Technikons and Higher Education Restructuring

The paper examines technikons in South Africa with respect to some of their internal characteristics, and in relation to debates about their place in the system of higher education as a whole, currently being assessed by the new National Commission on Higher Education. Internally it is shown that technikons lag the universities by 1:3 in terms of student enrolments, and nearly half of the 100,000 (in 1991) students were enrolled at the distance learning Technikon RSA. The past decade has seen a shift away from science and technology (S&T) fields of study at technikons, despite their establishment as 'institutes of technology'. African and female students are shown to be especially under-represented in S&T fields; staff are significantly underqualified in comparison with the universities. The profile of technikons poses a number of questions in relation to the restructuring of the higher education system (HES). Issues of national and regional governance of the HES, articulation between universities-technikons-technical colleges, and ways of enhancing S&T fields and establishing staff development programmes are considered.     

Restructuring the System of Higher Education

We investigate the main question of whether higher education institutions are able to increase their performance due to mergers, takeovers, or organizational restructuring. The problem of measuring performance when there are several “output” and “input” indicators can currently be solved by recourse to a proven data analysis method (data envelopment analysis, DEA). Two models are presented to assess the educational and research performance of universities. The DEA model, which is input orientated and has constant returns to scale, was used to perform calculations. To conduct a comparative analysis of groups of universities that are at various stages of the restructuring process, the study authors proposed several classifications of universities:

• by number of consolidated and/or eliminated organizational units,

• by period when restructuring was completed,

• by type of restructuring mechanism, and

• on the basis of whether technical colleges have been joined to the university in question.

We used nonparametric statistical methods for comparing averages to test the proposed hypotheses. Our study sample consisted of 132 universities whose parent agency is the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The authors did not discover that the performance of the universities deteriorated as a result of the restructuring process. It turned out that universities that actively participate in restructuring processes in fact increased their performance level relative to other universities.

The study did not reveal that institutions that are currently in the process of being merged with or taken over by other institutions experience a temporary decline and subsequent restoration of their performance level. The performed analysis did not confirm the hypothesis that universities that absorbed technical colleges experienced a drop in their performance level. The results of the study unanimously show that by 2015 universities made progress in bridging the gap with the performance level of their leading competitors compared to 2010. The authors are aware that the verification of the accuracy of the proposed arguments requires a more detailed study of the universities. Because many countries have already accumulated a large amount of experience in how to restructure institutions of higher education, the results of the present study of the restructuring of Russian universities make it possible to draw comparisons as well as to use the developed theoretical concepts to explain and predict the possible consequences of using various restructuring mechanisms. The study is based on the widely accepted method of data envelopment analysis. This article represents the first time that this method has been used to benchmark university performance over time.     

试论中国工业结构调整与升级中的高等工程教育

在工业社会,经济结构、劳动力需求结构与教育结构、教育层次的形成有着密不可分的关系。而在经济结构中,工业结构特别是产业结构和技术结构与劳动力的需求结构、教育结构之间的相互制约关系最为密切。高等工程教育作为为工矿企业,特别是为制造业培养高层次应用型、开拓型人才的专业教育,应直接反映工业化社会经济结构状况与发展水平的需要。本文分析了中国工业经济、产业结构变动和发展趋势与高等工程教育之间的关系,强调了企业界参与高等工程教育的重要性和必要性。     

对高等教育评估的经济学分析

教育评估是开展高等教育质量保障活动的主要手段。我国的高等教育质量评估主要是政府主导型的,缺乏社会评估力量的广泛参与,产生了一些弊端,因而一些研究高等教育质量保障的专家、学者们已经意识到要培育教育评估市场,大力促进教育评估的社会化,逐步扭转政府主导教育评估的局面。然而高等教育评估能否进行市场运作,必须研究高等教育评估的经济学属性,这是建立教育评估市场的理论基础。一、高等教育评估是教育服务的一种类型教育评估是以活动的形式提供教育价值判断的复杂劳动,它具有服务的一般特征:(1)无形性,教育评估活动的结果不是有形的…     

