Universities: The Future – Some Predictions

I research European Higher Education Policy and work in a field of Higher Education which necessitates engagement with policy in the sector.  So I thought I might do some speculations on the future of HE and what we can see happening over the next few years. 

-       Students – application numbers to go down but actual acceptance will not go down massively following the introduction of the new funding regime.  Arts/Humanities will be particularly hit but those subjects with clear professional destinations like law/medicine will not suffer. 

-       2 year degrees or short, intensive programmes are going to become more common as people cannot afford to study in traditional forms. 

-       International – physical student mobility to decrease but off-sure provision to increase with a particular innovation in e-learning provision.  The EU may lead some of the funding to encourage this. 

-       University mission – not all universities will do everything.  Some universities will focus on research, others will become teaching-only.  There will be inconsistencies across universities with some departments being research active, others teaching only. 

-       Universities will increasingly be focussed on a more limited number of subjects where they can specialise. 

-       Funding – Commercial sponsorship is not a reliable way forward.  UK Business sees University’s as being state-supported so why should they?  Funding will increase in these areas but the use of the third sector (NGOs, charities) and public sector can grow in research as they cannot always have their own research functions. 

-       University – Mergers are to be likely.  As always during periods of growth, there has been a growth in the number of providers.  Now things are economically tighter, mergers will happen so that universities become an economically viable model and there are some obvious mergers out there.  And mergers with Further Education colleges are going to happen and closer relations with private colleges could be anticipated.  Indeed, we could see cross-European mergers starting.  I am aware of some German-Dutch companies which are providers in each country but with local quality adherence, language and delivery.  Why couldn’t we woke more closely with some of our EU partners?

-       University – Cross-European collaboration will continue to be important to bring in new skills and make use of more favourable funding regimes.  Ascension of some countries will be particularly encouraged and included if funding applications are to be successful.   The same is true of mobility/joint academic student programmes. 

The nature and role of the University is changing in our society and in many senses all of this is guesswork but it will be interesting to see what if this is true 1, 2, 5 or even 10 years out.  My career path and sector is changing, like everyone else’s, but the need for Higher Education remains consistent. 

Europe, the Euro & Which Currency to take on Holiday

A new hashtag has appeared on twitter: #Eurocrisis.  Now, of course, this is referring to the economic crisis which seems to flit from being a banking to a sovereign debt crisis.  In many ways it is both unnecessary and impossible to label the current situation. 

But 2 thoughts have occurred to me.  Firstly, the fact that a hashtag exists indicates a change in our relationship, awareness and communication of this financial crisis.  Unlike in previous economic crises there is wider political and popular debate of the issues.  In the 1930s (the most serious downturn), the media reports were far less and in the 1980s-90s the individually-driven content did not exist.  Not much of the discussion still happens amongst the political elite, despite the new ‘social media’, many of the actors are the traditional ones.  But there is a far greater awareness which drives the agenda and causes mass awareness to a crisis  All of this changes how this crisis may pan out and puts government under increased (sometimes ill-informed) opinion.  Governments need to react and tell us they have reacted in a faster way than previously and the need for quick reaction cuts time for thinking or to develop more innovative responses to the current situation. 

Secondly, my argument about the political/cultural future of Europe, as opposed to the economic is still valid.  Though founded on an economic model, the political and cultural elements are still particularly important.  As a nation on the edge of the European Union, we may not be the best to view the importance of Europe.  But when you travel across countries and see the shared values and communal beliefs, there should be no doubting the necessity of a European Alliance.  And despite the unhappiness in Germany and, to a different extent, France and other “wealthy” nations about the economic impact of the Euro, they would not want to completely dissolve the political union.  So one of the key issues is how Europe holds together despite its foundations (the economy from which it was born) is shaken to the core. 

I wrote recently on twitter wondering if I should take French Francs or US Dollars to France next week given the problems of the Euro.  In March 2008, an academic friend suggested that we could not bank on the Euro existing in 5 years’ time.  Given this was pre-crisis, she was mainly referring to a crumbling of the political union.  It is surprising that the economics might spell the end in the not too distant future and might make my joke about what currency to tale on holiday to Europe an interesting reality. 

Writing a Literature Review

This week I submitted my first draft of the literature review.  It wasn’t easy, I have to say and what I initially thought to be a lot of reading has turned out to be quite thin.  I divided it into about 6 sections, each with their own discussion point, all trying to justify my research questions and all trying to feed into the over-arching theme of the chapter and thesis. 

All of this might seem quite reasonable; I might have covered all the major arguments & authors in the fields.  I somewhat doubt it and  I certainly lack confidence in it.  And it made me suddenly realise that I am still quite a way off completing the PhD.  A significant part of the PhD is not what you know or what you uncover but how you argue it.  Now, I am relatively confident & able to argue my point in discussion, when looking at applications or in politics.  However, this confidence does not extend to my research.  So the level of work needed and engagement needs to continue.  But there will be a day – hopefully in the not too distant future – when I will be able to do this.  Then I will be confident I can add some letters before and after my name.