COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions A renewed EU agenda for higher education
Date: 2017-05-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, cooperation in the field of education, educational reform, educational system, higher education, innovation, social integration, teacher training, vocational training

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.5.2017  SWD(2017) 164 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions  A renewed EU agenda for higher education {COM(2017) 247 final}  
 
 
CONTENTS 

1. 

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 

2  WHY HIGHER EDUCATION MATTERS TO EUROPE ............................................................. 2 

2.1 

2.2 

Higher education: a strong contribution to Europe's development .......................................... 2 

Successes and challenges ........................................................................................................ 5 

3 

SKILLS MISMATCHES AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT .......................................................... 8 

3.1 

3.2 

High-level skills gaps in Europe .............................................................................................. 8 

Promising approaches to high-level skills development ....................................................... 13 

3.2.1 

Improving intelligence on skills needs on graduate outcomes ...................................... 13 

3.2.2 

Preparing students and influencing study choice .......................................................... 15 

3.2.3 

Effective design of programmes and curricula .............................................................. 16 

3.2.4 

Support for teachers in higher education ....................................................................... 19 

4 

SOCIAL INCLUSION AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ................................................................ 21 

4.1 

4.2 

Social divisions and European higher education ................................................................... 21 

Promising approaches ............................................................................................................ 24 

4.2.1 

Creating the conditions for inclusion and study success ............................................... 24 

4.2.2 

Linking higher education institutions and their communities ....................................... 25 

5 

INNOVATION AND SMART SPECIALISATION .................................................................... 28 

5.1 

5.2 

Innovation challenges in European higher education ............................................................ 28 

Promising approaches ............................................................................................................ 31 

5.2.1 

Promoting entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation skills ....................................... 31 

5.2.2 

Creating 'entrepreneurial universities' ........................................................................... 32 

5.2.3 

Higher education and strengthening innovation capacity in weaker regions ................ 33 

6 

EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS ........................................ 34 

6.1 

6.2 

The quest for effectiveness and efficiency ............................................................................ 34 

Promising approaches ............................................................................................................ 35 

6.2.1 

Developing funding systems to reward performance .................................................... 36 

6.2.2 

Strengthening teaching and its links to research ........................................................... 37 

7  CROSS-CUTTING ASPECTS OF EU SUPPORT ...................................................................... 39 

7.1 

7.2 

EU knowledge tools in higher education: U-multirank and ETER ....................................... 39 

Overview of actions included in the renewed EU agenda for higher education ................... 39 

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 42 

2 

 
1. 

INTRODUCTION  

1. 
This  Staff  Working  Document  provides  analysis  and  evidence  to  complement  and 
underpin  the  four  key  priorities  set  out  in  the  Commission's  Communication  on  A  renewed 
EU agenda for Higher Education.  

2. 
The  analysis  in  this  document  complements  evidence  already  presented  in  the  Staff 
Working Document accompanying the New Skills Agenda for Europe1, adopted in June 2016, 
which provides relevant analysis on the following issues: 

 

 

 

A broad overview of skills demand and mismatch in the EU; 

An overview of existing EU support for skills development and; 

A detailed analysis of the results of the public consultation on the review of 
the EU's modernisation of higher education2. 

3. 
After  providing  a  review  of  the  main  channels  through  which  higher  education 
systems  in  Europe  contribute  to  economic  and  social  development,  this  document  analyses 
four  key  challenges  identified  in  the  accompanying  Communication.  For  each  of  the 
challenges,  the  analysis  highlights  available  evidence  of  internal  or  external  factors  that  are 
affecting,  or  are  likely  to  affect,  the  performance  of  higher  education  systems  in  the  area 
concerned, before examining examples of promising approaches to tackling these issues. 

1  
2  

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1223&langId=en&moreDocuments=yes  
European Commission (2016a) 

1 

 
 
 
                                                            
2 

WHY HIGHER EDUCATION MATTERS TO EUROPE  

2.1  Higher education: a strong contribution to Europe's development 

4. 
Higher education has a unique role to play in building successful, inclusive societies. 
Through their educational activities, higher education institutions (HEIs) equip students with 
advanced knowledge, skills and competences, contributing to society's stock of human capital 
and  promoting  social  mobility  and  inclusion.  Through  research  and  development  activities, 
individual  academics,  research  teams  and  institutions  create  new  knowledge,  develop 
solutions to societal challenges and lay the foundations for the innovations of the future. And 
through  cooperation  with  business,  the  public  sector  and  civil  society,  universities  and 
colleges strengthen the economic, social and cultural fabric of the localities and regions where 
they are located and drive innovation in many types of setting.  

5. 
From a human capital perspective, effective higher education systems need to respond 
to demand for highly skilled people in developed economies that is increasing and changing. 
The growth of the service sector and relative decline of mass manufacturing has increased the 
number  of  knowledge-intensive  jobs  in  the  economy.  At  the  same  time,  with  greater 
automation  and  digitalisation,  the  tasks  associated  with  specific  occupations  are  frequently 
becoming more complex3.  

6. 
Largely  as  a  result  of  these  trends,  CEDEFOP  predicts  that  half  of  all  job 
opportunities4 that will become available in the EU in the period up to 2025 – as a result of 
new  job  creation  and  to  replace  those  leaving  the  labour  market  -  will  require  high-level 
qualifications5. CEDEFOP estimates an additional 16.3 million jobs will be created in the EU 
for  tertiary  graduates  in  the  period  up  to  2025,  while  employment  is  predicted  to  fall 
significantly  in  jobs  assumed  to  require  low  qualifications  and  slightly  in  jobs  requiring 
medium qualifications. 

Figure 2.1: Job opportunities by level of qualification: change between 2013 and 2025 (EU 28) 

High (ISCED 5-8)

Medium (ISCED 3-4)

Low (ISCED 2 and below)

Total (All qualifications)

Total Job
Opportunities
000s
Replacement
Demand 000s

Expansion
Demand 000s

-  50 000

:

  50 000

  100 000

  150 000

Source: CEDEFOP Skills Forecasts 2016a 

3  
4  

5  

Arntz, M., T. Gregory and U. Zierahn (2016) 
The indicator 'job opportunities' is the sum of net change in total employment (expansion demand) and an 
estimation of replacement demand resulting from people leaving work places for different reasons. 
High-level qualifications are defined as tertiary qualifications from ISCED 5 to 8 (short-cycle degrees to doctorate). 
See CEDEFOP (2016a)  

2 

 
 
                                                            
7. 
Shifts  in  the  structure  of  European  economies  and  the  nature  of  specific  job  profiles 
and  occupations  are  going  hand  in  hand  with  an  increase  in  part-time,  temporary  work  and 
self-employment  –  at  the  expense  of  'traditional'  permanent,  full-time  employment6.  This 
trend also has implications for the skills needs. As jobs become more flexible in form, as well 
as complex in terms of content, a higher proportion of the population needs a broader set of 
high-level skills to allow them to adapt to, and operate effectively in, the new reality of work. 
Open and flexible learning is one of the various ways in which higher education institutions 
can support the workforce to upskill and reskill, in a cost-effective and flexible way, in order 
to meet the requirements of an ever-changing job market7. 

8. 
Capacities  to  process  large  amounts  of  information,  make  critical  judgements, 
communicate and cooperate effectively, think entrepreneurially and adapt rapidly to changing 
contexts  are  more  important  than  ever.  A  highly  skilled  population  is  important  not  just  to 
allow Europe to react to a changing environment, but also to shape and seize the opportunities 
of  a  modern,  knowledge-based  economy.  The  same  competencies  are  equally  relevant  for 
engaged participation in civil society.  

9. 
Alongside their role in education, Higher Education Institutions concentrate almost a 
quarter  of  the  EU's  total  public  and  private  spending  on  research  and  development8.  The 
results  of  frontier  and  applied  research  contribute  to  the  stock  of  human  knowledge  and 
provide pointers for solving major economic, social and environmental problems.  

Figure  2.2:  Research  spending  in  higher  education  as  a  proportion  of  total  intramural  R&D 
spending (2015) 

Source: Eurostat (rd_e_gerdtot) 

6  
7  
8  

OECD (2016a) 
Joint Research Centre (2015) 
Total intramural R&D expenditure in Higher Education (HERD) was EUR 69.4 billion in 2015  

3 

 
 
                                                            
10. 
As knowledge institutions, HEIs are increasingly embedded in broader innovation eco-
systems at national and regional level. Contributing to innovation and economic development 
has  become  a  goal  of  universities  and  colleges  across  Europe.  Commercial  spin-off 
companies,  technology  transfer  activities  and  networks  of  cooperation  with  businesses, 
government and public services have become widespread.  

11. 
However,  the  mechanisms  through  which  such  activities  contribute  to  the  product, 
service and organisational innovation that boost productivity within the wider economy are – 
like  innovation  as  a  whole  -  complex  and  unpredictable.  There  is  a  broad  consensus  that 
innovation does not result from a linear 'pipeline' leading from research and development to 
the  marketable  products  and  services,  but  rather  from  a  dynamic  system  of  interactions  and 
feedback loops linking different actors in particular contexts. This makes 'innovation' virtually 
impossible  to  plan.  Instead,  policy  makers  and  practitioners  –  including  those  in  higher 
education  –  are  increasingly  focusing  on  creating  favourable  conditions  for  entrepreneurial 
thinking, networking, creativity and risk-taking. As a recent paper by the European Political 
Strategy Centre put it: 'our innovation economy is not a Roman aqueduct, but a muddy pond 
...  Innovation  requires  of  all  actors,  corporate, academic,  civic  and  political,  the  instinct  of 
the hunter-gatherer, not the farmer'9. 

12.  While  the  contribution  of  higher  education  to  innovation  in  the  wider  economy  has 
long  been,  and  remains,  a  core  part  of  higher  education's  'third  mission',  higher  education 
institutions  are  increasingly  giving more  emphasis  to  their  wider  social  responsibility  to  the 
communities  in  which  they  are  located.  The  notion  of  the  'civic  university'  is  sometimes 
used10  to  characterise  institutional  strategies  that  aim  to  promote  mutually  beneficial 
engagement between the community, region and the university. 

13. 
Higher education institutions, government, business and civil society are the four sets 
of  actors  in  the  'Quadruple  Helix'11.  This  is  an  emerging  model  of  cooperation  for  higher 
education  institutions,  with  a  strong  emphasis  on  broad  patterns  of  cooperation  in  which 
different sets of actors 'co-produce' new ideas, solutions to problems. In comparison to more 
established models of innovation and cooperation, the Quadruple Helix, focuses to a greater 
extent on the involvement of citizens and communities and on promoting positive change in a 
wider  range  of  settings  (social  innovation,  environmental  improvements,  community 
cohesion, as well as the development of new products, services and processes in enterprises). 

