Jürgen Enders

On the Way towards New Public Management? The Governance of University Systems in England, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany

I. On the Way towards New Public Management? The Governance of University Systems in England, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany 137 1. The governance equalizer 137 2. Governance changes in the four countries 140 2.1 England 141 2.2 The Netherlands 142 2.3 Austria 144 2.4 Germany 146 3. Comparative conclusions 148 References 151

The Academic Profession

In observing the various sectors of production and service in our modern societies and the various institutions in charge, we note that the higher education and research sector is peculiar in several respects. Higher education can be characterized by a relatively open set of multiple goals; by loose mechanisms of coercion, control and steering from above; by a high degree of fragmentation; and by a strong influence of the principal workers— the academic professionals—on the determination of goals, on the management and administration of institutions, and on the daily routines of work. In addition, if we look at the interrelationships between different sectors of production and services, we might consider the academic profession to be one of the most influential in shaping other sectors as well. This is, for example, underscored by British social historian Harold Perkin’s description of the academic profession as the “key profession . . . the profession that educates the other professions” (Perkin, 1969).

A Victim of Their Own Success? Employment and Working Conditions of Academic Staff in Comparative Perspective.

Interest in the status and functions, the potential and thevulnerability of the academic profession has grown in recent times.International comparison is of special interest in this context: are theproblems experienced more or less universal, or are there options andconditions in individual countries which might suggest solutions for thefuture? The paper analyses some findings and implications of the‘International Survey of the Academic Profession’ with a special focus onthe various subgroups of academics in the European countries involved inthis empirical study. The analyses focuses on the employment and workingconditions, as well as the way academics handle their various professionaltasks and functions. Considerable differences between the universityprofessoriate, middle-rank and junior staff at universities and staff atother institutions of higher education are noted. At least in the majorityof European countries surveyed, one would hesitate to consider them part ofthe same profession. By and large, however, the relatively independentnature of their jobs allows most academics to find areas of professionalactivity which are the source of professional attachment andsatisfaction.

A chair system in transition: appointments, promotions, and gate-keeping in German higher education

The traditional German system of academic appointments and careers has recently become a focus of policy reorganisation. The article analyses the ongoing debates and changes on the basis of an examination of the origins and overall function of the academic career system. It is argued that the recruitment, promotion, and appointment of academic staff are seen as more important issues in countries, like Germany, where they shape the institutional pattern of higher education and where they are a major link to the state and society.

Careers in overlapping institutional contexts: the case of academe

Purpose – Studying academic careers can be particularly useful for discussions about new forms of professional careers. This conceptual paper seeks to shed light on academic careers by discussing the (changing) multiple contexts governing academic careers.Design/methodology/approach – A neo‐institutional framework for analysing academic careers is developed that treats them as outcomes of overlapping institutions belonging to the different social contexts in which academics simultaneously act. This approach allows one to locate academic careers in the context of new and traditional career literature and to address changes in the institutional context of academic careers.Findings – Shows how traditional structures and mechanisms of academic careers are interwoven with the overall patterns of national higher education systems and their societal embeddedness. Empirical evidence was found that academic careers are becoming more boundaryless. But evidence was also found that academic careers are more bound to ...

On striking the right notes: Shifts in governance and the organisational transformation of universities

During the last decades traditional state-centered governing arrangements have been critiqued and replaced by alternative modes of governance. These shifts have been driven by economic, ideological and pragmatic motives (Pierre and Peters 2000; Pollitt and Bouckaert 2000). The introduction of alternative ways of exercising collective control and influencing society has led to a widespread interest in the concept of ‘governance’. Recent overviews — amongst others by Rhodes (2000), Pierre and Peters (2000), Peters (2001), van Kersbergen and van Waarden (2004), Hajer et al. (2004) — discuss the differences and similarities among the various governance approaches as well as the absence of a general agreed-upon definition of the governance concept. At the same time, they leave no doubt that the forms and mechanisms of governance, the location of governance, the governing capabilities and the styles of governance have not only been discussed but have been modified or substantially changed. The consequences of such changes are seldom linear, most of the time unpredictable and contestable. Are they ‘merely a way of wrapping government in a new paper which is more palatable to the public, or does the idea represent something qualitatively new and different?’ (Pierre and Peters 2000: 68) On the basis of governance, new public management and organisational change literature, we discuss changes in the ways of governing and organising universities as professional public sector organisations. We will argue that traditional and alternative ways of governing and organising universities form a hybrid of deeply embedded old and ‘sedimenting’ new structures and processes. Therefore, transformational change in the public sector may remain more limited in scope and depth than has often been argued by the proponents of alternative steering models (for the case of higher education, see also Kogan et al. 2006; Askling and Henkel 2006). We will support our view with empirical data drawn from a number of studies on change and stability in higher education policies and organisational practices in the Netherlands over the last three decades (a.o. Maassen and van Vught 1989; Binsbergen et al. 1991; Goedegebuure et al. 1993; Westerheijden 1997; Rip 1998; de Weert 2000; Jongbloed 2003; de Boer 2003; Huisman and Toonen 2004; Jeliazkova and Westerheijden 2004). In these studies macro-level changes in higher education policy in national and cross-national perspectives as well as processes of organisational change in universities have been investigated

