EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE Modernisation of Education II: Education policy and programme, Innovation, EIT and MSCA Higher education Improving completion in higher education ET Country Focus Workshop 1 Vienna, September 2015 Key findings A. BACKGROUND The ET 2020 country focus workshop on Improving completion in higher education 2, hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, in Vienna in September 2015 brought together representatives of public authorities and higher education institutions (HEIs) from 12 countries, social partners such as ETUCE and the university employers association as well as research institutes (CHEPS and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Vienna). 3 The workshop provided a forum for people working in the design and implementation of policies to improve completion in higher education to share experience of national and institution-specific approaches and to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the presented approaches. The workshop also offered an opportunity to discuss the results of the report Higher Education Dropout and Completion in Europe (HEDOCE), to be published later this year. Discussions focused on two broad categories of initiatives designed to increase completion in higher education, namely i) government-supported, system-wide policies and ii) institutional policies by highlighting a broad range of approaches and mechanisms, such as financial incentives to students and higher education institutions, regulated access to higher education, matching mechanisms, guidance and support to non-traditional students, monitoring and tracking student progress and transformation of higher education concerning content, pedagogy and organisation. The workshop highlighted the importance of higher education completion as a policy priority across countries, also seen in the light of a more diverse student population than previously. 1 CFWs are seminars organised within the framework of the Open Method of Coordination for the Working Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education (WG-MHE). They bring together ministry and HEI representatives to share experience and take forward the activities of ET2020 and the Higher Education Modernisation Agenda. 2 The CFW was a follow-up of the 2013 peer learning activity on policies and practices to reduce dropout and completion. 3 Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. 1

2 B. THE DEFINITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION COMPLETION Defining concepts and indicators for higher education completion Higher education completion typically refers to the successful completion of a higher education degree. This basic concept is often complemented by other attributes such as the time-to-degree, the completion of credit units per year or the re-enrolment in the same study programme. The higher education completion rate shows to what extent higher education systems are successful in turning entrants into graduates. 4 Despite improvements in data collection and monitoring of administrative data on dropout and completion rates, different definitions and calculation methods at system and institutional level across the EU make evidence-based policy making and cross-country comparison challenging. There was an acknowledgement among participants of the need for a small set of internationally shared system-level indicators for higher education success at both system and institutional level. Tailored country-specific indicators may also be needed for the monitoring and evaluation of national policies. C. MAIN POLICY CONCLUSIONS The following points were some of the main conclusions drawn after the workshop: Setting clear objectives and priorities Countries with clear objectives and priorities linked to higher completion rates tend to have more effective policy-mixes addressing various aspects of study success. Typical policy-mixes cover financial incentives to students and institutions, admission policies and limitations to the time-to-degree. National authorities may incentivise autonomous institutions to take responsibility for study success by using performance-based funding and additional innovation or quality-oriented funds. For financial incentives to be effective, they should be substantive, well-targeted and consistent. Authorities need to acknowledge that the impact of performance-based funding on completion depends on the share of the funding that is related to the relevant indicators of completion, retention and study progress. While a number of countries have introduced performance-based elements in their funding systems, the long-term country experience suggests that funding as an incentive is the most effective when supported by other incentives. 5 Workshop participants further argued that while quantitative goals were important for higher education institutions to improve completion, it is 4 The share of students who enter and complete their studies at Bachelor level (ISCED 6) expressed as a percentage of entrants. 5 Performance-based funding is no magic bullet in boosting completion although the institutional funding allocation model on the basis of e.g. passing exams (in DK) is a strong incentive for HEIs to focus on completion. Several countries which have PBF-systems in place still continue to face challenges with completion and/or over-extended studies (DK, FI, SE). Competitive time-limited funds to institutions can give a substantial boost for HEIs to support completion, such as in the case of Malmö University. 2