14. 
Alongside the wide-ranging – and far-reaching - impacts of higher education on skills 
development,  knowledge  creation,  innovation  and  social  cohesion,  higher  education 
institutions have a range of even more direct effects on the localities and regions where they 
are  located.  Recent  work  in  a  number  of  EU  countries  has  also  focused  on  measuring  the 
direct  economic  impact  of  higher  education12.  A  study  commissioned  by  the  League  of 

9  
10  
11  

12  

European Political Strategy Centre - EPSC (2016) 
Goddard, J (2011) 
As opposed to the long-established 'triple helix' of government, academia and business. See Cavallini, S., R. Soldi, 
J. Friedl, M. Volpe (2016) 
For example in France (Campus Responsables (2016)) and the UK (Universities UK (2015b) 

4 

 
                                                            
European  Research  Universities  (LERU)  in  201513  estimated  that  the  21  LERU  universities 
contributed more than €55 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) to the European economy and 
supported  around  900,000  jobs14.  When  the  earnings  premium  associated  with  one  year’s 
cohort  of  graduates  was  included  in  the  calculation  the  contribution  of  the  21  universities 
increased  to  €71.2  billion  GVA.  The  authors argue  that  extrapolating  this  impact  across  the 
whole  research  universities  sector  (thus  not  including  other  parts  of  the  higher  education 
sector) across Europe suggests that the sector contributes over €300 billion GVA per annum 
and supports 3.8 million jobs across Europe. This is equivalent to 2.2% of the total GVA of 
the European economy and 1.8% of all European jobs. 

2.2 

Successes and challenges  

15. 
The expansion of higher education in recent years is one of Europe's success stories. 
Progress in relation to the EU's Europe 2020 headline target that 40% of those aged 30 to 34 
should  have  a  tertiary  qualification  or  equivalent  by  202015  has  been  significant.  Just  over 
39% of 30-34 year olds had a tertiary education qualification in 2015, compared to 28% ten 
years  earlier.  This  indicator  takes  into  account  all  types  of  tertiary  education  qualification, 
from two-year short cycle courses to doctoral qualifications16. As shown in Figure 2.3, tertiary 
attainment rates among young people vary considerably across the EU, from just over a 25% 
in Italy and Romania to over 50% in Lithuania, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Ireland and Sweden. 

Figure 2.3: Tertiary education attainment among 30-34 year olds by type of qualification (2016) 

Source: Eurostat (EU-LFS, special extraction, 2016). Note: The indicator covers the share of the population aged 30-34 years 
having  successfully  completed  tertiary  education  (ISCED  5-8),  broken  down  by  type  of  degree.  Country  notes:  Small,  and 
therefore unreliable, sample sizes for short-cycle attainment have been included in bachelor attainment for CZ, EE, IT, PL, RO, 

13  
14  

15  
16  

BiGGAR Economics (2015) 
Through direct employment and expenditure in a location; student spending and employment; activities including 
technology licensing, consultancy, contract and collaborative research, spin-outs, and start-ups, research and 
science parks, workforce training and staff volunteering; and earnings premiums for graduates. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/european-semester/framework/europe-2020-strategy_en  
ISCED levels 5 to 8 

5 

 
 
                                                            
SK. Small, and therefore unreliable, sample sizes for doctoral attainment have been included in master attainment for BG, EE, 
LT, PT, RO, FI. 

16. 
Despite the considerable increase in the number of people with a tertiary qualification 
flowing into the EU workforce, at aggregate level, tertiary graduates are still more successful 
than  their  peers  with  lower  levels  of  qualification  at  securing  and  maintaining  employment. 
The  average  employment  rate  of  recent,  young  tertiary  graduates17  in  the  EU  in  2016  was 
82.8%,  compared  with  72.6%  for  those  of  the  same  age  who  had  recently  completed  upper 
secondary or post-secondary, non-tertiary qualifications (i.e. those with at most a high-school 
or further education diploma). The equivalent figures for 2008, before the full impact of the 
financial  crisis  was  felt,  were  87%  for  tertiary  graduates  and  77%  for  upper  secondary  and 
post-secondary, non-tertiary leavers. 

Figure 2.4: Employment rates of recent graduates (2016) 

Source: Eurostat: Employment  rates of young people aged 20-34 not in education and training  1-3 years since completion of 
highest level of education [edat_lfse_24] 

17.  While  the  headline  employment  rate  of  young  tertiary  graduates  in  most  Member 
States  has  been  comparatively  robust  in  the  wake  of  the  crisis  and  is  beginning  to  increase 
again, the underlying picture is more nuanced. In particular, an increasing number of young 
tertiary  graduates  are  working  in  jobs  which  do  not  fully  use  their  qualifications  and  skills. 
The  recent  European  Skills  and  Jobs  Survey  found  that,  in  2014,  up  to  25%  of  young 
employed  tertiary  graduates  (aged  24  to  35)  considered  themselves  to  be  overqualified  for 
their jobs18. This finding in part reflects individual choices by graduates to take lower skilled 
jobs, but also highlights the difficulties some sections of the graduate population have had in 
moving into the labour market in a difficult and evolving economic environment. 

17  

18  

Employment rates of young people aged 20-34 not in education and training 1-3 years since completion of highest 
level of education [edat_lfse_24] 
CEDEFOP (2015) 

6 

 
 
                                                            
18.  More  generally, the results of the Commission's recent public consultation  about the 
future  of  European  cooperation  in  higher  education19,  as  well  as  evidence  about  the 
development  of  higher  education  from  a  range  of  sources,  paint  a  mixed  picture  about  the 
state of the sector in Europe. Despite globally and widely accepted positive impacts of higher 
education on graduates and society more broadly, four main areas of challenge emerge: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

A  mismatch  between  the  high-level  skills  Europe  needs and  the  skills  it  has: 
many parts of the EU are experiencing shortages in certain high-skill professions,, 
both in terms of qualifications and the quality of the associated skills. At the same 
time,  too  many  graduates  leave  higher  education  with  poor  basic  skills  (literacy, 
numeracy,  digital)  and  without  the  range  of  transversal  skills  (problem-solving, 
communication, etc.) they increasingly need for resilience in a changing world. 
Persistent  and  growing  social  divisions,  which  also  affect  higher  education: 
people  from  disadvantaged  socio-economic  and  migrant  groups  remain  far  less 
likely to enter and complete higher education, while academics and graduates are 
too  often  perceived  as  detached  from  the  rest  of  society  and  the  communities 
where they are located. 
A  gap  between  the  potential  contribution  of  higher  education  to  innovation 
and  the  reality  on  the  ground:  despite  their  expertise  and  capacities,  higher 
education institutions are not contributing as much as they could to innovation in 
the wider economy (private and public sectors), particularly at local and regional 
level.  The  performance  of  higher  education  in  research  and  research  capacity 
varies strongly between EU regions. 
Higher  Education  systems  that  are  often  fragmented  and  governed  in  a 
piecemeal  rather than holistic way:  funding,  incentive and reward  mechanisms 
in  higher  education  are  not  configured  to  reward  good  teaching  and  research, 
encourage  innovation,  social  inclusion  and  engagement  in  a  balanced,  effective 
and efficient way. 

19.  While  each  challenge  has  its  own  specific  elements,  they  are  clearly  interconnected 
and  have  to  be  tackled  as  such.    For  example,  social  divisions  and  links  between  HEIs  and 
their surrounding communities can be addressed with innovative solutions; the harnessing of 
innovation  can  require  the  upgrading  of  skills;  and  the  role  of  HEIs  in  local  and  regional 
development is strongly affected by nationally designed higher education systems.  

20. 
The  following  sections  of  this  document  review  the  evidence  around  each  of  these 
challenges and provide a synthesis of some of the most promising policies and practices being 
developed to address these challenges in Europe and elsewhere. 

19  

European Commission (2016)   

7 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
3 

SKILLS MISMATCHES AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT 

3.1  High-level skills gaps in Europe 

21. 
Assessing  the  extent  to  which  higher  education  systems  equip  students  with  the 
knowledge,  skills  and  competences  they  need  is  complex.  In  the  schools  sector,  national 
examinations  in  many  countries  and  international  assessment  exercises  such  as  the  OECD's 
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) exercise make it possible to compare 
certain aspects of students' skills levels and thus the extent to which schools are effective in 
helping  them  to  acquire  desired  learning  outcomes.  No  equivalent  national  or  international 
skills assessment exercises currently exist at higher education level, even if projects are being 
developed to fill this gap in Europe and elsewhere20. As a result, our assessment of whether 
students are actually leaving systems with the right skills has to be based on a range of other 
indicators, including evidence from the labour market (employment trends and feedback from 
graduates and employers) and data from more general assessments of adult skills21. 

22. 
The  evidence  on  how  well  higher  education  is  currently  performing  in  terms  of 
equipping graduates with skills is mixed. One of the only comparative surveys of employers 
in the EU in recent times found that a large majority (89%) of employers who had recruited 
higher  education  graduates  in  the  past  five  years  agreed  that  these  graduates  'had  the  skills 
required to work in their company', albeit with significant variation between Member States22. 
In contrast, in their responses to the online public consultation23 undertaken in preparation for 
the  new  Commission  Communication  on  higher  education,  71%  of  students  or  recent 
graduates  and  61%  of  higher  education  institution  employees  disagreed  with  the  statement 
that  "there  is  a  good  match  between  the  supply  of  higher  education  graduates  and  the 
knowledge and skills the economy needs".  

23. 
Underlying  these  kinds  of  general  statements  are  two  main  concerns:  shortages  of 
tertiary graduates in specific fields of knowledge and a more general concern about the broad 
set of competencies all graduates need and whether or not higher education is helping them 
acquire these.  A recent JRC CRELL24 report analyses the evolution of skills over the lifetime 
of individuals and across generations for a number of EU countries, using data from PIAAC 
and its predecessor, IALS.  The report finds that literacy skills decline with age after the end 
of  formal  education;  in  several  countries,  more  recent  birth  cohorts  exhibit  lower  levels  of 
literacy  than  previous  generations.    This  raises  concerns  about  a  possible  decline  in  the 
effectiveness of education systems in providing younger generations with an adequate level of 
skills. 

20  
21  
22  
23  
24  

These include the EU-funded CALOHEE project and the Measuring College Learning project in the US. 
Notably the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 
Eurobarometer (2010) 
European Commission (2016a) 
Joint Research Centre (2015b) 

8 

 
 
 
                                                            
Shortages in particular professional sectors… 

24. 
Based  on  analysis  of  quantitative  and  qualitative  evidence  from  national  labour 
markets,  including  skills  need  forecasts,  CEDEFOP's  Skills  Panorama25  has  identified 
'shortage  occupations'  in  each  EU  Member  State.  Across  the  EU,  the  most  frequently 
occurring  shortages  are  in  professional  and  associate  professional  occupations  at  high  skills 
levels  and  for  which  a  tertiary  qualification  is  generally  required.  The  top  five  are  ICT 
professionals;  medical  doctors;  'science,  technology,  engineering  and  mathematics  (STEM) 
professionals'26; nurses and midwives; and teachers (see Figure 3.1).  

by 

are 

driven 

(including 

Figure 3.1: Top five 'shortage occupations' in EU 28 

25. 
For  the  areas  of  ICT  and 
STEM, the analysis undertaken for 
the  Skills  Panorama  finds  that 
a 
shortages 
combination  of  growing  demand, 
too  few  young  people  enrolling  to 
ICT) 
study  STEM 
subjects  in  higher  education  and  a 
particular  under-representation  of 
women in these fields (see below). 
Moreover,  in  some  countries  and 
fields, there is evidence that STEM 
graduates  go  on  to  work  in  'non-
STEM'  occupations,  where  they 
find better working conditions. The 
shortages 
the  medical 
professions are frequently linked to 
increased  demand  from  an  ageing 
society,  restrictions  on  the  numbers  of  study  places  and,  in  some  countries,  emigration  of 
trained  medical  professionals.  In  teaching,  the  shortages  are  most  often  linked  to  an  aging 
teaching  workforce  (meaning  retirees  need  to  be  replaced)  and,  in  some  part  of  the  EU, 
unattractive working conditions.  

