Hierarchy and Specialisation: on the institutional integration of higher education systems¹

Patterns of Subject Mix in Higher Education Institutions: A First Empirical Analysis Using the AQUAMETH Database

“…Most work concerned with the differentiation in the HEI population has focused on vertical differentiation (concerning, for example, quality of research) and differentiation concerning missions (Bleiklie 2003;Huisman et al 2007), for example, between education and research, but largely neglected the question to what extent differentiation takes place alongside the subject dimension, with individual HEIs selectively focusing on specific subject domains depending also on the opportunities and resources available in each field (see, however, Rossi 2009 for the Italian case).…”

“…This is possible for a sizeable number of countries for enrolled students, undergraduates and publications from the Web of Science, for fewer of them for academic staff, PhD students and PhD graduates. Time series are available as follows in Table 1: 1994-20061994-20061994-2006--1994Norway 1995-20031995-20031995-2003-1995-20031995-2003Netherlands --1995-2001---Switzerland 1994-20021994-20021994-20021994-20031994-20031994-2001Italy 19971997-20051997--1995-2001Portugal 1997-20011997-2001---1994-2001Spain 19941994-1994…”

Towards a Principled Basis for Curriculum Differentiation

“…Bleiklie (2003) argues that within unitary higher education systems the manner in which institutions define their academic identities is influenced by the value that they, and the policy and regulatory environment in which they operate, attach to hierarchical prestige over functional specialisation. A hierarchical model implies standardisation, and therefore prestige based on a common set of criteria that typically are shaped by the norms of traditional research universities.…”

“…They hold the promise of increased access for a wider diversity of students, improved articulation between 10 The former technikons were reconstituted as universities of technology in 2003(Du Pré 2010 It is interesting to note that the Gesamthochschulen experiment to create a closer association between research-oriented university education and the vocationally oriented education offered by the colleges met with little success. In fact the higher education system in Germany has moved away from the idea of a unified system in favour of maintaining a distinct binary system (Gibbon 2004;Kyvik 2004). career-focused and general academic programmes, and expanded opportunities for research and applied research by linking the research missions of the technikons with the research strengths of universities (RSA DoE 2002).…”

Research in non-university higher education institutions. The case of the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences

“…This distinction can be interpreted as the result of two policies to achieve differentiation (Bleikie 2003). Thus in unitary systems, differentiation is pursued through competitive mechanisms in the allocation of resources, which select a restricted number of high-level research institutions (for example in the US ''stratified '' system;Kyvik 2004) alongside a larger number of less intensive research universities and of essentially teaching-only institutions, while in binary systems the State attributes ab initio a distinct mandate to the non-university sector, focused on vocational education and with a restricted (or no) research mission; independently of their performance, institutions are not allowed to switch from a sector to the other, except by State decision.…”