3 equally important to recognise that raising completion and improving quality can be mutually enforcing goals and should be better integrated in performance-based funding systems. There was a general consensus that this balance needs to be reflected in the political discourse and policy-making around higher education completion. While respecting the autonomy of higher education institutions, authorities should require institutions to develop a strategic approach to higher education completion, to ensure equity in access and success and public accountability by monitoring and reporting systems which do not place undue burden on institutions. Government s role is to ensure dialogue with the higher education sector highlighting the themes which may be underrated by institutions and to ensure that institutions are supported through appropriate policies to address the challenges in completion. Managing the entry to higher education Regulating access to higher education refers to various forms of selection systems at different stages of the student career with the aim to impact the composition of the student population in order to improve completion. It can include setting minimum entry level qualifications and targeting underrepresented groups. Several higher education systems control the number and type of study places in order to improve completion, by increasing or decreasing the number of publicly-funded study places or introducing caps for funding. Country experience across Europe suggests that supply-driven rationing requires effective management controls of study places and detailed information on labour market needs and graduate employment outcomes. Matching students and programmes with regard to motivation, competencies and expectations holds potential to lead to higher completion rates. Systems are being introduced in different European countries, but due to the novelty of these systems, detailed information is still not available. 6 Facilitating transition to tertiary education and investing in HEI-school collaboration Experience across Europe shows that challenges in higher education completion are partly linked to challenges in secondary education systems which may generate suboptimal learning outcomes. The primary responsibility for overcoming quality and equity gaps in secondary education lies with school authorities who will need to address the challenges in a comprehensive way and mobilise appropriate financial and human resources. Higher education institutions can through systematic outreach and active collaboration with local schools raise aspirations and academic performance of potential students. While many institutions engage with schools in order 6 Experience from the Netherlands shows that successful implementation of matching helps students carefully select their study field, but guidance and feedback for students are required prior to the matching procedure, possibly also competence testing. The first results of the evaluation of the HEI-level matching system in the Netherlands will be available in

4 to recruit the best performing students, 7 there is less evidence of a long-term comprehensive system- and institution-wide collaboration to address the needs of non-traditional students. Governments can use competitive funding incentives to enhance transition from secondary to tertiary education of special groups. 8 Governments should promote comprehensive and transparent human capital development systems stretching from primary to tertiary education and lifelong learning. There was an acknowledgement of the need to build stronger relationships among the different components of the education system universities, vocational higher education institutions, secondary education with functioning pathways to encourage mobility across and within the system by eliminating educational dead ends, improving links with different levels and actors of education and improving recognition of prior learning. Academic and non-academic support Supporting first year students in higher education is absolutely key to improve completion. There is a growing acknowledgement of the importance of the early integration of students into the academic and social community. 9 Creating teaching and learning communities facilitates a culture of belonging and academic and social integration of students which enhances completion. Personal attention through regular mentoring and tutoring was seen as particularly helpful, especially for non-traditional students. While smaller institutions may invest in mentoring by academic staff acknowledging the importance of teacher-student interaction, a more cost-efficient way mentioned is to match entrants with older students. Developing evidence-based policies to support higher education completion Practice across Europe suggests that evidence-based policies to improve higher education completion require measuring study success on the basis of the entire student life cycle from access to higher education to completion and transition to the labour market 10 and analysing the complexity of underlying factors For example by offering preparatory courses in stem fields, establishing children s universities etc. 8 For example Malmo University in Sweden has an active outreach to schools in order to engage prospective students before they turn 14. Malmo s outreach activities were designed as a response of the government competitive funding. The university has maintained its focus on access and success and had developed a comprehensive approach. The ROSE project in Romania is another example of linking the different levels better. 9 A number of countries/heis have developed extensive introduction periods, including Austria where universities offer a mandatory one-year introduction phase. Other approaches include mandatory competence tests for new entrants in Italy and Hungary, complemented by targeted support for students at risk, and various matching systems mentioned above. 10 For example Hungary and Romania follow students employability. To overcome the impact of labour market influence on employability, Hungary allocates additional funding to those institutions which have above average graduate employability outcomes. Hungary also follows 4