The Mission Impossible of the European University: Institutional Confusion and Institutional Diversity

The outline for this book stresses the importance of the institutional dynamics of the European university and points to its current state of institutional confusion and search for identity. In fact, attempts to delineate some common elements of the multiple transformations of the university point to the unfolding of a most interesting paradox (Krucken et al. 2007). The European university is undeniably a success story. Research and teaching have expanded enormously; the fields of research and scholarship have multiplied and provide potential links to all other sub-systems in modern society (Frank and Meyer 2007). While there are signs of stagnation there are also growing expectations with regard to the contribution of higher education and research to the ‘European knowledge society’. Modern societies and their sub-systems all seek new innovations and expect the universities to deliver these goods. In parallel with its success, deepening criticism of the European university is coming more and more to the fore – on the national level as well as on the European level.

European universities as complete organizations? Understanding identity, hierarchy and rationality in public organizations

Abstract This article investigates the form of European universities to determine the extent to which they resemble the characteristics of complete organizations and whether the forms are associated with modernization policy pressure, national institutional frames and organizational characteristics. An original data set of twenty-six universities from eight countries was used. Specialist universities have a stronger identity, whereas the level of hierarchy and rationality is clearly associated with the intensity of modernization policies. At the same time, evidence suggests limitations for universities to become complete, as mechanisms allowing the development of some dimensions seemingly constrain the capability to develop others.

Reform of Higher Education in Europe

Nowhere today is higher education undergoing more substantial change than in Europe. As countries pursue policies designed to integrate their economies, political systems and social structures, it is becoming increasingly clear that higher education, research and innovation are critical components to fully realising the potential gains stemming from the changes ahead. This very idea has been espoused in several highlevel European wide processes and has given rise to a series of ambitious goals and objectives designed to ensure long term European pre-eminence as both a knowledge producer and transmitter. European higher education systems have shown themselves to be no stranger to political reform: for the better part of three decades the sector has been included in the much broader national and international–even global–reforms in Western and Eastern Europe. In order to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of our Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, former and current CHEPS staff have written the chapters of this book analysing and reflecting on issues of reform in European higher education. This introduction provides a brief overview of some of the major issues at stake in European higher education and introduces the contributions to this book.

Comparing Higher Education Governance Systems in Four European Countries

Since the 1990s, “new governance” has been at the forefront of discussions on governance in higher education and elsewhere. “Less government and more governance” has become the widely shared credo (Frederickson 1999:705). Supported by neo-liberal ideologies, authorities and powers have been redistributed across the various levels of higher education sys-tems. In many European countries, coordination has changed from a clas-sical form of regulation by one actor, the state, to forms in which various actors at various system levels coordinate the system (“multi-level multi-actor governance”). Coordination increasingly takes place through inter-connected policy levels, ranging from the local to the global level, with a substantial number of actors who in networks of interdependent relation-ships influence agenda setting, policy development, policy determination, policy implementation and evaluation (de Boer 2006). Generally speaking, we witness the blend of various forms of governance, in which elements of traditional governance, with a key role of the state, self-governance, havinga long tradition in higher education, and network governance are present. In this chapter, we will take a more differentiated and analytical view on governance in four university systems. We will compare changes of university governance in England, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany over the last two decades. For this purpose, we have established what we call the “governance equalizer”. After a brief introduction on governance, this analytical tool is presented in the first part of this chapter. The second