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Changed conditions – challenged roles: notions on
higher educations societal role in democratic societies
Björn Åstrand
University of Umeå, Sweden
The mixed views: on change and continuity
Educational systems including higher education appears to be as important as hard to
understand. When it comes to higher education, listening to the societal debate, it
tends to be characterized by being monolithic, traditional, looks the same year after
year and according to politicians it has to change rapidly and profoundly to better
fulfill its societal role which at least when it comes to publicly funded institutions
equals more payback to taxpayer and more of boosting economy by patents, products
and profit. Listening to discussions within HE another picture evolves institutional
and departmental reforms are to frequent, programs are redesigned to often and
condition for research are too short sighted to promote substantial progress. So, an
aspect of what puzzles me is those conflicting perspectives on continuity and change,
and I end up in unease – are there sufficient continuity and change in the areas where
it’s most essential?
The split view on the education system
There seems to be a need for a perspective on HE that does not lose sight of prior
levels in the educational system. Swedish pre, primary and secondary education
became transformed profoundly and rapidly in the years around 1990. It shifted from
one of the more centralized systems to a globally uniquely decentralized model.
(Lundahl 2005; 2010) International scholars have argued that the Swedish school
system nowadays is extreme. (c.f. Levin 2013) Sweden as a society has been
characterized over the last decades by this kind of transformations and the pace, scope
and willingness to reform seems a bit unique. (Santesson 2012, C.f. Åstrand 2013). In
the national discourse on HE it is despite those two facts (the rapid change of school
system and the profound reform orientation) rather unusual with perspectives
contextualizing HE to this reform intensity. According to a recent study it has though
been observed internationally but studies overlooking the divide between K-12 and
post secondary education are rare. (Unemar ÖST 2009:26; C.f. Åstrand 2012)
With growing seize and increased importance roles changes
As in many countries a striking change since 1970s are the growth and along with that
several important discussion about equal access, local and regional presence, quality
etc. In relation to this process discussion on the purposes with HE has of course also
occurred. However, I fear that one aspect has been missing, at least partly: democracy
and human rights. The right to speak freely is on a particular level profoundly
essential for HE hence its promotion seems to be an important perspective of HEstrategy for the future and the declaration on human rights states in the preamble that
all peoples, all nations, every individual and every organ of society ”shall strive by
teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms.” A report
from American colleges and universities though claimed: “Democracies are founded
on a distinctive web of values: human dignity, equality, justice, responsibility, and
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freedom. The meanings and applications of these values are rarely self-evident and
frequently contested. Moreover, most students never actually study such issues in any
formal way, either in school or in college. Many students … do not think that civic
engagement is even a goal for their college studies.” (AACU 2007:22) Usually
schools are assigned the responsibility to take on this task of anchoring democratic
beliefs, behaviors and approaches. But, given the seize of HE attendance nowadays I
argue that there is a need to rethink the role of HE in this perspective. Also, I think it
appears important for the future to explore what kind of learning experiences would
be desirable in HE in this respect. Primary and secondary education has developed
their approach to the issue and for the HEI my assumption is that according to its
importance in society and for future societies an increased or revitalized discussion on
what the contribution from HE more precisely should consists in.
Historical and contemporary ideas about the role of higher education
Higher education is obviously in a remarkably period of change on several levels (as
is pointed out in the CFP). (C.f. Kezar 2004) The Lisbon agenda pointed towards a
particular understanding of the value of HE. That notion of HE still persists in The
Higher Education Modernization Agenda: “Higher education, with its links with
research and innovation, plays a crucial role in personal development and economic
growth, providing the highly qualified people and the articulate citizens that Europe
needs to create jobs and prosperity. The agenda balances in this portal paragraph
individual and societal aspects but in the following line it narrows what’s it all about:
“If Europe is not to lose out to global competition in the fields of education, research
and innovation, national higher education systems must be able to respond effectively
to the requirements of the knowledge economy.” (European Commission). The
argument is bit surprising; as it does not follow by logic that personal development
leads to a commitment to international competition favoring Europe as a continent.
Based on this we have to understand the EC-position on HE along a tradition
understanding HE role as mainly economical on a societal level and reforms are
directed towards change and promotion of initiatives along this idea.
Historically other ideas have been articulated. John Henry Newman focused on
another level as his notion of the very idea of a university consisted in its character of
being “a place of teaching universal knowledge.” (Newman 1852) Accordingly his
emphasis is on the impact higher education studies have on the individual student and
the university as an end in itself. (C.f. Nussbaum 1997) We can add other ideas as
well: the German tradition of bildung, the Humboldt model and the classical research
university as examples of ideas with HE, partly challenged in the HE of today by
changing notions in the aftermath of MOOCs, private or public.
