B.M. Kehm

Research on Internationalisation in Higher Education

This contribution provides an overview of the developments of research undertaken since the mid-1990s on international higher education. The general state of research is characterised by an increase of theoretically and methodologically ambitious studies without a dominant disciplinary, conceptual, or methodological “home.” The main topics of research on internationalisation in higher education reach from mobility, mutual influence of higher education systems, and internationalisation of the substance of teaching and learning to institutional strategies, knowledge transfer, cooperation and competition, and national and supranational policies. The modes of inquiry are varied but have not changed much over time. A brief localisation of the role of the Journal of Studies in International Education in the context of research about internationalisation in higher education is followed by conclusions emphasising a certain amount of continuity but also a broadening of the field with an increasing number of ambitious studies. The contribution closes with a few proposals for future research.

Towards a new understanding of the relationships between higher education and employment

Do we have to reconsider the prevailing ways of perceiving and interpreting the relationships between higher education and employment? If so, what are the appropriate approaches at the end of the 20th century? Obviously, concern about unemployed graduates is more pronounced than in the past. The changing professional role of graduates in the wake of educational expansion is again on the agenda. The public debate about the relationships between higher education and employment indicates an increased trend towards utilitarian views combined with growing uncertainty about how utilitarian intentions can be translated into strategic action. Finally, political developments, such as the growing economic and social integration of the European Union as well as the socio-political transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, have substantial implications for the relationships between higher education and employment. Recently, various efforts have been made to summarise facts and interpretations. For example, in the late 1980s the OECD commissioned national case studies about the transition from higher education to employment (OECD, 1993). The Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (Brennan, Kogan & Teichler, 1995) and the Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education recently focused their annual conferences on these issues. The OECD and the Commission of the European Union (OECD, 1995) chose this topic as one of the four major themes of a series of conferences and workshops on future developments of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe. Last but not least, the selection of articles in this and the previous issue of the European Journal of Education reflects the re-emerging interest in this theme. Is higher education expected more strongly than in the past to consider its contribution to technological innovation and economic growth? Does the growing sense of a competitive environment for higher education create a need to find one niche or competitive edge in the labour market for graduates? Does higher education redefine its role for society when graduates become part of a highly qualified workforce? Which educational approaches are most suitable in the wake of growing uncertainty as regards both future demands in general and, more specifically, the future careers and tasks of the individuals currently enrolled at institutions of higher education? Why do we note a growing emphasis on the autonomy of higher education concurrent with more complaints about tensions

The Academic Profession in Europe: New Tasks and New Challenges

This book is the first of several with the results of a collaborative European project supported by the European Science Foundation on changes in the academic profession in Europe (EUROAC). It provides a short description of the ESF EUROHESC programme and the particular forms of international collaborative research projects which are funded under the umbrella of this programme. It then outlines the EUROAC project. This project has chosen three foci (governance, professionalisation, academic careers) to analyse changes in the work of the academic profession. The first results in the form of in-depth literature reviews constitute the content of the book. These eight literature reviews about the state of the art of existing research feature the various dimensions of the overall theme. A particular emphasis is put on factors leading to changes in the work tasks of the academic profession in Europe and how the academic profession is coping with these new challenges.Thus, the book provides a state of the art account of existing research about the following themes: main results of previous studies on the academic profession; the academic profession and their interaction with new higher education professionals; professional identities in higher education; extending work tasks: civic mission and sustainable development; academic careers in academic markets; the changing role of academics in the face of rising managerialism; the influence of quality assurance, governance, and relevance on the satisfaction of the academic profession.

The Impacts of University Management on Academic Work: Reform Experiences in Austria and Germany **

This contribution analyses the impacts of managerial governance on academic work, and more especially on research, comparing German and Austrian universities. First, recent reforms of university governance in the two countries are summarized. Second, the degree of implementation of managerial governance at universities is analysed as well as its effects on decision-making and on the organisation of research by individual academics, drawing on 39 interviews conducted in the 2 countries. Empirical evidence suggests that (a) managerial decision-making structures have been implemented at the central level; (b) deans basically see their role as protecting academics from pressures emanating from managerial interventions of university leadership; and (c) restrictions experienced by individual academics with respect to their personal research agendas are due to shortages of resources rather than to the newly-introduced mechanisms of external guidance or competitive pressure. As a conclusion, the growing importance of non-academically defined criteria for research performance is highlighted as a major consequence of the introduction of university management which could, in future, make traditional academic quality standards less relevant.