5 Student monitoring and tracking i.e. collecting quantitative information on study access, progress and completion is a widely used tool in HE systems to improve completion and a number of countries have recently set up new systems. National tracking and monitoring require high quality data, attention to data protection issues and horisontal, governmental collaboration, as they connect education data with social security statistics. Several countries face legal challenges in collecting access data on student characteristics (ethnic, socio-economic background etc.) which may reduce their ability to device effective policies to widen access and improve success. A combination of national and institutional student tracking and student survey systems can effectively inform policy-development at both national and institutional level, 12 but HEI-level tracking and student surveys often suffer from lack of transparency, inter-institutional comparability and low response rates. Governments which require HEIs to collect study progress information would benefit from developing (in collaboration with HEIs) a uniform approach to data collection and reporting. Country experience also showed that higher education systems could make better use of the student tracking and survey information to guide student demand and improve completion. For this purpose authorities should make the results easily accessible through transparent publication and promotion of results. 13 Transforming the pedagogy, content and organisation of higher education Equipping students with 21st century skills requires a move away from the traditional teacher-centred classroom practices and enhancement of higher education pedagogical development. Governments and institutions can support this development by incentivising the use of active learning models and new modes of learning and teaching. 14 the level earnings and whether graduates are employed in graduate level jobs or below. In Romania, the graduate employability indicator has an impact in the university ranking process. 11 From the perspective of a single university, 12% of dropouts return later (i.e. stop-out not drop-out), 16% change university, 7% change the HE sector, 14% leave the country (mainly international students) and 9% are degree holders. In Austria, for example, the Dropout Dropout study had highlighted the prevalence of ghost students and the combination or consecutive intervals of study and work by students. 12 At the system level, they can help set the overall policy objectives and targets for higher education provision and completion, inform the number of higher study places and degrees to be completed as well as allocation of funding and guide prospective and current students to make informed decisions about their field of study, institution and career options. At the institutional level they can inform about factors underlying dropout, identify students at risk, inform targeted intervention measures (intense counselling, career service, mentoring, tutoring) and general measures to improve higher education provision and support services. 13 Currently Denmark is in the process of developing a Higher Education Data Warehouse which aims to help the authorities and also individual HEIs monitor completion rates. 14 Active learning methods include problem-based learning, experiential learning, work-based learning, entrepreneurship education, multidisciplinary group assignments, student participation in research projects etc. Country experience showed that the pedagogical development in schools has not always been paralleled in HEIs which may continue to rely on traditional teaching. For example Slovenia is planning projects in innovative teaching in higher education in order to meet the needs of new entrants who have been used to ICT-based learning models in secondary education. 5

6 A number of countries have developed new types of programmes such as short-cycle degrees, broad-based multidisciplinary bachelor degrees, professional bachelor degrees and professionally-oriented higher education, often including practical elements. Introducing work-based learning in higher education is one of the key measures to improve higher education completion. While it can be particularly helpful for non-traditional students, there is a growing acknowledgement of the positive impact of dual-type education for all students in terms of motivation, higher education completion and employability. 15 Supporting teaching staff and increasing dialogue Dialogue with higher education teaching staff is important in all mechanisms which the aim to improve completion in higher education. There is a need to improve the initial and further education of higher education staff. One way for governments to incentivise the dialogue is by regulation and funding incentives for example by requiring that a certain percentage of the budget is dedicated to the further education of teaching staff. Acknowledging and rewarding quality teaching remains a challenge particularly in researchintensive universities where career progress has a tendency to depend heavily on research and publication results. A more general conclusion emerging from the workshop discussions is the need for dialogue and communication between higher education systems on the one hand and between HEIs on the other hand. Governments can stimulate networking and shared learning of good practices between HEIs 16. Sharing experiences between countries is necessary to ensure the modernisation of higher education across countries to improve quality and completion. 15 Nearly all countries in the workshop have developed some form of professional education. Hungary has recently developed dual studies contract-based programmes where learning takes place at a workplace and a higher education institution with the aim to improve completion and labour market match of higher education. Italy has introduced legislation in 2015 to steer the development of apprenticeship at all levels of education, including higher education. The presented initiatives are still too young to be evaluated. Finland has acknowledged the prevalence of the combination of work and study and aims to make progress in the recognition of the time and skills achieved at work with the help of an EU-funded project on Educationalisation of work. 16 For example Higher Education Academy in England, Nexus in Germany 6