The Diversification of Higher Education in the Comparative Perspective

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The Diversification of Higher Education in the Comparative Perspective

The Diversification of Higher Education in the Comparative Perspective

Futao HUANG, Professor & PhD. Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Japan

[email protected]

1st Global Convention of UNESCO Chairs in Higher Education Dubrovnik , Croatia, 14-15 October 2011

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Major research questions

• What is higher education diversification?

• What are major patterns of higher education diversification ?

• What is the rationale for the diversification of higher education?

What is diversity in higher education

• Various definitions were attributed to the terminology, for example, a description was made in the OECD document in a broad sense:

　　“… the existence of distinct forms of post-secondary education, of institutions or groups of institutions in a state or nation that have different and distinctive missions, educate and train for different lives and careers, have different styles of instruction, are organized and funded differently, and operate under different laws and relationships to government.” (OECD, 1998)

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Two approaches to discussing about higher education diversification

Two approaches will be made to address the issues concerning the diversification of higher education systems in Europe, the US, and Asia as follows:

•Diversification in higher education structure, focused on types of higher education institutions and levels of educational programs.

•Diversification in higher education functions or specialization of function.

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Diversification in higher education systems The Medieval Universities

Oxbridge

Research University

Grandes écoles

Traditional university

Russia Germany France England U.SCHINA JAPAN

Medieval

Modern

20th C.

Graduate Ed.

Post-secondary & tertiary education

Non-university sectors

Non-university sectors

Land-grant college

community college

PolytechnicsIUTsFachhochschulen

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HIGHER EDUCATION

University-type Ed. Non-university-type

Ed.

Postsecondary Education System

From higher education system to postsecondary education system

FURTHER EDUCATION

Adult Ed. Postsecondary

Institutions

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A conceptual description of the postsecondary education system in the US

（

University-type

Sp

ec

ialize

d c

olle

ge

s

No

n-accred

ited

institu

tion

s

Fo

rmal &

info

rmal

learnin

g

op

po

rtun

ities

Source: The National Commission on the Financing of Postsecondary Education, 1973.

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Diversification of HE systems in Europe during the Bologna process

Levels of programs

loosely-structured systems in each nation (more diversified)

Types of institutions

Research or comprehensive universities 　AND

Higher professional & vocational institutions

FunctionClear division of labors between two sectors

Convergent and compatiable three-cycled system at a European dimension (more integrated)

I Maintaining the dual system: Norway and the Netherlands.

II Blurring the binary division: Germany, Austria, Finland, Portugal , Switzerland.

Diversifying ranks and profiles of individual institutions, esp. a division between different universities.

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Diversification of HE systems in the US

Levels of programs

Several levels of educational programs at a system level

Types of institutions

Research and comprehensive universities 　AND

Junior and four-year colleges

Function

Clear functional differentiation according to relevant institutions

Growingly diversified levels of educational programs, esp. at a junior and four-year colleges.

No radical changes in classic research universities in comparison to a more diversifying non-university colleges and especially diversification within institutions

No distinguished changes in specialization of function among existing institutions.

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The impact of Western models on the formation of Asian higher education system

Major European countries: Germany,

U.K., France

Soviet Union

U.S.A.

North America UK, Australia & some

European countries

Late 19th C. -1945

1945 -1980s

Since 1990s

Westernization

Internationalization

Asia

Colonized &non-colonized countries

Socialist countries

Market-oriented countries

Individual countries

Former Soviet models

US models

West world

Developed & emergingcountries

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Diversification of HE systems in Asia since 1990s

Levels of programs

An emphasis on undergraduate studies

Types

More universities and junior colleges (Japan & Korea), less non-university sector

Less universities & colleges, but more higher vocational institutions (China & Vietnam)

Function

Clear division of labors among levels of programs and types of various institutions

Integrated structure of Bachelor, Master-level and Doctoral programs at a national level

Creating world-class research universities and expanding lifelong education

Creating research universities, expanding non-governmental vocation-oriented institutions and transnational institutions

Increasing functional differentiation among various sectors, esp. emphasizing research function of universities

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Quantitative growth in China

Type

Largest and fastest growth of enrollment in regular four-year universities.

Sector

Particularly a rapid increase in numbers of students in ‘Independent Colleges ’, which were initially attached to national or public institutions being operated with private mechanisms. They are often regarded as non-government sector.

Educational level

Largest and fastest increase of enrollment at

undergraduate level

Field of study

Undergraduate: drop in engineering, agriculture and medicine and rise in economics, literature.

Short-cycle programs: drop in literature and engineering and rise in economics, education and law.

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and qualitative enhancement in China since mid- 1990s The first step to improve research quality

of some key universities

A second step to establish some world-class universities

Project 211 of 1995To finance Peking University and Tsinghua University intensively with the purpose of enabling the two universities to reach or approach a higher level in the world. To enhance the quality of 25 other leading universities through provision of additional public revenue. To make efforts to improve the quality of over 300 key disciplines in different institutions. By September 2010, over 100 universities had been selected and given special financial support by both central government and local authorities.

Project 985 of 1998

Initially, only Peking University and Tsinghua University, the two top universities in China, were selected to be funded intensively by the central government. Since 2000, the number of universities that have been funded by the MOE, together with other Central ministries and local authorities has kept on growing.

By 2010 they amounted to 39.

Policy on facilitating seven functional differentiations among HE institutions in Japan since 2005

• A center for research and education at a international level• The production of highly specialized professionals• The production of graduates with wide vocational knowledge

and skills• A comprehensive liberal or general education• Education and research focused in specific fields (art, physical

education, etc.)• A center for providing regional lifelong learning opportunities • Making contributions to society (regional contribution,

academic-industry collaboration, and international exchange, etc.) (The Central Council for Education, 2008).

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Similar rationale for diversifying higher education systems in Europe, the US and Asia

-Massification of higher education

A call for higher education system and individual institutions to be more diversified and responsive to the diverse body of students and their needs.

-Knowledge-based society Demanding higher education institutions to produce graduates with

creativity and competencies and to establish a closer linkage to industry and be more responsive to social needs

-Globalization & internationalization Asking higher education institutions to be more competitive at a global

level and internationalized at a regional, national and institutional levels in educational values & beliefs, personal mobility, educational programs, campus, and medis of instruction .

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• Europe- Existence of national

identity and traditions

• Asia -Massification

-Marketization

-National strategy

Diversifying HE systems by expanding private sector and incorporation of public sector, and building up world-class universities.

While a integrated degree-programs structure is being pursued, remarkable diversities still exist among national systems.

Particular drivers for diversifying higher education systems in Europe, the US and Asia respectively

• The US - Responsive to various

stakeholders- A near universal access to higher

education

An increasing diversification within institutions, esp. an expansion in shorter and more vocationally-oriented institutions and a closer linkage between two- and four-year colleges .

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Open for discussion

• Differing from the increasing tendency of diversification within institutions in the US, there exists a considerable diversity in higher education system at a national level, though an convergent trend in the unity of European higher education system at a super-national dimension could be found . In many Asian countries, there has emerged not only new types of institutions and new levels of programs, but also trends of diversifying national higher education systems through specialization of function. However, in China, there has appeared a tendency of homogeneity among various institutions, while in Japan a hierarchical differentiation has occurred.

• The expansion of student enrollments has significantly led to a increasing diversification of higher education structure by creating new teaching-centered sectors or types and new levels of programs, however, no clear evidence shows that it has also caused a dramatic functional differentiation of higher education systems in Europe, the US or Asia.

• The diversification of the US higher education is stimulated more by market forces and the responsiveness by each institution to the needs of students, industry, employers in particular. In contrast, in Japan, China, and most European countries, the government has assumed leadership in guiding the direction, content and even the level of the diversification of higher education.

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Open for discussion (continued I)

• Apparently, drivers such as massification, marketization, internationalization, globalization, and even national policy have greatly contributed to the diversification of both higher education structure and its functional differentiation, it is likely to see that responsiveness of national higher education systems to needs and interests of community, business, government, general citizenry (as well as to parents and students), as is exemplified in the US case study, may lead to a more diversified higher education structure or system.

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Open for discussion (continued II)

References

• OECD (1998). Redefining Tertiary Education. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). pp. 40-41. Paris.

• RIHE (2011). Diversifying Higher Education Systems in the International and Comparative Perspectives (Report on the International Workshop on University Reform, 2010), Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Japan.

• Teichler, U. (2004). Changing structures of the Higher Education Systems: The Increasing Complexity Underlying Forces. UNESCO Forum Occasional Serials No. 6. pp-3-16. Paris.

• The National Commission on the Financing of Postsecondary Education (1973). Financing Postsecondary Education in the United States, Washingtong D.C.

• The Central Council for Education (2008). Daigaku no Kino Betsu Bunka to Daigaku Kan Nettowaku ni Tsuite (Sanko Shiryo) (The Functional Differentiation of Universities and Networks between Universities (reference material).(http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo4/gijiroku/08121111/001.pdf） 20

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Thank you!