Source: CEDEFOP (2016b) Skills Panorama 

in 

26. 
The occupational fields where the largest shortages exist correspond to a large extent 
to fields of study where there are the largest gender imbalances in populations graduating. As 
shown in Figure 3.2, for the EU as a whole, over 70% of tertiary graduates in the broad field 
of  'engineering,  manufacturing  and  construction'  in  2014  were  men.  The  proportion  for 
'information and communication technologies' was over 80%. In contrast, 74% of graduates in 
the  fields  of  'health  and  welfare'  (including  doctors  and  nurses)  and  80%  of  graduates  in 
education (including teachers) were women. The relative under-representation of one gender 
in these fields is an additional factor in the overall picture of supply and demand. 

25  
26  

http://skillspanorama.cedefop.europa.eu/en  
Classification used by CEDEFOP: this most commonly refers to branches of engineering 

9 

 
                                                            
 
 
Figure 3.2: Distribution of tertiary graduates by field and sex, EU-28, 2014 (%) 

Source:  Eurostat  (educ_uoe_grad02)  No  data  for  NL.  No  data  for  IT  for  Engineering,  manufacturing  and  construction  and 
Natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 

27. 
Addressing these kinds of imbalances and shortages in high-level occupational skills is 
not,  and  cannot  be,  the  sole  responsibility  of  higher  education  systems.  Other  sectors  of 
education  and  training,  employers  and  government  all  have  their  role  to  play  in  helping  to 
increase  the  flow  of  students  into  shortage  study  fields  and  creating  attractive  working 
environments for graduates. Higher education systems do need to play their part in ensuring 
adequate provision of places for education in shortages fields, developing programmes which 
develop a broad range of subject-specific and generic skills and helping to tackle the gender 
stereotypes associated with key shortage occupations. 

…and growing demand for transversal skills. 

28. 
The  increasing  complexity  of  many  high-skill  jobs  is  one  of  the  factors  behind  an 
increasing focus on the importance of generic, 'soft' or transversal skills in discussion of skills 
needs.  Technological  change  has  to  date  had  most  impact  on  routine  tasks  that  are  easily 
programmable  and  interactions  that  do  not  require  person-to-person  interaction.  Person-to-
person  services  and  occupations  relying  more  on  creativity,  context  adaptability,  task 
discretion, social skills and tacit cognitive capacities have been  –  and are likely  to remain  - 
less affected27.  

29. 
Several surveys of employers point to increasing demand for these kinds of attributes. 
The  2014  European  Skills  and  Jobs  Survey28,  for  example,  highlighted  the  increased 

27  

28  

Assessments of the likely impact of digitisation vary. Frey and Osborne (2013) estimated that 47% of US 
employment is subject to substitution (39% in Germany, 35% in the UK), whereas Arntz, Gregory and Zierahn 
(2016) put the figure at 12% (9% in Germany). 
CEDEFOP (2015) 

10 

 
 
                                                            
complexity  of  jobs,  particularly  at  the  top  of  the  occupational  scale,  with  80%  of  managers 
and over 70% of professionals and associate professionals reporting a rising variety of tasks in 
their  jobs.  The  same  survey  identified  advanced  literacy,  learning,  adaptability,  persuasion 
and ICT skills are the skills for which demand is increasing most. 

Figure 3.3: Share of jobs with rising variety of tasks by occupation (2014) 

Source: CEDEFOP (2015) Responses to the question: ‘On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means it has decreased a lot, five has 
stayed the same and 10 has increased a lot, has the variety of tasks increased, decreased or stayed the same since you started 
your job with your current employer?’ 

30. 
As  noted,  the  evidence  on  the  extent  to  which  today's  tertiary  graduates  actually 
possess  the kinds  of  skills  needed to  thrive  in  a  changing  economic  environment  is  limited. 
Alongside  high  employment  rates,  across  the  EU,  tertiary  graduates  also  continue  to  enjoy 
higher  earnings  that  their  counterparts  with  lower  levels  of  educational  attainment29.  This 
suggests that graduates' skills are still strongly valued and rewarded on the European labour 
market. Nevertheless, there are signs that a – sometimes significant - proportion of graduates 
are leaving higher education with comparatively poor generic skills levels.  

31. 
On the basis of a wide-ranging survey of young people, education providers and 2 600 
employers  across  Europe,  a  recent  report  found  a  widespread  perception  that  education  and 
training systems at all levels are not equipping students with the skills they need. The report 
concluded  that  'too  many  students  are  not  mastering  the  basics,  with  businesses  reporting  a 
particular shortage of “soft” skills such as spoken communications'30. 

32.  More worryingly, the OECD's Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), undertaken in 2012, 
provided  an  assessment  of  literacy,  numeracy  and  problem-solving  in  technology  rich 
environments  among  the  adult  population  in  OECD  countries.  The  assessment  revealed  a 
significant  share  of  young  tertiary  graduates  with  literacy  skills  below  level  3  on  a  scale  of 

29  

30  

On average across the OECD, young tertiary education graduates earn 40% more than those with only upper 
secondary-level qualifications, when measured three years following graduation (OECD Education at a Glance 
2016, Figure A6.a) 
McKinsey Center for Government (2014) 

11 

 
 
                                                            
one to five, ranging from under 10% in Finland to over 30% of the sample tested in Ireland, 
Slovenia,  Spain  and  Greece.  This  suggests  that  many  graduates  would  have  difficulty  in 
'performing  multiple-step  operations  to  integrate,  interpret,  or  synthesise  information  from 
complex or lengthy texts'31. These data focus only on literacy, but do raise questions about the 
wider set of skills with which some graduates are leaving higher education. 

33. 
An overview of the incidence of skills and education mismatch in EU countries, based 
on PIAAC data, is provided in the JRC report Flisi et al. (2014)32. The study highlights the 
importance of carefully conceptualising mismatch, because education and skill mismatch do 
not  measure  the  same  phenomenon.  The  report  shows  that  only  a  small  percentage  of 
individuals are mismatched with respect to both education and skills, whereas the majority are 
mismatched  with  respect  to  either  education  or  skills  only.  Pellizzari  et  al.  (2015)  look  at 
skills mismatch in the domain of problem solving in technology rich-environments (i.e. digital 
skills) using PIAAC data for the 13 countries of the European Union (plus the US) for which 
data are available. Their results indicate that, on average, about 87% of the workers are well-
matched33,  about  10%  are  over-skilled  and  3%  under-skilled.  Significant  differences  among 
EU countries emerge.   

31  
32  
33  

OECD (2013) 
See Flisi et al. (2016).  
A worker is considered well-matched if her ICT skills fall in between the minimum and maximum requirement of 
the occupation in which she is observed, as under-skilled if they fall below the minimum and over-skilled if they 
are above the maximum. 

12 

 
                                                            
Figure 3.4: Average score in literacy of tertiary graduates (20-34) 

Source: OECD (Survey of Adult Skills, PIAAC, first cycle, 2012) 

3.2 

Promising approaches to high-level skills development 

34. 
Addressing  sector-specific  skills  shortages  and  enhancing  skills  acquisition  across 
higher education is likely to require action by higher education institutions, governments and 
other stakeholders at different levels. In light of the focus of policy at national level in the EU 
and  elsewhere  and  taking  into  account  international  evidence,  four  aspects  appear  to  be 
particularly important: 

 

Improving intelligence on skills needs and graduate outcomes; 

  Preparing students and influencing study choice; 

  Effective design of programmes and curricula and; 

  Support for teaching staff in higher education. 

3.2.1  Improving intelligence on skills needs on graduate outcomes 

35. 
In  order  to  design  and  implement  effective  higher  education  provision,  which  is 
relevant  to  the  needs  of  modern  society,  practitioners  and  policy-makers  need  an  informed 
understanding of how high-level skills needs are evolving and how well higher education is 
already doing in preparing graduates for an evolving world of work.  

36. 
Skills forecasts and analysis of skills shortages, such as those undertaken at European 
level  by  CEDEFOP34,  provide  a  valuable  input  for  those  in  charge  of  steering  higher 

34  

CEDEFOP (2015) (2016a) 

13 

 
 
                                                            
education systems and developing programmes to meet demand. At national level in the EU, a 
recent report found authorities in nine EU countries regularly use labour market information 
in the planning and management of higher education35. While these kinds of exercises provide 
a general picture of the state of play and the direction of travel in terms of skills needs, they 
need  to  be  complemented  by  more  qualitative  and  fine-grained  intelligence.  Current  and 
future skills requirements are increasingly a topic for structural cooperation and dialogue on 
between higher education, business and public sector employers at national and regional level 
in the EU, although patterns of cooperation vary considerably across the EU36.  

37. 
In  parallel,  progress  is  being  made  in  assessing  how  well  higher  education  prepares 
people for life – in work and beyond – through using graduate tracking information to analyse 
the  way  graduates  enter  the  labour  market  after  graduation  and  subsequently  progress 
professionally  and  personally.  'Graduate  tracking'  is  a  term  that  covers  a  range  of  different 
methods  used  to  collect  factual  information  about  graduates  and  their  status,  as  well  as 
qualitative  feedback  and  opinions  from  graduates  themselves.  The  most  commonly  used 
approaches  to  tracking  graduates  rely  on  different  forms  of  administrative  data  (from 
education, tax and social security databases) and/or dedicated graduate surveys conducted at 
system level or by individual higher education institutions. 

38.  What graduates do after graduation is naturally influenced by economic circumstances 
- in particular, the state of the economy in the place where they go on to live - and personal 
life choices. However, it is clear that what people study, where and how they study and what 
they  learn  also  influence  their  subsequent  development.  Information  on  graduate  outcomes 
and feedback from graduates can thus be valuable for education providers, policy makers and 
those involved in guiding future students in their study choices (see also next section). 

39. 
In  Europe,  many  countries  are  currently in  the process  of  developing  or  refining the 
mechanisms they have in place for graduate tracking. This means the situation on the ground 
is constantly evolving. Recent studies suggest, however, that more than half of the 33 EU and 
European  Economic  Area  countries  have  some  form  of  regular  tracking  mechanisms  for 
tertiary graduates in place at system level37 and a little under half use some form of system-
wide graduate surveys38. In the last decade, most EU countries have also introduced systems 
to collect data on the transitions to the labour market of graduates from vocational education 
and  training39.  Current  national  tracking  systems  in  Europe,  in  so  far  as  these  exist,  do  not 
generally collect data that can be compared directly with  data from other (higher) education 
systems,  in  particular  because  of  different  definitions  of  variables  and  sample  populations. 
This  is  one  of  the  key  reasons  why  the  recent  Eurograduate  feasibility  study40  has 
recommended that a European graduate survey would be able to deliver valuable additional, 
internationally  comparable  information  to  complement  data  from  national  graduate  tracking 
exercises. 

