea of the university (and the changes it underwent as a result of conflicts and geopolitical changes), while the 21st century welcomed the process that would shape (at least) European higher education for the foreseeable future, namely the Bologna process. However, there is one aspect that differentiates the manner in which the idea of the university has been approached in the previous two centuries in comparison to our century. More specifically, the humboldtian tradition, as well as the debates of the 20th century have a top-down approach, starting from an abstract level and moving to the more specific ones (i.e. once you clarify and define an idea, you can then set a mission, vision and functions for the university to be then further translated into its actual roles and connections), while the Bologna Process is a bottom-up approach, starting from the concrete roles of the university but failing to move to more abstract level of the idea or ideal. Even if many still argue that "the idea of the university cannot possibly be completely dead", the Bologna process (as well as the European Higher Education Area following it) has not offered (yet?) an identifiable, coherent ideal nor an idea for the (European) university. We argue that this could be built through a joint effort of exploration and identification of fundamental values on one hand and of what the university should be on long term (25 to 50 years' time). Possible elements belonging to such an idea could be glimpsed in documents such as the Magna Charta Universitatum or the European Cultural Convention. Starting from the premises that the future of mankind depends on developments that are going to take place in "centres of culture,
98
knowledge and research as represented by true universities" , that the universities must serve society as a whole and that "universities must give future generations education and training that will teach them, and through them others, to respect the great harmonies of their natural
99
environment and of life itself" , Magna Charta Universitatum proclaims four fundamental principles (among which academic freedom, the inseparability of teaching and research, freedom of research, the basic aim of the university is universal knowledge) which must "support the vocation of
98	Magna Charta Universitatum, page 1, available at http://www.magna-
charta.org/library/userfiles/file/mc english.pdf
99	• 1 idem
universities"100 and offers four means for attaining these goals. These principles offer a solid basis for further development of a contemporary idea and ideal of the university.
Universities face nowadays a variety of expectations, and both the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area have failed to meet them, as these have never been gathered coherently under a unified vision that might be universally shared. A jointly-developed vision, clearly communicated and widely shared, could have the potential of rising to the level of the ideal for the university of the 21st century. Other centuries have had clearly defined ideals for the university (even though they might have called them by different names), even if they might not have had an idea at a more abstract level than the ideal. So, even though the Bologna Process triggered yet another reassessment of the contemporary ideal of the university, at least at European level, the actual ideal is not defined, despite being constructible starting from the common changes brought about by the Bologna process and the transparency it promoted.
Conclusions
The Bologna process triggered a re-assessment of the idea of the university, but the process stopped before reaching its core level. The top-down Humboldtian approach is in stark contrast to the bottom-up approach of the Bologna process. We argue that the process should be continued until the basic nature of the university today is defined (and transparently comparable). A conscious taking charge of the idea of the university is mandatory (as well as its translation not only in the mission statement, but also in all the minute day-to-day processes that take place within the university). Thus the university could take on the medium and long term role of building the society, as well as the state and even the world of tomorrow, and not focus only on short-term results (such as employability). Ultimately, Bildung cannot be measured through an immediately applicable indicator (through metrics of scientometrics) - it can be best assessed through the general welfare of society on long term (i.e. not immediate effects, but rather long-term effects).
Today's economic crisis may be used as an opportunity for identifying the fundamental idea of the university (as suitable to today's times), the basic nature of the higher education (focusing not on the mundane details, but on the core of the institution) which in turn would provide a long-term solution to the crisis. If we define what the university is in its essence, what its role should be, then it becomes clear what its functions should be, and what indicators should be used for assessing it.
References:
Ash, Mitchell G., (1997) Mythos Humboldt, German Universities. Past and Future. Crisis or Renewal?, Berghahn Books, Providence, Oxford.
Barnett Ronald and Maxwell Nicholas (eds), (2008) Wisdom in the University, London, Routledge
Clark, Burton R. (2001) "The Entrepreneurial University: New Foundations for Collegiality, Autonomy, and Achievement", Higher Education Management, 2001,Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 9-24
Clark, Burton R. (2004) Sustaining Change in Universities: Continuities in case studies and concepts. London: SRHE/OUP
Fallis, George, (2004) The Mission of the University, in Higher Expectations for Higher Education, Government of Ontario
Jurgen Habermas, (2003) „Die Idee der Universitat - Lernzprozesse", Tn Eine Art Schadensabwicklung, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main.
Liessmann, P K, (2008) Theorie der Unbildung, Zsolnay, Paul, Verlag GmbH, Wien
Lyotard Jean Francois, (1993) Condipa postmoderna. Raport asupra cunoa§terii., Bucure§ti: Editura Babel,
Marga, Andrei, (2006), The Cultural Legitimacy of the European University, Cluj University Press
Maxwell Nicholas, (2007) "From Knowledge to Wisdom: The Need for an Academic Revolution", London Review of Education, 5, pp. 97-115
Richard Munch, (2009) Globale Eliten, lokale Autoritaten Bildung und Wissenschaft unter dem Regime von PISA, McKinsey & Co. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp.
Perkins, James A (1973) Organisation and Function of the University, in The University as an Organisation, ed. J. A. Perkins, New York, McGraw Hill
Rothblatt, Sheldon (1989) „The Idea of the Idea of a University and its Antithesis" in Conversazione, Bundoora, Australia: Latrobe University
Rothblatt Sheldon (1997) The Modern University and Its Discontents: The Fate of Newman's Legacies in Britain and America. Cambridge University Press, New York and Cambridge
Rousseau, Jean Jacque, (1964) Oeuvres completes, Paris
Ruegg, Walter (ed.) (2004) A History of the University in Europe, Vol. III: Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. Cambridge University Press, New York
von Humboldt, Wilhelm (1970) „Uber die innere und auGere Organisation der hoheren wissenschaftlichen Anstalten in Berlin", in Gelegentliche Gedanken uber Universitaten, Reclam, Leipzig, 1990 and Minerva 8
Andra Wolter: Massification and Diversity: Has the Expansion of Higher Education Led to a Changing Composition of the Student Body? European and German Experiences
1 Introduction: Context and issues
One of the most important changes in higher education after the Second World War has been the massive expansion in social demand for and in participation in higher education - in Europe as well as on other continents (see section 2). Many countries show growing entry rates, sometimes more than half of the age cohort. Many debates in higher education research and policy focus on the structural and institutional consequences of this development, such as further differentiation or diversification in national higher education systems at different levels - e. g. in the provision of programs, courses and degrees or in the structure of the system, between or within institutions (Trow 1974; Guri-Rosenblit/Sebkova/Teichler 2007; Teichler 2008). The thesis is widespread that the expansion and massification of higher education have been (or will be) accompanied by a process of differentiation in different forms. Expansion and differentiation are often considered as complementary paths in the development of higher education (Windolf 1990). Or, as Peter Scott wrote: "growth is now conceived of in terms of 'difference'" (Scott 2013).
There are several assumptions about the corresponding results of the expansion. A first assumption is that the rapid growth of higher education must have led to a more heterogeneous or diverse composition of the student body in terms of background, talents, motives and expectations and that differentiation of institutions, programs, courses, degrees or learning provisions might be an appropriate response to this development. A second basic assumption is that the process of growth in student participation is not only a process of increasing, but also of widening participation. That means that the structure of opportunities to obtain access to higher education must have changed as a side effect of the expansion. More students, also as a proportion of the age cohort, are seen as an indicator for a wider range of student recruitment, resulting in a more diverse social composition of the student population, e. g. with respect to social origin or migration background.
The third assumption implies that this process of widening would be in accordance with key policy objectives such as the promotion of under-represented groups to achieve more equity or equality in the allocation and distribution of social opportunities. As a part of the Bologna process, for example, a larger diversity of the student body and social inclusion are central components of the social dimension of the European Higher Education Area. A fourth assumption asserts that there is a link between the diversity topic and the discourse about higher education and lifelong learning. Opening up academic institutions for lifelong learners has been or will be accompanied by a more diverse composition of the student population - e. g. more older and part-time students or more students with a vocational background.
In this context my paper will focus on the question of whether and to what extent and according to what characteristics the massification of higher education has actually led to a more heterogeneous composition of the student body. A special focus will be on the impact of the implementation of lifelong learning structures in higher education on the student composition. The database refers
primarily to selected European countries and the particular case of Germany (for more details see section 3). 'Diversity' in this thematic context is limited only to the issue of the structure of the student body. Of course, the diversity or diversification discourse in higher education research and policy is embedded in a much wider frame of reference. Teichler (2008) for example distinguished with a focus on institutional configurations at least five different meanings of diversification: types of institutions, types of programs, level of programs, reputation and prestige and substantive profiles, and this enumeration is not complete.
2 The expansion of higher education: an overview
"The massive expansion of higher education across all continents has been one of the defining features of the late 20th and early 21st centuries" (Guri-Rosenblit/Sebkova/Teichler 2007, 374). Figure 1, based on John Meyer's research, shows that the expansion of higher education is a worldwide, nearly global phenomenon not only linked to a particular country or region (Schofer/Meyer 2005 a, b). In some areas it has been a continuous process over the entire twentieth century, in other areas it did not start until the 1960s or later. However, there are many differences between the different countries or continents with respect to the starting point, the extent and the speed of expansion. The figure reveals considerable differences between the continents but, of course, there are also differences between countries within the same area. In the old industrial societies, growth started earlier and has continued up to now at a higher level. Since the beginning of the 1990s the East European countries have largely reduced the gap that emerged after 1960. In Latin America and Asia the trend is the same as the global one, but the backlog remains. Only in Sub-Saharan Africa does the development show a weaker dynamic than in other parts of the world.
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Source: Schofer/Meyer 2005 a, b
Figure 1: Tertiary Students Per Capita, Regional Averages, 1900 - 2000
Figure 2 shows the development in selected OECD countries during the last decade (OECD 2013). Within this country group there are also many differences with respect to the starting level and the growth dynamic. Whereas in some countries (e. g. Australia, United States) a very strong increase in the entry rates took place, there was only a small increase (e. g. in Sweden or Spain) or moderate growth in other countries. The volume of growth was not influenced by the base of participation which had been reached before.
100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
D2011 ±2000
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
Source: Education at a Glance 2013
Figure 2: Trends in entry rates at tertiary A level in selected OECD-countries. 2000-2011
And finally a comment about the development in Germany (Wolter 2013, 2014). Germany has often been considered, in particular in the OECD context, as an example for a country in which expansion has been carried out in a rather delayed and tentative manner albeit in the same direction (Solga/Powell 2011). It is important to consider that Germany has a very well established sector of vocational training outside tertiary education which has been very attractive for young people. And many programs, which in other countries are part of higher education, are part of upper secondary or post-secondary education here.
