Current Issues in Higher Education. Academic Reforms in the world: Situation and Perspective in the Massification of Higher Education
Journal
Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE)
Type
journal article
Date Issued
1997-02-05
Author(s)
Grin, Francois
;
Grüner, Andreas
;
Metzger, Christoph
Editor(s)
Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima (Japan)
Abstract (De)
What follows is an overview of key features and current issues in higher education in Switzerland. Small as it is, Switzerland displays an unusual degree ofcomplexity, which reflects its multilingualism on the one hand, and its federal(that is, decentralized) structures on the other hand. These traits unavoidably affect the education system, including higher education. Hence, it would be overlyambitious to attempt to do justice to the resulting complexity within the confinesof an article of standard length'.
This paper, therefore, contains a highly summarized presentation of "higher education in Switzerland" given the country's high level of decentralization,the latter expression is more appropriate than something like "Swiss highereducation". Following this brief introduction, it is broken up in five sections, which are, in turn, divided in sub-sections.
The first two sections present a picture of the system as it is now. Section 1 describes the context of higher education in Switzerland; it singles out keyfeatures that are essential to an understanding of current issues and policy debates. We show that social, political and cultural context is a determining influence onthe present structure of higher education in Switzerland; this, in turn, brings to thefore issues (as well as avenues for problem-solving) which may be quite different from those encountered in other developed countries. Section 2 provides a closer look at some selected aspects of higher education, using data that stress issuesspecific to the Swiss case (as opposed to issues that are, presumably, common to higher education systems throughout the world). Although education statistics in Switzerland tend to be less extensive than those of neighboring countries, enoughof them are available to show where major areas of concern are to be found:contrary to, say, France or Germany, Switzerland is not confronted with the massification of tertiary education with the exception of overtaxed medical schools, where the introduction of a numerus clausus is being considered. At this time, two other categories of issues are key areas of concern, namely management structures and evaluation issues.
The first set of issues is examined in section 3, and the second in section 4; these sections are devoted to a discussion of challenges to and changes in the system, thereby addressing its dynamics. Section 3 focuses on management issues in higher education, particularly the autonomy of institutions of higher learning; this evolution, as we shall see, is strongly influenced by New public management. Section 4 addresses reforms that are part of a drive towards improving the qualityof the educational and research services provided by universities.
This paper, therefore, contains a highly summarized presentation of "higher education in Switzerland" given the country's high level of decentralization,the latter expression is more appropriate than something like "Swiss highereducation". Following this brief introduction, it is broken up in five sections, which are, in turn, divided in sub-sections.
The first two sections present a picture of the system as it is now. Section 1 describes the context of higher education in Switzerland; it singles out keyfeatures that are essential to an understanding of current issues and policy debates. We show that social, political and cultural context is a determining influence onthe present structure of higher education in Switzerland; this, in turn, brings to thefore issues (as well as avenues for problem-solving) which may be quite different from those encountered in other developed countries. Section 2 provides a closer look at some selected aspects of higher education, using data that stress issuesspecific to the Swiss case (as opposed to issues that are, presumably, common to higher education systems throughout the world). Although education statistics in Switzerland tend to be less extensive than those of neighboring countries, enoughof them are available to show where major areas of concern are to be found:contrary to, say, France or Germany, Switzerland is not confronted with the massification of tertiary education with the exception of overtaxed medical schools, where the introduction of a numerus clausus is being considered. At this time, two other categories of issues are key areas of concern, namely management structures and evaluation issues.
The first set of issues is examined in section 3, and the second in section 4; these sections are devoted to a discussion of challenges to and changes in the system, thereby addressing its dynamics. Section 3 focuses on management issues in higher education, particularly the autonomy of institutions of higher learning; this evolution, as we shall see, is strongly influenced by New public management. Section 4 addresses reforms that are part of a drive towards improving the qualityof the educational and research services provided by universities.
Language
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SoM - Business Innovation
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Hiroshima University, Hiroshima (Japan)
Publisher place
Hiroshima, Japan
Volume
21
Number
10
Start page
95
End page
126
Pages
32
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
267015