Oral Examinations at German Universities

Oral examinations have long been a part of German higher education. This paper gives a brief account of their historical roots and the continuing debate about their functions and validity. The earlier phases of the twentieth century debate concentrated on methodology and issues of technique. The educational changes of the 1970s brought more fundamental challenges and calls for their abolition. Yet they remain in place and there is a body of opinion which continues to defend their use and to assign them a role in the assessment process.

To Be or Not to Be? The Impacts of the Excellence Initiative on the German System of Higher Education

This chapter introduces some of the traditional characteristics of German higher education and presents the major areas of change and reform since the 1990s. This sets the scene for the analysis of the Excellence Initiative introduced in 2006/2007. The initiative broke a long-standing taboo by giving up the idea of basic institutional homogeneity characteristic for the German higher education system after World War II. The selection process and its outcomes in the three rounds of competition that have taken place so far are described. This is followed by a critical analysis of the effects and side effects the German Excellence Initiative has had so far on the German higher education system, that is, more stratification, a downgrading of teaching, an additional administrative burden and a trend towards institutional fragmentation. The final part discusses whether the intended goals have been reached and can be reached. The conclusion is that the Excellence Initiative as a political programme has changed its course and did not achieve all the goals attached to it and a new balance has to be found between attributed status and objective performance.

Internationalisation in Higher Education: from Regional to Global

The contribution starts with a clarification of terms and concepts which have determined debates about internationalisation in higher education for the last few years. In particular, a differentiation is made between Europeanisation, internationalisation and globalisation. Then the main research approaches dealing with internationalisation in higher education are summarised in a typology from which the question is derived whether we are confronted with a trend towards harmonisation or further differentiation of institutional types and national systems due to internationalisation processes. Historically four phases of internationalisation in higher education can be distinguished with possibly a fifth phase currently starting and extending the perspective of internationalisation into that of globalisation. Higher education reforms between internationalisation and globalisation are then characterised by three main processes — a de-monopolisation of public higher education, a de-institutionalisation of studies and learning, and a de-nationalisation of policy — which lead to four areas of change. Internationalisation and currently globalisation act as catalysts for these changes. In a concluding chapter issues for further research and policy decisions are sketched on the micro, meso and macro levels.

Strategic Management of Internationalisation Processes: Problems and Options

In the framework of their first SOCRATES/ERASMUS applications in1996, institutions of higher education in Europe were asked toformulate and submit a European Policy Statement (EPS) expressingthe managerial and strategic thrust of their European goals andactivities for which they wanted to receive support. As this wasa new exercise for many institutions, especially from countries inwhich mission statements are not the rule, the resulting EPSs oftencontained a number of inconsistencies with regard to institutionalstrategies and policies and with regard to the relationship betweeninstitutional and European goals and policies. The contributiondiscusses typical problems of the strategic management ofinternationalisation processes at higher education institutionsby presenting results of an analysis of these EPSs. It also drawssome conclusions regarding implications for future developments inthe context of institutional management of change and the conceptof the learning organisation.

From product to process. The reform of doctoral education in Europe and China

This contribution is based on an analysis of recent changes in doctoral education that can be observed in Europe and China. It traces the policies having led to these changes and discusses related policy transfer. The contribution is divided into five parts. It begins by sketching recent changes in doctoral education in the framework of the European Bologna Process and the framework of Chinese higher education reforms looking at similarities and differences in the underlying rationales. The second part will elaborate on the extended policy field for doctoral education which is no longer regarded as an exclusively academic affair but has become an object of institutional management, national policy-making and – at least in Europe – supra-national agenda setting. The third part will take a closer look at the multiplication of purposes and models for doctoral education. While in Europe, altogether, nine different types of doctoral education and training can be identified, China has just started to diversify its doctoral training by adding professional degrees and (in engineering) joint doctoral programmes to the traditional pathway. The fourth part will discuss two overarching issues which are equally in the centre of debates and policy-making in Europe and in China-quality management and internationalisation of doctoral education. In the last and concluding part, we will reflect on the implications of the extended policy field and the diversification of doctoral education models in terms of the question of how this reflects on quality assurance mechanisms, who is qualified to convey the extended skills set and whether academic careers remain sufficiently attractive to attract the best and the brightest talent.

The World-Class University in Different Systems and Contexts

Although we use the term “world-class university,” it remains an ambiguous term. In addition, government and universities tend to interpret the term differently depending on their contexts. This chapter discussed the strategy that each country could adopt or has already adopted for building a world-class university. Special attention has been paid to how each country has approached the issue of a world-class university in different higher education contexts—development of higher education, economic and education contexts, and internationalization of academics. The historical and contextualized approach helps readers understand why and how each country has adopted different strategies depending on their own contexts.