35  
36  
37  
38  
39 
40  

Eurydice (2014) Ireland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Finland, the United Kingdom 
See Eurydice (2014), Chapter 4  
EUROGRADUATE Consortium (2014)  
Higher Education Authority (2015) 
CEDEFOP (2015b)  
EUROGRADUATE Consortium (2014)  

14 

 
                                                            
EUROGRADUATE FEASIBILITY STUDY: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS 

Finalised  in  2016,  this  project  examined  the  feasibility  and  desirability  of  establishing  a  more 
systematic and sustainable form of pan-European survey of graduate outcomes. The study concluded 
that  there  was  considerable  appetite  among  policy  makers  and  stakeholders  in  different  countries 
for comparable data on graduate outcomes across European systems. The study recommended that 
a European graduate survey be established with a number of core characteristics: 
  A geographical focus on the EU and EEA countries; 
  A  centralised  online  survey  with  a  standard  set  of  core  questions  for  all  countries  and  the 

possibility to add additional questions for individual countries; 

  Decentralised  recruitment  of  graduates  to  take  part  in  the  survey  in  each  national  system1  by 

organisations / institutions that hold the relevant contact details; 

  Coverage of Bachelor and Master's graduates, with the option to include graduates from short 

cycle programmes, if appropriate; 

  A panel survey approach, in which the same respondents are surveyed repeatedly, indicatively at 

one, five and (possibly) nine years after graduation; 

  An  initial  survey  round,  simultaneously  covering  graduates  having  completed  their  studies  one 

and five years earlier; 

  Subsequent rounds of surveying every four years. 

Source: EUROGRADUATE Consortium (2016) 

3.2.2  Preparing students and influencing study choice 

40. 
'Upstream'  actions  focused  on  prospective  students  are  an  important  element  in 
coordinated  approaches  aimed  at  ensuring  more  graduates  leave  higher  education  with 
relevant  skills.  New  students  need  to  be  as  well  prepared  as  possible  for  the  learning 
challenges  within  higher  education  and  to  be  in  a  position  to  make  a  well  informed  choice 
about which subjects to study.  

41. 
Systematic  cooperation  between  higher  education  institutions  and  schools  and 
Vocational  Education  and  Training  providers  is  important  to  build  understanding  between 
those working in different parts of the education and training systems, as well as familiarise 
prospective  students  with  the  reality  of  higher  education.  Such  cooperation  is  promoted  in 
several EU Member States as part of wider efforts to increase the interest of school and VET 
students in further study in fields where shortages exist, in particular in Science, Technology, 
Engineering  and  Maths  (STEM).  National  STEM  promotion  bodies,  such  as  the  National 
Platform  Science  and  Technology  in  the  Netherlands41,  facilitates  inter-sectoral  cooperation 
between  educational  providers  at  different  levels,  employers,  sector  organisations  and 
government with the objective of stimulating interest in, and uptake of, scientific subjects in 
which  the  country  has  a  skills  shortage.  The  promising  results  of  this  and  other  national 

41  

https://www.platformbetatechniek.nl/extra/english  

15 

 
                                                            
STEM promotion bodies have encouraged the creation of the EU STEM coalition42, as an EU-
level platform for sharing good practice.  

THE EU STEM COALITION 

Supported  by  Erasmus+,  the  main  goal  of  the  EU  STEM  Coalition  is  to  raise  awareness  among 
governments,  industry  and  education  providers,  at  national  and  European  level,  about  the  crucial 
role of STEM education in our society. Its long term vision is to bridge the skills gap by having a STEM 
strategy in place in all EU member states. The Coalition strives to support the establishment of STEM 
strategies by closely involving government, education and industry. To reach this goal the Coalition 
has set three main objectives: 
  Strengthen existing national STEM Platforms 
  Support the development and implementation of national STEM platforms in countries that do 

not have a platform in place yet 

  Anchor the STEM platforms into European and national policy frameworks 

Source: EU STEM Coalition 

3.2.3  Effective design of programmes and curricula 

42. 
Recent decades have seen a shift in higher education towards designing programmes 
and  curricula  to  help  students  acquire  pre-defined  learning  outcomes.  This  move  towards 
greater student-centred learning and a growing concern with graduates' employability, as well 
as broader learning experience, have triggered a change in the way curricula and pedagogical 
approaches are designed43. The Bologna reforms implemented from 1999 onwards44 have also 
been  instrumental  in  increasing  attention  to  the  acquisition  of  transferable  skills-  or  "soft", 
"generic"  or  "21st  century"  skills  alongside  subject-specific  skills  across  European  higher 
education. Teaching staff and institutions are increasingly focusing on the design of learning, 
with  detailed  consideration  of  the  pedagogical  techniques  that  are  most  suitable  to  teach  a 
particular subject and to reach the desired learning outcomes.  

43. 
On campus, there has been an increased focus on problem and inquiry-based learning, 
where students apply knowledge to develop responses to specific (often real-world) problems. 
At  the  same  time,  through  blended  learning45  and  'flipped  classroom'  approaches46, 
technology is increasingly being used to allow classroom and laboratory time to be spent on 
interactive activities, problem-solving and discussion, rather than absorption of knowledge. In 
a  2015  survey  undertaken  in  France,  Germany,  Poland,  Spain  and  the  UK,  72.1%  of 
universities stated that they used blended learning at Bachelor, Master or doctoral levels and 
43.4%  stated  that  they  had  implemented  a  flipped  classroom47.  More  inter-disciplinary 

42  
43  
44  
45  

46  

47  

http://www.stemcoalition.eu/  
Heywood, J; et al (2015) 
Introducing, among other reforms, the three cycle structure and a greater focus on learning outcomes. 
Blended learning is an education program (formal or informal) that combines online digital media with traditional 
classroom methods. 
The flipped classroom is an instructional strategy that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering 
instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom and moving activities into the classroom 
Joint Research Centre (2016a) 

16 

 
                                                            
programmes  or  options  for  inter-disciplinary  study  combinations,  including  those  that 
combine  arts  and  sciences  (STEAM  -  Science,  Technology,  Engineering,  Arts  and  Maths), 
have  been  introduced  in  many  universities.  There  are  also  approaches,  particularly  in 
research-intensive universities, which seek to involve undergraduate students more closely in 
the research undertaken in the institution where they study, with a view to both improving the 
research and developing students' interest and skills in research48.  

44. 
Alongside moves to  change  the way learning is structured inside the walls of higher 
education  institutions,  there  are  ongoing  discussions  about  the  best  way  to  incorporate 
'external  experience'  –  in  particular  work-based  learning  and  international  mobility  –  into 
programmes to enrich students' skills development.  

45. 
These  changes  are  primarily  happening  within  individual  departments  and  higher 
education institutions. However, governments and system regulators are increasingly paying 
attention to effective learning environments and the organisation of learning in their strategy, 
as illustrated by the most recent Dutch Higher Education Strategy49. 

DUTCH STRATEGIC AGENDA FOR HIGHER EDUCATION 2015-25 
The  Dutch  strategic  agenda  for  higher  education  identifies  particular  factors  that  create  a 
favourable  environment  for  development  of  skills,  including  critical  reflection,  cooperation, 
creativity  and  results  orientation.  Specific  areas  of  focus  that  will  be  supported  through 
additional funding in the coming years include: 
  Small  scale  learning  communities  (student-teacher  interaction,  individualised  support  and 

feedback)  

  Rich 

learning  environments 

intertwined  with 

research,  professional  practice, 

internationalised classrooms, online education, and new learning environments 

  Flexible lifelong learning (demand-driven education experiments, piloting learning pathways 

and a ‘lifelong learning credit’) 

  Sustainable regional and sector-based collaboration (engagement with the society and labour 

market);  

  Stronger  labour  market  links  (entrepreneurship  education,  alumni  policies  and  stronger 
orientation  of  the  Universities  of  Applied  Sciences  centres  of  expertise  to  societal 
challenges). 

Source: De waarde(n) van weten: Strategische Agenda Hoger Onderwijs en Onderzoek 2015-2025 

Exploiting the potential of open and online learning… 

46. 
One aspect of the drive to modernise higher education has focused on the use of digital 
technologies  to  stimulate  innovation,  personalisation  and  wider  access  to  higher  education. 
This  encompasses  the  use  of  technology,  highlighted  above,  to  change  the  organisation  of 
learning within traditional higher education settings, as well as the provision of new types of 
online  or  blended  advanced  learning  course.  It  involves  established  higher  education 
institutions,  changing  their  existing  activities  or  developing  new  ones,  and  new  actors  –  in 

48  
49  

Fung, D et al (2017) 
De waarde(n) van weten: Strategische Agenda Hoger Onderwijs en Onderzoek 2015-2025 

17 

 
                                                            
particular private companies  –  from  outside the traditional  world  of higher education. Open 
and  online  learning  promotes  multiple  ways  of  teaching  and  learning,  building  and  sharing 
knowledge,  widening  access  to  education,  as  well  as  connecting  formal  and  non-formal 
learning.  The JRC's OpenEdu Framework proposes 10 dimensions in which higher education 
institutions  can  become  more  open  and  modernise  education  via  the  use  of  digital 
technologies50. 

47.  While  the  European  University  Association's  2015  Trends  report51  found  that 
digitalisation is one of the key issues on HEIs' agendas and much is already happening in the 
field,  45%  of  those  responding  to  the  Commission's  online  consultation  in  2016  expressed 
concerns that technology is not yet being used effectively to improve teaching and learning in 
higher  education52.  Within  existing  higher  education  institutions,  digitalisation  is  seen 
primarily  as  a  tool  to  enhance  the  quality  education,  face-to-face  teaching  and  to  improve 
assessment  methods53.  Expansion  on  online  courses  and  the  'unbundling'  of  educational 
programmes  into  smaller  courses  that  can  be  delivered  online  are  also  seen  as  a  means  to 
widen access to higher learning, particularly for those already in the labour market. 

48. 
To  date,  use  of  technologies  for  learning  and  teaching  has  primarily  depended  on 
individual departments and teachers. Institutions have invested in technology, but often not as 
part  of  a  coherent  digitalisation  strategy.  Furthermore,  while  the  potential  of  technology  to 
support effective, interactive and inter-disciplinary learning approaches is considerable, there 
is  evidence  that  blended  or  online  formats  are  not  always  being  used  for  pedagogical 
innovation. Many online courses simply transfer traditional lectures to an online platform54. 

Following initial hype that peaked in about 201255, global interest in, and take up of, 
49. 
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is growing. The private MOOC platform Coursera 
has 22 million registered learners, while Udacity has developed new forms of 'nanodegrees' in 
technology-focused  areas  in  partnership  with  employers,  using  a  paying  model  with 
incentives  for  timely  completion56.  Much  of  the  content  for  MOOCs  available  today  is 
provided  by  established  higher  education  institutions57,  with  staff  drawing  on  elements  of 
existing programmes to create short courses that result in 'microcredentials'. In a 2015 survey 
undertaken in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK, 22% of HEIs declared that they 
were offering MOOCs and 19% were planning to do so58.  

50. 
This process of 'unbundling' of educational content into smaller components has been 
likened  to  the  developments  in  the  music  industry,  with  the  shift  from  selling  albums  to 
selling songs.  The short courses created are easier for people already in work to  access and 
absorb, and are often followed also as a means of lifelong learning by (educated) individuals 

50  
51  
52  
53  
54  
55  
56  
57   
58   

Joint Research Centre (2016b) 
Sursock, A. (2015) 
European Commission (2016a) 
Fung, D et al (2017), Heywood, J; et al (2015) 
Heywood, J; et al (2015) 
The New York Times declared 2012 the year of the MOOC 
The Economist (2017) Learning and earning: Special Report, 12 January 2017 
Joint Research Centre (2016c) 
Joint Research Centre (2016a) 

18 

 
                                                            
who are either unemployed or low earners. However, it is far from clear to what extent such 
provision  can  replace  the  experience  of  a  three  or  four-year  degree  for  most  students. 
Moreover,  question  marks  remain  over  the  optimal  role  of  higher  education  institutions  in 
providing online courses. While established institutions, with their academic record, are still 
seen as necessary to guarantee the quality of courses in most cases, it is not always easy to 
combine  the  dynamics  of  fast-changing  online  provision  with  the  structures  in  place  for 
providing on campus bachelor and master's degrees. This thus remains an evolving area. 