60
0 th—i-n—1 1 1—n—1 1 1—n—i—r-n—i i i i i—m—i—r-n—i i i i—i—m—i—n—i—i i i i—i-n—i—m—i i i i i—r-n—r-n—m (jiaioioioioioiaioioioioioioioioioiaioioioioifjiaioiooooooo
rHrHrHrHrHrHrHTHrHrHrHrHrHTHrHrHTHrHrHrHrHrHTHrHrH(N(N(N(N(N(N(NJ
Source: Statistisches Bundesamt
Figure 3: Entry rates at tertiary A level, Germany, 1950 - 2012
Nevertheless, particularly in the last few years there has been massive growth in the proportion of first-year students related to the age cohort (Figure 3). This index has increased since the beginning of the 1950s, interrupted only periodically and, in the case of interruption, followed by an even larger rise in the next years. And an extremely steep rise can be observed since 2006 - due to certain conditions such as the reduction of the length of schooling up to the Abitur, the regular entrance examination to take up studies, from 13 to 12 years. But the main reason for the strong increase is the sustainable climb in educational participation, generated through the changing educational aspirations and decisions in families and transmitted through the school system. Special factors such as the shortening of school time or the suspension of compulsory military service reinforce the sustainable process of growth. Obviously, as a result of the strong increase the gap between Germany and the OECD average has become narrower, and there has been a clear process of alignment.
In Germany, this steep increase in the proportion of first-year students has provoked a critical debate about the accelerating academization of the labor market and employment system. There is a widespread concern about a fundamental change in the national qualification model (Bosch 2012). The traditional German qualification model was based, firstly, on a large sector of vocational training as something like the backbone of Germany's economic and industrial strength and, secondly, on a considerably narrower corridor of higher education. It seems that this traditional model of allocation is in a process of dissolution, and higher education is on the way to becoming the favorite location of
qualification in the younger generations. This development has provoked a lively but critical debate: On the one hand, there is the fear that there is or will be a profound lack of supply in the highly qualified workforce. On the other hand, the concern of a considerable lack of non-academically, vocationally trained workforce is widespread, in particular in the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises.
3 The concept of diversity and data-base
Often, the terms 'diversity' and 'heterogeneity' are used more or less interchangeably to characterize the process of differentiation in the student body. So, the first question is whether heterogeneity and diversity are both terms for the same thing or whether there is a difference and if so what. Sometimes, there are alternative concepts such as inclusion, non-discrimination, equal treatment or widening participation. There is a high degree of terminological confusion in this policy and research field. Furthermore, the differences between diversity and the older notions of equality (or equity) of opportunities become blurred. Historically, the concept of diversity can be traced back to two quite different discourse contexts (Schonborn/Stammen 2011): Firstly, to the human rights, minority and the social equality discourse and, secondly, to a human resource oriented management strategy. With regard to the former, it is not really clear what the added value is when substituting the equality concept by a diversity discourse. Sometimes it looks like a replacement of the social-political concept of equality and its political neutralization by the management stimulated concept of diversity.
Secondly, 'diversity' is a human resource concept or a management or organizational strategy of how to create a wide variety in the composition of staff in an organization and how to use this plurality as a resource for the further development of the organization or to improve its performance. According to the management concept diversity is a strategy to transform mono-cultural organizations into multi-cultural organizations in order to benefit from this as a measure to extend the personnel resources (Kehr/Leicht-Scholten 2013, 35). Diversity management as a political objective, institutional mission or human resource strategy has become more and more important in many higher education systems and institutions - with respect to the student composition as well as to the structure of the academic staff. Many universities implement programs to foster diversity. In particular driven by the demographic decline in many countries, higher education institutions look for new target groups to compensate decreasing student demand.
In contrast 'heterogeneity' is rather an empirical term to describe the composition of a population. In other words: 'Diversity' represents a mission statement or a political concept whereas 'heterogeneity' is more a scholarly term. Often, several programs or measures are subsumed under the term 'diversity' to manage the increasing heterogeneity of a population or group or to widen the composition of a group (Berthold et al. 2013; Knauf 2013).
The second question refers to the criteria or indicators for diversity (or heterogeneity). Diversity has to be understood as a broad concept which includes a variety of characteristics and groups (Berthold/Leichsenring 2013; Middendorff 2013) such as
-	gender and age (at the time of enrollment)
-	the educational attainment of parents and the socio-economic background of students
-	the migration status or international mobility of students
-	the educational biography, e.g. if students have only a school or additionally a vocational background
-	students with children
-	studying with disabilities
-	the proficiencies and competencies students prove at the beginning of their study
-	individual objectives, expectations and ambitions to achieve by studying
and many more. This plurality of different dimensions altogether subsumed under the umbrella term 'diversity' raises the question whether it makes sense to deal with such different groups and dimensions under the same label. For example, the issue of students with disabilities in higher education is completely different from the issue of non-traditional or international students. The reasons for under-representation, the specific living conditions, objectives and also the programs to promote these sub-groups vary from group to group so that actually each of these demands a particular view.
Often there is a differentiation between surface level diversity and deep level diversity (Middendorff 2013).
>	Surface level includes such demographic characteristics as age, gender, origin, education and so on, even if not all of these are really visible.
>	Deep level means weaker characteristics such as targets, motivations, normative orientations, experience and so on.
A very important, but also very difficult part turns out to be the competencies students have developed before starting to study or during their studies. Currently, we are at best on the way to developing procedures of competence measurement that will enable us to assess the diversity and broad range of student competencies. Most of the presently available studies are based on self-evaluation of competencies not on direct competence measurement. The OECD carried out a feasibility study about the learning outcomes of students in order to assess student performance and competencies in an internationally comparative frame of reference (Braun/Donk/Bulow-Schramm 2013). In Germany, the National Educational Panel Study comprising also a student panel started four years ago with a particular focus on competence development and learning outcomes in different institutional settings including higher education institutions (Blossfeld/Rossbach/v. Maurice 2011). But as yet we do not have any meaningful or valid data about the possible heterogenization of student competencies as a result of massification.
Data base
The paper will concentrate only on a few selected, particular characteristics for which there are some data from European surveys - the most important is the Eurostudent project (Eurostudent 2012; Orr/Gwosc/Netz 2011) -, other international databases or national studies from Germany and which are of special relevance for the lifelong learning or the equality/equity of opportunity discourse. One difficulty is that we do not have time series for all variables that allow the reconstruction of changes and developments over time. Often we only have cross-sectional data. So it is very important to consider that often our data are only proxies.
As a part of the Bologna process a European-wide monitoring system has been implemented to provide some empirical information about the state of realization of the idea of a social dimension -the so called Eurostudent project. The Eurostudent study is centrally coordinated by the previous HIS Higher Education Information System in Hanover, Germany - now the German Center for Higher Education and Science Research (DZHW). The Eurostudent project collects and reports comparable data particularly on
-	the socio-economic background
-	access to and participation in higher education
-	the living and study conditions
-	and international mobility of students throughout Europe.
In the last sequence, in 2011, 23 countries participated in the Eurostudent project, which means that the study is one of the broadest internationally comparative studies in higher education or student affairs. The Eurostudent project has a decentral structure which considers the country participants as members of a monitoring network. All this information is a byproduct of national surveys or national administrative data based on several conventions and agreements about the standards, the form and processing of data provision. The implementation of the national surveys lies within the responsibility of each participating country. However, participating in the Eurostudent project is dependent on the adoption of the Eurostudent core questions and central data conventions. Once the data are received by HIS, they have to be evaluated, and only after cross-checking to assure quality, the data are used for analysis.
4 Results: empirical findings
4.1	Gender
Of course, one of the most important indicators for the social composition of students is the student gender profile (Orr et. al. 2011, 68). As far as participation in higher education is concerned, women have meanwhile overtaken the men in most European countries. In nearly all countries the women's share has continuously increased over the last years and climbed to above half or more. The share of female students in 2011 varies between a maximum of 65 % (in Romania) and a minimum of 49 % in Germany. In most countries participating in Eurostudent (and also in other countries) there is a clear trend of feminization in higher education despite the fact that their share varies considerably between subjects and also between the sequences of studies (Bachelor, Master). In some countries the share of female students transferring to Master programs is lower than at Bachelor level, but in other countries the proportion is the reverse. Together with the general growth in social demand for studies, the "feminization" of the student body seems to be the most important change in the participation patterns in European higher education. The issue of gender equity has shifted more and more from higher education to the labor market and employment system. However, concerning the gender profile it is difficult to state which proportion of female or male students is a clear indicator for diversity. Is a female majority among students an indication for diversity or an unbalanced proportion?
4.2	Age
The share of students entering higher education between 25 and 39 years may be a good, but only a particular indicator for the process of opening up institutions for lifelong learners. Often lifelong
learners or non-traditional students are identified by the criterion of being older than 25 years at the time of enrollment. The data does not suggest a clear trend across or within countries.
In all countries included in a cross-sectional overview (Figure 4) the students in Bachelor courses are on average younger than 25 years, at least 60 % (Orr et al. 2011, 62). The proportion of students older than 25 on average varies between a minimum of 5 % (Turkey) and a maximum of more than 35 % in Portugal, Sweden, Denmark and Austria. Of course, the average is much higher in Master courses. Here, more than two thirds are on average older than 25, in England more than half already older than 30 years. Several conditions can influence the age average as well as the age at enrollment: e. g. time of schooling, military service, duration of studies, openness of access and admission for non-traditional students.
Source: Eurostudent IV
Figure 4: Bachelor students by age, 2011
35
2000 2005 2010
Source: HEAD 2013
Figure 5: Share of students between 25 and 39 years entering tertiary education
The share of older students entering higher education is very different not only across countries but also over time (Figure 5). According to this figure (based on the HEAD-study, see Dollhausen et al. 2013, 20), which also includes some non-European countries the highest share of older students (at the time of enrollment) with more or around 20 % can be found in the Scandinavian countries, Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland. In some countries the proportion of older students has increased (e. g. in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey), not always very steeply, but in others it has decreased (e. g. Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK) whereas in some the trend varies. So to sum up, with respect to the age composition there is no clear development towards more diversity in the surveyed countries.
4.3 Part-time
We can find a similar pattern with regard to the proportion of part-time students. The flexibilization of programs or courses is often seen as an instrument for opening up higher education to new target groups, particularly for older (adult or mature) students. Often, the most important obstacles for the participation of older or non-traditional students are not primarily located at the level of access but at the level of predominant study formats not allowing any adaptation to the special needs of older students. Together with institutional obstacles time and place have often been identified as the most important barriers (Cross 1981). So, beside the provision of distance or online-based learning the time-budget of studies has proved again and again to be a prerequisite for widening participation and the implementation of lifelong learning structures in higher education.
Studying part-time can be defined in two different ways, formally and informally: Formal means to be enrolled in organized part-time courses, informal refers to the actual time budget and means studying de-facto in a part-time mode. In many countries the proportion of de-facto part-time
students is much higher than that formally enrolled in part-time courses. In the next figure (Figure 6) a student is considered to be part-time if he or she is enrolled in a program that requires less than 75 % of the full-time load. This definition focuses on the program, not on informal study patterns (Dollhausen et al. 2013, 22).
The share of part-time students as well as the development over the last decade fluctuates between countries and also over time. There is neither a common pattern nor a clear trend. In some countries this ratio is more than 30 %, e. g. in Sweden, Finland, Poland, in the US and UK, Hungary or New Zealand. In other countries the ratio is very low, i.e. in Austria, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands or Spain. In these countries the traditional model of full-time studies still seems to be predominant, part-time rather an informal pattern than a formal provision if at all. In several countries the proportion of part-time students has risen, whereas in others a reverse trend can be observed. In Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden the share has increased; in Germany too, but at a very low level.
