The challenge for European universities to innovate

Governance and adaptation to innovative modes of higher

education provision (GAIHE); Peer Learning
cole Suprieure de lducation Nationale, de
lEnseignement Suprieur et de la Recherche,
Poitiers, January 25, 2016

Jo Ritzen

Challenges for universities world-wide

Add value to the competencies of the
youngsters who are enrolled.
Balance research excellency with teaching
excellency.
Focus incentives in the university organization
on long term achievements and stimulate
innovation in universities.

PIAAC Competencies

Content
Universities matter for economic growth.
In particular the competencies of the graduates drive
economic growth.
Then it would be smart to make universities
accountable for value added in competencies.
Ensuring equity.
The organization and funding of universities matter for
adding value in competencies.
Are politics sufficiently well organized to innovate?
Summary: touchstones ballad.

Universities matter for economic

growth
Role of knowledge for economic growth used
to focus on research and research
productivity.
Governments in several countries (e.g.
the UK and the Netherlands) promoted what
would become known as the triple helix:
university-industry-government cooperation

In particular the competencies of the

graduates drive economic growth.
Differences in economic growth for the
period 1960- 2000 between countries are
explained by competencies (not by education
achieved).
Overschooling may exist, but not
overcompetent as competencies find their
productive outlet.

What competencies count for

innovation and growth?
Cognitive achievement and knowledge of the field in
problem solving mode.
How to work in teams, how to communicate.
Intercultural understanding.
Behavioral skills or personality traits: Openness,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and
Emotional Stability.
Economic traits, like impatience, risk aversion, trust,
altruism and positive and negative reciprocity.
A good understanding of ICT.

Then it would be smart to make

universities accountable for value
added in competencies.
November 2015 UK Government Now that
we are asking young people to meet more of
the costs of their degrees once they are
earning, we in turn must do more than ever to
ensure they can make well-informed choices,
and that the time and money they invest in
higher education is well spent

Then it would be smart to make

universities accountable for value
added in competencies.
No knowledge without measurement
AHELO: general skills: US Collegiate Learning
Assessment (CLA); economics and engineering:
well-developed new instruments.
Overall students who participated in the focus
groups saw the assessments as having content
relevant to their coursework and being in a
format that was new and challenging (OECD,
AHELO, p.128).

20

Value added in competencies seems

related to research productivity
(country level)
Switz.

15

Netherl.
Denmark
Belgium
Sweden
Lux.
Germany
Ireland
Iceland
Norway
Finland
Austria
Spain
ItalyFrance
Portugal
Greece

10

UK

Estonia
Cyprus
Turkey

Slovenia
Lithuania

Czech Rep.

Hungary

Malta

Croatia

SlovakiaPoland
Romania
Bulgaria
Latvia

60

70

80
Employer satisfaction

90

100

Focus incentives in the university

organization on long term
achievements.
Innovation implies serious ex ante expenditures
Innovation takes serious human costs (retraining,
re-organization, organizational stress)
Ensure that the incentives are present
the leadership can make these costs.
Ensure sufficient funding so that universities can
invest in innovation.

Focus incentives in the university

organization on long term
achievements.
Universities deliver more competent
graduates and higher quality research if they
are more autonomous provided they

are well- funded

Managerial autonomy is important for
research attractiveness and research
productivity. Policy autonomy translates into
relatively high education performance.

330

Focus incentives in the university

organization on long term
achievements
Belgium

320

Czech Rep.

Netherl.
Sweden

310

Germany

Denmark

France
Slovakia

300

Norway

Ireland
Poland UK

290

Graduate numeracy

Finland
Austria

Italy
Spain

10

20

30

40

Public expenditure

50

60

Are politics sufficiently well organized

to deliver the frameworks for the right
organization and funding?
In politics sometimes the long run turns out to
have exceedingly short legs.
Is it feasible to have ministers of education
drawn from the outside?

Politics ties itself to the mast to ensure

the long run

Summary
Research universities in Europe are too much
focused on research, while universities are
first and foremost about education and the
competencies built in universities graduates.
Universities need to innovate to do better in
delivering competencies.
Innovation requires a supportive environment,
incentives for leadership and sufficient
funding.

Thank you!