3.2.4  Support for teachers in higher education 

51. 
Changing  the  way  learning  and  teaching  are  carried  out  requires  committed  and 
informed  teaching  staff.  Some  countries  and/or  individual  higher  education  institutions  are 
establishing national agencies to support institutions and staff to improve the design of their 
courses, their teaching skills and to support them in using technology to improve teaching and 
assessment.  Examples  include  the  Higher  Education  Academy  in  the  UK,  SURF  in  the 
Netherlands  and  the  PULS  Pedagogical  Development  Centre  in  Norway.  At  the  same  time, 
national  authorities  increasingly  require  teachers  in  higher  education  to  have  specific 
qualifications in teaching. 

HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMY (UK) 

In the UK, the Higher Education Academy operates a fellowship scheme which requires individual 
teaching staff to create a portfolio of evidence of reflective practice, demonstrating achievement of 
the competences defined in the National Professionals Skills Framework. Universities are required 
to report on the number of staff holding this accreditation. While there is no formal requirement for 
certification, many institutions require staff to achieve accreditation soon after taking up their 
appointment. 

52. 
Quality  teaching  encompasses  effective  design  of  curriculum  and  course  content,  a 
variety  of  learning  contexts  (including  guided  independent  study,  project-based  learning, 
collaborative  learning,  experimentation,  etc.),  soliciting  and  using  feedback,  and  effective 
assessment  of  learning  outcomes.  It  also  involves  well-adapted  learning  environments  and 
student support services. The report of the High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher 
Education of June 201359 stressed the importance of clear strategies to support good teaching 
at  institutional  level  within  HEIs  and  adequate  investment  in  Continuing  Professional 
Development for staff. An Erasmus+ project lead by the European University Association is 
currently  assessing  the  feasibility  of  additional  European-level  cooperation  to  support  the 
enhancement of teaching in higher education60.  

59  
60  

High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education (2013) 
http://www.eua.be/activities-services/projects/current-projects/higher-education-policy/effect  

19 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
EUROPEAN FORUM FOR ENHANCED COLLABORATION IN TEACHING - EFFECT (2015-18) 

The project focuses on the following interlinked objectives: a) Facilitating exchange and collaboration 
between European actors and stakeholders for the enhancement of higher education teaching; b) 
identifying good practices and develop new and innovative approaches to learning and teaching 
enhancement; c) supporting institutions in the development of strategic approaches to the 
enhancement of learning and teaching and d) developing a model for a sustainable European 
structure for the enhancement of learning and teaching 

The project is reflecting on several grand challenges for higher education teaching, such as the 
growing and ever more diverse student body; drop-out and retention; maximising opportunities and 
addressing the challenges of ICT-based learning; or recognising teaching excellence and its link to 
student success. Based on the expected outcomes, it may provide policy recommendations taking 
into account the European perspective and with the aim of enhancing higher education teaching. 

20 

 
 
 
 
4 

SOCIAL INCLUSION AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT 

4.1 

Social divisions and European higher education 

53. 
Recent  events  in  Europe  have  illustrated  both  the  challenges  of  integrating 
marginalised  groups  and  newly  arrived  migrants  and  the  extent  to  which  some  sections  of 
society  feel  alienated  from  established  institutions  and  elites.  There  is  a  growing 
acknowledgement  that  higher  education  must  play  its  part  in  tackling  social  divisions  and 
promoting more inclusive societies. An increasing body on work on the 'social responsibility' 
of  higher  education61,  points,  in  particular,  to  the  role  of  higher  education  institutions  in 
supporting  greater  diversity  in  the  groups  of  people  they  educate  and  employ  and  through 
breaking down real or perceived barriers between the academy and the rest of society. 

54. 
The diversity of the student population is probably the issue most commonly discussed 
in relation to the 'social dimension' of higher education. At European level, in 2009, ministers 
from  countries  participating  in  the  Bologna  Process  formally  agreed  that  'the  student  body 
within  higher  education  should  reflect  the  diversity  of  Europe’s  populations'62.  Increasing 
'participative  equity'  –  and  particularly  increasing  participation  in  higher  education  among 
traditionally under-represented social groups - is firmly on the agenda in EU Member States. 
However, across the EU, people from lower socio-economic groups continue to stand a lower 
chance of gaining a tertiary qualification than their peers from better-off backgrounds.  

55. 
Data  on  the  social  background  of  the  student  and  graduate  population  is  difficult  to 
compare across countries, in particular because of underlying differences in the social make-
up  of  different  national  populations  and  different  definitions  of  social  categories.  However, 
evidence  on  the  social  background  of  students  from  individual  countries  taking  part  in  the 
Eurostudent  survey63  illustrates  the  dominant  pattern  of  current  participation  in  higher 
education.  

56. 
As  just  one  example,  Figure  4.1  shows  the  proportion  of  students  in  Ireland  in  the 
latest  round  of  Eurostudent  reporting  that  their  fathers  fell  into  one  of  nine  standard 
occupational  categories  and  compares  with  the  proportion  of  men  aged  40  to  60  in  these 
occupational categories in the Irish population as a whole. The results show that the children 
of 'managers' are comparatively over-represented in the student body, compared to the make-
up  of  the  overall  population,  whereas  the  children  of  'technicians  and  associate  professions' 
and  plant  /  machine  operators'  are  comparatively  under-represented.  The  data,  which 
correspond closely to the results of similar national analyses in Ireland, show that despite the 
countries very  high  levels  of participation  in  higher education64, the make-up of the student 
body still doesn't reflect the make-up of society. Although Ireland appears to have one of the 
more  equitable  higher  education  systems  in  Europe  on  this  measure,  the  example 
demonstrates  that  large-scale  expansion  of  access  to  higher  education  does  not  necessarily 
lead to a situation of complete 'equity'. 

61  
62  

63  
64  

See, for example, the EU-University Social Responsibility project http://www.eu-usr.eu/  
Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Leuven and Louvain-la-
Neuve, 28-29 April 2009 
Eurostudent (2015) 
As shown in Figure 2.3, Ireland has the fourth highest tertiary education attainment rate in Europe 

21 

 
                                                            
Figure  4.1: Occupational  status  of  students'  fathers  compared  to  overall  population  profile  in 
Ireland 

Source: Eurostudent (2015) 

57. 
Alongside  socio-economic  background,  age  and  existing  occupational  status  have  a 
major  influence on participation in higher education. Despite an increased  focus on lifelong 
learning in national policy frameworks, relatively few people who are already working go into 
or back to higher education to upgrade their skills. This all means talent is going untapped and 
puts an additional brake on social mobility.  

Figure 4.2: Proportion of students enrolled in higher education aged 30 or over 2014 

Source: Eurostat [educ_uoe_enrt02] No data for Greece or Poland 

58. 
Figure 4.2 shows the proportion of enrolled students aged 30 and over in EU Member 
States.  These  figures  are  affected  by  factors  like  the  average  time  taken  to  complete  a  first 
tertiary  qualification  and  the  propensity  of  students  to  continue  to  Master's  level,  but  also 

22 

 
 
 
provide a proxy for participation in higher education among people entering from the labour 
market  rather  than  directly  from  school.  The  highest  rates  of  participation  among  'mature' 
students  are  seen  in  the  Nordic  countries  and  the  UK,  with  significantly  lower  rates  in 
countries  such  as  Belgium,  France  and  the  Netherlands.  These  data  cover  students 
participating in full and part-time courses leading to a standard tertiary education qualification 
in  the  countries  concerned65.  Other  types  of  learning  provision  by  higher  education 
institutions, such as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or short online courses are 
not included. 

59. 
The  question  of  the  social  responsibility  of  higher  education  also  encompasses  the 
broader  contribution  of  higher  education  institutions  to  society  at  large.  Here,  two  frequent 
issues are the  real  (and perceived) social contribution of higher education institutions to the 
wider communities where they are located and the role of higher education in providing civic 
values.  

trust 

since 

national 

education 

Figure  4.3:  Public  trust  in  national  governments,  parliaments  and 
political parties 2008-2013 

60. 
As  centres  of  knowledge  and  expertise,  HEIs,  their  staff  and  students  have 
considerable  potential  to  contribute  to  the  broader  well-being  of  their  communities,  by 
promoting innovation in social, as well as economic66, spheres. However, although more and 
more HEIs are actively discussing and promoting their broader social responsibility, they are 
doing so in a climate where public trust in public institutions is falling. Figure 4.3 illustrates 
the declining level of trust 
political 
in 
institutions 
the 
crisis. 
economic 
Although  no  equivalent 
in 
data  exist  on 
in 
higher 
Europe, research from the 
US  has  highlighted  that 
similar  trends  in  public 
in 
evident 
trust 
relation 
higher 
to 
education67.  This  implies 
that  HEIs  need  not  only 
to  reflect  on  how  they 
their 
contribute 
communities,  but  also 
how 
they  demonstrate 
how  they  contribute  to 
society. 

Source: European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building, Hertie School of 
Governance (2015) based on Eurobarometer results 

are 

to 

65  
66  
67  

At ISCED 5 to 8 
See Section 5 
The annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in January 2017 focused on restoring 
public trust in higher education https://www.aacu.org/meetings/annualmeeting/am17  

23 

 
                                                            
 
4.2 

Promising approaches  

61. 
Governments  and  higher  education  institutions  across  the  EU  are  developing  and 
refining  their  strategies  to  enhance  social  equity  within  higher  education  and  to  support 
increased links between higher education and the rest of society.  

4.2.1  Creating the conditions for inclusion and study success 

62. 
In  order  to  increase  attainment  levels,  higher  education  systems  need  to  continue  to 
widen participation and improve completion in higher education. Improved completion rates 
are also an important factor for improved efficiency and returns on public investment. 

63.  With more students and students with more diverse profiles entering higher education, 
there is an opportunity to reform support measures, considering academic and non-academic 
aspects of institutional mission statements; putting in place more holistic systems able to cater 
for the individual needs throughout the study cycle. 

64. 
Several  Member  States  and  institutions  have  introduced  measures  often  centring  on 
targeted  funding  such  as  performance-based  agreements  with  clear  targets  concerning 
completion,  specific  financial  support  for  non-traditional  students,  funding  for  institutions, 
regulation of access to higher education, including tracking students at risk of dropping out, 
and  higher  education  reforms,  including  introducing  a  wider  landscape  of  programmes.  All 
measures  are  to  allow  attracting  potential  students  and  tapping  into  real  talent  regardless  of 
educational  and  socio-economic  background.  Holistic  support  measures  require  viewing  the 
issue of widened participation and completion an integral part of the academic mission. 

65. 
Institutional  strategies  and  activities  –  sometimes  encouraged  by  policy  in  the  field, 
other times existing despite the lack of policy  – to accommodate the diversity of needs of a 
wider  student  body  can  also  found  across  Europe.  A  common  denominator  for  successful 
measures  is  that  these  incorporate  both  academic  and  non-academic  support  as  well  as 
monitoring  and  guidance  of  teaching  and  learning  results  throughout  the  study  cycle, 
especially during the first study year.  

