Constructing a High-Performance Tertiary Education System in Finland Jamil Salmi, 10 December 2014
The future of tertiary education?
A world of science fiction? social and economic progress is achieved principally through the advancement and application of knowledge World Development Report 1998/99
Is the Finnish tertiary education system ready?
Outline Trends and challenges Benchmarking the Finnish Tertiary Education System Moving Forward: Options for Consideration
Changing environment Crisis factors Stimulus factors Disruption factors
Crisis dimensions public subsidies purchasing power of families employment prospects for young graduates
countries with decrease higher than 10% since 2008 Czech Republic Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Portugal Spain
20 % change in per student funding (FY08 FY13) 16,5 10 0-10 Arizona New Hampshire Oregon Louisiana Florida Alabama Idaho S. Carolina Washington Massachusetts New Mexico Mississipi Michigan Colorado Nevada Utah Minnesota Tennessee Pennsylvania Missouri Georgia California Ohio Virginia Iowa New Jersey Kentucky Oklahoma Hawai Delaware Rhode Island Kansas Illinois Connecticut Texas S. Dakota Arkansas Vermont Maryland W. Virginia Wisconsin Montana Indiana Nebraska Maine New York N. Carolina Alaska Wyoming N. Dakota -20-30 -40-50 -50,4-60
Stimulus factors Tertiary education at the center of economic competitiveness Asian dragons Nordic countries EU Lisbon agenda
# of excellence initiatives Region 1989-2004 2005-2013 Africa 0 1 Asia & Pacific 8 14 Europe 4 19 Middle East 0 1 North America 1 2 Total 13 35
regional distribution of EIs Region 1989-2004 2005 2013 Africa - Nigeria Asia & Pacific Europe Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden Middle East - Israel North America Canada Canada
China s successive programs 211 program: 100 top quality universities for the 21 st Century 985 program: developing 9 world-class universities (C9 League), to compete with the premier league of universities world-wide extended to 39 universities results: 9 universities in 2003, 28 in 2013
Disruption factors Global rankings Global talent war New providers Internet and new technologies
Technology-related disruption factors MOOCs Open education resources Online collaborative tools Badges Flipped classroom / technology enhanced learning spaces
Outline Trends and challenges Benchmarking the Finnish Tertiary Education System
Main dimensions of performance Highest level of attainment ( most well-educated country ) Low levels of inequality (incl. excellent record on gender balance) Good rankings and citation performance of Finnish universities Good technology transfer results High democracy index
Finnish universities score sheet Shanghai: 5 universities in top 500, U. of Helsinki is # 73 Times Higher Education: # 100 Leiden: # 269
Top 100 universities / 1 million people Massachussets Sweden Finland Denmark Switzerland Australia Netherlands Norway Canada United Kingdom United States California Korea 0 0.32 0.18 0.36 0.17 0.24 0,2 0.11 0.12 0.17 0.29 0.34 0,20 0.45 0.46 0.63 0,60 0,60 0.60 0.93 0.89 0.89 0.83 0.78 1.16 1.49 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 1,2 1,4 1,6 U per Million (100) U per Million (500)
Scientific citations relative to population Switzerland 4294 Denmark 3245 Sweden 2651 Netherlands 2587 Norway 2285 Australia 2206 Finland 2103 United Kingdom 1777 Canada 1686 United States 1156 South Korea 566
Patents per 1 million inhabitants (2012) Korea 2269,1 United States 806,4 Australia 780,0 Canada 625,5 Norway 261,0 Finland 154,4 Netherlands 113,1 United Kingdom 107,7 Sweden 104,9 Switzerland 57,5 Denmark 34,0 0,0 500,0 1000,0 1500,0 2000,0 2500,0
Universitas 21 country ranking Positive features: System-wide focus Control for size Large range of indicators (multi-dimensional)
Universitas 21system ranking Overall Ranking United States Sweden Canada Finland Denmark Switzerland Norway Australia Netherlands United Kingdom Ranking on Outputs United States United Kingdom Canada Sweden Finland Switzerland Australia Denmark Germany Netherlands
System health Excellent academic preparation of incoming students Dual system High level of public funding Relatively protected during the crisis Governance reform
Outstanding issues Completion rates and on-time completion Innovative curricular and pedagogical practices Critical mass in research / small, segmented programs Internationalization Financial autonomy
Outline Trends and challenges Benchmarking the Finnish Tertiary Education System Moving Forward: Options for Consideration
State of California 11 universities among top 100 If California were a country 34 th in population 8 th in GDP 2 nd in top ranked universities (after US) Chance or result of deliberate planning and action?
Moving forward Elaborating the vision Verifying that all drivers are aligned
Vision 2025 Size and shape of the Finnish tertiary education system? Building up research excellence? Diminishing the average duration to completion and increasing on-time graduation rate? Accelerating the adoption of innovative curricular and pedagogical? How to expand internationalization? Completing the institutional autonomy reforms?
Size and Shape Further expansion? Improved internal efficiency? How should existing tertiary education institutions organize and strengthen their lifelong learning / retraining / career change programs? Should the system be further consolidated through additional mergers? Keeping the dual structure without modification, or making adjustments? One world-class university the University of Helsinki or seek to upgrade several?
Drivers of growth Demographics Internal efficiency Lifelong learning Internationalization
Mergers: aspects to consider Who takes the initiative? State vs. institutions Forced or voluntary? Criteria Geographical proximity Strategic interest Complementarity
assessing research excellence Quantity Research Excellence Quality Impact
clear goals Building Minnesota s world-leading status in the knowledge economy requires setting goals for HE and measuring results. Governor Tim Pawlenty
benchmarking
Forces of convergence Bologna process Global rankings Excellence initiatives
A word of caution danger of homogenization dare to be different
Suggestions Differentiation and diversification are healthy Undertake mergers for the right reasons Long term cost of not addressing structural issues
What is your vision for the future of your system?