经济学在高职教学中的改革

《经济学》是对市场经济条件下微观经济和宏观经济运行的经验总结,是学生学习经济管理类课程的基础,也是学生适应社会、适应岗位及进一步升迁的必修课。因此,探讨其在高职教学中的地位、作用,对其原有的课程体系进行整合,对其教学方法进行必要的创新和改革具有重大意义。     

劳动力市场与大学生就业——过度教育现象的经济学分析

2005年我国高等教育毛入学率达到了21％,高等教育在校生总规模超过2300万人。根据美国教育学家马丁·特罗1976年提出的高等教育大众化概念被普遍接受,即高等教育发展经历精英教育、大众教育和普及教育三个阶段,当高等教育入学率达到适龄青年人数的15％时,高等教育转向大众化,超过50％则进入普及化。因此,我国已经进入了高等教育大众化阶段。     

Devolution and the Restructuring of Participation in Higher Education in Wales

This paper examines patterns of participation in higher education (HE) Wales, in the context of the devolution of powers over HE to the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government. In particular, this democratic devolution has resulted in the introduction of arrangements for student finance which are quite distinctive from those in other parts of the UK. In the event, trends in participation amongst Welsh‐domiciled young people (even when disaggregated by gender and socio‐economic background) show little evidence of impacts from these arrangements. Analysis of the geography of participation within Wales does reveal some evidence of convergence between areas of low and high participation. The picture is further complicated when the flows of students into and out of Wales, which are much larger than for other parts of the UK, are taken into account. This poses major questions for Welsh policy makers, especially because, from 2007–2008, there will be a significant price differential for Welsh‐domiciled students studying in Wales and those who wish to go elsewhere.     

Restructuring Higher Education. A Comparative Analysis between Australia and The Netherlands

It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful to success, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their favour; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have actual experience of it. (Machiavelli)

     

美国高等教育经济学研究:几个主要研究问题

近几十年来,高等教育经济学的研究取得了蓬勃发展.本文在对该领域的研究成果进行系统梳理的基础上,归纳出美国高等教育经济学研究的五大主题并逐一进行述评,这五大主题分别是:高等教育的回报、高等教育的需求、大学的运作及成本、高等教育市场的竞争和学术劳动力市场.这些研究主题大多与美国高等教育领域的重大政策议题密切相关.     

项目式教学模式在高职经济学课程中的运用

在高职教育中,如何让学生在学习中培养良好的职业专业技能,是学校与老师进行教学时着重考虑的问题。在现代社会,专业性人才与高素养人才受到了广泛的关注与欢迎,让自己的学生增强社会竞争力,具有高素养成为学校教育的目标之一。本文主要是通过实际案例在经济学上的应用来说明项目式教学是如何应用在高职经济学课堂教学中的。     

高等职业教育经济学浅论

从经济学视角，通过对供求关系，办学效益以及社会经济效益等方面的分析，考察高等职业教育，以期推动高等职业教育的市场化进程，并促进高等职业教育为产业的融合。     

深化高职体制改革服务浙江经济发展

本文从分析浙江省高等职业教育发展的现状出发,指出当前浙江省高职教育存在的问题及根本原因所在.并由此提出发展高职必须深化改革以突破体制障碍,在扩大资源共享的同时,高职院校必须形成特色竞争力的发展思路.     