66. 
Governments,  higher  education  institutions  and  grassroots  organisations,  many 
comprising students and staff, have also developed many initiatives to support the integration 
of  asylum  seekers,  migrants  and  refugees.  At  European  level,  the  three  priority  areas  of 
support  are  information  sharing68,  funding  through  Erasmus  +  and  the  recognition  of 
qualifications and prior learning.   

68  

http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/migration/higher-education-refugees_en 

24 

 
                                                            
TARGETING ERASMUS+ ONLINE LINGUISTIC SUPPORT FOR MIGRANTS 

Within Erasmus+, 100,000 Online Linguistic Support (OLS) licences for language assessments and 
the same number of licences for online language courses have been made available to refugees 
for a period of 3 years, until July 2019, with a budget of €4.18m. The aim is to support the efforts 
of EU Member States to integrate refugees into Europe's education and training systems and 
ensure their skills development by giving them access to OLS online language courses.   

25 National Agencies are currently using licences and more than 4 500 refugees have started 
using OLS.  Amongst them, 3 500 are currently following OLS courses to learn a language (April 
2017). Statistics show that they are using OLS courses very actively.   

Refugees have access to a first language test to assess their initial level, followed by an online 
course in the language of their choice (Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, 
Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish or Swedish).  The online course includes live tutoring and 
interactive activities and is compatible with mobile devices.  At the end of the course, refugees 
can take a final test to assess their new language level.  People who are working in direct contact 
with refugees can also receive an access to the OLS platform for instruction and support 
purposes, so that they can assist and guide the refugees in their use of the online courses. 

4.2.2  Linking higher education institutions and their communities 

67. 
The  concept  of  the  'civic  university',  already  highlighted  in  Section  2,  provides  a 
theoretical  model  for  social  responsible  higher  education  institutions  engaged  in  the  society 
around them69. The model sees engagement with the outside world as an integral part of HEIs' 
activities  in  education  and  research  (education,  research  and  'engagement'  thus  overlap  and 
interact) and softens the boundary between higher education (the academy) and society. The 
softer  boundary  and  increased  permeability  between  HEIs  and  the  world  around  them  is 
conceived as mutually beneficial for the academy and society, supporting social equity goals, 
improved learning and teaching and enhancing the relevance and impact of research. 

69  

Goddard, J. (2014) 

25 

 
 
                                                            
Figure 4.4: The 'Civic University' 

Source: Goddard, J. (2014) 

68. 
In practical terms, efforts to strengthen the interaction between higher education and 
'society' often focus on the links between higher education institutions (and their communities 
of  students  and  staff)  and  the  cities  and  towns  where  they  are  located  (and  their  wider 
communities, city authorities, businesses and civil society organisations). The EUniverCities 
network70,  a  network  of  14  medium-sized  European  cities  and  their  universities,  has  been 
established to exchange and spread knowledge, expertise and experience about city-university 
cooperation in Europe. The focus is on how to shape different types of cooperation between 
universities and the rest of the city for the mutual benefit of all parties. Through peer reviews 
and on-going cooperation, the network examines how effective cooperation can be developed 
in different thematic areas: city attractiveness and marketing; the local and regional economy; 
students and city life; science and society and internationalisation. 

70  

http://eunivercitiesnetwork.com/   

26 

 
 
                                                            
UNIVERSTIY-CITY COOPERATION: THE EXAMPLE OF GHENT 

Ghent, one of the partner cities in EUniverCities, provides an example of the different channels 
through which successful cooperation can be developed between universities and their city, as well 
as some of the challenges faced in this field. The experience of Ghent is illustrative of approaches and 
challenges seen in many university cities across Europe. University-city cooperation in Ghent spans a 
broad range of areas, including urban regeneration, economic development, innovation, culture, and 
citizen involvement in science. Key examples of links include: 

  The regeneration of a former industrial area called De Krook, including location of new university 

buildings and the Imec R&D and innovation hub focusing on nano-electronics and digital 
technologies. The university played a key role in bringing forward the redevelopment and acts as 
one of the 'anchor' organisations in the new neighbourhood. 

  Ghent Living Lab, a joint project by the university and the city council, provides a place where 

users / citizens, creative forces, experts, entrepreneurs and researchers are brought together to 
work on innovation projects. 

  The City of Ghent directly supports Ghent University's 'Dare to Venture’ initiative, which 

integrates entrepreneurship experience  in study programmes, coaching the students who want 
to create their own business 
‘StuGent’ is a student consultative body that acts as a linking point between the student 
population and the city authorities.  

 

  Science kits for teachers: the VIB institute for biotechnology, whose researchers work on Ghent 
University campus, have developed support materials for school teachers, to make a direct link 
between the work of the institute and what pupils learn in the city's schools.  

A peer review by partners from other EUniverCities partner cities in late 2014 highlighted the many 
successful aspects of university-city cooperation, but also underlined the common challenge of how 
to help the student population and the rest of the city population interact and co-habit the same city 
in harmony. The co-existence of a permanent resident population and an often temporary, non-
resident student population can create tensions. Stakeholders in Ghent are working to overcome 
these. 

27 

 
 
 
 
5 

INNOVATION AND SMART SPECIALISATION 

5.1 

Innovation challenges in European higher education 

69. 
Responding  effectively  to  the  needs  of  an  innovation-based  economy  is  challenging 
for higher education institutions. It implies a concerted focus on nurturing the 'ingredients' for 
future  innovation  in  all  areas  of  higher  education  institution  activity,  from  undergraduate 
education  to  doctoral  training,  research  and  cooperation  with  business  and  civil  society. 
Despite the limits of our understanding of how innovation actually 'happens'71, there is broad 
agreement  that  highly  skilled,  creative,  entrepreneurial  people  and  effective  cooperation 
networks  between  different  organisations  and  across  sectors  are  among  the  most  important 
ingredients. 

found 

Figure 5.1: Future of Jobs: top 10 skills 

70. 
A  2016  survey  by 
Economic 
the  World 
Forum72,  focusing  on  the 
impact  of 
technological 
that 
change, 
employers  rank  'creativity' 
as  one  of  the  top  three 
attributes or skills needed in 
the  workplace  by  2020.  It 
features  alongside  complex 
problem-solving and critical 
thinking.  To date,  there has 
been 
empirical 
analysis  of  how  effective 
higher education is at stimulating creativity, but there are concerns about the effectiveness of 
existing  higher  education  provision  in  this  area.  In  the  public  consultation  on  the  EU's 
modernisation agenda for higher education, fewer than half of respondents overall and fewer 
than 40% of students and recent graduates agreed with the statement that 'current programmes 
encourage students to be creative and innovative'73. 

Source: World Economic Forum (2016) 

little 

71. 
Recent  discussions  among  international  stakeholders  and  policy  makers  in  higher 
education  organised  by  the  OECD74  have  highlighted  that,  while  many  higher  education 
institutions have designed programmes based on new pedagogies with the explicit objective to 
stimulate  students’  innovation  skills,  including  creativity  and  critical  thinking,  significant 
challenges  remain  in  this  area.  In  particular,  definitions  and  approaches  to  assessment  of 
transversal attributes like creativity and critical thinking vary considerably between individual 
academics,  teaching  staff  lack  knowledge  on  effective  pedagogical  techniques  to  stimulate 
these  skills  and  institutional  structures,  focused  on  research,  do  not  necessarily  provide 
conducive frameworks for increased focus on creativity. 

71  
72  
73  
74  

See European Political Strategy Centre - EPSC (2016) 
World Economic Forum (2016) 
European Commission (2016a) 
See OECD (2016b) 

28 

 
                                                            
 
72. 
The  capacity  of  higher  education  institutions,  their  staff  and  students  to  engage 
actively in activities to support innovation in their localities and regions depends both on the 
culture and will within the HEIs concerned and the broader innovation capacity of the locality 
or region. The EU's regional innovation scoreboard, which provides a broad indication of the 
existing  innovation  capacity  of  EU  regions,  illustrates  the  extent  to  which  higher  education 
institutions  across  the  EU  are  working  within  very  different  contexts.  While  Europe's  most 
innovative  regions  lie  primarily  in  northern  and  western  Europe,  innovation  capacity  in 
regions in the east and south of Europe is considerably lower. These different starting points 
naturally  have  an  influence  on  the  appropriate  strategies,  which  may  include  a  focus  on 
stemming brain drain, for HEIs in the regions concerned. 

Figure 5.2: Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2016 

Source: European Commission (2016c) 

73. 
Proximity  between  creative  people  and  close  networks  of  cooperation  between 
knowledge-intensive organisations – including HEIs and business - are an important factor in 

29 

 
 
fostering regional innovation. Available indicators show that existing patterns of cooperation 
between higher education and innovative businesses vary considerably across the EU. 

Figure 5.3: Innovative enterprises co-operating with universities or 
other higher education institutions (2012) 

74. 
last  Community 
The 
Innovation 
(CIS), 
Survey 
undertaken in 201275, identified 
enterprises 
were 
that 
form  of 
some 
undertaking 
product,  service  or  process 
then  asked 
innovation  and 
these 
of 
representatives 
organisations 
the 
about 
external 
cooperation  with 
higher 
including 
partners, 
education  institutions.  In  all 
countries 
large 
companies  reported  that  they 
cooperated  on  innovation  with 
universities or other HEIs more 
small  and 
than 
frequently 
medium-sized 
enterprises 
(SMEs).  Moreover,  whereas 
over  or  around  20%  of  SMEs 
in  Finland,  Slovenia,  Austria 
and  the  UK  reported  that  they 
cooperated  with  universities, 
the  figure  was  5%  or  less  in 
Italy,  Malta,  Romania  and 
Bulgaria. 

surveyed, 

and 

Source: European Commission (2016b) 

75.  More  qualitative  work 
examining  the  ways  HEIs  can 
contribute to regional economic 
development 
Smart 
Specialisation  Strategies  has 
highlighted  the  main  barriers  the  higher  education  sector  faces  in  these  areas.  Higher 
education policy in many countries still lacks a territorial dimension, meaning there might not 
be  strong  incentives  for  HEIs  to  engage  in  activities  to  contribute  to  innovation  at  regional 
level. In structurally weaker regions, even if there is a comparatively strong university, there 
may be limited 'absorptive capacity' in local businesses to cooperate effective with academic 
partners.  And  within  individual  universities,  the  focus  on  regional  innovation  very  often 

75  

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/community-innovation-survey  

30 

 
                                                            
 
 
depends on individual institutional leaders and academic staff, rather than an institution-wide 
strategy76. 

5.2 

Promising approaches  

5.2.1  Promoting entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation skills 

76. 
Higher  education  institutions  increasingly  recognise  that  they  must  afford  young 
minds  the  opportunity  to  develop  skills  that  inspire,  encourage  and  enable  innovation. 
Although it is difficult to make explicit links between specific skills and innovation, there is a 
move towards rethinking education and training programmes to promote the combined skills 
of creative and critical thinking, entrepreneurship, problem-solving, risk-taking and resilience, 
management,  communication,  exploiting  the  results  of  research  and  independent  analysis. 
Promoting, assessing and rewarding these skills sets in higher education, alongside acquisition 
of detailed subject knowledge, is one of the challenges faced by teaching staff across Europe.  