60
■2000 "2005 2010
Source: HEAD 2013
Figure 6: Share of students studying part-time
The Eurostudent data, only cross-sectional, show that on average 86 % of students in the participating countries study formally full-time, but there are large differences between the countries. In some countries including Germany the share of part-time students is marginal, in others it is higher than 25 % (England, Poland). Eurostudent data refer also to de-facto part-time students (Orr et al. 2011, 92). For Bachelor students they show a wide variety from approximately 40 hours (e. g. Portugal, Italy, Turkey) to a minimum with less than 30 hours a week (as in Slovakia and Austria) together for taught studies and personal study time. However, the time students spend on study related activities varies considerably between subjects. On average it is higher in the sciences and
lower in the humanities and arts. A very popular argument claims that the time students have to invest in paid work beside their studies is an indication for the increasing heterogeneity of the student body. This is partly true in a European comparison (Orr et al. 2011, 114). The share of self-earned income as a part of the total monthly income of students varies between more than 40 % (in Portugal, Estonia, Slovakia and Czech Republic) and less that 20 % (in France, Sweden, Turkey and Hungary). And the time necessary for paid jobs also varies between more than 10 hours a week (in Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) and less than 6 hours (in Malta, Turkey, Finland, Romania and France).
4.4 Non-traditional routes
The paths that prospective students took to obtain their higher education entrance qualification differed to varying degrees between countries. Two general models can be distinguished. In some countries selection is concentrated at the level of admission as the most important instance for access. In other countries admission is linked with formal school credentials and certificates so that selection occurs primarily during the school career. Furthermore, there are differences with respect to the permeability of access and admission to higher education for applicants with a vocational qualification instead of a general school entitlement. Besides the classical access routes to higher education via upper secondary schools, additional access opportunities, sometimes called "non-traditional routes", are now being offered in many countries (Slowey/Schuetze 2012).
As a strategy to widen participation such alternative routes to higher education have received more attention. Alternative routes have been or are being increasingly established in order to provide a second chance for studying or to enhance the permeability between vocational training and higher education. Which path to higher education is defined as "non-traditional" depends, however, on the national education system and differs from one country to another. So, the definition of non-traditional students can be based on different reference points (Wolter 2012): (1) age (often older than 25); (2) participation focusing on under-represented groups; (3) life-course referring to mostly winding biographical paths to higher education; (4) access and admission embracing alternative routes to higher education (e. g. via recognition of prior learning); and (5) lastly modes of study such as distance learning or part-time.
Sometimes, the concept of non-traditional students includes more than one of these categories, in some cases even all groups, sometimes only one of these. Referring to varying definitions the share of non-traditional students related to all students can differ considerably not only between countries but also between different statistical sources, in particular in an international comparison. That is exactly the reason why the Eurostudent study developed a schematic framework for the different forms and procedures subsumed under the label "alternative routes". It embraces three different procedures which the study describes as follows (Orr et al 2011, 29):
>	Post-secondary non-tertiary education: that means obtaining the study entitlement via courses outside the regular secondary school system, e. g. in adult education institutions.
>	Vocational training, work experience and accreditation of prior learning: This approach embraces procedures of recognizing the equivalence between vocational qualifications and the regular secondary school certificates or procedures of measuring the actual competencies of persons. In some countries age (23 or 25) is a criteria.
> Special aptitude or entrance examinations: In some countries such entrance exams are obligatory for applicants without the traditional credentials, sometimes in certain fields, sometimes for all.
Based on this framework it can be stated that in 19 of 23 countries included in the Eurostudent study more than 80 % of all students have entered higher education with a regular school entitlement (Orr et al. 2011, 31 f.). The exceptions are Finland, Ireland, England and Sweden - in these countries between 70 and 80 % arrive via the regular route. In eight of the countries included in the study special alternative, non-traditional entry routes do not exist at all (Figure 7). In these countries there are not any indications for diversity with respect to the criterion of non-traditional students. In other countries their share varies between 2 and more than 20 % - which is the case in the countries mentioned.
In many cases the national higher education systems provide a mix of the three options for alternative routes. The most widespread route is that via continuing education opportunities. In Germany the share of non-traditional students (in a wide understanding) amounts to 4 %, most of them on the so called second educational route - that means grammar schools for adults with a vocational training background leading to the regular ("traditional") study entitlement, the Abitur. In contrast, the share of non-traditional students in a stricter meaning (Wolter 2012) - students without Abitur but vocational qualification - is very small. In almost all countries which provide alternative routes for vocationally qualified persons, especially students with a low social or educational family background benefit from these, in particular in Finland, Sweden and Ireland (Orr et al. 2011, 31).
Source: Eurostudent IV
Figure 7: Students entering higher education through an alternative route, 2011 4.5 Educational and social family background
One of the main issues in higher education research and policy over the last decades has been the social composition of students, the relation between family background and the opportunity to gain
access to higher education. This is also one of the central concerns of the social dimension of the Bologna process. The social dimension of the European higher education area had not really been a core element of the Bologna process, until the Prague communique (2001) and the Berlin meeting (2003). Originally, the Bologna declaration (1999) did not mention the social dimension. Since then each following Bologna conference has stressed the relevance of the social dimension of the EHEA. Recapitulating the development it might be possible to state that a more precise and operational understanding of the term "social dimension" has subsequently been created and that the concept of the social dimension has been established in the European discourse on future higher education -despite the impression that it sometimes looks a little bit as if this concept has become more and more an all-embracing catchphrase.
As previously in the general diversity discourse there are two different frames of reference in the debate about this topic. On the one hand, there is the social justice discourse including objectives such as the equality of opportunities or a more socially cohesive society. On the other hand, there is the human capital discourse focusing on the demand for a highly qualified workforce and new talents from all social groups. However, our understanding of this concept has been widened and differentiated so that is now possible to consider 'social dimension' as a multi-dimensional concept and to identify its most important elements, which can be summarized as follows: "the societal aspiration that the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education should reflect the diversity of the population (in the countries joining the Bologna process)" and, furthermore, "to take action to widen participation at all levels on the basis of equal opportunity" (London Communique 2007).
In the Eurostudent study three educational levels are differentiated with respect to students' parents (Orr et al. 2011, 46):
>	low level education: including parents who did not attain an educational level higher than lower secondary education (ISCED 0-2)
>	non-tertiary education: because the group 'low education' is very small in some countries, a category 'non-tertiary' has been added to include all parents who attained any educational level (ISCED 0-4) under higher education (ISCED 5 and 6)
>	high level education: that means that the parents attained higher education (ISCED 5 and 6).
Source: Eurostudent IV
Figure 8: Social mobility of students
A relatively simple measure of social inequality is based on the highest attainment of at least one parent - comparing students from families who have an academic background with those who do not. In each of the Eurostudent countries the share of students from one of these three groups differs. That indicates larger distinctions between the countries included with respect to the social openness of higher education institutions. Three types of countries can be identified based on the indicator (Figure 8) (Orr et al. 2011, 46 ff.):
►	firstly those countries in which over one third of students have parents with an educational background classified as low - that is Ireland, Turkey and Portugal; so these are countries with a high degree of upward social mobility via higher education;
►	secondly those countries in which 10 to 25 % of students have parents with a low educational background - among others Finland, France, The Netherlands, Italy and Spain;
►	and lastly those countries with the highest degree of academic self-reproduction among students - that includes Denmark, Germany and Norway. In these countries two thirds or more of students have at least one parent (father or mother or both) with a higher education degree.
The methodological limitation of this indicator is the 'absolute' measurement of the social composition of the student body, not including any reference point or group to determine the extent of over- or underrepresentation. Therefore, a more complex measure is based on the statistical relationship between both student groups - those with and without an academic family background - and the share of the group with this status in the general population in a country (Orr et al. 2011, 50 f.). This is a more adequate indicator for social (in)equality or equity in the social participation in higher education even though this is also a proxy.
Index: high education background (ISCED 5-6)
exclusive system: low education group underrepresenled, high education group with relatively high overrepresentatlon ^ yp				transition system 1: low education group well represented, but high education group with relatively high overrepresentatlon ▲ MT		
	♦ RO ♦ HR ♦ DE °		ATo			
« SK		OFR LV		ODK		
		o°c IT	Z»EE ♦ ES	♦ NO OPT	Fl	
		♦ PL				♦ NL ► CH
						
transition system II: low education group underrepresenled, but high education group with relatively low overrepresentatlon				inclusive system: low education group well represented, high education group with relatively low overrepresentatlon		
0	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.8	1.0	1.2
Index: low education background (ISCED 0-2)
♦ fathers X average Source: Eurostudent IV
Figure 9: Typology of social inclusiveness of higher education systems
This procedure results in a four-field matrix presenting a typology of more socially inclusive and more socially exclusive countries (Figure 9).
►	Ireland, The Netherlands and Switzerland can be identified as socially more inclusive on both measures: they display a minimal under-representation of students with low education background and a minimal over-representation of the high education group.
►	The Slovak Republic, Romania, Germany, Latvia, Turkey and France can be identified as socially exclusive on both measures.
►	The remaining countries can be identified as transition systems.
With regard to this indicator it can be stated that the social composition of the student body varies considerably between European countries and that in the majority of the countries included in the Eurostudent study the social mix is far away from diversity. Unfortunately these data are only cross-sectional.
5 Some results for Germany
For Germany there is very little evidence verifying a greater heterogenization of the student body -despite the fact of massive expansion. The results are based on data partly up to 2010, partly up to 2011 (sources: Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung 2012; Middendorff 2013; Middendorff et al. 2013). It is important to distinguish the absolute numbers and the share of the different groups related to all students (or first-year students): the absolute number can grow but the share can stagnate or even decrease.
Gender: The share of female first-year students grew continuously from 37 % (in 1975) to 51 % in 2002 and has hovered since then around 50 %. It is one of the lowest proportions among European countries.
Age: The average age at the time of enrollment has decreased from 22.5 (1995) to 21.7 years (2011). The proportion of very young first students (19 and younger) has increased, whereas the proportion of new students older than 25 has stagnated.
Internationalmobility: The proportion of first-year students coming from abroad (incoming mobility) increased from 5 % (1980) to 16 % in 2002 and has stagnated since then around 15 %. During the phase of massive expansion since 2006 the proportion of international students has not increased further.
Migration: The share of students with a migration background but with residence in Germany (without international students) is difficult to determine exactly because of different statistical definitions and forms of assessment (Engel/Neusel/Weichert 2014). So, there are divergent data. According to different sources their proportion has remained at a low level, compared with their share in the young population. Halfway reliable and valid data are available only for a special subgroup - the so-called Bildungsinlander incuding only those students who have a foreign nationality but permanent residence in Germany where they achieved their study entitlement. During the last two decades the proportion of students with a migration background according to this narrow definition has stagnated between 2 and 4 % (Middendorff 2013, 12) - compared with about 10 - 12 % in the younger population.
