Structural changes in higher education

Abstract

Higher education system efficiency and effectiveness are high on the political agenda in many countries. For this purpose, structural reforms have been a widely used policy solution. Examples include broad processes of mergers to reduce the number of institutions (e.g. the 1995 college reform in Norway or the merging of the HBO sector in the Netherlands), or change in institutional categories (e.g. the 1992 reform in the UK that allowed polytechnics to become universities, or the abolition of the binary system in Australia). While having a shared aim of changing the ‘landscape’, structural changes can also have different aims and foci. Some of these reforms are driven forward through incentives and ‘nudging’, others through more coercive and top-down means. As a policy solution, structural reforms can change the dynamics of the whole sector and produce comprehensive effects. Yet, these effects may only occur after a much longer time period and be unanticipated by the reform initiators. Moreover, while some of these changes are a result of specific reforms and policy initiatives, some structural changes (e.g. mergers or coalitions) can also be a voluntary endeavour. They make take place on a national level, or also across national borders – as is the case with the recent European University Initiative. This may take place due to isomorphic pressures on the field, or as a result of strategic action (survival, positioning). Current literature on structural changes in higher education includes a comparatively large set of literature on mergers in higher education, that has resulted in various typologies of mergers, as well as analysis of rationales for introducing mergers. Yet, there are fewer studies that look into the policy design processes of structural reforms (why specific kinds of structural changes are proposed and legitimised), the specific mix of instruments (why and how are specific instruments selected) or the implementation processes on organisational level. The panel includes papers that examine various kinds of structural changes in higher education, including mergers and also other kinds of structural changes, some introduced as a part of a deliberate reform process, others more strategic initiatives, some taking place within a single country-context, others across national borders.

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