A step in this direction is the FINCODA project77 led by Turku University of Applied 
77. 
Sciences that aims to develop a tool to assess students' 'innovation competences' during their 
studies  and comprises  a plan for training  teachers to  use  the criteria. A further extension of 
FINCODA thinking is an initiative by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology's 
(EIT)  Climate-KIC  to  develop  a  framework  that  defines  essential  innovation  competencies 
and describes quality standards to develop and measure them respectively. This aims to create 
a pan-European standard for assessing innovation and entrepreneurship skills, with a focus on 
the climate change field78.  

FINCODA 

At the core of this project is the development of the FINCODA Innovation Barometer Assessment 
Tool.  This  is  a  psychometric  tool  that  measures  individuals'  capacity  for  innovation.  It  breaks 
innovation  into  five  core  areas  and  assesses  the  individual's  capacity  in  each  of  these  areas 
separately. The research underpinning this tool has been conducted by the FINCODA partners who 
as  a  whole  bring  together  both  the  academic  and  industry  innovation  expertise  from  across 
Europe.  The  project  will  develop  an  online  toolkit  for  behavioural  assessment  relating  to 
innovation  and  a  massive  open  online  course  (MOOC)  related  to  behaviour  assessment  to 
disseminate the methods. 

Source: FINCODA 

78.  More  generally,  the  OECD  has  started  a  strand  of  work  to  develop  and  refine  our 
understanding of how creative and critical thinking skills can be developed and assessed in an 
educational setting. Currently focused on schools, the project Assessing creative and critical 

76  
77  
78  

Joint Research Centre (2014) 
http://www.fincoda.eu/  
http://www.certifiedprofessional.eu/ 

31 

 
                                                            
thinking skills at school (CREASSESS), will serve as inspiration for further work to explore 
how to promote creativity in higher education. 

ASSESSING CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AT SCHOOL (CREASSESS) 

This OECD-led project aims to identify and test effective ways to help students develop their 
creativity and critical thinking by working directly with teachers and researchers. The work aims 
to identify good teaching practices and measure their effectiveness by testing students before 
and after the learning programmes in question. The aim is provide tools to support teacher 
training and professional development. Work to date has focused on schools, but an 
international seminar convening higher education stakeholders and experts in June 2016 
concluded the approach should be expanded to examine approaches to stimulating students’ 
creativity and critical thinking in higher education. 

Source: OECD 

5.2.2  Creating 'entrepreneurial universities' 

79. 
The  concept  of  the  'entrepreneurial  university'  has  been  developed  to  describe  HEIs 
that are making a conscious effort 'to empower students and staff to demonstrate enterprise, 
innovation and creativity' and that are dedicated to creating public value through processes of 
open  engagement79.  To  assist  universities  to  develop  closer  links  between  their  education, 
research  and  engagement  missions  and  to  develop  and  strengthen  partnerships  with 
businesses,  the  European  Commission  and  the  OECD  have  developed  and  implemented  the 
HEInnovate tool. 

HEInnovate 

HEInnovate  is  a  self-assessment  tool  for  HEIs  wishing  to  develop  their  entrepreneurial  and 
innovative capacity. It has been used so far by more than 800 HEIs worldwide and the goal is to 
have it used by 1400 HEIs by end of 2018. In addition to the self-assessment tool, the OECD is 
performing country-based reviews based on the HEInnovate methodology in EU Member States 
(five have taken place so far in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Ireland). In 2017-
2018,  five  additional  reviews  will  take  place.  The  objective  of  the  action  is  to  consolidate  the 
institutional  evidence  gathered  through  the  reviews  and  to  develop  a  systemic  policy 
exploitation  of  the  data  and  practices  to  support  the  implementation  of  strategies  aiming  at 
more entrepreneurial HEIs through the establishment of a Policy Learning Network. 

Source: HEInnovate 

80. 
Public  policy  also  has  an  important  role  to  play  in  opening  up  universities  to  their 
“third  mission”  and  in  building  synergies  between  research  and  education.  In  Sweden,  for 
example,  the  higher  education  act  of  1997  made  interaction  with  surrounding  society  an 
official part of the mission of Swedish institutions for higher education (HEIs). In support of 
HEIs’  efforts  to  adopt  a  more  systematic  approach  to  societal  interaction  and  leverage 

79  

https://heinnovate.eu/en  

32 

 
                                                            
collaboration with  other actors  to  strengthen the quality of research and education, Swedish 
policy  makers  and  agencies  have  been  working  to  support  efforts  to  develop  universities’ 
interaction  with  society.  The  2016  Swedish  research  and  innovation  bill  announced  the 
addition  of  cooperation  with  surrounding  society  in  addition  to  publications  and  external 
funding, as a quality indicator for incentivisation of HEIs. 

5.2.3  Higher education and strengthening innovation capacity in weaker regions 

81. 
Knowledge  intensive,  innovative  activities  have  a  tendency  to  concentrate  in  ‘core’ 
areas  rather  than  peripheral  ones.  The  development  of  smart  specialisation  strategies  in  the 
regions as an ex-ante conditionality for ESIF investment in research represents an important 
step  towards  the  implementation  of  spatially-targeted,  contextually  specific  policies  to 
promote knowledge-based growth in the European regions80.  

82. 
In  this  context,  higher  education  institutions  have  the  opportunity  to  co-design  and 
help  implement  smart  specialisation  strategies,  bringing  together  education,  research  and 
innovation  and  helping  to  convene  other  regional  actors  in  the  innovation  systems.  The 
Higher  Education  for  Smart  Specialisation  (HESS)  project81,  led  by  the  European 
Commission's  Joint  Research  Centre  aims  to  help  build  innovation  capabilities  by 
strengthening  the  role  of  HEIs  in  regional  partnerships  and  to  promote  the  integration  of 
higher  education  in  regional  smart  specialisation  policy,  particularly  in  the  use  of  European 
Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds. 

Higher Education for Smart Specialisation (HESS)  

Starting  in  March  2016  for  an  initial  twelve  months,  the  HESS  project  focuses  on  how  higher 
education  and  HEIs  can  contribute  to  the  successful  implementation  of  smart  specialisation 
strategies.  The  main  activity  of  HESS  is  'action  research'  and  capacity  building  in  selected 
European regions. Two  regions have been selected as pilots: Navarra in Spain, and North East 
Romania. In addition, the project will be monitoring the involvement of HEIs in implementation 
of smart specialisation strategies and spending on education by the ESI funds on a more global 
scale.  

The  project  aims  to  understand  and  support  HEIs  to  align  their  functions  of  human  capital 
development  with  smart  specialisation  strategy  priorities;  analyse  how  public  funds  can  allow 
HEIs  to  better  contribute  to  implementation;  foster  change  within  HEIs  to  take  on  a  strategic 
role in implementation and promote external cooperation between the HEIs and other actors in 
regional partnerships. 

Source: Smart Specialisation Platform 

80  
81  

http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.    
http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/hess  

33 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
6 

EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS 

6.1 

The quest for effectiveness and efficiency 

83. 
Higher  education  is  being  called  on  to  do  more:  to  improve  performance  in  its  core 
teaching and research missions; engage with society; and to develop newer roles, in areas like 
adult learning and innovation. This puts pressure on HEIs, their staff and those responsible for 
steering  higher  education  systems  to  find  and  allocate  resources  effectively  for  different 
activities, and to demonstrate the money spent delivers good results.  

84. 
The pressure to demonstrate results has increased in an overall context where spending 
on higher education – as in other parts of the public sector - is under pressure. As shown in 
Figure 6.1, between 2008 and 2013, the OECD calculates that spending per higher education 
student  fell  in  real  terms  in  six  EU  Member  States  for  which  it  has  comparable  data82.  The 
European University Association's Public Funding Observatory83 also pinpoints ongoing cuts 
in public spending per student in other countries including Greece and Latvia. 

Figure  6.1:  Changes  in  the  number  of  students,  expenditure  on  educational  institutions  and 
expenditure per student in tertiary education (2008, 2013) 

Source: OECD (2016c). Table B1.5b. Index of change between 2008 and 2013 (2008 = 100, 2013 constant prices) 

85. 
These  relative  changes  mask  considerable  underlying  differences  in  the  level  of 
resources  being  invested  per  student.  Figure  6.2  shows  the  public  and  private  spending  on 
higher education institutions per full-time equivalent student in euros adjusted by purchasing 
power standards (PPS). These data reflect the funds flowing into higher education institutions, 
but  do  not  include  public  or  private  funds  allocated  directly  to  students,  for  example  as 

82  
83  

Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Belgium 
http://www.eua.be/activities-services/projects/eua-online-tools/public-funding-observatory-tool.aspx  

34 

 
 
                                                            
student grants or public subsidy for student loan systems. When the differential cost of living 
in different Member States is taken into account in this way, the highest rates of spending per 
student  is  seen  in  Malta  and  Slovenia,  followed  by  the  UK,  Sweden,  Croatia  and  the 
Netherlands.  The  lowest  rates  of  spending,  as  seen  in  Romania  and  Bulgaria,  followed  by 
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. 

Figure 6.2: Annual expenditure on educational institutions per tertiary education student (FTE), 
PPS, 2013  

Source: Eurostat [educ_uoe_fini04] No data for EL, LU, SK 

86. 
Even in  well-funded systems,  finding appropriate indicators to  measure performance 
and  designing  appropriate  policy  measures  to  improve  performance  levels  has  proved 
challenging.  In  most  higher  education  systems,  there  has  been  an  increasing  focus  on  the 
quality  of  research  outputs,  where  a  range  of  bibliometric  measures  and  peer  review 
techniques are routinely implemented. However, governments and institutions have typically 
paid  less  attention  to  measures  of  the  quality  of  education  and  outreach  and  engagement 
activities.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  for  a  widespread  perception  that  these  activities  are 
comparatively neglected in national funding and quality systems and in institutional strategy 
setting84. 

6.2 

Promising approaches  

87. 
Effective  funding,  quality  and  reward  systems  are  important  features  of  modern, 
effective higher education systems. Designing such systems is a shared challenge for all EU 
Member States, with the question of how best to incentivise and reward good teaching high 
on  the  agenda  in  many  countries.  A  number  of  initiatives  in  Member  States  in  recent  years 
may hold clues to how to develop better framework conditions for effective higher education. 

84  

See Fung, D. et al (2017) 

35 

 
 
                                                            
6.2.1  Developing funding systems to reward performance 

88. 
In  recent  years,  there  has  been  a  general  shift  towards  systems  that  pay  universities 
based on the outputs they produce (number of graduates, number of research publications etc), 
rather than purely on the basis of established costs. At the same time, a number of countries 
have  introduced  performance  contracts  between  the  state  and  higher  education  institutions 
which established specific targets, the achievement of which may be rewarded with funding. 
Output-based funding formulas and performance agreements with funding linked are types of 
'performance-based funding' (PBF). 

89. 
The  move  to  performance-based  funding  has  generally  been  relatively  recent  and 
different models have been implemented in different EU countries. These reforms have now 
started  to  bed  in  and  their  impacts  have  started  to  be  felt.  A  common  trend  has  been  to 
introduce  specific  contracts  or  performance  agreements  between  the  state  and  individual 
higher education institutions, which may or may not be linked to funding. 

Institutional Performance Agreements in the EU 

Three main models of performance agreement are used in the EU: 

1. 

Institutional agreements are used as a basis for negotiation of the up-front allocation of a 
proportion of public funding, as in Austria. In this case, the performance agreements set out 
what  the  government  agrees  to  pay  for  over  a  specific  time  period (eg  3  years  in Austria) 
and cover the lion's share of public institutional funding. Performance in relation to targets 
is  taken  into  account  in  future  negotiation  rounds,  but  fixed  financial  penalties  for  non-
attainment of the targets are absent. 

