Higher education and its contribution to a diverse regional supply of human capital: does the binary/unitary divide matters?

Abstract

Diversity has been an important topic of research for some time in higher education, though the purposes underlying this attention have varied across national and regional contexts. In many parts of the world, the term diversity has been emphasized with regard to variety among the programs or services provided by academic institutions, and differences among the types of institutions themselves. It is particularly important to discuss whether different dimensions of diversity may influence the degree of effectiveness of higher education (HE) in fulfilling its contribution and relevance to economic and social development. We are particularly interested in analyzing whether unitary or binary systems present significant differences in different dimensions of diversity that may be relevant to enhance higher education institutions' (HEIs) contribution to territorial cohesion, notably by enhancing the local stock of human capital and contributing to the social and cultural development of their regions. Therefore, we propose the following research questions: *Are there relevant patterns regarding different dimensions of diversity between unitary and binary HE systems? *In the case of binary systems, is it possible to find relevant differences in different dimensions of diversity between universities and more vocational HEIs? By looking at

Higher education systems and regional economic development in Europe: A combined approach using econometric and machine learning methods

“…In recent decades, HESs have continued to increase their diversity (Teichler, 2008;Rossi, 2010), fostered by higher education policies, responding to the needs of the labour market, or as an effect of competitive and strategic behaviours (Dill and Teixeira, 2000). Accordingly, the literature on higher education diversity has been extensively developed (Teichler, 2010), covering both national and regional contexts (Santoalha et al, 2018). Based on these studies, we can distinguish between internal diversity, which represents differences within higher education institutions (HEIs), and external diversity, referring to the differentiation between institutions (Birnbaum, 1983;and Kivinen and Rinne, 1996).…”

“…Secondly, while the literature tends to overlook Higher Education Systems (HESs) heterogeneity in their empirical models, differences in terms of size, funding, and performance of HESs (within countries) are expected to affect the extent and the modes in which HESs influence the local economy (Santoalha et al, 2018). Indeed, HES diversity has grown increasingly during recent decades (Teichler, 2008;Rossi, 2010), driven by higher education policies, responding to labour-market needs, or following competitive and strategic behaviours (Dill and Teixeira, 2000).…”

Awarding PhD Powers to Polytechnics: An Academic Trap?

“…The two HE subsystems in Portugal (PPPs and PPUs) have been complementary, just as in most European countries (Kyvik, 2004; Machado et al, 2008). Indeed, the binary system is common in Europe, in other words, the universities’ role is complemented by professional and vocational HEIs; according to Lepori et al (2016); only the United Kingdom and France have unitary systems, but there is evidence that more countries are adopting this system in Europe (Santoalha et al, 2018). In fact, the name given to the HEIs providing practical training and profession-oriented teaching varies across countries: polytechnic institutes, vocational universities, professional universities, polytechnic universities, technical universities, applied technological universities, college of higher vocational studies, or, the most common, universities of applied sciences.…”

What Makes Employees Productive and Have High Performance? Human Capital Investment in Universities

“…Human capital is human's nature that always exists in an individual's lifetime in the form of attitudes, knowledge, and skills [50]. This capital will be used as a basis for self-management and it can also help individual in managing himself when involving in organizations.…”

“…The additional value for the organizations is related to the competence development. According to [53], human capital depicts the human productive capacity. It is the combination of knowledge, innovation, and capability of an individual to do jobs so that he can create values to achieve goals.…”