Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Diversification? Trends and explanations of the shape and size of higher education

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Debates and policies in Europe as regards the diversity of higher education institutions and programmes have changed substantially over the years. When expansion of the rate of new entry students was expected to grow beyond 10%, diversification between types of higher education institutions became the most popular option, whereas no consensus emerged as far as the extent of diversity and the most desirable classifications are concerned. In the 1980s, attention shifted gradually towards “vertical” differences among institutions of formally the same type. Since the 1990s, more extreme modes of vertical diversity were more frequently advocated as options to embark into world-wide competition for “world-class university”. The concurrent popular debates are criticized as blaming moderate vertical inter-institutional diversity, emphasis on intra-institutional diversity, efforts to put prime emphasis on a variety of profiles of any model other than extreme vertical diversity as counteracting “quality”, although evidence for the superiority of the model praised is feeble.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahola, S. (2006). From ‘different but equal’ to ‘equal but different’: Finnish AMKs in the Bologna Process. Higher Education Policy, 19(2), 173–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alesi, B., Bürger, S., Kehm, B. M., & Teichler, U. (2005). Bachelor and master courses in selected countries compared with Germany. Bonn: Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. G. (1998). Patterns in higher education development. In P. G. Altbach (Ed.), Comparative higher education (pp. 4–27). Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. G. (1999). The logic of mass higher education. Tertiary Education and Management, 5(2), 105–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. G. (2002). Differentiation requires definition: The need for classification in complex academic systems. International Higher Education, Winter 2002.

  • Altbach, P. G. (2004). The costs and benefits of world-class universities. Academe, 90(1), 20–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. G. (2006). The dilemmas of ranking. Higher Education Digest (CHERI, London), Issue 55, 9–10.

  • Amaral, A. (2001). Higher education in the process of European integration, globalizing economies, mobility of students and staff. In J. Huisman, P. Maassen, & G. Neave (Eds.), Higher education and the nation state (pp. 121–147). Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arimoto, A. (1997). Massification of higher education and academics reforms in Japan. In Academic reform in the world: Situation and perspective in the massification stage of higher education (pp. 21–48). Hiroshima: Hiroshima University, Research Institute for Higher Education.

  • Asahi Shinbunsha (2005). Daigaku rankingu: 2005 nenban. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha.

  • Ayalon, H., & Yogev, A. (2006). Stratification and diversity in the expanded system of higher education in Israel. Higher Education Policy, 19(2), 187–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, M., Askling, B., Marton, S., & Marton, F. (2000). Transforming universities. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, R. (1983). Maintaining diversity in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleiklie, I. (2001). Towards European convergence of higher education policy? Higher Education Management, 13(3), 9–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleiklie, I. (2005). Organizing higher education in a knowledge society. Higher Education, 49(1), 31–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, T. (Ed.) (1972). The shape of higher education. London: Cornmarket Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerych, L., & Sabatier, P. (1986). Great expectations and mixed performance: The implementation of higher education reforms in Europe. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerych, L., Furth, D., & Papadopoulos, G. (1974). Overall issues in the development of future structures of post-secondary education. In OECD (Ed.), Policies for higher education (pp. 15–50). Paris: OECD.

  • Clark, B. R. (1976). The benefits of disorder. Change, 8(10), 31–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, B. R. (1983). The higher education system: Academic organization in cross-national perspective. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, B. R. (1996). Diversification of higher education, viability and change. In V. L. Meek, L. Goedegebuure, O. Kivinen, & R. Rinne (Eds.), The mockers and mocked (pp. 17–25). Oxford: Pergamon/IAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, B. R., & Neave, G. (Eds.) (1992). The encyclopaedia of higher education. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. (1979). The credential society. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Moor, R. A. (1979). Changing tertiary education in modern European society. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dill, D. D., & Soo, M. (2005). Academic quality, league tables, and public policy: A cross-national analysis of university ranking systems. Higher Education, 49(4), 495–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dill, D. D., & Teixeira, P. (2000). Program diversity in higher education: An economic perspective. Higher Education Policy, 13(2), 99–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dore, R. (1976). The diploma disease. London: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enders, J., & Fulton, O. (Eds.) (2002). Higher education in a globalising world. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission (2003). The role of universities in the Europe of knowledge. COM(2993)58 Final. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2005a). Communication from the commission. Mobilising the brainpower of Europe: Enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon strategy. Brussels.

