Which tertiary education institutions in times of accelerated technical change?

A system approach towards knowledge networks and enhanced societal trust

Manuel HeitorSecretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education

Portugal

OECD/France conference on the Future of Higher Education

Paris, 8-9 December, 2008

Technical Change: materials Source: Michael Ashby (1998); see also, IPTS(1999)

STEELS

CAST IRON

IRON

COOPER

ALLOYSTEELS

GLASSY METALS

AL-LITHIUM ALLOYS

DUAL PHASE STEELS

MICROALLOYED STEELS

BRONZE

SKIN FIBRE GUMS

RUBBER

LIGHTALLOYS

SUPER ALLOYS

TITANIUMZINCONIUMETC

NEW SUPER ALLOYSDEVELOPMENT SLOWMOSTLY QUALITYCONTROL ANDPROCESSING

CONDUCTINGPOLYMERS

HIGH TEMPERATUREPOLYMERS

HIGH MODULUSPOLYMERSBAKELITE

NYLON

WOOD

PAPER

STONEFLINT

POTTERT

GLASS

CEMENT

REFRACTORIES

PORTLANDCEMENT FUSED

SILICA CERMETS

EPOXIES

POLYESTERS

COMPOSITES

POLYMERS

METALS

CERAMICS

POLYMERS

COMPOSITES

CERAMICS

METALS

ALLOYS

10 000 BC 5000 BC 0 1000 1500 1800 1900 1940 1960 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020GOLD

CERAMIC COMPOSITES

COMPOSITESMETAL-MATRIX

SURFACEENGINEERING

RE

LA

TIV

E I

MP

OR

TA

NC

E

SUPERCONDUCTORSTOUGH ENGINEERING

CERAMICS

KEVLAR

BRICKS (with STRAW)

IVORY

10000 BC5000 BC

0 1000 1500 1800 1900 1940 1960 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

The main argumentStrengthening the knowledge dimension and external

societal links (i.e., “system linkages”) are critical in making the institutional changes required for tertiary education institutions, TEIs, to be “agents of change” and meet the needs of global competition and the knowledge economy.

This requires strengthening the institutional integrity of TEIs, while entering into a myriad of entrepreneurial relations, as well as to establish long term relations with specific and specialized actors: build societal trust!

The structure of the talk

1. improved funding and equity for enlarged participation rates;

2. strengthening knowledge production and internalization for improved knowledge networks;

3. fostering diversified systems for improved knowledge transmission and learning;

4. strengthening systems linkages, together with institutional integrity

Summary: strengthen societal trust on tertiary education institutions, TEIs

1. improved funding and equity for enlarged participation rates

The issue: Large differences in societal engament!

Ratio of total students enrolled at Tertiary Education by 20-29 year-old population (2004)

0,45

0,41

0,25

0,06

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

0,2

0,25

0,3

0,35

0,4

0,45

0,5

Source: OECD and Eurostat (w/ approximations of population)

Proposition 1Students matter!...and we need to enlarge access to TE

• Which economics for tertiary education? How to raise private funding? …and how to guarantee a better share of public and private funding?

Which share of institutional and competitive funding sources?

• Free education to all students, by guaranteeing graduates to share the costs? (Nick Barr, LSE)…but, which share of grants/loans?...

• Diversify, diversify, diversify… (access - new publics; institutions; incentives…)

• The “hidden” barriers : basic & secondary education… …the need to “open” students paths and choices!

Policy contraints and challenges:

Public subsidies for education to households and other private entities as a percentage of total public expenditure on education, by type of subsidy; OECD (2007). Reference Year: 2004

Source:.

OECD Education at a Glance:

Student support schemes and levels

2008

• NEW ACCESS REGIME FOR ADULTS

- 11.773 new adults entered Tertiary Education in 2007-2008

- 10.850 in 2006-2007

(while, just 900 in 2005-2006)

• NEW LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SHORT VOCATIONAL CYCLES - (CETs)

- More than 4.800 admitted students in 2008

- Around 250 CETs in Tertiary Education Institutions

• NEW STUDENT LOANS SYSTEM

- 3.650 loans contracted in the period November 2007 – November 2008

Example 1: Opening-up Tertiary Education in Portugal

Some key measures and results (2006-2008): Access

• THE BOLOGNA PROCESS: dynamic and on-going…- 98% of initial educational programs in 2008.

…and beyond:

Students(both undergraduateand postgraduate)

Banks

GuaranteeSheme

Bank loan (3)

State (1) Counter GuaranteeFinancial Support

Legal environment and framework

Guarantee (2)

Guarantee commission (fee)

(1) Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education(2) Portfolio guarantee (covers losses up to 10% of bank loan values)(3) Up to Eur 5000 per academic year

Example 1: Student loans with mutual guarantee

Extended Guarantee Triangular Relationship

Source: SPGM, 2008

Which policy implications?

1. Which policy criteria to foster student enrolment?• horizontally equitable schemes, with good value for students; • financially sustainable at higher volumes of student take-up; • low risk for government and financial institutions; • minimum additional administrative infrastructure.

