Ebook: The Research Mission of Higher Education Institutions outside the University Sector: Striving for Differentiation

The European Union’s Lisbon strategy, which aims to make the region the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy in the world, has given a much higher profile to tertiary education institutions outside the traditional university sector in a number of member states. With the EU looking to maximize these colleges’ contribution to the Union’s development, their role is now very much on the political agenda. Yet there is a dearth of information about the extent of research in this sector, on research conditions and research capability, and on the results of this activity. This book sets out to fill this gap. Its purpose is to provide an overview of the state of the art of research in these institutions through focusing on eight selected European countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. The text shows that while more and more of these ‘technical colleges’, ‘polytechnics’ and their equivalents have been given government funding for research, as higher education institutions outside the university sector they are faced with many challenges in their efforts to develop this aspect of their academic brief. Their growing research arms have led to more complex interactions with universities, both in differential terms—a specific research mandate oriented towards the regional economy and the quality of teaching and professional practice—and convergence, as the research moves towards fulfilling traditional academic standards. The book’s four sections introduce the sector in general, along with some of the key issues facing it; set out some of the transnational aspects of the sector’s research mission; detail the state of the art in each of the EU countries covered; and assess the challenges and opportunities that these colleges may encounter in the future. Aimed at scholars and policymakers alike, this much-needed addition to the literature provides key information that will aid the development of a group of education institutions seen as full of potential for the future.

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Even if in most countries non-university higher education institutions did not have originally a research mandate, it is well known that in most cases these institutions have progressively developed research activities and, at least in some countries, the State now has recognized the research role of these institutions and provided support and funding. Moreover, in many countries the role of research in polytechnics, ‘fachhochschulen’, ‘hogescholen’, university colleges, etc is on the political agenda. Despite the importance of the issue, there are very few in-depth studies of research in the non-university sector. These studies show that  the development of research in these institutions leads to quite complex interactions with universities, both in the sense of convergence (academic drift) and/or of differentiation of a specific research mandate oriented towards the regional economy. Therefore, this book aims to fill this gap by first analysing a number of transversal issues related to the research mission of these institutions. In its second part it gives an overview of the state of the art in eight European countries.