  • European Commission (2005b). Council conclusions on education and training in the framework of the mid term review of the Lisbon strategy. Brussels.

  • EURYDICE (2005). Focus on the structure of higher education in Europe 2004/05: National trends in the Bologna Process. Brussels: EURYDICE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fejes, A. (2006). The Bologna Process—governing higher education in Europe through standardization. Revista Espanola de Educación Comparada, 12, 203–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fulton, O., Gordon, A., & Williams, G. (1982). Higher education and manpower planning. Geneva: International Labour Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furth, D. (1973). Short-cycle higher education: Some basic considerations. In OECD (Ed.), Short cycle higher education (pp. 11–42). Paris: OECD.

  • Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott. P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubb, W. N. (2005). Alternatives to universities revisited. In OECD (Ed.), Education policy analysis (pp. 15–46). Paris: OECD.

  • Guri-Rosenblit, S., & Sebkova, H. (2006). Diversification of higher education systems: Patterns, trends and impacts. In G. Neave (Ed.), Knowledge, power and dissent (pp. 295–323). Paris: UNESCO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haug, G., & Tauch, C. (2001). Trends in learnings structures in higher education (II). Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennessey, M. A., Lampinen, O., Schröder, T., Sebkova, H., Setenyi, J., & Teichler, U. (1998). Tertiary professional and vocational education (TP/VE) in central and eastern Europe. Strasbourg and Torino: Council of European and University Training Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermanns, H., Teichler, U., & Wasser, H. (Eds.) (1983). The compleat university. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiroshima University, Research Institute for Higher Education (1997). Academic reforms in the world: Situation and perspective in the massification stage of higher education. Hiroshima.

  • Huisman, J. (1995). Differentiation, diversity and dependency in higher education: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Utrecht: Lemma.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J. (1998). Differentiation and diversity in higher education systems. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. XIII, pp. 75–110). New York: Agathon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J., & Kaiser, F. (2001). Fixed and fuzzy boundaries in higher education: A comparative study of (binary) structures in nine countries. Den Haag: Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps- en Technologiebeleid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J., & van der Wende, M. (Eds.) (2004). On cooperation and competition: National and European policies for the internationalisation of higher education. Bonn: Lemmens.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J., & van der Wende, M. (Eds.) (2005). On cooperation and competition II: Institutional responses to internationalisation, Europeanisation and globalisation. Bonn: Lemmens.

    Google Scholar 

  • Husén, T. (1987). Higher education and social stratification. Paris: Unesco, IIEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jablonska-Skinder, H., & Teichler, U. (1992). Handbook of higher education diplomas in Europe. München: KG Saur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jallade, J.-O. (1991). L’enseignement supérieur en Europe: vers une évaluation comparée des premiers cycles. Paris: La Documentation française.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kyvik, S. (2004). Structural changes in higher education systems in Western Europe. Higher Education in Europe, 24(3), 393–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marginson, S., & Rhoades, G. (2002). Beyond national states, markets, and systems of higher education: A Glonacal agency heuristic. Higher Education, 43(3), 281–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meek, V. L., & Wood, F. Q. (1998). Managing higher education diversity in a climate of public sector reform. Canberra: Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meek, V. L., Goedegebuure, L., Kivinen, O., & Rinne, R. (Eds.) (1996a). The mockers and mocked: Comparative perspectives on differentiation, convergence and diversity in higher education. Oxford: Pergamon/IAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meek, V. L., Goedegebuure, L., Kivinen, O., & Rinne, R. (1996b). Conclusion. In V. L. Meek, L. Goedegebuure, O. Kivinen, & R. Rinne (Eds.), The mockers and mocked (pp. 207–236). Oxford: Pergamon/IAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neave, G. (1989). Foundation or roof? The quantitative, structural and institutional dimensions of higher education. European Journal of Education, 24(3), 211–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neave, G. (1996). Homogenization, integration and convergence: The chesire cats of higher education analysis. In V. L. Meek, L. Goedegebuure, O. Kivinen, & R. Rinne (Eds.), The mockers and mocked (pp. 26–41). Oxford: Pergamon/IAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neave, G. (2002). Anything goes: Or, how the accommodation of Europe’s universities to European integration integrates an inspiring number of contradictions. Tertiary Education and Management, 8(3), 181–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neave, G. (2006). Mass higher education system and the research university: A post-modern revival of Ockham’s razor. In S. Neaman Institute (Ed.), Transition to mass higher education systems: International comparisons and perspectives (pp. 241–264). Haifa: S. Neaman Press.