Educational family origin: The share of students with an academic family status has continuously increased from 36 % (1985) to 51 % in 2006, in the sector of universities even to almost 60 %, and has leveled off since then. The proportion of students with low educational family status has decreased enormously (from 42 to 27 %). So, the social composition of students has become more exclusive despite the massive growth.
Vocationally qualified students: The share of students with a vocational training degree has declined greatly from 38 % (1993) to 22 % (2011) - completely contrary to the political target of opening up higher education for vocationally qualified people. This development is primarily due to students with the regular study entitlement, the Abitur or other school credentials, and an additional vocational degree. However, the proportion of non-traditional students in a strict definition -entering higher education without the Abitur but a vocational qualification - has risen slightly from 1 to 3 % among first year students (Wolter 2012).
Students working besides studying: Between 2003 and 2012, a period of massive growth, the proportion of students working in parallel to their studies has decreased a little bit from 66 to 61 %. On average they work 13 hours a week.
Part-time: Whereas the share of de-facto part-time students - with time spent on their studies less than 25 hours a week - increased from 1991 until 2003, after which it has decreased to presently 22 %. Only 4 % of all students are formally enrolled in part-time courses.
All in all these indicators for Germany do not really show a clear trend towards more diversity or heterogeneity in the student body. Rather the data reveal sometimes a mixed picture, sometimes even a trend to more homogeneity.
6 Conclusions
Diversity and heterogenization of the student body are two current themes linked very closely with the continuous expansion of higher education in many countries including Germany. The assumption
that massification and heterogeneity are parallel or complementary trends is widespread in international higher education research and policy - in Germany too. Often, it is not really clear whether both terms mean the same thing or if there is a difference. The paper argues for a terminological distinction albeit a smooth one according to which diversity represents an institutional or organizational target or strategy to widen personnel resources and capacities whereas heterogenization means primarily an empirical concept to describe the structure of a population.
The hope is widespread that the massification of higher education has led to a more heterogeneous composition of students in terms of gender, social background, migration status, age and so on. Contrary to this expectation, the actual structure of the student body is far away from the diversity objective in many countries. However, there are not only many differences from country to country, but also with respect to the indicators considered. In some aspects more diversity has been realized, in other aspects it has not. All in all, according to the available data there is only a weak correlation between the expansion of higher education and the heterogenization of the student composition.
The notions of diversity and heterogeneity are of special relevance for the ambitious undertaking of implementing lifelong learning structures in higher education. And there are some particular indicators for this such as the number or share of older, part-time or non-traditional students. Evidence shows that there are some countries in which strong growth or a large rate of first year students has been connected with a larger proportion of older, part-time or non-traditional students. This is true e.g. for Sweden, Finland, UK and Portugal. But on the other hand, there are also some countries where there has not been any relation between massification and diversity with respect to these criteria. This is true among others for The Netherlands, Germany, Turkey and Austria.
The expansion of higher education was partly a politically or economically intended, partly a non-planned process of its own momentum. Nevertheless, the expansion was accompanied by the expectation that historically evolved social disparities in the participation in higher education could be eliminated or at least reduced. However, the social structure of the student body has proved to be a most stable pattern. In almost all countries growth in participation has not been accompanied by a process of social inclusion or only by a very modest process of social opening. There are only three countries with a larger degree of social inclusion, one with a high participation level - The Netherlands - and two with a low or average participation level, Switzerland and Ireland.
In Germany the cliche of growing heterogeneity is an indelible part of the political rhetoric in higher education. However, Germany shows a very low degree of heterogenization in the European comparison. The student body has changed a little bit during the growth periods in the 1980s and 1990s, but during the last 10 to 15 years there have been only a very few indications of more diversity. With a particular focus on Germany heterogenization is more myth than reality. To sum up it can be stated that there is no automatism between massification and diversity - neither in Germany nor in other European countries. Obviously, because of the self-reinforcement features of the expansion, targeted political programs and measures are necessary to promote particularly those groups that are under-represented in higher education in order to combine growth with more diversity.
References
Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung (2012): Bildung in Deutschland 2012. Bielefeld.
Berthold, C./Guttner, A./Leichsenring, H. (2011): Diversitat als Qualitat der Hochschule. In: Qualitat in der Wissenschaft. Vol. 5/4. 102-110.
Berthold, C./Leichsenring, H. (eds.) (2013): Diversity-Report - Der Gesamtbericht. Gutersloh.
Blossfeld, H.-P./Rossbach, H.-G./v. Maurice, J. (eds.) (2011): Education as a Lifelong Process. The German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Zeitschrift fur Erziehungswissenschaft. Special issue 14/2011.
Bosch, G. (2012): Gefahrdung der Wettbewerbsfahigkeit durch zu wenige Akademiker: Echte oder gefuhlte Akademikerlucke? In: Kuda, E. et al. (eds.): Akademisierung der Arbeitswelt? Zur Zukunft der beruflichen Bildung. Hamburg. 20-35.
Braun, E./Donk, A./Bulow-Schramm, M. (eds.) (2013): AHELO goes Germany? Hannover (HIS-Forum Hochschule 2-2013).
Cross, P. K. (1981): Adults as Learners: Increasing Participation and Facilitating Learning. San Francisco.
Dollhausen, K./Wolter, A. et al. (2013): Opening Higher Education to Adults. Final Report. Bonn/Berlin.
Engel, O./Neusel, A./Weichert, D. (2014): Migrationshintergrund in der Hochschule. In: Banscherus, U./Bulow-Schramm, M./Himpele, K./Staack, S./Winter, S. (eds.): Ubergange im Spannungsfeld von Expansion und Exklusion. Eine Analyse der Schnittstellen im deutschen Hochschulsystem. Bielefeld. Forthcoming.
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Guri-Rosenblit, S./Sebkova, H./Teichler, U. (2007): Massification and Diversity of Higher Education Systems: Interplay of Complex Dimensions. In: Higher Education Policy. 20. 373-389.
Kehr, P./Leicht-Schollen, C. (2013): Diversity in der Hochschule - in der Mitte angekommen oder zwischen allen Stuhlen? In: Qualitat in der Wissenschaft. Vol. 7/2. 30-36.
Knauf, H. (2013): Inklusion und Hochschule. Perspektiven des Konzepts der Inklusion als Strategie fur den Umgang mit Heterogenitat an Hochschulen. In: Das Hochschulwesen. Vol. 61/5. 164-168.
Middendorff, E. (2013): Wachsende Heterogenitat unter Studierenden? Vortrag auf der 8. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft fur Hochschulforschung. Berlin.
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5. Abstracts
Dominik Antonowicz: Mission Impossible? The Evaluation of Polish Research Units in 2013
The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the concept, the process and the outcomes of evaluation of scientific units in Poland. The evaluation process is conducted by a special body called The Evaluation Committee of Academic Units (KEJN) in 2013 and covers approximately 1000 research units. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education saw it as the first step to modernize Polish science and higher education in order to provide evidence for more performance-based distribution of research basic funding. The presentation provides overreaching analysis of the process that comprises of five major sections.
The first sections introduces to Polish science and higher education paying special attention to institutional diversity of organizations that namely can lead the process to comparing 'apples and bananas'. It will also raise and issue of professional/political accountability of KEJN. The second section elaborates on the major aims of evaluation of scientific units in the context of political goals as part of wider political agenda whereas the section number three brings analysis of the discussion within the academic community about principles and methods of evaluation of research units. By doing so it tries to identify the areas of conflicts between interests and expectations represented by fragmented academic community. In the next section provides the main analysis of establishing rules by KEJN and setting detailed criteria of evaluation as well as presenting the results of evaluation process conducted in 2013 (to be announced in 30-09-2013).
In the final part, the paper brings some tentative concluding remarks as to future challenges that are to be faced in the next round of evaluation exercise in Poland. In general, it tries to look broader and reflect on 'research evaluations exercise' as an instrument of higher education and science policy in Poland.
Jozsef Beracs: Emerging entrepreneurial universities in university reforms - The moderating role of personalities and social/economic environment
There are different typologies of universities helping the university leaders and government policy makers to think about positioning their institutions and offering useful patterns for scientific analysis. Clark (1998) created three categories of universities: economic, entrepreneurial and service oriented. He identified a lot of characteristics of each forms, introducing 5 case studies representing the entrepreneurial spirit. Following this track of research Hrubos (2004) discussed the archetype of "economic university" which illustrates mostly the Hungarian universities, where the macro level under-financing of universities is a continuous challenge for university leaders. In the global word, especially in small countries, the existence of "entrepreneurial university" becomes the crucial factor for developing the whole higher education to be competitive. Institutional and national higher education reforms, quality improvements are the key terms for policy makers, strategists using in their crusade to change the traditional higher education systems.
The paper analyses two historical reforms of the Corvinus University of Budapest (CUB) in 1968-1973 and 1988-1993 and compares them with recent developments (Bologna process 2006-2013). It comes to the conclusion that for better understanding of the reform process the general social, economic, political and legal systems should be analyzed, parallel with the personal capabilities and core competencies of university leaders. The first reform happened in a period of communist system, trying to make more efficient the economic system. The second reform started in the communist period (Csaki-Zalai: 1987), and finished in the free market economy. Both of them were initiated by ambitious, conceptually dedicated and enthusiastic leaders, trying to catch up with best global universities (Shin at al. 2011). Even in the environment of command socialist economy they were aware of the barriers of the system and used the entrepreneurial, innovative concepts described by Schumpeter (1968) a century ago.
This could not be mentioned about the recent reforms, where the market economy background does not offer enough motivation for the leaders to create a system, where the elite and mass higher education could be combined. Nelles-Vorley (2008) illustrates with Oxford University as a case study, that the entrepreneurial architecture could be created in elite environment as well opposed to Clark (1998) cases. The paper collects a few criteria (e.g. managerial capability, motivation, legal background, HE laws, government strategic intention, organizational forms, demographics, etc.) which might explain the success or failure stories of HE institutions in Hungary.
References:
Clark, B. R. (1998): Creating Entrepreneurial Universities. Organizational Pathways of Transformation, IAU Press Pergamon
Csaki Csaba - Zalai Erno (1987): Kepzeskorszerusltesi koncepcio a Marx Karoly Egyetemen (A concept of modernizing the training of economists at the Karl Marx University of Economics), Gazdasag, Vol. 20, No. 2, 94-108
Hrubos, Ildiko (2004) ed.: A gazdalkodo egyetem (= The economic university), Uj Mandatum Kiado, Budapest
Nelles, Jen - Vorley, Tim (2008): Entrepreneurial Architecture in UK Higher Education Institutions: Consolidating the third mission, Paper presented at the 25th Celebration Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Organizations, Institutions, Systems and Regions, Copenhagen, CBS, Denmark, June 17-20, 2008
Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1968, 1926): The Theory of Economic Development, Harvard University, 8th edition (in Hungarian= A gazdasagi fejlodes elmelete, KJK Budapest, 1980)
Shin, J. C. - Toutkoushian, R. K. - Teichler, U. (2011) editors: University Rankings -Theoretical Basis, Methodology and Impacts on Global Higher Education, Springer
Darka Podmenik, Ivana Čančar: University: Autonomy versus Labor Market
The main theme of this paper is to shed light on the Slovene universities and their efforts to preserve autonomy and at a time of mounting pressure from the labor market.
First part of the paper addresses the growing importance of the employers' demands which significantly increased during the last decade, mainly due to higher numbers of graduates and growing economic crisis. Employers have introduced new tools for assessing job applicants' knowledge and skills and begun to request additional skills and knowledge which may not have been a part of the formal curriculum. In some aspects demanded skills and knowledge (C 111/6 EN Official Journal of the European Union 6.5.2008; BEEPS, 2008) even exceeded those applied to traditional academic education. This was especially true for the "soft" education fields (Reimer et al, 2008). Risk of job mismatch (Halaby, 1994, Wolbers, 2002) became more evident. Since so called over-qualification may be ascribed to the quick and massive expansion of higher education (Trow, 2000), as well as, to the fragmentation of academic disciplines (Clark, 1996, Barnett, 2000) the reform of university has become inevitable. After the Bologna reform had become the norm (in 1999) the first decade of the new millennium was symbolically named the "European Higher Education Period" (Teichler 2011, p. 3). In EU developmental strategy universities acquired the role of one of the crucial developmental factors (European Commission, 2000, 2003).
The second part of this paper addresses objectives and results of Bologna reform which should directly affect the successfulness of graduates employment, namely: to harmonize the two-stage structure study programs; to reduce the difference between non-university and university higher education; to encourage international mobility of students and to change higher education institutions' attitudes toward the employment of their graduates. Presented data show that in most South European countries, as well as, new EU member states these objectives have not been met.
In the third part the objective is to demonstrate that in EU new member countries the higher education institutions adaptation to the labor market increased demand was much better than to the decreased demand that followed. The thesis is that graduate unemployment is one of the possible results of such maladjustment. An example the gradual expansion of Slovene higher education institutions and their outcomes are analyzed.
Marek Frankowicz: From "Polonia Process" to Bologna Process and beyond: two decades of university reforms in Poland
Rapid development of Polish higher education sector in 1990-95, characterized inter alia by the emergence of non-state HEIs and exponential increase of the number of students, resulted in divergences in study programmes, study structures and endangered the quality of education. Therefore - already in mid-nineties - Polish academic community started to implement by the "bottom-up" initiatives some corrective measures, such as promotion of ECTS, introduction of academic accreditation system and harmonization of curricula. Such activities were supported by TEMPUS projects (Poland was the main beneficiary among CEE countries) and participation in a variety of international initiatives (CEE Network of QA Agencies, PHARE Multi-Country projects etc.). The distinctive feature of such "Polonia Process" (with action lines very similar to the future Bologna Process) was that it was based mainly on academic self organization, with limited role of the national authorities. Another characteristic feature was the optimization of solutions developed in TEMPUS partner countries from the EU.
After 2002 (creation of the State Accreditation Committee) the influence of the Ministry of Education on academic reforms became more and more dominant. It resulted in some tensions (two co-existing accreditation systems, two HE strategies - one developed on behalf of the Ministry, the other - by the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools of Poland), but tensions can also be sources of driving forces; on the other hand, Ministry and other governmental structures often based on experiences of bottom-up academic initiatives. For example, introduction of National Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, which took place in last two years, was a real success; it was driven and financed by the Ministry, but organized mainly by Bologna Experts and other HE experts with experiences dating from the "Pologna Process" period.
At present, Polish higher education can be best described as a "complex adaptive system" in which top-down and bottom-up initiatives are mutually influencing each other, and a kind of "self-consistent field of HE" is emerging. One can identify in its development some analogies with similar phenomena occurring in other European countries, however the impact of self-organization of academic community (in particular - disciplinary structures, such as deans' conferences) is in a way unique and may serve as an example of good practice for other countries. However, there is a caveat that the growing role of governmental factors will lead to ritualization of conducts and to fading of the sense of ownership of academic reforms among Polish academic folk. The best remedy will be to restore "horizontal links" through international academic networking, as it was the case in the first phase of the "Polonia Process" (synergy of TEMPUS-based initiatives). The initiative of the "Polish LLL Platform", proposed by active participants of HE reform movement and supported by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (Polish National Agency), shall provide communication and cooperation channels between Polish and international academic communities, facilitating two-way transfer of good practices. Another positive feedback area is growing involvement of Polish "academic self-organization" experts in Tempus projects with countries in transition (e.g. work on sectoral qualifications framework for Russian Federation).
Isak Froumin: From manpower planning to employability discourse - the evolution of post-Soviet education
The paper examines the changes in linkages between higher education and labor market within the evolution period of the Russian education from 1991 to 2013. These changes are one of the key factors of the evolution of the higher education systems in post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics. The analysis of the changes is based on the data of quantitative and qualitative research of the structure of higher education programs conducted at Institute of Education of Higher School of Economics (Moscow).
The evolution of higher education system is presented as a process embracing three periods: the abolition of the mandatory job placement and other centrally regulated linkages between higher education and planned labor market; the transformation of the links with the labor market; and the replacement of the narrowly specialized programs by programs with broader education focus.
The evolution resulted in the diversification of the higher education institutions, the replacement of a large number of narrow specialized training programs by programs with broader education focus and the development of new market-based linkages between the higher education institutions and the labor market. These changes were the response of the universities to the demand of families for getting skills for better employability rather than merely getting a higher education. In response of the families demand the government should further strengthen the connection between the higher education and labor market.
Enes Gok: The Future of Higher Education in Turkey: From an Elite to a Mass Society
Since the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) took over the governance in 2002, Turkey has been witnessing a series of dramatic transformations in social, political, cultural and economic contexts, although both sides that support and oppose these transformations are available in the general public and political arena. From the standpoint, where higher education systems are considered as the engines of the nations' economic growth, Turkish higher education system is one of the first sectors affected intensely by these transformations both quantitatively and qualitatively, and receives tremendous attention from the political leaders as well as general public in both positive and negative ways. Statistics show that HEIs in Turkey, both public and private grew in number exponentially in the last ten years. Paralleling with this growth, higher education student enrollments increased dramatically. In analyzing this transformation, this paper draws from the higher education transformation model introduced by Martin Trow (1973). Thus, this paper aims to discuss the Turkish higher education transformation over the years in terms of its social, political, and economic motives and inevitable consequences along with some further research and specific policy recommendations.
Melanie Greene, Dale Kirby: Shifting Priorities amidst a Changing Demographic: Graduate Student Persistence in the United States and Canada
Despite the recognized importance of a graduate degree to those wishing to compete in today's knowledge economy, graduate students often do not complete their programs and leave at levels that often exceed graduation rates. Fewer than half of those who start a doctoral program in the humanities and social sciences disciplines actually persist to graduation; these faculties have the lowest completion rates at both the master's and doctoral degree levels (Elgar, 2003). Yet, enrolments in graduate programs continue to increase, and in recent years, has seen substantial growth. It has been suggested that the quality of the graduate experience and student success, while variable, is affected by the availability of effective academic and social support services (Polson, 2003).
Research on graduate education to date has focused almost exclusively on the doctoral level in American institutions. Concerns with issues such as the high rate of student attrition and the lengthy time it takes to graduate have led to a number of government supported initiatives and calls for reform. Attending to an increasingly diverse student population has been identified as a significant challenge. Despite extensive research on graduate education, however, inquiry into the role of support services on student experiences is sparse, especially research that matches the provision of specific types of support services with student outcomes at the graduate level. Furthermore, few studies explore Canadian graduate education and surprisingly little is known about the graduate student experience in Canada in general.
This presentation draws a comparison between American and Canadian research on graduate education and provides an overview of a doctoral student research project conducted at one Canadian institution, Memorial University of Newfoundland. This research examined graduate student's awareness of various types of services; the extent of their own use; and levels of satisfaction, as well as to identify any gaps and provide insight into the role of these services in student persistence. Research findings show that graduate students have lower than expected levels of awareness, use, and satisfaction with support services provided on campus and rely most heavily on department-based, as well as informal, non-institutional-based supports. A presentation of findings from this research will be followed by an open discussion where the sharing of research, initiatives, and best practices from other countries and institutions is welcomed.
References:
Elgar, F.J. (2003). Ph.D. degree completion in Canadian universities: Final report. Halifax, NS: Graduate Student's Association of Canada.
Polson, C. J. (2003), Adult graduate students challenge institutions to change. New Directions for Student Services, 102, 59-68.
Gustavo Gregorutti: The Almighty Research University Sieged by Massive Teaching Universities: Contradiction or Parallel Approaches?
The incipient research university model brothers Humboldt promoted in Berlin made a significant impact on higher education institutions around the world. At the beginning it was small, but through the emergence of the third mission or the commercialization of discoveries, the idea of producing knowledge took off in an explosive way creating massive amounts of resources that at the same time stirred up more knowledge. Although it is possible to see some evidences of knowledge transfer during the first part of the 20th century, it is not until after the World War II that this phenomenon was paving the path for the almighty research university. From then on, this type of learning institution has been presenting itself as "the model" that many "not so research oriented" universities look after for their future strategies. While this was setting up a flurry of enthusiasm among educational government leaders, during the 80's the first mission of training people seemed to reemerge as powerful as ever before, acting like a counter balance or an alternative to fill the gap, as research universities became more and more elitists. In fact, research universities are selective and very expensive, and do not accommodate many students who are looking for ways to contribute to and benefit from this knowledge driven society. Evidently, higher education systems have to take into account the increasing demand for training. This tensioning situations have led many policy makers to face a quandary over the perception that actual rankings and categorization of quality are highly associated with knowledge production, leaving out, as a second class education, all that is not oriented to discoveries. So, what kind of policy alternative can be developed to bring together these polarizing trends? This paper will discuss some possible scenarios analyzing models and suggesting alternatives for a complementary coexistence of research and teaching oriented universities in the context of Latin America higher education system.
Dale Kirby: Madly off in all directions: The incoherence of approaches to higher education access across the Canadian provinces
Canada is a federal state with authority for higher education, for the most part, devolved to its various component provinces. As a result, higher education in Canada is characterized by highly differentiated and decentralized provincial higher education systems. Decades of relatively independent provincial higher education policy reforms, particularly those which have taken place over the course of the past quarter century, have produced an incohesive and incoherent collection of policies that are intended to enable greater access to higher education for Canadian students. Tuition fees, which constitute the single largest expense for many Canadian university and college students, have increased as proportion of institutional operating revenue since about the 1990s. These fees vary widely across the country and are set and regulated in accordance with a hodgepodge of province-based policies. Provincial fee regulation structures range from those prohibiting fee increases to others which allow for regulated increases. There is also a high degree of variance in the provincial approaches to providing direct financial assistance to higher education students. These include up-front grants that are based on an assessment of student financial need and targeted funding for particular groups, such as aboriginal students or students with disabilities, who are deemed to be disadvantaged relative to the population as a whole and/or are under-represented amongst the higher education student population. This paper will provide an overview of the incoherence of approaches to higher education access across the Canadian provinces with a focus on the variance in policies and programs that set tuition fees as well as need-based and targeted financial assistance.
Manja Klemenčič, Alenka Flander: The academic profession in Slovenia
Like the rest of Europe, Slovenia too has experienced profound reforms of its higher education system in the last decade. The reforms have been driven by broad socio-economic developments, such as the accession to the European Union and internationalisation more broadly, and the enhanced relevance of knowledge and thus changing role of higher education institutions within the developing knowledge societies (Zgaga 2010; 2012). These developments have shaped the organisational fabric of higher education systems and institutions with profound implications on the key aspects of the academic enterprise including the academic profession (Kehm and Teichler eds. 2013).
The focus of the proposed paper is on how the academics in Slovenia 'perceive, interpret, and interact with the changes in the socio-economic environment and in the organisational fabric of higher education system and institutions' (Kehm and Teichler eds. 2013, 2). The paper engages with the questions of conditions of academic work and is based on a survey of academic's perceptions and interpretations of the key aspects of the academic work. The survey has been designed broadly based on the EUROAC questionnaire (Kehm and Teichler eds. 2013), but certain questions of particular interest to Slovenia were added (e.g. the range of different simultaneous employments of the individual academics (Altbach et al. eds 2012), social engagement of academics, etc.).
The paper contributes to the rich body of literature emerging from the CAP project and ESF programme on academic profession in Europe (Kehm and Teichler eds. 2013, Teichler et al. eds. 2013). It seeks to compare the findings for Slovenia to those in other European countries: How similar or varied are the conditions of academic work in Slovenia compared to those in the rest of Europe? How do academic respond to internationalisation? How common or country specific are the discourses on relevance of knowledge? Is there weakening of academic self-regulation?
References:
Altbach, Philip G.; Reisberg, Liz; Yudkevich, Maria; Androushchak, Gregory; and Pacheco, Ivan F. (2012) Paying the Professoriate. A global Comparison of Compensation and Contracts. New York, Abingdon: Routledge /Taylor and Francis.
Kehm, Barbara M.; Teichler, Ulrich (Eds.) (2013) The Academic Profession in Europe: New Tasks and New Challenges. Series: The Changing Academy - The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, Vol. 5. Springer.
Teichler, Ulrich, Arimoto, Akira, Cummings, William K. (2013) The Changing Academic Profession. Major Findings of a Comparative Survey. Series: The Changing Academy - The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, Vol. 1. Springer.
ZGAGA, Pavel. The role of higher education in national development: South-Eastern Europe and reconstruction of the Western Balkans. In: The Europa world of learning 2011. 61st ed. London; New York: Routledge, 2010, pp. 19-24.
ZGAGA, Pavel (2012) Editorial. CEPS JOURNAL. Centre for Educational Policy Studies Journal Vol. 2, No. 4. Pp. 5-8.
Gergely Kovats: The Position and Role of the Dean in a Transforming Higher Education System
According to mainstream higher education research, the tertiary education of developed countries has been characterised by massification, the transformation of the institutional system of research, decreasing public funding, the transformation of the role of the state and increasing competition in recent decades (Barakonyi 2004; OECD 2008; Halasz 2009). Due to these changes techniques used in business management have been gradually introduced in the operation of universities (Sporn 2006).
However, during the analysis of these processes institutional management is considered to be homogeneous and coherent (Mignot-Gerard 2003); moreover, overtly or covertly, it is identified with the senior management of the institution. Significantly less attention is paid to middle managers such as the deans, although they are the key actors of the transformation process (Santiago, Carvalho et al. 2006) because this is the level at which the new managing techniques can be implemented in everyday practice, in the context of resolving actual problems, so the transformation of higher education management systems is realised at this level. Namely, it depends mostly on mid-level managers whether the strategic approach, controlling, quality management and the other techniques indeed operate in the institution or they are simply stuck at the level of fulfilling external expectations without having any impact on the everyday life of the institution (see e.g. Lozeau, Langley et al. 2002). Thus, mid-level managers - in Fulton's highly critical wording -"are soldiers fighting in the front line of the reorganisation process" (Fulton 2003:162).
Deans, however, have to face considerable organisational and contextual complexities, the pressure to decide, conflicting expectations and a restricted space for manoeuvre at the same time. Contradictions emerging from the transformation of the higher education system are particularly apparent in their case as it is their responsibility to harmonise, on a daily basis, the academic, economic and administrative spheres of the institution, as well as external expectations.
Based on a thorough literature review, data collection and 38 interviews with deans, senior academic and administrative leaders, I undertake the analysis of the Hungarian deans' position in this paper. I focus on two questions: 1. What role or roles do deans play in the transforming institutions of higher education? 2. How do deans reflect upon their own role as deans and their position?
As a result of my research, I identified the major characteristics of deans (e.g. who and why becomes a dean). I also identified typical roles deans try to follow such as the coordinator, the organisational developer, the broker, the problem solver, the owner and the tactician.
References:
Barakonyi, KAroly (2004b). Rendszervaltas a felsooktatasban. Bologna-folyamat, modernizacio. (Changing Regime in Higher Education. Bologna Process, Modernisation.) Budapest: Akademia Kiado. (in Hungarian)
Fulton, Oliver (2003). Managerialism in UK universities: Unstable hybridity and the complications of implementation. In: Amaral, Alberto - Meek, V. Lynn - Larsen, Ingvild M. (eds.) (2003). The higher education managerial revolution. Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers 155-178 o.
HalAsz, GAbor (2009). A felsooktatas globalis trendjei es szakpolitikai valaszok az OECD orszagokban es az Europai Unioban. (Global Trends of Higher Education and Policy Answers in OECD Countries and the European Union.) In: Drotos, Gyorgy - KovAts, Gergely (eds.) (2009). Felsooktatas-menedzsment. Budapest: Aula Kiado 13-30 o. (in Hungarian)
Lozeau, Daniel - Langley, Ann - Denis, Jeann-Louis (2002). "The corruption of managerial techniques by organizations." Human Relations 55(5): 537-564.
OECD (2008): Thematic review of tertiary education: Synthesis report. Paris: OECD.
Mignot-Gerard, Stephanie (2003). ""Leadership" And "Governance" In the analysis of university organisations: Two concepts in need of de-construction." Higher Education Management and Policy 15: 152-183.
Santiago, Rui - Carvalho, Teresa - Amaral, Alberto, et al. (2006). "Changing patterns in the middle management of higher education institutions: The case of portugal." Higher Education 52(2): 215250.
Sporn, Barbara (2006). Governance and administration: Organizational and structural trends. In: Forest, James J. F. - Altbach, Philip G. (szerk.) (2006). International handbook of higher education. Dordrecht: Springer 141-157 o.
Mei Li: Governance Reforms of Higher Education in China: Driven Forces, Characteristics and Future Directions
The past two decades has witnessed the tremendous transformation of governance of higher education in China. The driven forces of the reforms lie on the interactions and intersection of factors and agencies at international, national and institutional levels. The forces of global level come from the neoliberalism and market-oriented ideology and academic capitalism practices and the competition of knowledge and higher education sectors among the countries. The elements at national level include the membership of international organization such as WTO, the construction of strong nation through science and education, and reforms from socialist planning economy into socialist market-oriented economy, transition from agricultural society to industrialized and knowledge society, and redefinition of relationship between central government and provincial government, the massisfication of higher education. The changes and challenges at the institutional level mainly result from the transformation from an organization exclusively rely on state and government into a semi-independent organization which operate in the market and own self-mastery and some autonomy.
The model of governance of higher education in China differs from the model of USA, which is fully decentralized and market-oriented. It is distinct as well from the model of pre-reform era, which is centralized, planned, controlled, and national-owned with specialized institution dominated. The current model of governance is a kind of hybrid (mixture) of centralization and decentralization, planning and marketization, public and private, autonomy and control. That is to say, to some extent, the central governments have transmitted part of its former controlled power to the provincial governments and individual institution according to the Higher Education Law. On the other hand, the central governments still control crucial power and resources at the macro level.
Chinese public colleges and universities have long been associated with different levels of political administration. The system has been featured particularly by its high centralization. With increasing calls for delink between governments and higher education institutions, most recently by the Outline of China's National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development 2010-2020, the situation has started to change. Institutional autonomy has been increasing, accompanied by greater accountability over the past decades. There is a paradox of centralized decentralization: while the extent, procedure and pace of decentralization of governance continue to be controlled and determined by the central government, provincial governments and higher education institutions have more freedom and rights.
Within universities, the structure and process of authoritative decision-making issues that are significant for external as well as internal stakeholders have changed significantly. Focusing on institutional and system levels, this research examines the changing substantive and procedural autonomy in China's university governance reforms since the late 1990s. It is set in an international context of intensified globalization, and links the global to the national, local, institutional and individual. Based on rich empirical data collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, it incorporates the author's longstanding professional experiences within the Chinese
higher education system to present findings from a case study of East China Normal University, one of China's top-tier higher education institutions located in Shanghai.
This research reports that China's university governance pattern has gradually become less centralized, with joint governance between the central and provincial governments. More autonomy has been granted to the institutional level in the domains of financial matters and academic issues, including appointing academic staff and administrators, recruiting students, curriculum and course development. Meanwhile, the government still controls ideo-political education, appointing university presidents and party secretaries. It also finds that China's governance has its own nature and dynamics. The concept of autonomy in China means different things from the Western tradition portrayed by a distinct separation between the university and the state, as well as the protection of the university's institutional independence from the state's direct control. Without an independent status from national politics and the state's control in the pre-reform age, recent reforms have led to more self-determination of Chinese universities. Indeed, semi-independence is more appropriate to describe the Chinese situation. Chinese universities are neither distinctively separated from the government, nor squarely under its complete control. They are partially integrated with the government, while maintaining relative independence in other areas.
SuminLi: The Development and Reform of Chinese Minban Higher Education
Chinese Minban higher education (or called Non-government/private HE) has a long history. It can be traced back to the Spring-Autumn and Zhanguo Dynasty (B.C.770—B.C.221) , named Private Academy. The academy established by Confucius is very famous, and Confucius is called the pioneer of Chinese Minban higher education. After the founding of New China in 1949,all education institutions including the Minban higher education institutions(HEIs) become public. This situation lasted over twenty years.
In 1977 the first Minban HEI was founded, called Beijing ZI XIU University. It is the first comprehensive full time Minban university. Chinese Minban HEIs developed fast since then. In 2011 there are about 1,512 Minban HEIs, including 676 regular HEIs and 836 other Minban(Non-state/private) HEIs. The total enrollment of 676 regular HEIs amounted to 4,766,845.
This paper will focus on the development and reform of Chinese Minban HE in the past three decades, especially analyzing its' problems, challenges and the tendency.
References :
Gu Mingyuan(2009).The basic characteristics and tendency of private higher education in China. Education Development Research,No.12, P44-49.
Li Yan(2009).The present situation, problems and strategies of Chinese private higher education. Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), Vol.38,No.7, P.145-148.
Liu Rao (2004) .On the present situation and development tendency of private higher education in China. Journal of Private Higher Education,Vol.3, No.4, P11-19.
