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Metrical Valorization of Performance (MeVoP): The Funding-Induced Vertical Stratification and the Construction of Post-Humboldtian Research-Teaching Nexus in German Higher Education Institutions

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Teaching and Research in the Knowledge-Based Society

Abstract

In the German higher education (HE) sector, third-party funding plays a prominent role in the valorization of performance of academics and universities. In the last three decades, policies that centered around competitive third-party funding have led to a significant vertical stratification of higher education institutions (HEIs). This paper analyzes the relationship between funding-induced vertical stratification and the evolution toward a post-Humboldtian organization that favors research over teaching. Conceptually, the UK is used as a reference country for analyzing the more recent developments in Germany. Based on data from three successive surveys (Carnegie-1992, CAP-2007, and APIKS-2018), a continuous evolution toward prioritizing research over teaching and a higher administrative workload for German academics over time is observed. We associate this trend with a funding-related dissolution of research and teaching at the individual and organizational level in a methodic toppled T multilevel research design. The analysis shows a clear differentiation between research-oriented, well-funded German HEIs (universities and universities of applied sciences, UAS) at the top of the status hierarchy and more teaching-focused HEIs at the bottom. We also indicate that the higher research preference of academics in high-status HEIs is accompanied by a higher administrative workload but not by more time for research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Carnegie-1992, the disciplines in the final sample are not completely distributed in the same way as in the population, especially medicine is too low (Enders & Teichler, 1995b). However, medicine is not used for our analysis, and for other disciplines, we either run separate analyses or use discipline as a control. In CAP 2007, there is a nearly representative distribution of organizational types (university and universities of applied sciences), disciplines, and gender (Bracht, 2008). In APIKS 2018, the discipline of the residual category “other” (such as sports) is slightly underrepresented.

  2. 2.

    In the structures of academic knowledge, beliefs, and authority, the academic oligarchy refers to “the imperialistic thrust of modes of authority […] in the way that personal and collegial forms, rooted in the disciplinary bottom of a system, work their way upward to have an important effect on enterprise and then finally system levels” (Clark, 1983, p. 122).

  3. 3.

    By law, full professors hold the majority of seats in any committee deciding on academic issues concerning research (Bundesverfassungsgericht, 1973).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Nicolai Götze & Christian Schneijderberg

  2. Institute for Sociology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Christian Schneijderberg

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  1. Nicolai Götze
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Correspondence to Nicolai Götze .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan

    Futao Huang

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

    Timo Aarrevaara

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

    Ulrich Teichler

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Götze, N., Schneijderberg, C. (2022). Metrical Valorization of Performance (MeVoP): The Funding-Induced Vertical Stratification and the Construction of Post-Humboldtian Research-Teaching Nexus in German Higher Education Institutions. In: Huang, F., Aarrevaara, T., Teichler, U. (eds) Teaching and Research in the Knowledge-Based Society. The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04439-7_4

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