2. Does “debt aversion” augments social inequalities?• which share of grants/loans?...how to evolve with loan schemes?

3. Which new funding mechanisms ?• What have we learnt about experiences with loan systems, venture capital, risk capital and tax incentives?

2. strengthening knowledge production and

internationalization for improved knowledge

networks

The issue:…and even larger differences in performance at leading reference levels

58242

57172

329205

6918

318

2

211

63

5

207

78

8313

32

9

191

104

42

10

16787

54

20

78

37

US

Europe

Asia

Rest oftheworld

Source: The Times Higher Education Supplement; Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Rankings of World Universities

Worldwide University Rankings

Top 10 Top 50 Top 200 Top 10 Top 50 Top 200 Top 500

Ranking #1: Times higher education (world university rankings, 2006)

Ranking #2: Shanghai Jiao Tong University (academic ranking of world universities, 2006)

Top 10 Top 50 Top 200 Top 500

Ranking #3: Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (2007)

If ability, and not the circumstances of family fortune, determines who shall receive higher education, then we shall be assured of constantly improving quality at every level of scientific activity.

Vannevar Bush to President Harry TrumanJuly 5, 1945

Proposition 2

The top of the system matters!...and we need to foster the internationalization of research universities and their specialization. But competition also matters!

• The nature of science as a complex whole (John Ziman, 1968, 1978, 2000), ...and “science is social”, referring to “the whole network of social and epistemic practices where scientific beliefs actually emerge and are sustained”.

• The “hidden” barriers: gender: how to foster women engagement in S&T? the appropriation of S&T culture by society.

• Clarification of the unique roles of the private and public incentives to support science and technology, S&T

Policy contraints and challenges:

• a better understanding of the way private funding complements (not replaces…) public expenditure on academic research……to keep the proper balance between open science and commercially

oriented R&D based upon proprietary information.

• A better link between research training and research strengths. Can Europe “emulate” the US Graduate schools? Can we rely in traditional departments? How to ensure that graduate schools permit better employability of their graduates? Can the skills be transferable?

• the conditions able to strengthen institutions and the necessary critical masses to compete at the highest international level

• But, always, people, knowledge and ideas… …how to attract more human resources for knowledge intensive activities?

Which policy implications?

• NEW CONTRACTS FOR PhD RESEARCHERS/TEACHERS- At least 1.000 new contracts supported until 2009

• DOCTORATE AND POST-DOCTORATE GRANTS- Doubling new PhD grants/year- Increasing about 50% new Post-Doctorate grants

• INTERNATIONALIZATION - PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE FUTURE R&D CONSORTIA WITH POST-GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Example 2: Opening-up Tertiary Education in Portugal

- MIT-PORTUGAL: R&D, 4 new PhDs and 3 Professional Masters in Engineering Systems (Energy, Transports, Advanced Manufacturing and Bioengineering)

- CMU-PORTUGAL: R&D, 6 new PhDs and 4 Professional Masters in ICTs

- UTAustin-PORTUGAL: R&D and a PhD in Digital Media. Also, Advanced Computing and Mathematics

Some key measures and results (2006-2008): Commitment to Science

3. fostering diversified systems for improved

knowledge transmission and learning

The issue: …How people learn?

Issues in the European landscale: Bologna …a sucessful story: Why ?

• a process…

• …voluntary, but driven by a large consensus that has been formed about the great challenges and opportunities facing higher education systems in EU, namely against those in US.

• Understanding the relationship between Bologna reforms and the social and national contexts in which they take place and expanding the European policy dialogue in higher education to include more issues, remain significant challenges in the current process…

• It is also clear that higher education systems will continue to be concerned with quality!

Proposition 3“how people learn?” matters and require diversified institutions and learning systems

• But we also need to reduce drop-out (failure) rates in tertiary education… …and to involve students in research activities since their early stages at our institutions.

• education at all levels must consider that learning a new practice requires moving through discovery, invention, and production not once, but many times, in different contexts and different combinations.

• beyond R&D: R&T and, above all, R&L (Research and Learning)

Policy contraints and challenges:

• The conditions to foster effective international TEIs

• Taking stock of the diversity and evolution of concrete student-centred parameters.

• Moving along student autonomy?...to allow students to determine their own learning paths and trajectories, namely along education cycles, but also across institutions in our different regions and countries.

Which policy implications?

4. strengthening systems linkages, together with institutional integrity

Proposition 4

We need to promote dynamic and responsive institutions, at the same time we need to preserve the institutional integrity of TEIs

Look at students: education, besides offering a specific qualification, should ensure the assimilation of learning skills.

Economic competition – omitting information as a competition tool;Proprietary knowledge – ignoring and “depleting” the science commons hindering the fostering of new knowledge;…multiple objectives should not be pursued at the cost of compromising learning and research environments for students.

• Raising the level of autonomy for TEIs, is one of the main objectives of sector reforms across different countries in recent years: getting to “entrepreneurial institutions”?