Lu Caichen & Wu Daguang(2007). Review and outlook of Non-government higher education in China. Education Development Research,No.3B, P1-9.
Wu Daguang(2001). A analysis of the present situation of Chinese private higher education—From the perspective of higher education policy. Education Development Research,No.7, P23-28.
Wu Daguang(2001). A analysis of the present situation of Chinese private higher education—From the perspective of higher education policy. Education Development Research,No.8, P13-18.
Mitzi Morales: The Configuration of the Mexican Private Higher Education. Trends and Changes in the last Thirty Years
In Mexico, like in other countries, the private sector of the higher education has expanded, diversified and segmented very rapidly in the last decades. The first private institutions were founded in the 1950's and were very selective, especially in terms of tuitions and social selection. Later in the 1990's, a hundred of institutions cheaper than the elite ones appeared, with no academic selection and degree programs that suited the students preferences. These kinds of institutions have been depreciated mainly because due to the fact that their mean goal is professionalization, they never carry out any research nor worry about the "third function" of universities, which refers to cultural dissemination. They are in a genuine stage of tension because while they are being discredited by some academic professionals and educational authorities, they have also gained acceptance by a lot of students and their families.
Over the three last decades, the government and some public universities have made attempts to create regulations to control this group of institutions, but they have not successfully accomplished their aim to ensure the quality of their services.
However, private institutions have been one of the most important actors in the current configuration of the Mexican higher education. For instance, they have given access to a thousand of students to higher education, they have provided a large labor market for the academic profession and they have created a profitable business as well.
Additionally, the public sector has played an important role for the success of the private sector; private institutions seek for official backup from the autonomous universities and join them academically speaking, simply because this condition gives them institutional prestige.
All in all, we can observe important changes during the three last decades regarding the offer of degree programs, student services, the number and profile of teachers and strategies for promoting funding as well as the social perception and acceptance of these institutions. At the moment, these institution's concerns are to excel from one another, for instance, with the accreditation and certification of the academic and administrative activities. This aim of this paper is to discuss these topics and make a balance of the status of the Mexican private higher education.
Hans Pechar and Lesley Andres: Academic Career Trajectories: Transatlantic Comparisons
Academics in North America are becoming increasingly concerned about the declining numbers of tenure track positions within faculty ranks. Some go as far as to say that the tenure track model is obsolete. In some European countries, the opposite is the case with the North American tenure track serving as a model to inform and guide current reforms. From a European perspective, the most interesting aspect of the tenure track is how the different status groups of the academic profession (assistant, associate, and full professor) are related to each other. The flat hierarchy within the North American professoriate is remarkably different than the highly separated tracks of academic status groups ("estates") that still persist in some European countries. In this presentation, we will contrast the North American tenure track model with the Germanic model and discuss the implications for faculty career trajectories.
In our paper we will compare recent developments in Austria and in Canada. In Austria, a major governance reform has transformed public research universities from state agencies to public enterprises. This reform has shifted decision-making power from the ministry to the academic management. As a consequence, academics are no longer civil servants, they now have private employment contracts with the university. However, the division of the faculty in "academic estates" (junior faculty vs full professorate) remains.
In Canada, the traditional tenure track model endures; however, it faces increasing challenges. Calls for a "flexible" academic labour force have resulted in a declining tenure track positions and an increasing number of individuals hired into contingent positions. This shift affects the research/teaching/service essence of traditional tenure track faculty work. The nature of the academic labour force is further challenged both by high numbers of retirements who may or may not be replaced by tenure track faculty, and the retention of ageing faculty as a result of no mandatory age of retirement.
Hans Pechar is a Professor in the Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies, Alpen Adria University, Austria. The focus of his research is comparative higher education and economics of higher education. Currently, he represents Austria in the governing board of OECD CERI. His recent publications address topics of policies of access to higher education, governance of Austrian universities, and equity in education.
Lesley Andres is a Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. She is the principal investigator of the Paths on Life's Way Project, a unique Canadian longitudinal study combines extensive qualitative and quantitative data over a 22 year time frame to examine the lives, actions, experiences, and perspectives of individuals within a life course framework. Also, she is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Higher Education.
Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Tanveer Hasan, Chetan Singai: Higher Education Reforms: A Method for Looking Back - Looking Forward
We will present a method for visualizing "the larger picture" of higher education reforms by mapping the transformation of the higher education system over time, and illustrate it based on our study "A Higher Education System for a Knowledge Society in Karnataka." The knowledge ecology of Karnataka is shown in Figure 1; the higher education system we studied within the ecology is highlighted in red.
Figure 1: Knowledge Ecology of Karnataka
We used an ontology to map the state-of-the-aspiration and the state-of-the-practice of the system of 65 institutions. The aspiration of each institution was inferred from their vision statements, mission statements, objectives, Vice Chancellor's speeches and similar documents available on the website of the institutions. The data for mapping the state-of-the-practice were collected from a large number of institutional and external sources and stored in a knowledgebase using Zotero.
The state-of-the-aspiration of the higher education system in Karnataka is rich but not ideal (Figure 2 top half). In summary:
1.	The aspiration of the higher education system is modest and varied, but not ideally balanced;
2.	Its scope is rich and diverse, but not well distributed;
3.	Its functions are appropriate in the aggregate and reasonably well distributed;
4.	Its focus is varied but non-uniform and needs to be reassessed; and
5.	Its outcomes are appropriate but their emphases skewed and need to be realigned to foster the development of a knowledge society.
Aspiration
Scope
Function
Focus
Outcome
The [+] Premier (19) „ World (13) ^^HHII Region (0) Advanced (19) .E Country (30) Basic	I State (22)
District(s) (0)
[in]
Research (58) Education (56)
[in]	Scientific (33) £>
,	,	TO d)
Technical (24) c o
Service (34)
Professions (38) Vocations (1) Fine Arts (18)
Economic (13)
Humanities/SS (26)
'Z	o
_ £	»)
Social (52) |	g>
o'l
$	1
01	C
■o	JC
Cultural (13)
	Realization								Scope				Focus					Outcome				
Function	The Premier	A Premier	The Leading	A Leading	The Advanced	An Advanced	The Basic	A Basic	World	Country	State	District(s)	Sciences	Professions	Vocations	Fine Arts	Humanities/SS	Scientific	Technical	Economic	Social	Cultural
Research	0	0	5	13	8	22	4	9	1	41	14	5	42	24	7	7	28		22	16		14
Education	1	2	2	13	4	20	7	12	1	32	23	5	40	391 16		13	28	40| 22		27	43	15
Service	0	0	3	6	3	18	7	18	0	15	29	11	28	24	13	4	26	21	17	11	46	16
Note: The numbers represent frequencies
Figure 2: States-of-the-Aspiration and -Practice of the Karnataka Higher Education System
The state-of-the-practice of the higher education system in Karnataka is good and could be better (Figure 2 bottom half). It is better than the public and media perceptions of the same. A major source of the misperceptions appears to be the weak projection of the institutional identity on the web, in the reports, and other sources of data. The data granularity is uneven. The problem is compounded by the lack of organization of the information in the various media which limit their accessibility, despite their availability. The rich evidence, despite the difficulty of acquiring and organizing it, demonstrates significant (and sometimes unexpected) strengths and weaknesses.
Such mapping and visualization can provide an excellent foundation for developing evidence-based strategies to transform the higher education system - to literally look back and to look forward systemically and systematically. To sustain the long-term transformation both the knowledgebase and the associated visualizations have to grow symbiotically.
Emanuela Reale and Emilia Primeri: Redefining the role of the nation state in the Italian higher education system: evaluation as new instrument for the university governance?
Universities have faced increasing pressures for change, both at the European and at the national level, aimed at modernizing them by introducing new management rules in order to improve quality, efficiency and effectiveness of teaching and research (Paradeise et al., 2009; Woolf, 2003; Van Vught, 2007). Italy has undergone several reforms in the higher education system introducing new regulations concerning the governance of Universities, funding and recruitment rules as well as evaluation tools and procedures with the aims of improving the academic system overall performance and of complying with international and European rules (Capano, 2011; Brunsson et al, 2000; Reale and Seeber, 2012)
Aims and objectives
The paper aims at investigating whether and how a different role is emerging for national states in the steering of national higher education systems. We focus on Italy looking at reforms approved across time, in particular at the recent one (Law 240/2010 and following decrees).
Two main issues are considered: a) the settlement of a new Agency for the Evaluation of University and Research ANVUR, b) the changes introduced to the universities internal units of evaluation (NUVs).
Our research questions are: Are there evidences of a shift of the nation State towards a new steering role in the higher education system? Are changes related to evaluation challenging the university autonomy?
Exploiting evidences from the Italian case, the study aims at discussing more in general as funding constraints and increasing need for Universities to comply with international quality standards impact on the governance and the national State relationships with the academic system.
Results
Recent university reform in Italy cut Universities basic resources and introduced evaluation and self evaluation systems, mostly decided and managed by the ANVUR. To that respect a few preliminary observations emerge.
Firstly, academic recruitment continuous downsizing might turn into a differentiation of status between the academics (those totally devoted to teaching duties and those also engaged in research activities). Secondly, responsibilities and control over the whole evaluation process assigned to the ANVUR might squeeze the role of universities internal evaluation units, which are assigned mostly of control tasks over procedures applications at the university level. Finally, best performing universities will be probably facilitated compared to less "virtuous" institutions as almost all changes needed to set up the new evaluation and quality accreditation system or to cope with new rules should not turn into major public expenses.
In so far the evaluation system emerges more and more as a new policy instrument for the University governance which also shows as the State-University relationship turns out to be mostly based on financially self sustainability logics and capacity to perform better as main criteria for the promotion and survival of academic institutions.
References
Brunsson N., Sahlin-Andersson K. (2000), Constructing Organizations: The Example of Public Sector Reform, Organization Studies, 21, (4), 721-746
Capano, G. (2011), Government continues to do its job: a comparative study of governance shifts in the higher education sector, Public Administration, 89, pp. 1622-164
Paradeise, C., Reale E., Bleiklie I. Ferlie E. (eds) (2009) University Governance: Western European comparative perspectives, Springer, Dordrecht
Reale E., Seeber M. (2012), Instruments as empirical evidence for the analysis of Higher Education policies, Higher Education, forthcoming
Van Vught, F. (2007), Diversity and differentiation in higher education systems. Challenges for the knowledge society, Higher Education Policy, 20, 2
Woolf, S. (2003), On university reform in Italy: contradictions and power relations in structure and function. Minerva, 4, 41, pp.347-36
Kojima Saeko: Frameworks of Collaborative Partnership Programmes between Students and Staff in Japanese Higher Education: A comparative study with the US cases
The purpose of this study is to clarify the frameworks for implementing collaborative partnership programmes between students and staff in Japanese higher education. Collaborative partnership programmes are designed to support student development through cooperation between academics, staff, and students or between individual institutions and other organisations, such as local governments. Many studies have demonstrated how collaborative partnership programmes that have been implemented in various institutions enhance students' learning outcomes (Boyer: 1987, Kuh: 1996).