There is a rich tradition of notions about HE and universities. One of the more
unusual texts is Clark Kerrs The Uses of the University. Initially it was a publication
of his Godkin lectures at Harvard in 1963 but since then he has added new chapters
more or less every decade commenting upon change and challenges and as such it
displays how the institution as such has become a “multiversity” harboring a variety
of purposes. (Kerr 2001, C.f Christensen 2011) As for Kerr, change appears natural
for another American scholar, Harold T Shapiro who argues that ”In an environment
that is changing, the university will inevitably be the subject of debates about the
relationship of existing programs` connectedness with its commitments to the
changing needs of society.” (Shapiro 2005) This short recollection of existing and
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varied ideas on purpose with HE (as on what is understood as desirable) can be
viewed as a bricolage of possibilities for institutional strategies in HEI in their
understanding of their past and what’s essential for the future. The question posed in
this paper is to what degree national policy, HEIs and academic leaders have taken the
changed conditions into account when it comes to higher educations role concerning
democracy.
Two empirical studies: change and continuity in institutional strategies
This paper draws upon two main studies on institutional strategies and thinking about
HEs societal role among academic leaders (In addition to the main studies the
findings are related to statements on purpose of HE in governmental bill and reports
from the period 1965 to 2012). They conver three levels (national, institutional and
individual) and are aimed toward a an analysis over time ( end 1960s to 2013) and in
between levels.
In March 2007 the Swedish government required all HEI in Sweden to outline their
strategies and to submit the to the ministry as support for their deliberations. Those
documents are analyzed and compared to earlier and later published institutional
strategies from the perspective of the theory on isomorphism. Networked institutions
that exist in a kind of ecological system can according to DiMaggio & Powell display
an isomorphic behavior, a “ process of homogenization” that can be coercive, mimetic
or normative. (DiMaggio & Powell 1991: 66f) The focus of this this study is on the
variety (or its absence) of articulated ideas on the role of HEIs. In addition to this
institutional level, a comparison will be provided that looks upon the national level.
The second study draws upon a set of interviews with leaders and teachers in HEI in
Sweden inquiring the purpose of HE and how that informs ideas on the kind of impact
studies are supposed to have on individual students. While the first study in this paper
focus on the institutional level, the second is geared toward ideas on how studies in
higher education have, should have, or should not have a fostering role and how that
might look like. According to Shapiro, for HE, the “ultimate test, of course, is not
what we teach, but what students learn and what they become.” (Shapiro 2005)
Nationally and internationally there is an international concern regarding limited
learning in higher education. Arum& Roksa voices such a worry in Academically
Adrift, Limited Learning on College Campuses. They argue that “gains in student
performance are disturbingly low.” (Arum& Roksa 2011:31) They follow partly along
the lines of Derek Bok and the critique articulated in Our Underachieving Colleges, A
Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More
in which he argues that there are less hope for “turning colleges into effective learning
organizations.” (Bok 2006, C.f DN 130404) The point made here is not on the level of
learning but rather that society should worry about what kind of learning that is or is
not going on in HE and what impact this has on students in a wider perspective.
Drawing on Biesta, and his emphasis on the idea that studies have three fold function
(qualification, socialization and subjectification) and that they are interlinked in such
a way that an intervention in qualification also impacts the other two and vice versa.
(Biesta 2010:19ff) This observations has its relevance here as HE seems to have an
awareness about it qualification function and looks for advancement in that respect
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omitting how that affect the other functions and how that relates to issues on identity,
democracy etc.
Preliminary findings points toward a somewhat paradoxical result when it comes to
what institutional strategies reveals regarding notions on HE future societal role. HEI
have by tradition had an autonomous role and researchers are seldom voiceless when
the academic freedom is questioned and during the last decade a debate on
institutional autonomy resulted in an increased institutional independence. Despite
this – institutional analysis seems very much aligned to each other, holding similar
opinions, not indicating a particular independent thinking about HEIs societal role for
democracy. It also appears, as HEI are sensitive to governmental ideas about the
purpose of HE. Individual academic leaders are though not unfamiliar to this aspect of
HE but the carry diverse ideas about how to meet that challenge, institutional and with
regard to student formation. The institutional homogenization can be interpreted by
drawing upon DiMaggio & Powells theory of institutional isomorphism due to
increasingly unsecure future prospects, competition etc. (DiMaggio & Powell 1991)
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