Franciscus Kaiser

Higher Education Policy. An International Comparative Perspective

Higher education policy in international perspective: an overview (L. Goedegebuure, F. Kaiser, P. Maassen, E. de Weert). Higher education policy in Australia (L. Meek). Higher education policy in Califomia (W. Fox). Higher education policy in Denmark (P. Bache, P. Maassen). Higher education policy in France (F. Kaiser, G. Neave). Higher education policy in Germany (E. Frackman, E. de Weert). Higher education policy in Japan (A. Arimoto, E. de Weert). Higher education policy in the Netherlands (L. Goedegebuure, F. Kaiser, P. Maassen, E. de Weert). Higher educational policy in Ontario (G. Jones). Higher education policy in Sweden (G. Svanfeldt). Higher education policy in Switzerland (K. Weber). Higher education policy in the United Kingdom (J. Brennan, T. Shah). International perspectives on trends and issues in higher education policy (L. Goedegebuurre, F. Kaiser, P. Maassen, L. Meek, F. Van Vught, E. de Weert).

International perspectives on trends and issues in higher education policy

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses international perspectives on trends and issues in a higher education policy. Privatization and market competition can be mere fads in the higher education policy, but the pursuit of these trends from a variety of different directions would lead one to believe otherwise. Also, the significance of the lean toward competition, de-regulation, and entrepreneurialism is given some credence by the fact that it seems that kindred forces are pushing different higher education systems in similar directions. Governments in different places are formulating similar responses to the problems facing their respective higher education systems. This can be due, in part, to similar responses to similar environmental circumstances. Economic instability, rising unemployment, flagging export markets, trade imbalances, and inflation know no national boundaries. Traditional manufacturing industries are being replaced by the so-called “knowledge processing sector,” to which higher education has a particular economic contribution to make. The social service burden on national treasuries is rising everywhere, coupled with “pressures to cut government expenditure and to demand greater efficiencies from public sector institutions and enterprises.”

Higher education policy in international perspective: an overview

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of higher education policy in an international perspective. Developments in higher education in general and in higher education policy in particular can be analyzed from a multitude of perspectives. A quick glance through the existing literature suffices to affirm this statement. As there are many different ways of looking at higher education policy, it becomes of primary importance to locate an international comparative project within an overarching framework to curb individual hobby horses and maximize comparability of outcomes of the constituent parts. The framework underlying this study on higher education policy in an international perspective has been constructed by combining the key elements formulated in the project remit of the Bertelsmann Foundation and elements that have featured prominently, and proven viable, in prior work undertaken by CHEPS in the area of comparative higher education policy research. Using this framework, the chapter discusses the concepts of regulation and control, autonomy and academic freedom, federalism, and intermediary bodies.

Public expenditure on higher education: a comparative study in the EC-member states, 1975-1990.

This article is an exercise in cross‐national comparative research on the financing of higher education, the countries involved being the EC countries. Before relevant comparisons could be made, agreement had to be reached as to what “higher education” is and what “students” are. It was then necessary to find some way of making accurate comparisons of monetary units and of dealing with contradictory ways in which educational statistics were and still are collected and collated. A research strategy was developed using existing sources, a specially developed questionnaire, and consultation with national experts. The results displayed biases for which corrections had to be made. They also, however, displayed a wide variety in the level of higher education expenditure in the EC countries. The project gave rise to the creation of the first comprehensive database that covers public expenditure on higher education in the twelve member states of the EC. It can be regarded as the first step in the creation of the ...

Ranking Goes International

The basic idea underlying the pilot project ‘CHE Ranking of European Universities’ is that the evolution of a common European Higher Education Area in the context of the Bologna process and a common European Research Area in the Lisbon strategy will lead to growing European mobility of students and higher education staff. Hence, comparable information about European higher education institutions will become more important for students as well as for academics in order for them to make well-informed choices in selecting where to go in the large European space, with perhaps 4,000 higher education institutions in more than 40 countries.

Higher Education Policy in The Netherlands

This chapter provides an overview of higher education policy in the Netherlands. In The Netherlands, childrens school life begins at the age of 4 or 5. Primary education lasts 8 years and children enter secondary education around the age of 12. The Dutch secondary education system contains a variety of forms with possibilities of transfer from one type to another. Five categories of secondary education can be distinguished—pre-university education (vwo), senior general secondary education (HAVO), junior general secondary education (MAVO), junior secondary vocational education (VBO), and senior secondary vocational education (MBO). Except for MBO, all these categories follow immediately after primary school. In terms of their function, these types of schools either prepare students for further education or for direct entry into the labor market. The boundaries between the categories of secondary education are permeable, for example MAVO graduates can transfer to a senior grade of HAVO and HAVO dropouts can transfer to MAVO. All forms are regulated through the Secondary Education Act.

U-Map, University Activity Profiles in Practice

There is a large number of higher education institutions in Europe and their number and character are changing constantly. Expanding demand for higher education and changing national and European policies regarding the role of higher education and higher education institutions in society have contributed to a growing diversity of higher education providers and a growing need for information on who providers are and what services they provide. Given the overload of data on the internet and other information sources, there is a clear need for instruments that present the information on institutional activity in a meaningful and concise way. A growing number of transparency tools intend to do just that – a prominent example being the national and international rankings. Rankings try to capture the vertical external diversity in the field, but in doing so they have been subjected to heavy criticism as they reduce the information to simple league tables that do little or no justice to the complexity of what a higher education institution is and what it does. Rankings only concentrate on a restricted number of institutions and a very limited set of their various activities. In 2009, an alternative approach for enhancing transparency was presented: U-Map. U-Map is an instrument – a classification tool – designed for describing the horizontal external diversity while presenting a much broader view. The instrument was created after an intense and interactive process involving many of higher education’s stakeholders. A prototype of U-Map was presented in 2009. Since then, this classification instrument has been implemented in four countries, with additional countries to follow.

Study success in higher education: mind the gender gap

Improving study success has become an important topic in most Western higher education systems. Societies require more and better educated people as the basic driving force for the further sustainable development of their knowledge economies. However, after the rise of participation rates throughout Europe, we are now presumably on a level that makes it difficult to raise the rates substantially further. This can be seen as a reason for higher education policymakers to shift their focus to increasing the success of those in the system.

Dimensions and Indicators

This chapter presents in detail the selection of indicators for U-Multirank and the depth of stakeholder involvement in the design process. It discusses each indicator, the research leading to its selection and the testing processes which affected the final decisions on inclusion or exclusion of certain indicators.