2.  Agreements are used as part of a funding and performance system, where a proportion of 
public  funding  is  allocated  using  output-based  formula  funding,  as  in  Finland.  Here,  the 
agreements are not primarily a funding tool, but a strategic planning tool Targets for specific 
indicators  (eg  number  of  bachelor  degrees  completed)  are  set  out  in  performance 
agreements,  but  the  amount  of  money  an  institution  receives  is  governed  automatically 
through  the  standard  formula  system  (which  are  distinct  for  universities  or  polytechnics) 
rather than through the performance agreement per se. 

3.  Explicit  financial  consequences  are 

linked  to  both  the  conclusion  of  performance 
agreements and the attainment of objectives fixed in the agreements, as in the Netherlands 
and the Irish system. In the Netherlands, for example, institutions competed for 2% of the 
public  higher  education  teaching  budget  that  was  awarded  based  on  the  quality  of  the 
development plans submitted by institutions, while an additional 5% of the teaching budget 
has been made conditional up-front on having a performance agreement and, for the next 
period on reaching quantitative targets, specific to each institution, related to teaching and 
agreed in the plans. If institutions do not achieve their quantitative target, they stand to lose 
part,  or  all,  of  their  share  of  this  5%  from  2016  onwards.  In  the  Netherlands,  the 
performance agreements are used alongside output-based funding formula. 

Source: Peer Learning Activity on performance agreements in higher education, September 2014 

36 

 
6.2.2  Strengthening teaching and its links to research 

90. 
Although learning and teaching have always been at the core of university activities, 
the  emergence  of  more  competitive  research  funding  and  international  university  rankings 
based  on  research  performance  accentuated  a  widespread  perception  that  teaching  was  (and 
is) a comparatively neglected activity in higher education. At the same time, as highlighted in 
section 3 of this paper, good teaching is crucial if students are to acquire the knowledge, skills 
and experience they need. It was against this backdrop that the EU's High-level Group on the 
modernisation  of  higher  education  examined  the  issue  of  promoting  quality  in  teaching  and 
learning in higher education institutions and produced it 2013 report85. 

91. 
In  their  findings  and  recommendations,  the  High  Level  Group  argue  that  ensuring 
quality in teaching and learning requires action by everyone involved in the higher education 
system  at  different  levels:  by  governments  and  system  regulators,  by  higher  education 
institutions, by staff and by students. While the role of leaders of higher education institution 
is  singled  out  as  particularly  crucial,  the  High  Level  Group  also  recommend  that  'Public 
authorities responsible for higher education should ensure the existence of a sustainable, well-
funded framework to support higher education institutions’ efforts to improve the quality of 
teaching and learning'. The Group also argues that teaching performance should be a factor in 
recruitment  and  progression  decisions  in  higher  education,  which  are  in  many  countries 
affected by system-wide regulations and conventions86.  

System-level approaches to promoting quality in teaching 

Along  with  higher  education  institutions,  a  number  of  governments  in  Europe  are  placing 
increased  emphasis  on  promoting  quality  and  innovation  in  teaching  in  higher  education. 
System-level approaches to supporting teaching take various forms. For example: 

 

 

 

In  Ireland,  the  National  Forum  for  the  Enhancement  of  Teaching  and  Learning  was 
established  in 2012  to  work structurally on improving  teaching  and  learning.  The  National 
Forum uses different instruments to do this, including academic professional development 
tools  and  awards,  a  national  digital  platform  and  e-learning  capacity  development,  and 
grants and fellowships. 
In  the  French-speaking  Community  of  Belgium,  specific  legislative  provisions  target 
teaching excellence. According to the Bologna Act (2004), university institutions should use 
at  least  10  %  of  their  basic  public  funding  for  teaching  excellence  for  success  and  were 
required to jointly set up ‘higher education teaching centres’. 
In  Norway,  the  Ministry  of  Education  and  Research  funds  'Centres  for  Excellence  in 
Education' (SFU in Norwegian).  SFU status is awarded to academic  communities  that have 
already demonstrated excellent quality and innovative practices in education and that have 
plans in place for further development and innovation. One of the important requirements 
the centres have to meet is that they must disseminate their results and knowledge. 

85  
86  

High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education (2013) 
For an overview of the level of autonomy European higher education institutions have over staffing matters, see 
EUA (2016a) University Autonomy in Europe  

37 

 
 
                                                            
92. 
The question of rewarding quality and creating parity of esteem between teaching and 
research activities in higher education is also intrinsically bound up with the question of how 
teaching and research should be inter-related. As highlighted in a recent report by the League 
of  European  Research  Universities  (LERU)87,  there  are  concerns  that  teaching  and  research 
too  often  operate  in  parallel  worlds  that  rarely  meet,  including  in  research-intensive 
universities. To address this, higher education institutions and government agencies involved 
in  funding  research  and  higher  education  are  increasingly  exploring  ways  to  strengthen  the 
link, with more research-based teaching and greater involvement of students in research. 

87  

Fung, D. et al (2017) 

38 

 
 
 
                                                            
7 

CROSS-CUTTING ASPECTS OF EU SUPPORT 

7.1 

EU knowledge tools in higher education: U-multirank and ETER 

94. 
Transparency  tools  are  needed  to  benchmark  HEI  performance  for  institutional 
strategy setting and to communicate information on higher education institutions to students 
choosing  between  specific  educational  programmes,  to  public  or  private  agencies  awarding 
research contracts, to governments deciding on accountability issues relating to funding and 
for  regional  and  international  engagement  of  higher  education  institutions.  From  this 
perspective,  the  European  Commission  has  supported  the  development  of  U-Multirank,  an 
independent  multi-dimensional  international  ranking  system  and  a  European  Tertiary 
Education Register (ETER).  

U-Multirank88 is a multidimensional, user-driven approach to international ranking of 
95. 
higher education institutions. It compares the performances of higher education institutions in 
the  five  broad  dimensions  of  university  activity:  (1)  teaching  and  learning,  (2)  research,  (3) 
knowledge  transfer,  (4)  international  orientation  and  (5)  regional  engagement.  The  U-
Multirank web tool enables comparisons at the level of the university as a whole and at the 
level of specific  fields of study. Based  on empirical  data U-Multirank compares  institutions 
with  similar  institutional  profiles  (‘like-with-like’)  and  allows  users  to  develop  their  own 
personalised rankings by selecting indicators in terms of their own preferences.  

The European Tertiary Education Register (ETER)89 is a database of higher education 
96. 
institutions  in  Europe  providing  data  on  the  number  of  students,  graduates,  international 
doctorates,  staff,  and  fields  of  education,  income  and  expenditure  as  well  as  descriptive 
information  on  the  characteristics  of  the  institutions.  The  collection  of  data  is  done  in 
partnership  with  National  Statistical  Authorities,  but  publication  of  the  data  is  done 
independently. 

97. 
The  tools  were  developed  organically  and  independently  over  time.  As  further 
development, these tools will be components of a 'Knowledge Hub for Higher Education' to 
create  synergies  across  the  knowledge  tools  and  other  higher  education  research  projects 
piloted by DG EAC. The Knowledge Hub, to involve the Joint Research Centre, will gather 
the  knowledge  tools  to  optimise  management  and  funding  mechanisms,  to  ensure  optimal 
synergies  and  interoperability  between  the  tools,  to  minimise  overlaps  in  data  collection,  to 
improve  communication  of  results  at  European  and  national  level,  and  to  support  better 
policy-making based on the data collection and evidence behind the tools. 

7.2  Overview of actions included in the renewed EU agenda for higher education 

The table below provides an overview of the EU-level actions included in the renewed 

98. 
EU agenda for higher education. 

88  
89  

http://www.umultirank.org/  
https://www.eter-project.com/  

39 

 
                                                            
Figure 7.1 Overview of EU-level actions 

Action 

New / expanded self-
standing initiative 

New / increased 
priority in 
programme calls 

Timing 

PRIORITY 1: SKILLS 

1.  European initiative to 
track graduates 

X 

Announced in Skills 
Agenda  

X 

X 

X 

X 

2.  EU STE(A)M 
coalition 

3.  Erasmus+ business 

consortia + 
Erasmus+ work 
placements with 
digital focus 

4.  Digital Readiness 

Model + guidance on 
Open Education 
Initiatives 

5.  Strategic Erasmus+ 
support for higher 
education teachers, 
post-graduate and 
post-doctoral 
graduates 

Proposal for Council 
Recommendation: 05/17 

EU tracking study: 24 
months from 09/17 (09/19) 

EU network: ongoing from 
09/17 

Quarter 3 2017 onwards 

X 

Quarter 1 2018 

(Erasmus+ 2018 calls) 

(Horizon 2020 2018) 

Quarter 4 2017 

X 

Quarter 1 2018 

(Erasmus+ 2018 calls) 

PRIORITY 2: SOCIAL DIMENSION 

6.  Support for 

X 

integrated 
institutional 
strategies for 
inclusion, gender 
equality and study 
success 

7.  Development and 

testing of flexible and 
modular course 
design 

8.  Raise awareness of 
benefits of ECTS 
points for voluntary 
and community 
activities 

9.  Academic 

recognition for 
refugees 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Peer learning: quarter 4 2017 
Erasmus+ support: Quarter 1 
2018 on 
(Erasmus+ 2018 calls) 

Quarter 1 2018 
(Erasmus+ 2018 calls) 

Peer-learning: Quarter 4 
2017 
Self-assessment tool: 
Quarter 3 2017 
Erasmus+ app: Quarter 2 
2017 

Quarter 3 2017 

PRIORITY 3: INNOVATION & REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT 

10.  Expand EIT Regional 

Innovation Scheme 
(EIT-RIS) 

11.  Teaching methods 

X 

X 

X 

Quarter 4 2017 

Start Quarter 3 2017 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Action 

New / expanded self-
standing initiative 

New / increased 
priority in 
programme calls 

Timing 

for creativity and 
innovation 
competencies 
(OECD) 

12.  Higher Education for 
Smart Specialisation 
(HESS) 

X 
(Follow-up to 
COM(2016) 941 final) 

13.  Widening 

participation in Marie 
Skłodowska-Curie 
actions 

14.  University-business 

X 

fora 

X 

PRIORITY 4: SYSTEMS 

X 
(Follow-up to 
COM(2016) 941 final) 

(2 year project) 

Project underway 
Next phases will start in 
quarter 3 2017 

Any activities would be part 
of 2018-20 Horizon 2020 
Work Programme (expected 
adoption October 2017). 

Quarter 4 2017 

From Quarter 1 2018 
onwards 
(Initial planning = two-year 
project 2018-2019) 

15.  Review of funding, 

incentive and reward 
structures and peer 
counselling on 
system-level funding 
and steering 

16.  More emphasis on 
teaching in MSCA 

17.  Knowledge Hub on 
higher education 

18.  Strengthen Eurydice 
and cooperation with 
OECD 

19.  Electronic student 
identification 

20.  Discussion on future 
EU support to HE 

X 

To be written in Horizon 
2020 Work Programme 
2018-20, published October 
2017 

HORIZONTAL ACTIONS 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Quarter 2 2017 

Ongoing from quarter 2 2017 

Quarter 2 2017 onwards 

Quarter 3 2017 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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