The ‘hinterland’ issue in European higher education policymaking

Michael Shattock, Aniko Horvath

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The article addresses the issues surrounding the importance and impact of ‘hinterlands’ in the construction of European higher education systems and in the formation of sectoral policy. It draws on studies of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom to illustrate different policy approaches and shows how in some countries ‘hinterland’ issues have been the major factor in the reconstruction of national higher education systems. It draws a distinction between the past, where policies were essentially based on the growth of student numbers, and the present, where the drivers are much more related to regional social and economic factors and, in some countries, to public good policies on equalising opportunities between deprived and affluent areas. It suggests that ‘hinterland’ issues are now central to how higher education systems are constructed. As a result, systems will become more complex to manage but that regional and institutional ‘bottom up’ determination may offer better prospects for innovation and flexibility in the face of societal change.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)102-116
Number of pages15
JournalPolicy Reviews in Higher Education
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jun 2024

Funding

It is a characteristic of writing and theorising about the governance of European higher education that scholars draw their conclusions from \u2018top down\u2019 studies of national systems based on state-level structural reforms (Bleike, Enders, and Lepori ; Carnoy et al. ; Kruger et al. ; Paradeise et al. ). This approach, while valuable in isolating and comparing national reforms in governance structures and their systemic impact on institutions does not always address in detail the underlying composition of national systems and how this provides a \u2018bottom up\u2019 driver which can shape the systems and affect the policy outcomes. We have had the opportunity, thanks to support from the Oxford Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) (funded by ESRC and Research England) to study governance in higher education from both national and institutional perspectives and what strikes us is the extent to which institutional and national development sagas are affected by their locality and region, by geophysical characteristics and by the way institutions interrelate with the historic economic conditions of where they are located. There is also a strong tendency to assess higher education systems either via institutional rankings or through a variety of externally generated metrics. This provides only a simplified view. A \u2018bottom up\u2019 approach \u2013 where geophysical characteristics and historic economic conditions as linked to locality are considered \u2013 offers a more nuanced and realistic, if more complex, picture.

FundersFunder number
Oxford Centre for Global Higher Education
CGHE
Economic and Social Research Council

    Keywords

    • Hinterlands
    • Regions
    • Governance

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