There are three main reasons for conducting this study. First, there is a growing interest in student affairs among many researchers. Second, educational policy focuses on this theme. Third, student-centred learning promotes an interactive learning environment, such as learning commons. Although many collaborative partnership programmes have been developed, the characteristics and modelling of effective collaborative programmes have not been documented extensively. Representative qualitative research on the outcomes of collaborative partnership programmes in the US has been done by Nesheim et al. (2007) and Whitt et al. (2008) under the Boyer Partnership Assessment Project, which is supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education of the US Department of Education. This qualitative study is based on text analysis and examines one of the official reports of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan.
In conclusion, this study tries to show an effectively collaborative model for student support and then provide valuable information for student development. Moreover, the findings of the study will contribute to a reconsideration of how the effectiveness of staff development can be improved. The study will also encourage a comparison with the US cases.
References:
Boyer, E.L. (1987). College: The undergraduate experience in America. New York: Harper & Row. Kuh, G.D. (1996). Guiding principles for creating seamless learning environments for undergraduates. Journal of College Student Development, 37(2), 135-148.
Nesheim, B. E., Guentzel, M.J., Kellogg, A.H., McDonald, W.H., Wells, C.A., & Whitt, E.J. (2007). Outcomes for students of student affairs-academic affairs partnership programs. Journal of College Student Development, 48(4), 435-454.
Whitt, E.J., Nesheim, B.E., Guentzel, M.J., Kellogg, A.H., McDonald, W.M., & Wells, C.A. (2008). "Principles of good practice" for academic and student affairs partnership programs. Journal of College Student Development, 49(3), 235-249.
Shinichi Yamamoto: Higher Education Reform: Why did it start and has never been ended? An analysis of Japanese case for a useful reference for other counties
Current higher education reform movement in Japan started in early 1990s and has progressed greatly until today. Japan had practiced higher education reforms more than several times since its modern higher education system was created in the late 19th century, but the current higher education reform is very different from the previous ones because: 1) it is not only country-wide systemic reform but also it concerns individual institutions to practice, 2) it is not only administrative and managerial reform but also it requires higher education institutions improve their quality of teaching and research, 3) it is ever-growing reform that no one can stop to date.
The political, economic, and social backgrounds of the current reform can be explained as follows: 1) the Cold War ended around 1990 which changed domestic political power balance as well as world system, and it made the government reform higher education system much more easily than before, 2) the Bubble Economy in Japan was collapsed in the same period and higher education institutions must adopt new economic situation, 3) the 18-year-old population started to decline and thus many higher education institutions must reform themselves to attract students, which might drastically decline in the near future.
Another important reason for the reform was related to adaptation for globalization, knowledge-based economy, and growing science and technology influences. In spite of the growing role of higher education, however, financial deficit of the government become serious and this situation is not only in Japan but also other countries. As the theme of the General Conference of OECD/IMHE in 2010 was higher education in a World changed utterly, doing more with less, the reform of higher education with less money has become more serious.
In Japan, there are many policy documents which insist higher education reform. However the reform seems difficult to realize completely and thus it will never end. We need wider view for the solution. In my paper, several reform policy issues will be analyzed and they may be a useful reference for policy makers and university people in other countries.
6. Participants' List
A Odora Hoppers	Catherine	University of South Africa	South Africa	Hoppeco@unisa.ac.za
Alemu	Sintayehu Kassaye	Mekelle University	Ethiopia	sintayehukassaye@gmail.com
Alvarez-Mendiola	German	DIE-CINVESTAV	Mexico	galvare@cinvestav.mx
Andres	Lesley	University of British Columbia	Canada	lesley.andres@ubc.ca
Antonowicz	Dominik	Nicolaus Copernicus University	Poland	dominik@umk.pl
Archer	Walter	University of Alberta	Canada	walter.archer@ualberta.ca
Astrand	Bjorn	Umea University	Sweden	bjorn.astrand@umu.se
Babin	Mihajlo	FEFA	Serbia	mbabin@fefa.edu.rs
		Bureau for Academic		
Bader	Agata	Recognition and International Exchange	Poland	bader@buwiwm.edu.pl
BenDavid-Hadar	Iris	Bar Ilan University	Israel	iris.bendavidhadar@gmail.com
Beracs	Jozsef	Corvinus University of Budapest	Hungary	jozsef.beracs@uni-corvinus.hu
Bird	Jeremy	Institute of Technology	Ireland	bird.jerry@itsl igo.ie
Bjeliš	Aleksa	University of Zagreb	Croatia	abjelis@unizg.hr
Bojan	Cristina	Babes-Bolyai University	Romania	bochristro@yahoo.com
Bruneau	William	University of British Columbia	Canada	william.bruneau@gmail.com
Chen	Jie	British Council	Thailand	pomreru@gmail.com
		University of Rijeka, Faculty		
Culum	Bojana	if Humanities and Social Sciences	Croatia	bculum@ffri.hr
Čančar	Ivana	Inštitut za razvojne in strateške analize - IRSA	Slovenia	ivana.cancar@gmail.com
		Academica en Benemerita		
de Vries	Wietse	Universidad Autonoma de Puebla	Mexico	wietsedevries@ultranet.com.mx
Donina	Davide	University od Bergamo	Italy	davide.donina@unibg.it
Flander	Alenka	CMEPIUS	Slovenia	alenka.flander@cmepius.si
Frankowicz	Marek	Jagiellonian University in Krakow	Poland	marek.frankowicz@gmail.com
Godejsa	Maja	CMEPIUS	Slovenia	maja.godejsa@cmepius.si
Gok	Enes	University of Pittsburgh	USA	enesgok@gmail.com
Greene	Melanie	Memorial University of Newfoundland	Canada	melaniejg@mun.ca
Gregorutti	Gustavo	University of Montemorelos	Mexico	grego@um.edu.mx
Gyorkos	Jozsef	University of Maribor	Slovenia	jozsef.gyorkos@uni-mb.si
Hackl	Elsa	University of Vienna	Austria	elsa.hackl1@chello.at
Ivetic	Marko	University of Belgrade	Serbia	marko.ivetic@rect.bg.ac.rs
Jacob	James	University of Pittsburgh, School of Education	USA	wjacob@pitt.edu
Jashari	Hasan	SEE University	Macedonia	h.jashari@seeu.edu.mk
Jasurek	Miroslav	Charles University in Prague	Czech Republic	miroslav.jasurek@ruk.cuni.cz
Kamšek	Katja	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	katja.kamsek@uni-lj.si
Kazoka	Asnate	State Education Development Agency	Latvia	asnate.kazoka@gmail.com
Khan	Tanveer	Centre for the Study of Culture and Society CSCS	India	tanveer_h@cscs.res.in
Kirby	Dale	Memorial University of Newfoundland	Canada	dkirby@mun.ca
		The National Education		
Klavžar	Karmen	Institute of the RepublicoOf Slovenia	Slovenia	karmen.klavzar@zrss.si
Knudsen	Inge	Coimbra Group	Belgium	knudsen@coimbra-group.eu
Kojima	Saeko	Tamagawa University	Japan	saeko@edu.tamagawa.ac.jp
Komotar	Maruša	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	marusa.komotar@gmail.com
Koritnik	Mihaela	University of Maribor	Slovenia	mkoletnik@uni-mb.si
Kovačevič	Melita	University of Zagreb	Croatia	melita.kovacevic@unizg.hr
Kovats	Gergely	Corvinus University of Budapest	Hungary	gkovats1978@gmail.com
Kwiek	Marek	University of Poznan	Poland	kwiekm@amu.edu.pl
Li	Mei	East China Normal University	China	limeiwang@yahoo.com
Li	Sumin	College of Education,Tianjin	China	lisumin@126.com
		Normal University		
Lorger	Igor	University of Maribor, Faculty of Education	Slovenia	igor_lorger@t-2.net
Marinšek	Robert	CMEPIUS	Slovenia	robert.marinsek@cmepius.si
McClure	Maureen	School of Education, University of Pittsburgh	USA	mmcclure@pitt.edu
Medved	Marja	CMEPIUS	Slovenia	marja.medved@cmepius.si
Miguel Alejandro	Gonzalez-Ledesma	Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane	Italy	alejandro.gonzalez@sumitalia.it
		Departament of Educational		
		Research Center of		
Morales	Mitzi	Research and Advances Studies of Polytechnic National Institute	Mexico	mdanaemm@gmail.com
Nestorowicz	Natalie	DUK	Austria	natalie.nestorowicz@gmail.com
Nolting	Tobias	Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Mannheim	Germany	tobias.nolting@dhbw-mannheim.de
Pajnič	Neža	CMEPIUS	Slovenia	neza.pajnic@cmepius.si
		University of Oslo,		
Papadimitriou	Antigoni	Department of Educational Research	Norway	antigonp@ped.uio.no
Pavlenko	Sonia	Babes-Bolyai University	Romania	sonia.pavlenko@gmail.com
Pavlin	Samo	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	samo.pavlin@fdv.uni-lj.si
Pechar	Hans	University of Klagenfurt	Austria	hans.pechar@uni-klu.ac.at
Perovšek	Vanja	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	vanja.perovsek@uni-lj.si
Podmenik	Darka	Inštitut za razvojne in strateške analize - IRSA	Slovenia	darka.podmenik@guest.arnes.si
Primeri	Emilia	CERIS CNR	Italy	e.primeri@ceris.cnr.it
Pritchard	Rosalind	Universiry od Ulster	UK	r.pritchard@ulster.ac.uk
Ramaprasad	Arkalgud	University of Miami	USA	prasad@miami.edu
Repac	Igor	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	igor.repac@guest.arnes.si
Schuetze	Hans	University of British Columbia	Canada	hans.schuetze@ubc.ca
Scott	Peter	University of London	UK	P.Scott@ioe.ac.uk
Slowey	Maria	Dublin City University	Ireland	maria.slowey@dcu.ie
Svetlik	Ivan	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	ivan.svetlik@uni-lj.si
Štuhec	Matjaž	NAKVIS	Slovenia	matjaz.stuhec@nakvis.si
Taylor	John	University of Liverpool	UK	john.taylor@liverpool.ac.uk
Teichler	Ulrich	University of Kassel	Germany	teichler@incher.uni-kassel.de
Vallverdu	Sisco	Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya	Spain	francesc.vallverdu@upc.edu
Vilfan	Petra	CMEPIUS	Slovenia	petra.vilfan@cmepius.si
von Luede	Rolf	University of Hamburg, Institute of Sociology	Germany	Rolf.Luede@wiso.uni-hamburg.de
Vrečko	Darinka	Ministry of Education, Science and Sport	Slovenia	darinka.vrecko@gov.si
Westa	Sina	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	Sina.Westa@pef.uni-lj.si
Wolter	Andrae	Humboldt-UniversitAttt zu Berlin	Germany	andrae.wolter@hu-berlin.de
Yamamoto	Shinichi	J.F.Oberlin University	Japan	yamamoto.rihe@gmail.com
Zalyevska	Inga	Danube University Krems	Austria	inga.2122@gmail.com
Zgaga	Pavel	University of Ljubljana	Slovenia	pavel.zgagaguest.arnes.si