从经济学的视角审视高等教育的就业问题--有感于多学科的高等教育研究

高等教育学科有没有自己独立的研究方法？“多学科”的研究方法能否取代传统的“高深学问”而成为高等教育独特的研究方法？这是潘懋元先生在其主编的《多学科观点的高等教育研究》一书中为我们提出的新的命题，本研究将试图从经济学的视角，深入到高等教育的内部来分析高等教育改革与发展中出现的就业问题，以期从多学科研究的一个侧面来审视和解释高等教育的外部关系问题，并从方法论上论证多学科研究高等教育的合理性。     

新自由主义经济学的高等教育市场化观点评析

在新自由主义经济学关于高等教育的价值观理论中,高等教育市场化标示着高等学校系统从权力分配、管理运作到教育内容安排等全方位的再建构的思想指向,它关涉到在意识形态层面与“立场”紧密相关的价值观问题、文化观问题等。如何从理论上思考和回应这一层面的问题,是我们在高等教育市场化改革大潮之下不可回避的深层次思想基础问题。本文认为,在这一层面,新自由主义经济学关于高等教育市场化观点也许为我们提供了批判与思考的理论支点。     

The Role of Private Universities and Colleges in the Spatial Restructuring of Higher Education in Poland

The development of private higher education institutions in Poland since 1989 has become a thorny political issue. The question is discussed in terms of the overall expansion of higher education in Poland, the Polish national development strategy, the spatial distribution of higher education institutions in Poland, and the role of higher education in the formation of the Polish national e´lite. The author argues strongly in favour of the equal treatment of private higher education.     

关于高等教育评价的两个教育经济学问题

教育经济学理论认为，教育通过生产劳动能力而成为社会再生产运动的一个环节。教育生产劳动能力是一个教育投入到教育产出的过程，以最小的投资取得最大的产出是发展教育的基本原则。衡量“最小－最大”的最高标准是教育的社会效益，教育经济学的这些理论对于全面地，科学地评价高等教育是有指导意义的。     

高校合并整合管理的界面探讨

高校合并后的整合管理，涉及到办学思想、大学文化、学科专业、组织制度以及人力资源等界面，而每个界面对合并高校能否达到1＋1＞2的协同效应都会产生十分重要的影响。本文从五个界面全面探讨了运用这些运作手段对高校合并管理的影响与作用。     

Higher Education,Collaboration and a New Economics

In this article I take as my starting point the economist, Jeremy Rifkin's, claims about the rise of what he calls the ‘collaborative commons’. For Rifkin, this is nothing less than the emergence of a new economic paradigm where traditional consumers exploit the possibilities of technology, and position themselves as ‘pro‐sumers’. This emphasises their role in production rather than consumption alone, and shows how they aim to bypass a range of capitalist markets, from publishing to the music industry. In asking how education is situated in relation to the collaborative commons, I consider the growth in technology‐driven, cost‐negative services as a response to the current market in higher education. This raises the issue of what we mean by ‘collaboration’ in the university, and how this might be different from, for example, cooperation or teamwork. In seeking to provide a richer conception of collaboration in higher education, I look to Martin Buber's concept of the relational act and the life of dialogue, and to some of the seminal work of Ronald Barnett on the philosophy and economics of higher education. The article suggests that these concepts afford a new perspective on collaboration that amount to a new economics for education. Such economics require a radical shift in how we perceive the role of responsibility, reciprocity and the educative possibilities of conversation.     

公共经济视野下的高等教育产品

根据公共经济的分类,高等教育提供一部分纯公共产品,但主要提供准公共产品。纯公共产品是用于满足社会公共需要的产品和服务,准公共产品介于公共产品与私人产品之间。高等教育一方面具有公共产品受益的非排他性、效用的不可分割性和消费的非竞争性的特点;另一方面具有私人产品,可以买卖的商品性质,因此具有排他性、效用的可分割性和消费的竞争性特点;高等教育作为准公共产品,存在一系列经济和生产问题。     

高等职业教育和山西经济发展的实证研究

积极发展高等职业技术教育是当前我国高等教育领域中的一个热点问题，也是山西省当前高教改革与发展中亟待研究的一个重要课题。山西经济发展为山西高等职业教育发展提供了良好的机遇，同时也对山西高等职业教育改革和发展提出了要求。山西省应以省统筹，面向区域经济发展合理调整高职院校布局与专业设置，深入探讨高职规律，深化教学改革，加大投入，培育重点，促进高职教育的全面发展。