Frans Kaiser

Dropout and completion in higher education in Europe: main report

Improving completion and reducing dropout in higher education are key concerns for higher education in Europe. This study on dropout and completion in higher education in Europe demonstrates that national governments and higher education institutions use three different study success objectives: completion, time-to-degree and retention. To address these objectives policy makers at national and institutional level apply various policy instruments. These can be categorized under three main policy headings: financial incentives; information and support for students; and organizational issues. The evidence indicates that countries that have more explicit study success objectives, targets and policies are likely to be more successful. Particularly if the policy approach is comprehensive and consistent. As such, it is important that study success is an issue in the information provision to (prospective) students, in financial incentives for students and institutions, in quality assurance, and in the education pathways offered to students. Furthermore, increasing the responsibility of higher education institutions for study success, for example in the area of selecting, matching, tracking, counselling, mentoring and integrating students in academic life is clearly effective. Finally, to support the policy debate and monitoring of study success evidence, there is a need for more systematic international comparative data and thorough analysis of the effectiveness of study success policies

An Interactive Multidimensional Ranking Web Tool

This chapter presents examples of U-Multirank results, demonstrating the user-driven approach and showing that U-Multirank introduces a second level of interactive ranking beyond the selection of indicators: the selection of a sample of institutions to be compared in focused rankings. U-Multirank has a much broader scope than existing rankings and intends to include a wider variety of institutional profiles. The authors argue that it does not make much sense to compare institutions across diverse institutional profiles and that U-Multirank offers a tool to identify and select institutions that are truly comparable in terms of their institutional profiles.

Performance agreements in higher education: a new approach to higher education funding

Increasingly, governments have introduced elements of performance in the funding mechanisms for their higher education institutions. One particular development is the rise of Performance Agreements (PAs), which are contracts signed between funding authorities and individual universities or colleges. The key characteristics of the PAs in place in several OECD countries are summarized before turning to the Netherlands, where an experiment with PAs was recently (2016) concluded. The question is whether this experiment improved performance in the higher education system, where ‘performance’ is understood in terms of the students’ graduation rates, the quality of teaching and learning and the diversity in the provision of education and research. What has been achieved in these areas? And what can be learned from the Dutch performance agreements experiment in general?

Study success in higher education: male versus female students

Study success is an important topic for countries concerned with the effectiveness of their higher education system. A closer look at study success outcomes suggests there are noticeable differences between male and female students: in terms of enrolment, study choices, drop‐out rates, retention rates and completion rates. On study success indicators female students are outperforming male students. Through a literature review, insights from European experts, and case studies at seven Dutch higher education institutions, this paper looks into the extent of the problem experience, the by the literature suggested explanations, and the policy instruments implemented to bridge the gender gap in study success. The problem experience differs by country, yet most European experts see aspects where female students are performing better. On the institutional level, it are mainly specific study programmes (e.g. primary teacher education) that experience study success differences and where gender‐specific policies have been introduced, such as curricula made more in line with characteristics of male students. However, the effectiveness of the implemented instruments is largely unknown. The same outcome is found in the literature review: policies can address, for example, learning environments, but the effect is unknown. More recent insights into differences in brain development between males and females, suggest that alternative learning environments might be more in line with female non‐ cogitative skill, which they developed earlier. This is seen as a strong reason for further research and continues consideration of possible effects on the gender gap in higher education policy reforms.

Background and design

This chapter presents the history and development of the U-Multirank project, the system’s design principles, conceptual framework and methodological approach.

The Pilot Test and Its Outcomes

This chapter describes the design and outcomes of the pilot test assessing the feasibility of implementing U-Multirank. The authors outline the construction of the global sample of institutions that participated in the pilot test and discuss the feasibility of the data collection procedures and use of the various indicators presented in Chap. 7. Finally, they discuss the level of institutional interest in participating in the pilot and the potential upscaling of U-Multirank to a globally applicable multidimensional ranking tool.

EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Given the growth of national higher education systems, questions of access, expansion and diversification have regularly been addressed by higher education policy-makers and researchers. Often a straightforward relationship is presumed between the growth of the student body and the expansion of higher education systems and between the growth of the student numbers and diversification of such systems. This chapter presents an alternative approach to these phenomena. A theoretical model is built around the concept of ‘carrying capacity’. The preliminary empirical findings — using data from the Netherlands and Australia — support the assumed role of, for example, national GDP, labour force productivity and the number of higher education graduates in explaining total enrolments in higher education. The findings regarding the relationship between enrolments and diversity were not in line with the expectations. The alternative approach, nevertheless, seems worth pursuing.