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Higher Education and the Knowledge Economy: Economic Higher Education Policies and the Persistence of the German Research and Development System

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Universities in the Knowledge Society

Abstract

This chapter outlines the institutionalization of a knowledge economy in Germany, clarifies the role of the higher education sector in the national research and development (R&D) system, and outlines the policies designed to strengthen the relations between higher education and the economy. As an analytical scheme, two distinguishable ideal-typical relationships between higher education and the knowledge economy in Germany are elaborated: “higher education for the knowledge economy” and “higher education in the knowledge economy.” A clear reform-induced change in the higher education system has been observed, primarily for higher education for the knowledge economy (e.g. through higher education expansion). Since the 1990s, increased political efforts have been made to place universities in the knowledge economy by pushing the commercialization of knowledge. However, there is no clear evidence of the impact of policies that position higher education in the knowledge economy. In general, the German R&D system is characterized by a high degree of institutional stability.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This is an ideal-typical description. Even within universities, application and purpose are deeply rooted in the tradition of single scientific communities. For example, in the engineering sciences—also in the context of universities—a strong connection with industry can already be seen during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Meier & Krücken, 2011).

  2. 2.

    Universities of Applied Sciences were not newly founded but rather a merger of various educational institutions.

  3. 3.

    The former president of the DFG (2007–2012), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kleiner, remained ambivalent about the funding logic in a press release (German Research Foundation, 2010). For one thing, WTT and the “give-and-take interaction” between science and society should be strengthened by the DFG; however, he emphasizes that “basic research will continue to form the focus of our activities.”

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  1. International Centre for Higher Education Research Kassel, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany

    Nicolai Götze

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  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Timo Aarrevaara

  2. Higher Education Department, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, USA

    Martin Finkelstein

  3. OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Glen A. Jones

  4. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Jisun Jung

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Götze, N. (2021). Higher Education and the Knowledge Economy: Economic Higher Education Policies and the Persistence of the German Research and Development System. In: Aarrevaara, T., Finkelstein, M., Jones, G.A., Jung, J. (eds) Universities in the Knowledge Society. The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76579-8_14

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