Policy contraints and challenges:

Policy Implications for EU : institutions

…it requires a common EU perspective for strengthening TE institutions!…it requires a common EU perspective for strengthening TE institutions!

“Notably there is clear evidence that success in improving quality within institutions is directly correlated with the degree of institutional autonomy. (…) At the same time, the role of leadership within universities is also critical.” EUA`s Trends IV, 2005

Patterns of convergence – strengthened autonomy: The underlying motivations for introducing greater autonomy, in a nutshell, it is to improve the responsiveness of HEIs to an expanded set of national and societal demands. This responsiveness can be improved through enhanced capacity for strategic thinking and taking advantage of emerging opportunities in a dynamic way.

Patterns of convergence – strengthened autonomy: The underlying motivations for introducing greater autonomy, in a nutshell, it is to improve the responsiveness of HEIs to an expanded set of national and societal demands. This responsiveness can be improved through enhanced capacity for strategic thinking and taking advantage of emerging opportunities in a dynamic way.

Patterns of convergence – strengthened regulatory regimes: The second orientation is to strengthen the regulatory regime so that a more autonomous HEI sector responds more effectively to the requirements of public interest. This may be seen as a contradictory trend of constraining institutional autonomy through more indirect mechanisms.

Patterns of convergence – strengthened regulatory regimes: The second orientation is to strengthen the regulatory regime so that a more autonomous HEI sector responds more effectively to the requirements of public interest. This may be seen as a contradictory trend of constraining institutional autonomy through more indirect mechanisms.

Which way to Independent legal status (ILS) and university foundations?

Which way to Independent legal status (ILS) and university foundations?

• The New Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions (RJIES)

• Diversity of governance systems and increased autonomy• Setting up Governing Boards with external participation• Possibility of independent legal status for public institutions: namely as public

foundations• Establishment of consortia among institutions• Recognition of research centres as part of University management framework.

• The creation of conditions to foster the national and international mobility of

students and graduates

• New Regulations on Arrangements for Changes of Study Programmes,

Transfers and Return to Higher Education

• New legal framework for the recognition of foreign degrees, which simplifies

the system for recognizing foreign degrees in Portugal.

Example 3: Opening-up Tertiary Education in Portugal

Some key measures and results (2006-2007): Legal Reform

• How far university networks can effectively contribute to foster basic university goals and preserve institutional integrity?

…many university clusters (LERU, IDEA; CLUSTER, …) have been particularly focus on corporate matters and we argue that there is a need for a platform of the various clusters and associations of research universities, notably for stimulating the political debate among the various stakeholders at international level and for assisting in the networking of national constituencies fostering integrity in tertiary education.

Which policy implications?

5th and Final Proposition: “umbrella”

Accelerate reform of TEIs by strengthening external societal links and “system linkages”

• new leaderships for our institutions: attention should be given to the need to promote an international market of excellence for university leaders, as also a critical path to attract our best researchers to take the lead of our universities.

• creating “new” institutions that have gained societal trust

Policy contraints and challenges:

• the public understanding of S&T and of the role TEIs on scientific and technical development

• To cope with such a variety of demands and with a continuously changing environment, we all know that the tertiary education systems, in particular, needs to be diversified.

Which tertiary education institutions in times of accelerated technical change?

A system approach towards knowledge networks and enhanced societal trust

OECD/France conference on the Future of Higher Education

Paris, 8-9 December, 2008

The Rationale - 1: what is changing?

• The nature of knowledge production and usage is changing: innovation is more open, more global and involves a growing range of players.

• Networking and cooperation are becoming more important for successful innovation: users and suppliers play a growing role (e.g., Eric Von Hippel, 2005).

• This also affects the financing of S&T and technical change: a greater range of instruments and policies are emerging, markets and intermediaries are evolving rapidly.

The Rationale - 2

1. A large consensus: The accelerated rate of technical change has fostered an increasingly need to promote the capacity to learn!

2. This requires a better understanding of the institutional framework and the structure of incentives in higher education, as well as going beyond the institutional context, and consider the substance of teaching/learning: “the class-room as a living laboratory”!

3. But this implies strengthening governance structures and institutional leadership, in a way that contributes to strengthen the social constituency for science and technology and a “learning society” ...

The Rationale - 3

1.An underlying assumption (Rosenberg, 2002): The university as an economic institution! …and university leaders as fund raisers!

2. The US university system as a “role model” for its fast rate of responsiveness to the economic changes and contribution to the creation of wealth.

3. This perception is leading to an institutional convergence between what universities do (and are supposed to do) and what firms and other agents do.

Much remains to learn about the “Entrepreneurial University”: in a reducionist view, it is a potential threat to the institutional integrity of the university and the future of scientific research due to the commoditization of knowledge?

…what is best about American higher education – we create opportunity. That is our mission. That is our business. That is first and foremost what society expects of us.

Charles Vest, in “The American Research University”,Univ. of California Press, 2007