  • Neusel, A., & Teichler, U. (Eds.) (1986). Hochschulentwicklung in den sechziger Jahren (pp. 93–143). Weinheim and Basel: Beltz (Blickpunkt Hochschuldidaktik 79).

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (Ed.) (1973). Short-cycle higher education: A search for identity. Paris: OECD.

  • OECD (1974). Towards mass higher education: Issues and dilemmas. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1983). Policies for higher education. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1991). Alternatives to universities. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1993). Education at a glance: OECD indicators 1993. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (1998). Redefining tertiary education. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2005). Education at a glance: OECD indicators 2005. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakic, V. (2001). Converge or not converge: The European Union and higher education policies in the Netherlands, Belgium/Flanders and Germany. Higher Education Policy, 14(3), 225–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichert, S., & Tauch, C. (2003). Trend in learning structures in European higher education III. Brussels: European University Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichert, S., & Tauch, C. (2005). Trends IV: European universities implementing Bologna. Brussels: European University Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riesman, D. (1958). Constraint and variety in American education. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadlak, J., & Liu, N. C. (2007). The world-class university and rankings: Aiming beyond status. Bukarest and Cluj-Napoca: UNESCO-CEPES and Presa Universitara Clujeana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, P. (1996). Unified and binary systems of higher education in Europe. In A. Burgen (Ed.), Goals and purposes of higher education in the 21st century (pp. 37–54). London and Bristol, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (1988). Changing patterns of higher education systems. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (1996). Diversity in higher education in Germany: The two-type structure. In V. L. Meek, L. Goedegebuure, O. Kivinen, & R. Rinne (Eds.), The mockers and mocked (pp. 117–137). Oxford: Pergamon/IAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (1998). The changing roles of the university and the non-university sectors. European Review, 6(4), 475–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (2005). Hochschulstrukturen im Umbruch: Eine Bilanz der Reformdynamik seit vier Jahrzehnten. Frankfurt/Main and New York: Campus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (2006). Changing structures of higher education systems: The increasing complexity of underlying forces. Higher Education Policy, 19(4), 447–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U. (2007). Higher education systems: Conceptual frameworks, comparative perspectives, empirical findings. Rotterdam and Taipei: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teichler, U., Hartung, D., & Nuthmann, R. (1980). Higher education and the needs of society. Windsor: NFER Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tight, M. (2003). Researching higher education. Buckingham: SRHE & Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomusk, V. (2003). The war of institutions, episode I: The rise, and the rise of private higher education in Eastern Europe. Higher Education Policy, 16(2), 213–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trow, M. (1970). Reflections on the transition from mass to universal higher education. Daedalus, 90(1), 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trow, M. (1974). Problems in the transition from elite to mass higher education. In OECD (Ed.), Policies for higher education (pp. 51–101). Paris: OECD.

  • Trow, M. (1979). Elite and mass higher education: American models and European realities. In Research into higher education: Processes and structures (pp. 183–219). Stockholm: National Board of Universities and Colleges.

  • Trow, M. (1984). The analysis of status. In B. R. Clark (Ed.), Perspectives on higher education (pp. 132–164). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trow, M. (1999). From mass higher education to universal access: The American advantage. Minerva, 37(4), 303–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Wende, M. (2001). Internationalisation policies: About new trends and contrasting paradigms. Higher Education Policy, 14(3), 249–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Vught, F. (1996). Isomorphism in higher education? Toward a theory of differentiation, diversity in higher education systems. In V. L. Meek, L. Goedegebuure, O. Kivinen, & R. Rinne (Eds.), The mockers and mocked (pp. 42–58). Oxford: Pergamon/IAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Vught, F., van der Wende, M., & Westerheijden, D. (2002). Globalisation and internationalisation: Policy agendas compared. In J. Enders, & O. Fulton (Eds.), Higher education in a globalising world (pp. 103–121). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Ulrich Teichler

Authors
  1. Ulrich Teichler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrich Teichler.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Teichler, U. Diversification? Trends and explanations of the shape and size of higher education. High Educ 56, 349–379 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9122-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9122-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation