sso I

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

conceptual Framework
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and'Data,' OECD, Paris, ñfip:/www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-

llTl

school/Benchmarkin g%20Report. pdf'
l24l

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https:I I dx.doi.ot gl l0'17 87 197 89264269385 -en'
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Chall enge s, OECD, Paris,

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Reporting DTta 9n .
OECD (2015), Frascati Manual 2015: Guidelines for collecting and
,
Technological and
scientific,
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tel

OECD (2016), OECD Science, Technolog,t and Innovation Outlook 2016,
Paris, https://dx.doi'org/ 1 0. I 787lsti in outlook-20 1 6-en'
OECD (2015), Final NAEC SYnthesis New Approaches t o Ec onomic

en.

of Adult sfri//s, OECD
OECD (2013), 1ECD Skills outlook 2013: First Results from the survey
publìshing, p aris, https/ I dx.do\.orgl 10.17 87 197 89264204256-en.

t6l

I and volume 2,0ECD

t1 8l

OECD (2008), Tertiary Educationþr the Knowledge society: volume
Reviews of Tertiary Education, OECD Publishing, Paris,
https:I I dx.doi.or gl 1 0.17 87 197 8926404653 5 -en'

Tomorrow, OECD
OECD (2006), Think scenarios, Rethink Education,schooling for
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publìshing, p aris, hftps:l I dx.doi.orgl 10.17 lg7 99264023642-en.
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Indic at or s, OECD, Paris,

of Bibliometric Science

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I sts

Flemish Ministry for the Economy, Science and Innovation (201 7), Waamse Regering Investeert
Fors in Innovatie, Flemish Ministry for the Economy, Science and Innovation, Brussels,

t8l

https://www.ewivlaanderen.be/sites/defaullfiles/bestanden/Persmededeling_Vlaamse%20Regering%20invest
eertYo2jf orso/o2}inYo2}irnovaTie.pdf .
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Economy, science and Innovation 2014 - 2019, Flemish Ministry for work, Economy,
Innovation and Sport, Brussels, https:/Âvww.vlaanderen.be/nl/publicaties/detail/beleidsnota20 1 4-20 I 9-werk-economie-wetenschap-en-innovatie.

t

l3l

and Inequality?", in curaj A. et al. (eds.), The European Higher Education Area, springer,
Cham, l'Ítp I I dx. doi.or gl I 0.1 007 I 97 t -3 -3 I 9 -20 87 7 -0 3 I .
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Irish Higher Education Authority (2019), Springboard+, https://sprinsboardcourses.ie (accessed
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Í2sl

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î21

Publishing, Paris, https ://dx.doi.org/ I 0. 1 787lbe5 5 I 4d7-en.

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ilel

https://doi.org/1 0.1 787leag-20 t 8-en.

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t3l

https://doi.org/ 1 0. 1 787ledu-data-en (accessed on 20 December 20 I g).

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I2el

on 5 February 2019).

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http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/datal (accessed on l0 December 20 I g).

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE @ OECD 2O1g

tsl

s4s I

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

by the assumed share
higher education institutions), multiplied
neglects at least two
estimate
this
However,
of ||%oof second-time students, yields USD 1. 200.
directions'
iu"io.t-titæ could introduce a bias in opposite
across universities and professional

First, a large proporti on (44þ of second-time

students in bachelor's and master's

programmes are

higher
..advanced,''bu.h.lo.'s and master's-frogrun,,t"'-where they already pay a
enrolled in
is not
students
master's
and
paid ty Javaicea bachelor's
tuition fee. While the unnuuituition fees
7 200
USD
to
up
and
students
ua"rtelor's
ior
up to Ûso z+õõ
known on average, it
(2018psù)'
OECD
"o"iJ.åã"¡,
orgãu"ution and Training and
for master,s students in 20lg (Flemish Ministry
estimate'
This imposes an upward bias on the
higher
in education would decrease as a result of
second, if the number of second-time students
any
for
increase
would
system
the higher education
tuition fees, then expenditure per student in
per student' this
subsidies
pu|lìc
of
Given the ,uUrtuntiul-utount
given level of total
"*p;il;.;.
on the estimate'
bias
downward
sizeable
irnpor". a

References
l22l

Azmat,G.andS.Simion(2017),..Hig!e¡EducationFundingReforms:AComprehensive
IZA Discussion Paper'
Outcomes in Èngland",

Analysis of Educationàf un¿iuUoiMarket
I 1 0 83'pdf'
No. í t Oa¡ ; lZ A, Bonn,http://ft p' iza'orgldp

Chapman, B. (2016), "Income Contingent

Loans in Higher Education Financing"'

IZA Ilorld of

[23]

Labor 227,PP. l-10,

Technologt t7l
Innovation (2017), STI in Flanders - Science,
Department of EconomY, Science and
EWI,
Flemish Government Departement
& Innovation Policy and Key Figures 2017,
Brussels,
the
EURASHE (2010), E(lRASHE',s l0 commitments for
EURASHE, Brussels,

EHEA in 2020 - visions & strategies'

126l

pdfl.
Innovati on
European Commission (20 1 9), Re gional

and Monitor Plus: Flanders,

tl l

(accessed on 13 March 2019)

t4l

EuropeanTertiaryEducationRegister(ETlll(2019),ETERDatabase,http://www.eter---l"E
(äccessed on l8 January 2019)'

tl*d

Einostat (2019), P oPulati on Projections ,

Population Projections,

projections-data (accessed on 15 FebruarY

t16l

2019)

BENCHMARKING HIGHER ÉDUCATION

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE @ OECD 2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Notes

lA wider discussion of the topics

covered in this¡ote, as well as many other topics spanning
the
resourcing, missions and performance ofhigher education
can be founá in the synthesis report for
the project (OECD, 2019pù.
2

Data for the Flemish Community refer to students who
were not enrolled in either bachelor,s or
master's degrees or equivalent programmes. They
could still be enrolled at other levels.

Adults at level 3 of the numeracy scale can successfully

complete tasks that

require an
understanding of mathematical information that may
not be explicit and may be embedded in
contexts that are not familiar. They can perform tasks
requiring sweral ri.p, uno that may involve
a choice of problem-solving strategies and relevant, processãs.
They can interyret and perform
basic analyses ofdata and statistics in texts, tables and graphs.
a The
shares of basic research, applied research and experimental
development have changed
dramatically for Belgium over the iast few years, possibþ
r"llã*i"À .rr"nges in the underlying
definitions and classifications. For example, the sirare
oi applied räea.ch in higher education
R&D expenditure passed lrom 33o/o to i4o/o between 2013 and
2014, while the share of basic
research passed from 460/o.lo 19%. Despite these
changes, Belgium rémained below the 6ECD
median of the share of basic research in irigher educatioã
nao Jxpenait-ure throughout the period
20t2-2015.
5

source: Data provided by the Flemish community of Belgium

Thomson-Reuters database (a large database of scientific

to the 9ECD and based on the
publications).

6

Data for Flanders on research productivity are relative
to all population, using the ThomsonReuters database, while the benchmarking indicators
on r"¡.itì'n" fãouction are based on
publications per population aged 25-64, usin! tne
scopus database of scientifìc publications.
7

using "fractional counts" as a metric implies that authors
from different research systems who
co-author a publication are each attributed ã share
of that publication. This is in contrast to .vhole
counts" where each co-author is attributed one full publication
in the statistical analysis.
8
Data on PCT and EPo patent applications in Flanders
were provided directly to the OECD by the
Flemish
Community of Belgium.

e In contrast

to other
.jurisdictions, expenditure data for the Flemish community exclude
expenditure for independent
private institutions. However, ina"p.na"nif.ìuate
institutions play a
minor role in the Flemish community, as compared to
other highei eoucation systems. For
example, no Flemish independent private institution
meets the r"qui."r*tr ftlr inclusion in the
European Register of Tertiary Education, implying
that none It"r*äil""rt':0 full-time equivalent
academic staff or 200 students (Lepori etai.,'2017¡ze1).
Therefore, the expenditure data for the
Flemish Community and other jurisdictions ará broadìy-comparable.
l0

In 2015, the annual average expenditure per student

in the Flemish community excluding R&D

and ancillary expenditure amounted to around usD 11100

professional HEIs (Section.?.t),

in universities and lzl00 in
y.hf! can be thought of as an uppe, ti-itto the amount that could

to students ("fu1| cost"). This comparerïith un uu".áj"
leveioiluition fees in 2016 for
þe tha-rs9d
bachelor's- and masrer's programmes which was u¡out
oô0ióEò;, ;òrB¡rs1). The difference

úip

between the full cost and the average fee currently paid

(usD l0 900, averaging the full cost

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
O OE CD 2OIg

Isg

s46 I

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

training, including
range of initiatives in research and
funds, the IT Academy promotes a
and grants to institutions to develop
scholarships for studenå

ä ri;ìaïiåìi;il;jy

ICT curricula.

of stimulating collaboration between higher
The Netherlands also offers some examples
started a pilot
For .*uÀpi., the Ditch,govemment
education institutions and employers.
health and
and
ICT
of
in tne fielãs
project in 2016 to proniãr focuied .tuoy u"iiuities
provides vouchers to

The govemment
welfare without dir.;;';;;;. .*niu",ions.
ur. expectèd to cover part ofthe
emptoyJrc
and
fees,
students to cover part oritre tuition
cost as well'

In2016intheNetherlands,some2o/o'ofstudentsinprofessionalHElswereenrolledin
higher
trr. i*ining is provided jointlv bv the
dual program..r, i.".'iïä;;;;;hr.
partnerships
.tpiãyitg thã stuäent'. Establishing
educarion institution and by a company
periods integrated in higher
with public and privä;ñI";;; ío, ,¡rí.ä"Íaining
in Higher
of the e*op.un AssJciàtion of Institutions
education progru,n*.J;;
involve
not
if they do

"ì;;;*l

Education (EURASHE ,2010¡zo1).These

types oiprogru1n*es.' even

higher education
letr1.een some education
large proportions ";' ,ilJ¿;á, stimuiate- "olopäution
ftã¿ to co-funding of
institutions and the private sector,
activities

which

"*

Private research funding outside universities

ResearchinprofessionalHElsisgenerallyconnectedwiththeirmissiontoprovide
development
education and promote regional
vocational anO professt*tiy ori"ñted
HEIs
professional
;:i;rì'ån;'i¿;ìr, zoiõP,,j. rhis makes,Rt?t"
(EURASHE, 20l0rzorr
ut small and medium enterprises' local
suitable for collaboratiãn'with stakðholders, 'utü
economv'
;;ã;,il;tganisations involved in the regional

;ffiÅ'e;,

structures
encouraging the creation of organisational
The Netherlands has been actively
private
with
professional HgË t" foster their collaboration
seþarate from universities and
example'
For
provision î r"r"ur"tt and education'
and public organisatioi, îÁ, itt.
allocated by the
u urrogJi Jeun 63 million was
through the Valorisa,iäp.d;*",
higher
conso.tia centred on one or more
government for the
knowledge
"äi"iîipuulíc-privaie
a carry outinitiutit"s to apply research and
education institutions. The consorti
tunded bv
ío.i¡ piáui".. yãie-lyiatives are
to boost productiviry
rest' The
the
by other partners for
the government for up'io sóø of theircoJ'un¿
the-initial sovemment budget
objective is that rhe
u.t*.* uninersilies, professional higher education
is exhausted, stimulating cost sharing
institutions and other Partners'
between
organisations established in co-operation
The centres of Expertise (coE) are
research
applied
out
canv
coEs
orpuuri" purtners.
nrofessional HEls and other private
Centres of
projects'
research
rorn., or pru"iiå"-oriented
in
itt-ugt' competitive grants awarded for
ro,
'.,.
Expertise recerve puÛìi" funding,
the private sector
raisi substanial
to"*u*ii"
their establishment. bur are expected
development of
the
encouragine
cogld also consider
as well. The Flemisiän],i,,[t,t
iäkãhold""' which could
partnerships between piJre;"*ínel'
public funding when
some
.oul¿ reôeive
take a variety
fundraising
successful
on
"t "rgffjut'i""';"1 runoilqyilJbe conditional
esrablished, but addiiional public
of (OECD '2019pù)'
in tt" ptitut" sector (see Cñapter 7

;J;Ë;Jà.""
;ili#;;;;i;;.tiuiii.''ut.r

äîïåï','å:'ä;"îi;

t'l.Tl,ltot

-ii'iïiF
fd; îî"v

Ñ;;

BENCHMARKING H1GHER EDUCATION

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE O OECD

2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNIry

may be offered study places under different
conditions (Irish Higher Education Authority,
2019psù.

Achieving tlte " non-househord private expenditure

grow rh,, sc ensrio
The Flemish Community has potential to bring
the level of non-household pnvate
expenditure per student in line with the top
OECD quartile. Available evidence shows a
high level of collaboration between the private
sector and Flemish higher education
institutions, relative to other OECD countries.

Flemish universities have

the highest share
of current revenues earned through third party private
funding among European OECD
countries (Section 10.5.1). While data are
not available for the Flemish Community,
Belgium has the third-largest share of higher
education R&D e{pgqdLturc tulded byjhe.
the top OECD quartile of the share
of both small-medium and large businesses collaborating
on innovation with higher
education
or research institutions (Section 1 0.4 .2).

The high level of collaboration between Flemish
higher education institutions and private
businesses could be related, in part, to

government (Section 10.4.2). A part of

a number of policies set up by the Flemish
the govemment Industriar nesearcrr F;"JiiöFj

for universities is distribuied based on iñdicators ilh-;;-;;uenue
from licencing
institutional intellectuar property, and the nurg:.
of patents and spin_off companies

established by the higher education institution.
This provides incentives to universities to
deploy their research in ways that can potentially

g.nä.ut. ;.u;;.r.

In addition, a part of this fund is earmarked for

the establishment

of technolory transfer
offices (TTos)' interface structures facilitating
tlt"
t."rrr..
of knowledge from
universities to industry and the wider society.
The yearly report on the utilisation of the
Industrial Research
funo a1a the govemment evaruat-ion occurring every five years
provide tools to verify
that this funã is sufficiently
inîimutating technology
transfer and co-operation between higher education "rr".tiu.
an¿ tt . uurinÃs sector. An effective
co-operation between university andlhe business
,.rto. ,un ,tirnulate nao ñ"Jñ;;
(see Chapter 7 of (OECD, 20tipù).
Despite the high levels of collaboration with
business and of third party private funding
in
universities, the available data show that the
Flemish
an overall share of
non-household private expenditure just in line
with the OECD
A way to increase
the overall share of. non-househóld private expenditure
louiJ' u" to stimulate the

c;il;ityias
.ádi;.

generation of additionar private r*.nu.

collaboration, e'g. in the professional HEI sector

ouiside the university_business R&D
and through

"¿ucutlon

Non-household private firnding for education

activities.

activities

Across OECD countries, there
.are many examples of partnerships between higher
education institutions and the private
.".tär. for the proui.ion oiîducational activities,
which can deliver financial benefits for the higher
,..to-.. th"r. partnerships
mostly develop out ofjoint interests between
higher "åu.ution
education ;;á;h. private sector. The
govemment can encourag: ung provide platforms
for interacti",i t.t*..r;ir*
education institutions
t!9
privaìe sector, so that opportunities for collaboration
are
more likely to develop 1nd
(see Chaprer 3 of (OeôD, ZOtgrrrf).
For example, in Estonia, the government launched
the IT Academy, a partnership with
higher education institutions añd business.r
in trr.
,h: purpose of ensuring
the necessary skilled workforce for the IT sector.
Through a'mixture of public and private

irr;.;;r;,iii;

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE O

OECD 2OI9

I s¿s

COMMUNITY
544 | CÍIAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH

Figure 10.19. First-time graduates as

a shareof all graduates, by higher

education level

(2016)
NLD

VLG AUs

99%

Bachelor's

74%

DNK

NOR

NLD NOR
99%

Master's

73%

VLG

Median

Bottom quartile

DNK

AUS

Top quartile

Nole:AUS=Australia;DNK=Denmæk;NLD:Netherlands;NoR=Norway;VLG:Flemish

ff#äiiT;',.d from .ECD (2018r¡r), ,ECD Education statistics,hup://dx.doi.ore/10'1787/edu-data-en'
sx axLin k'tÉp https ://doi'ore/ I 0' 1 7 87/8 I

893 394267 8

in
potentially raise a Substantial amount
A..one bachelor,s, one master,S,, policy-could
gains
expenditure
the
tt ;;ld be inlikely, on itr o*n' to realise
t'ition fees, although
.,household expenditure ;;;*"
scenario. The combined share of
estimated in the
bachelor's and master's level
illø
gfaduates who were nãi nrrt-t¡r. graduatesi;
"tthe
Un¿,i-tt" assumption that the share of "second-is
was 1l% in tne nemistr ¿;Ãttîtt.
:rngat
tirey already obtained a degree)
ar*ir
time students,, (i.e. ,,ü;;;t"dy
fees
"1*rri"rr
..*i"t; share of studentl for whom higher
in line with that dä;;.,"thi1 itï.
Assuming
fees)'
despite the.higher
"f ild;;;r'*ould remain
would apply (if
"*áil.¿
ofìheir education (proxied by the
cost
"ll
rutt
ut tr,"
these I to/o ofu"¿.n Jî"ìã charged
rigoj, inste_ad of the average tuition fees in
average expenditure po Jù.rt, ãxcluding
This
f'roui.tJl'expenditure of about USD 1200'
2015, this could yielá un in.r.ur" in
the
perspective
number.oï ri,nituiions,ro can put into
estimate, while suffering from a
one bachelor's" policy can yield'
financial gain that u "àiJ'àti"r's'

Highertuitionfeesforsecond-timesjuo{riskdecreasingtheincentivesforgraduates
in which thJ economv and society could
to enrol in higher education, even in cases puJiasolutionto this problem could be
oegr"J. a
benefit from them obtaining a second
Estonia and
,,one bachelor's, óne master's" *r. in some circumstances' In both
to lift the
pay higher
g"n"rul- r"rã ttræ second-time students
the Netherlands, exceptions to the
and health
education
of
study
of
itÀt¿t
inît
tuition fees exist. In Uoìh countries, students
andwelfarepaytheregulartuitionfeeregardlessofhavingeamedadegrceatthesame
se"onã-titt stuõents do not pay higher tuition
level of education. I;;"d;ììi";, in Estonia,
nominal duration of
a t.nuin pttioà fthree times the
fees if they start the programme after
.u*"ã in.i. lasì degree' For example' a bachelor's
the programme) has pasîed since they
paving tuition fees after
graduate in Estonia
5 of (.ECD' 20l9r2r))'
1see Chapier
9 years from the

åffi;iï;;;¿hd*tp;"""ry:Ílhout
d;;l;;d*ttá"

Asecondsolutionwouldbetoprovideshort,subsidisedgoy:esforwhichsecond-time
market' For example'
a strongïemand frofn the labour
students are eligible *h"." therejs
in higher .education provides free
in Ireland th. Sprilô;;rd*- uprtlring"initiutiut with ríell-defined
skills needs and
vocational courses related to enterpris.;;;t
and a maximum
part-time
1". ot subsidised,
growing .lnploynì.nt. õ;;r.; are usually
but thev
eligible,
all
are
peopie
of 12 monthr. p.präVã]rJi*.pf"V"d;"J;;;ployed
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE O OECD

2019

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Table 10.7. Average annuar tuition fees in bacheror,s
In brackets: enrolment rate to bachelor,s programmes

Australia Austria Canada E ngland
117
(1

83
(338)

123

in 2016 for 1g_24 year-olds, 2006:l 00

(UK)

Italy Japan Latvia

415

113

108

programmes (20r6)

65

Luxemb Netherla

ourg

New

United

nds

Zealand

States

75

115

121

120

(103)

(104)

(e6)

(r08)

Notes: The enrolment rate excludes intemationar
students. For Engrand, the enrolment rate refers
to alr higher
education and to all ofthe united Kingdom. For
the united states, it is reporteJthe entry rate fbr
all higher
education.

Source: Adapted from OECD (20lgp¡), OECD
OECD (2018¡rq), Education at a Glanie 2018:

Education StatÌstics,
OECD

The effect ofan increase in tuition fees on participation
partly depends on the financial
student support mechanisms in place. If studénts
náu. u."år, iã n*n.iul resources to pay
for their education and living costs, either through grunt,
unJ ;horarships or through
loans,

then the enrorment impact of raising tuiãon'fees

;ut ;. minimar

or absent.
Research indicates that incomè-contingent lãans
have .u."..ãlJin removing financial
baniers to participation while avoidingihe burden
of debt if students are not successful in
the labour market (chapman, 2Cl6lxù. one option
for the Fremish community to
increase household expenditure on higher
educatión would be to increase tuition fees and
provide public or government guaranteed income-contingent
loans (OECD ,20r7¡z+). rn
the Netherlands, the government coupled the
introductiãn

based on income-contingent loans with a legal

resources (derived through rhe repaymenr

of a siudent support system
commitment tã spend the additional

of the roan) on high;i;;carion.

The Flemish community has both a relatively
high entry rate to higher education and a
relatively small gap in higher education u.".r, -between
young feopte without higher
educated parents and other peopre (compared
to other óeóñ ãountries). This is an
important accomplishment and rélative strength
of the Fle;isltligrr., education system,
and it is an important consideration when plañning
additional

rrå"rËtr"l¿ contributions.

The "one bachelor,s, one master,s,, policy
An altemative option to increase household expenditure
could be to increase tuition fees
for those who have already obtained their firstìegree.
Thispãiry,lor.tires
called the
"one bachelor's, one master's" policy, is used
*ñn .o-"
in the Netherlands
and Estonia. It implies that, for example, a person
";Cí;",
who already
has a bachelor,s degree
pays a higher fee when enrolling in a bachelor,s
programm"'ilr"" a person without a
bachelor's
degree.

A "one bachelor's, one master's" policy would permit an increase
without decreasing first*time u.._.rrìo higher educätion.

in the tuition fees
ln ilr. ei"Ãirh community, 10%

of bachelor's graduates are not first-timJgraduates,
inoicæin!;#th.y already obtained
a bachelor's degree. This is_ among the" largest shares
anîong oEco countries. By
comparison, this share is onry 4%o-in the Näherra"ã.,
il
i-rr."to! quartile of OECD
countries' The share of graduates who are not first-time
!.uã*t"r-ir" l3o/o atthe master,s
level for the Flemish
community, larger than at the bachelor's level

the OECD median (Figure 10.19).

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE

@ OE CD 2OI9

and also larger than

I s¿¡

542 | cHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH

COMMUNITY

have
$ants)orforadditionalthreeyears(|orloans)'Institutionsreceivefinancialresources
for eá"tt student enrolled, except if they
through the block grun ioi.riu fundìng
2019pì)'
(6ECD,
of
5
ouration q.ee chapter
been enrolled longer rh;,r;d;;;inar

st,ioy

and

of a tighter link between public subsidies
In the Flemish community, the principle
poti"y ,i"arures to increase timely completion'
the expected .tu¿V prJgrì'rå lun'inrpii.
for
already exists' Formula funding
For some categories åi';ijdä;'ãã iilpritílink
studentsenrolledinsinglemodules(creditcontracts),forexample,isgiventohigher
of the modules'
education institutions åniy Uutt¿

on the completion

Table 10.6. policies to improve timely
Study checks

0nline sellassessment test
Study Choice 123
(Studiekeuze 123)

Binding studY
advice
Time-limited
linancial suPPort
Formula funding
indicators

study completion, the Netherlands

(2017)

"studY check" on demand,
required to offer students a non-binding
Higher education institutions are
and expectations (e.g
competencies
student
the
and
assessing the match between the Programme
interviews)
intake
or
of motivation letteß,
sellassessment tests, evaluation
test
take a non-binding online sellassessment
Prospective students are required to

programme'

providing information for each higher education
survev
p,orp..eiÅàiòsuilä trom tne national student satisfaction
year that results in
first
of
the
end
the
at
¡inoing study advice
lnstitutions can provide students wlit
progress
they have not made sufficient
ináiiãipursion tiom a programme if
for the expected duration of
only
them
quatity tor means+sted irants can receive

GovernmentJunded web-based tool

ililîöiffiffik.i
students who

ff :ffitxHi.xcrudes students who have been enroiled ronger than the

Source: Adapted from information

provided by the Dutch Ministry of Education'

Achieving the "household expenditure

A generalised increase in tuition fees

nominar srudy duration

Culture and Science'

growth" scennrio

consists of tuition and other fees
;ducation institutions' A substantial

on higher-education.institutions
Household expenditure-J;;i;;

onere¿ by hì;;;;
paid by srudents f",
in tuition fees'
would trl;i.}orc imply an increase
increase in this ,our."-àr iunding
are strong
there
where
justification in óont"xts
Increasing tuition f""r';^ittd sîme
oECD
Most
2008trel)'
or ¡tigit"r-.ãuræion 1oEcD,
privare rerurns on. th; ü;fti.;
over
fees
tuition
of
,o*" changes in the levei or structure
iurisdictions t uu" r*pi.."ît"d
fulla
for
fees
annual
ptemistr Co..unity, where the
ihe past decade. Thi. i;;i;;.1tre
befween
270
EUR
by
paying-iull tuitiol increased
time bachelor,. o, n,u'r',är-rru¿*,
2015 and 2016 (OECD,2018¡re1)'

Formostcountrieswithavailabledala,tuitionfeeshaveincreasedinthepastl0years,
sometimessubstantially.Thishasnotresultedinavisibledecreaseintheenrolmentrates
ÉlqtTo,' where ]:]T" fees in bachelor's
of t8-24 year-olds. iï"ui" io'il' EY:1^in
contributions
1998 and zõt¡, itte increase. in sludent
programmes ,o.. n,n!-folJ U.,*..n
nor for
general
in
neither
;ducation'
hùhtt
did not lead to a lower participation i"
Scottbackfroun{¡_lceyen, 20151201i Murphy,
studenrs from lower';;.i;;;";"mic
Simion' 2017pzù'
Clayton and Wyness, Z0l1tztt; Azma|and

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

O OECD 2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNIry

from both private sources increases, overall
expenditure per student in Flemish higher
education institutions matches the OECD
top quartile, i.e. the Fremish community
maintains its position within the OECD distribution
into the futureBased on these assumptions, it is clear that

alone, nor an increase in other

neither an increase in household expenditure

expenditure will suffice to maintain higher

-private
education expendirure revers near the
projected

in the "composite" scenario, which

rop.quurrii";;;;;õ¡co countries. onry

that'thä p"rlii".-"itã"ges of other scenarios
occur together, does expenditure per^rurn.,
student remain at its cunent .Elutiu. position
in the
OECD distribution.
I 0. 5.4. Implications

for policy

Increases in student-to-academic staff ratios

and falling academic staff wages relative

other skilled labour pose risks,to the quality

to

orteacíin! unã^rer.ur"rr. The following
subsections outline some- policy optiåns ior
the ¡1"ñrisl, community to increase

expenditure per student in the coming yru...

The baseline scenario: stabilising expendíture

per student ín higher education

The baseline scenario assumes that expenditure

per student remains constant between
2015 and 2025' This.means that, compäred
to thó perioJ loog-lots (when expenditure
per student decreased), the government
has to provide additional
----- financial resources or
the increase in the number ofstudents must
be mbre moderate.

If

student demand continues to increase, the
Flemish government could consider options
to reduce the amount of time that students spend
in higher education. This would reduce
the number of studànrs, wirhour d."r;;;;
irre rate

ñ;;ier education.

"fä;;,
In the Flemish communify,3Syo of those who
entered a full-time bachelor,s progïamme
in 2008 with a degree contract (i.e. intending.to graduat"i
19:i'u' The others graduated wiìhin three adãitioi^tiáãrí Ë."J"".0 on time (Section
ri'qù"i, r.r, r,igl,", educarion
without completing (22%), or were still enrolled
rruJnoì láí"","¿i three years after
Ou,
the expected graduarion time (s%) (see chapter
5 of (oECb , iotg¡rtÐ. A variety of
factors can influence timery comprétiàn.
somê student, àuy .nåo.e a study programme
not in line with their expectations or their previous
tnowl.äg.,
consequently either
not graduate or change. study programm.r. In
"nd or institutions
,o..
.".";;;ïil;is
may
lack the financiar incentives to prolress
until compretion orihe áegïee.
The Netherlands have had a similar problem
of low timely completion, and introduced a
number of policy measures to tacklè this
issue. The firsî three measures in Table
10.6
(study checks, online selÊassessment tests,
and the study choice web tool) aim at better
aligning student skilrs, prior.knowredge and
expectatíon, *itt irre programme they
choose' The Flemish community is alreãdy
starting to implement some similar measures.
For example, students are being
or requiredìo take some non-binding tests
"n"ou.ug.d
assessing their overall motivation,
interJ$s, skills and (for teacher education
and civil
engineering) their subjectrlnggiqg compeíencies.
The H"rirrr--community

is also

introducing some forms or binaing .t-Jv

conditions, institutions can refuse tõ keep

necessary study progress.

advice. rnis means that, under certain
students enroiled ii ã.y do not make
the

The final two measures reported in Table 10.6
ensure that students and institutions do
not
have financial incentives to delay graduation.
ln the Netherlanã.,-*¿.nt, receive public
financial

support only for the nolinal duration

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

"r ".

O OECD 2OI 9

p-ài"r.e (for means-tested

I s¿t

s4o I

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Table 10.5. Assumptions for the calculations of expenditure
Expenditure Per
student from
qovernment sources
Baseline

international sources

Expenditure Per
student from
households

Remains constant
between 2015 and
2025 in real terms

Remains constant

Remains constant

between 2015 and
2025 in realterms

between 2015 and
2025 in real terms

Same as in the

Same as in the

baseline scenario

baseline scenario

Reaches bY 2025 ihe
top quartile of OECD

Household
expenditure growth

Expenditure Per
student from

Same as in the

Same as in the

Same as in the

baseline scenario

baseline scenario

baseline scenario

Non-household

Same as in the
baseline scenario

2025 in real terms
Same as in the baseline

scenario
Reaches bY 2025 the
top quartile of OECD
Same as in the non-

Same as in the
household

Same as in the
baseline scenario

household Private
expenditure growth

expenditure growth
scenario

scenario

growthduring 2008-2015 of the starting point of
Determined by extrapolating the annualised rate of
thãtop OECD quartile, over the period 2015-2025

Top OECD quartile,
2025

Determinedbyextrapolatingtheannualisedrateofgrowthduring200s.20l5oftheoECDmedian'
2015-2025

OECD median,
2025

over the Period

Note: Allmonetary amounts are expressed in PPP USD

;;;ôBðD ilt"tle

s0urces
Remains constant
between 2015 and

countries in 2015

growth scenario
Composite scenario

Expenditure Per student
from other Private

countries in 2015

scenarlo
private exPenditure

scenarios

at the price level of 2015 The starting Point ofthe

quartile'
is the lowest amôunt belonging to the top

Figure 10.18. Higher education expenditure

per student in the Flemish Community: four

Possible scenarios

$¿ssli¡s

- -a -Non-householdprivate
ToP oECD quartile
-

24000

expendìture growth

o

Household expenditure growth
Composite
OECD Median

22000

/.-

20000

18000

A

16000

O

14000

a
12000

201 5

2025

reported in Table 10'?
Nole'.T\eassumptions underlying these calculations-æe
- .
of Education and Training'
Ministry
Flemish
the
by
data;;á;l';J
fiom
Source: AdapLed

s:¿axLi n k +-=p¡ https ://doi'ors/ I 0' 1 7 87/88 893 3

94265 9

in Table 10'5 on expenditure per student
The future impacts of the assumptions outlined
growth scenario,.expenditure per student in
are reported in Figure ió.rg. h tire household
USD 2 000 above the baseline scenario
the Flemish CommuniÇ *ãrf¿ increase by ovãr
it would increase by almost
by 2025.In the non-hoír.ftof¿ expenditurã $owth scenario,
where expenditure
scenario,
In'the composite
1 000 as compared to the bãseline.

USD

PERFORMANCE
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

@ OECD 2Oi9

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

students)' In 2017, the government granted some additional funding

based on the number

of students, helping expenditure to keep the pace with the number o?students.

However, the assumption of a constant level of expenditure per student
in the Flemish
Community is justified when looking at the broadår intemational
situation. Across the
pECD arya, f\e presence of competing public priorities makes it difficult to increase
higher.education expenditure per studeni based on govemment funding
while facing
increasing student numbers (OECD, 20r7¡rr; OECD, 200grr8r).
Therefõre, a baselinã
assumption of constant.public funding stressès the potential ltát.ng..
for the Flemish
government in substantially increasing expenditure per
student in tñe future, given th;
current level ofprivate funding.
could work to
bring the level of expenditure from private sources in line with the
current levels in the
top quartile of the OECD distribution by 2025. Therefore, the results of
our scenano
calculations are based on the observed current performance of actual
countries, and aim
to answer the question: 'ïhere would the Flemish higher education system
stand if it
were able to reach spending targets already observed in other countries?"
Under the "household expenditure growth" scenario, household expenditure
per student
in the Flemish Community.increasðs by about USD 2 300 until the current
(2015) top
quartile of the OECD distribution by 2025.In the "non-household
p.iuut.
growth" scenario, other private expenditure increases by about
"ip"rjituiã
usD ô00, again'reachint
the top OECD quartile. Expendiiure from govemmental and international
sources is
assumed to remain in the top quartile of OECD countries (Table
10.5).

In 2015' ôountries close to_the stafing point of the OECD top quartile of

household
the Netherlands, Spain
and Portugal; countries close to thJ starting point áf the oEõD
top quartile of nonhousehold private expenditure per student wãre Australia, Estonia,
France, Israel, Korea
and the Netherlands.
expenditure per student (within a range of +USD j00) were ltaly,

To show how the Flemish position within the OECD could change across

different

scenarios, for this exercise, the overall OECD top quartile
and median points are assumed
t^o_qg* at_the same pace_ as during the period from 2008-2015. Thìs
OEC^D_ median is projected to stand at about USD

implies ttrai tlre

14 000 in 2025, while countries in the

top OECD quartile are assumed to spend about usD 22 000 o.,or. per

student.

By remaining constant at around USD 19000, the level of expenditure
of the Flemish
community in the baseline scenario would be between the oËco
median and the top
quartile. by 2025 (Figure 10.1g). ln 2015, countries close
to the median level of
expenditure per student (within a range of +USD 1 000) were Estonia,
Iceland, Spain and
Portugal; countries clo¡9
the starting point of ttre óEcl top quartile were Éelgium,
r r--!o
Finland, Japan and the

Netherlands.

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
@ OECD 2OI9

I s¡q

$sl C}IAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY
Figure 10.17. Number of students

""il:îffällîä'1ä

uuot"t in Flemish higher education

2011 = 100
Expenditure Per student
150

a

140

130

a
a

a

120

a

a

a

110

l

a

a

a

aa

)a

a

100

90
70

90

80

Note: Dataæe shown for 16 of the
source:European

Terti* ffiä;

10.5.3. Scenarios J'or the

100

130

120

110

140

150

Number of students

validated data'

iltll{-i"lt with available'óatabase,www'eter'oroiect'com/'
iåeï.I.i icirnl ¿iöö;;,rtri
3942640
st axLin k -=æp hitps://doi'ors/l 0' 1787/88893

1? Flemish

Flemish Communily up to 2025

Managingfundingrequirementsandplanningforfinancialstabilityandsustainabilityin
rär,v óÈco governments face' Stable
rrr"'.iË"
í
higher
diverse
li requiied to ensrne that higher education
"d"""tiï,î;rr.#;
and efficient inu..ttåTi t"Jì'ttit:r'"J"t"t""
high quality education
progress i" p;;;iiiü accessible^
svstems can continue to make
scenarios for the
to.create
used
(beco, 201.7vù.raule I o.s ouilinõ, u ,"t oï^.utpîons
.*p.nãt* p"r studentin the Flemish community
nossible evolution of higher education
are based on:
äì:'ää';;;ì;i t0 iî ro 2025'rhese ãssumptions
¡trendsandlevelsofexpenditureonhigher^educationinstitutionsperstudentinthe
Flemish Community uttd in OECD

countries

rtheshareofexpenditureonhighereducationinstitutionsbysourceoffunding.
recent trends in higher
of the assumptions is the observed
of
The basis for the formulation
Fïe;ü'ðåtmunity Ti in the top quartile in
per
student'
education per student expenditure 1".1*
000
Flemishc"ñ';;,tõent over'uSD 20
OECD countries.In 200g', the
in expenditure per student in
oÈðó countries. uo*"uåî,^ií. åecline other OECD countries meant
the top quartile
# in"t"ut" in
"f
the Flemish c"..ríiiyîuJïh;;"n"onli
ãîit'.-eËåi.h¿;il'itv had deteriorated compared
that by 2015, the r"åiiJ" ö;ï;
ioltt ottt"t OECD countriis in the top quartile'
a
Thebaselinescenarioassumesthatreal(i.e.,inflation-adjusled)expenditureperstudent
level in'the near future' This is
constant;
remains
community
per
Flemish
in the
expenditure
rnost-r*:;ì;;;;-ment data show that
conservative assumption, u' 1þg
with a stable number of

iitïis

srudent increased

däi;il;;.n iors "ri';õ*iil'rotnuinution

SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

PERFORMANCE @ OECD 2019

CFIAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

due to the rapid growth in student

numbers, which increased by around
25yo
(Figure 10'16)' A similar situation
is also àc"uoing in some ãirr"i-òEco
countries.
For
example, in Germanv, Israel and sp;i;,

irt. g.o*tr, in higher

;oucation funding was
substantially smaller íhan the growth'in
.iuá-"nt nuruers. By-contrasì, in th.
Netherrands,
enrolment growth was matcheã oy arrea.t!
pioportional inórease inJne run¿ing
available
education institutions, ró.uttin! íni
modest increase in oìe.alt expendirure per
:?Jtt"|î
Figure l0'16' change in the number

of students and the amo¡nt of expenditure
in higher
education in selected OECD countries (200g
and 20fi)
Index

"lqgggGlf dç4eto480s =r00, constanr prìces)

I lndex of change ¡n expenditurc (2008=100)
a lndex ofchange in numberoffull_time equivalent

! lndex of change in expendituß per fuÍ{¡me equivarent srudent

students

50

40

a

a
30

o

20

a
10

-'i0
-20
Sweden

0ECD median

Netherlands

Flemish Community

Germany

lsrael

Source:AdaptedfromoECD(20l8p¡),oECDEduc1t!.n,Statistics,@;
data provided by the Flemish VfinistryTifau."i"iîo

liaining.

SxatLínk õÞ@
Projected growth in the.younger popuration

demand for higher edücatiõn å"uJ

in Bergium in the coming years impries that

.ã"ìir.r" tã .ir.- iË;;;,

additional funding pressure. A decrease
in funding pe. urd;
on the resources available to hire staff,

ñiî.,
.""

2019rtøì, creating

in"r.uring pressure

cany out research and Lducate students.
In the
absence of successfur efforts to i,nprou.
,Ài,
,.iur, in a reduction in
quality of teaching, leaming and reseårch "ifi"i.n"y,
over time.
Depending on how changes i1
llding and student numbers are distributed throughout
the higher education system, individuãl
institutions ,unb;^ñ;.äo in differenr
ways.
The decrease in expenditure per .tuã.,'i
nà, o."n purti.uhrìï,i",p in rhose higher
education institutions where sìudent nuru..,
gïew more rapidry (Figure 10.17). The
negative relationship between the change
in expenditure per student and student
number
growth at the institutionar lever is
due,"at reast in paft, to pubric funding
in
the
Fremish
higher education system adjusting t" rt"¿rnt
numberi ovår the

.áu.." of a few years.
Nonetheless' it illustrates tne aimãulry
i" piåÀptrv matching the rapid increase in studenr
numbers with a corresponding increase
in'irnancial resources.

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

O OECD 2OI 9

537

s36 I

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

l0.5.l.HigttereclucøtionexpenrliturehasnotbeengrowingøttheSamepãceaS
the number of students
SummarY of PolicY concern

FundingperstudentdecreasedbyT%inthellemishCommunitybetween200sand20l5
*ttii. in...using in most .ECD countries'
(although ir has partly;;;;á since then),
Community
institutions increased In the Flemish
Total expenditure on higher education
salaries of
The
students'
of
pu..'*ìt]" number
during this period, but ãot at the same
per student typically
over time. O.tttutitg expenditure
academic staff tend to i*.ur"
staff relative to
academic
of
th; saiariei
rising,
implies rhat student-riuü.utio, are
practices and
";
instructional
*uintuin.u"ent
other highly trained **t"r, i, ¿"r..uringlTo
the Flemish
stafi
qualified
.¿í""ri""'iát ttigttty
ensure the anracriv""J';ùrgrr..
funding per
increasing
or
options lã. tuinãining
ïonriá.,
n".Jã
*uy
Community
student in higher education'

ru.5.2. Rationøle

TheFlemishhighereducationsystemexperiencedasubstantialincreasei"'h"1*::?j
ln
of new entrants to bachelor's programmes
students in the last d;;ã;. ihä-nunlU.it
In
10'15)'
(Figure
2.0% between 2005 and 2016
professional HEIs inciJJs-ed-b;;;.;
although
period'
universities, new entranisïuu" ín"r"ur"O
itr. in"t.ut" has levelled off since 20 I I '

Uy ui'oti one-third in the same

Figure 10.15. New entrants to bachelor's

æ

universities

programmes, by subsector (2005-2016)

- - -ProfessionalHEls

35000

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0

2005

2011

by the Flemish
Source:Adapted from data provided

2014

2016

Ministry of Education and Training'

sxaxLín k -=øp https://doi'ore/1 0' I 78?/888933942602

to maintain a
challenges t9 governments trying
Rising student numbers can pose some
pteriistr Community' expenditure on
funding. n tñe
stable level of higher .ãl"u'ti"t
this
Éy h;À a"t*een 2008 and 2015' Despite
hisher education i"rtit"tì""r-i""reased
period
per stuolnt decreased by 1% in the same
inõrease in total spending, expenditure
SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

PERFORMANCE O OECD 2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNIry

scoPUS database). In the Fremish community, as part
of the v/ork, Economy, science
and Innovation 2014-2019 Strategy, Flemish uniu"rriti"s
have been.n.ouru!"Jby the

government to develop a consistent open
access and open data policy (Flemisî Ministry
for Work, Economy, Innovation and Sþort, 20l4tt:l).

10.5. Scenarios for policy

This section of the note extends the comparisons drawn
in the preuous sections by
looking forward, and presents a set of scenarios
for the future of the Flemish
Communify 's higher education system The purpose
of these scenarios is to provide
evidence-based conjectures about future trends
in areas of national policy importance,
which can stimulate debate and support polic¡planning
exercises(B oÌ 9.1).
Box 10.2. Scenario development for policy analysis

Governments plan for the future of higher education

in the context of a number

consistent and causaily. coherent (oECb, 2006ttqt).

rhe deveþr.n, or scenarios can

of sources
of uncertainty. Scenarios can be definãd as descriprionr
htdñ;ücal futures that could
occur and that, although somewhat speculative in "f
natur¿';re-nonetheless internally

provide support to nãtional discuìsions on contextual

and systemic trends, highlight
possible consequences of current circumstances
on higher education and the economy,
and outline the main available policy directions.
In a context of increasing complexity in societies
and economies, more emphasis is being
'2015¡51).
placed on anticipatory exercisãs^ in_ihe policyprocess

(OECD,
contemplating
different policy scenarios can feed intó the dãvelopmànt
oi
t.oä
tong+erm
strategic
planning for higher education systems or pre-policy
research ,rlut.á to particular policy
topics.
Short and medium -term scenarios are likely to
be more accurate and useful to the
decision-making process of policymakers. The
scenario exercise presented in Section 5.1
therefore focuses on the immediate decade ahead (i.e.
up to 2030), and is developed using
the following steps:

¡

statement of a subject area or issue of national policy

for the concem

¡

outline ofthe assumptions used to develop the set

offuture scenarios

explanation of the likely impact of the assumptions

'
o discussion of implications for policy.

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE

O OECD 201 9

concern and the rationale

on future trends

I s¡s

534

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

an

average in Belgium 1660(): This represents
2014, aproportion in line with the national
in
on thi proportìon of publications produced
increase of more than l¡percentage points
with intemational collaboration since 2005'

ii;t¡;^

collaboration (the percentage of
other
some collaboration with researchers in

using the benchmarking indicator on .international

domestically a.rthored ãl-cuments involving
quuiii. ãf opcl countries, with almost 40o/o of
countries), Belgium ,"ã..t ìr tn" top
(based on fractional countsT)'
publications in 2015 i""àiritÀ.o,n. io.ðign ,oiÀo.ution

Belgiumhasoneofthehiglerratesof..braincirculation,'inOECDcountries,as
outflows
between jurisdictions' Net inflows and
measured by flows of rri"ntii, authors
respectively)'
authors
scientific
all
of
and 8í/o
were at similar levels in 2016 (aroun d 9%
n"tgiurn, though at a level below the oECD
ro,
gain,
srigr,t'nJ-.ùrÀ
implying a very
median.

The share of patent applicationsfrom the

higher education sector in Belgium is in

Iine withthe OECD median

activity. The proportion of
in Belgium that
patent co-operation Treaty (PCT) puutisheo patent applications
in 2016 was the same as the OECD median' at
originated in the highei .áu.utìon sácór

patent application statistics are one way to measure innovative

and

Cermany and the Netherlands (between 2o/o
6%. This is above r"tgd;;;idF*n".,
patent applications from the higher education
3%), and just below Oînmart. îhe share of
nationafinnovation svstem' and it does not
sector is an indicator-Àiìñ. tt utture ofthe
p.oduc-tivity' Ior exâmple' a low share of
necessarily reflect higher education ,"..ur"h
indicatå th" pttt"nce of an innovative
patents from higher ãducation in a country-may
'private

sector with strong patenting activity'

RegionaldataindicatethatFlandersisresponsiuþ-|olthegreaterportionofpatents
j*t *¿.. es'1" ot PCT patent applications in Belgium
coming from Belgiuå. l.îolq
However, the overall numbers of patents
originated with a Flemish requester or inventor.
| 320 in 7012 to I 169 in 2014)'
filed have decreased slightly in recent y.ár, 1rtoln
th; proportion of patent applications to the
Furthermore, .,utionu1 ããia'indicate th"t
has also
tr't" ttigtttt education-sector in Flanders
Euròpean patents o#i.";gi;rirtÁ ryl
l0%o\n2014'8
been in decline, f--ulrnott" l4o/oln2012to
to- strengthen higher education research
The Flemish community has been wolking
kñowledge Ior innovation through increasing
capacity. rnis inctuiJs';;p".tay19 transfer
and'through specific funding incentives
the overall trurt of inu.åt "nt in the system,
in
(IoF), *tti.l utt available to institutions that engage
as Industrial nesearct Funds
such

technology transfer activities (see Chapter

6 of (OECD' 2019¡21))'

Belgiumhasalevelofopenaccesstoscientificpublicationsinlinewiththe
meãian þr OECD countries

Nationalgovernmentsareincreasinglyrecognisingthevalueofopenscience,including
tñowleãge ploduced in the higher education
open dara u, u *uy'oi;*.i.g tfrãitne
u":::t
(see ChapteiT of (oECD: 1)19t4))'.opt:
sector achiev", uroäo.. Ñtii; ü'enent
Research

ãrttr" r,utop.un union't Responsible

also makes up one of the six priorþ_a_rea,
2020 programme'
ã"ã i*ouutiån initiative, part of the Horizon

available with at least

documents
ln 20l6,Belgium had a similar proportion of scientific
approximately one-quarter of
OECD,
the
in
level
some form of op"nã.rãr.ã, tn"'."¿ian
100 000 åócuments available in the
all publications (uase¿ on a random r""tpl" of
BENCHMARKING HIGHER tsDUCATION

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE @ OECD 2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Flanders
almost three-quarters of the total volume of scientific production
-produced
of
Belgium.5
Flanders has also been successful in substantially growing
its volume of scientific output.
rn2015, Flanders produced.2.S scientific publióat'íons på rooó
inüabitants,u un in..Ë*"
level-of 1.6 publications per 1000lnhabitants in zoon
1o.'u
foepitrment of Economy,
Science and Innovati on, 2017
¡t7).
Figure 10.14. Where does the Flemlsh Community stand
in the OECD distribution?
Internationalisation and knowledge production

ffiæYtrffiÐgæ1S:5TiíflrF

Bottomquart¡le

Med¡an

Iop quârtile

The.indicators represented in this chart are a subset ofthe
indicators presented in Table I0.1. The
coloured circle represents the Ìlemish Community's position
in the 9ECD ¿ìri¡uution. The circle is not
coloured when data are available for less than trar áf tne
OECD countries (the minimum number of countries
with available data is l4)' For more information on
oootolt;il;uäärn.iuou,n ,". 9ECD (2019¡z¡)
and the references cited therein. Follow the statlink to
downlõai th. ããi"
No.te:

..tt

""iöing the calculation of the

scorecard.

source: Adapted from

(2019¡21), Benchmarking

_gEc-D
httosl I doi.ore/ 1 0.17 87 lbe55l4d7
-en

Higher Education system pedormance,

srarLrnk *trfl

hnps ://doi.org/ I 0. I 7 g7l8 g g93 3 9425 g 3

International scientific collaborotíon is increasing in Flanders
Levels of international collaboration in research and development,
along with mobility of
talent, can provide an indication of_the ability. of research
ry.t"*t to participate in global
research and innovation networks (OECD, 20l9pl).

rn 2016, 16Vo of 25'64 yeat=old doctorate holders in Flanders
are foreign citizens. This
share was in the top quartile of the OECD distribution.
In addition, around two-thirds of publications produced in Flanders
were publications
with international collaboration (i.é. publicationi with at least
one foreign co-author) in
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
@ OECD 2019

I s¡s

$2 I CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY
lngeneral,aboutthree-quartersofbasicresearchacrosstheOECDwascaniedoutinthe
i""illgi;,.u rllutiu.rv small-proportion ofinexpenditure
the higher
hisher education...rortiïoi;.
ä;;h.^ì;zdrs,
basic
to
wãs auocated
development' rn
ãs applied research or experimental
sysrem
education

tr'i'i';"C { *=:ivitv

*", ;i;;i*d

;;;r*,ï"1í't" majoritv of OECD countries'a
Therearestronglinl<sbetweenthehighereducationsectorandbusinessin
Belgium
collaboration
Ingeneral,thereponedlevelsofco-operationbetweenthebusinessandhighereducation
ptoportions of businesses reÞorting
,".ior. across ttre O',CO w.rl to*, *ítt,
7 of (OECD' 201ep¡))'
over the period zotz-ÃlÅîuneriåir^'t%';;';ät"

G;gqTt*

iel1 compar"iio-otttèt OECD countries
Belgium performs ,.l"ri""it

in creating an

environmentforstrongengagementbetweenthebusinesssectorandthehighereducation
collaboration with the higher
enterpriset ö;"n"d
ãf
onã-nni
than
More
almost l3%'
sector.
uuoi" trr. oEcD median level of

lt::{
,iöït0i+, *.il
and medium sized enterprises
t.¡r
at.o
àotlutoration
of
on
levels
The higher
"*tJni.¿^to
higher education institutions
."rlJ;;;;*ith
å'ioïr"pãnø
ur.orì
*h"..
(SMEs),

education sector on

innovation, a propofti;;i; tht

i"p quartile of OECD countries'

Publicpolicytopromotecollaborationbetweenhighereducationandothersectorsofthe
by higher education
ttrat tne'-towt"edge produc^1d
Flanders has a
economy is e.sentiäi";"
ptoi.tt..
iOiCp-'.20l6lrol)'
innonation
¿ifir.."intoinstirutions .un
with businesses'
support for
number of initiativä-tnut-tpt'if'".ttt3ti{ry;ùt :laboration
financial
,tr"" fËr=n¡-"fund P-rg'ides
In
enterprises'
including SMEs.
social
strlr's and
,"tg.ì.J(Alo) offers the
"1
knowledge rransfer
""r"ir"r-ipåcifically
for Innovatioã and Entrepreneurship
with
addition, the Flemish Agency
collaboration
in
research
,,Baekeland,,
ip.% ãtctoral stuoents canying out

;;"r.

il, ä""ñi.,

'.r.'orurrt
ct'apt"Á 6 andT of (OECD'
,ãtîà"i.. t."e
1 0.4.

2019p¡))'

2. Internatio nalisøtion and knowledge

pro duction

volume of
countries',8'f'!*!::!:ces a higher
Comparedto most other OECD
appears to have greater impact
research output, ond ""o'"h
Bibliometricindicatorsareincreasinglyusedtoprovidecomparativeassessmentsofthe
(guto and SCImago Research
outpur and impacr
be divided between
UiUfio*etric data cannot easilv
in joumals
published
Group (CSIC), ,Oîtì,ri.'*f,ii"
pupt"
ruj;;ty of scientific
performance,

#ä;r"ñl¿.îõr"ön;"ñìtttt

sectors of research

originate from acadeimic autt'ots

Jh..

(¡ohnson' Wätkinson and Mabe'

2018rrzl)'

In20|6,Belgiumproducedmorethan3.lscientificpublicationsperl000inhabitants,
per I 000 people)' Belgium also
which is uuou. ,r.,!'äJðö r"àL" tz.s il;i#""J
méasured by citations of
on tft" l,rîpact of reseàrch' as
publications in
demonstrated high performance
,"r"ur.i, pÏi"ü'.i;;õ\6, lii" of scientificon the SCOPUS
scientific pubticati'o'ns in other
iozg-"f'"I*;illãï'úri*'ions listed
Belgium *"." uffi'rr,ã'l"p
pt"p"tt¡n which puts Belgium in
;cientiflg orää"ti"*lf"
database (a large ä"tbä"f

ä; ffiìartile"or óÈco countries (Figure

I 0' 14)'

output in
WhiledataftomthescoPusdatabasearenotavailableforFlanders'theavailable
t t aio o"i1iw of scientific
räd;;
ii
perform*"..
thar
suggesrs
informarion
of Belgium' ln 2014'
exceeds ü.^""ìi""¡ þe'fo'mance
or
with
par
a
on
is
Flanders
EDUCATION SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER

PERFORMANCE @ OECD

2OI9

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

I srt

As discussed in Section 10.2, Flanders places
a strong.emphasis on gender equity in
research by including gender diversity'inJicators"in
the decision process for R&D
funding' In addition, ãlmost all higher
Ë¿u"ut-i* l^titutions in the FlåÀisi-community
have adopted the human resources
strategy and principl..
charter and code for hiring researchers,
"ontui*¿l;]|. European
iíni"n

gender equiry (see Chaprer

;l

ui*- inôorporates ;;u,.*;'ro promote

4 of (OECD, áOtirrj).-'""

The proportion of research staffworkíng
in higher
education ryreurcn
researclt a
o -' vwøvu..u,
and
deveropment is stightty berow the

mediin

Flanders has a concentration of
researchers in the population that is
close to the 6ECD
median around 8 researchers per
1000 p.opl. ugJ25-64 in20r6. The
proportion of
researchers workingtlirêdltin
the hElter;du;ãrio;rãto. in 2015
was slightly below rhe
median' at 37%o compared io the- oeÓo
median ü:ly".However, the higher
education
sector received just over 20o/o of
overall grorr .*p.náit*. on R&D in
2016, one of the
lower levels in the OECD.

-

This tou¿ î. iu"-iã^

iluny junior ..r"ur.t .i, in higher
education being paid through tax-exempt
,.hotu..rrifr, reducing the cost of research
personnel for higher educatioì
institutioni.
There are many career options open
to researchers in.Flanders, given the range
of
institutions in the public research
system. Types of institutions include
specialist research
centres' policy research institutes

and strätegic n.r.."it centres (sRC),
which each
focus on one.key area of expertise.
rr
J¿iitìàtr,-ìn.r. are ten federar scientific
establishments in Belgium, whicú
often .ury ;;j-;ittt projects with Fremish
and French
higher educarion
institutions (see chapter ä,írioläöl

àororr.,¡¡.
The proportion of the population
aged 25-64 in Flanders with a doctoral
qualifìcation (a
basic requirement for éntry to a career
in higher
g.S%o,lower than
research)
is
the OECD median of lYo. Planned increases"ìil;;i;
"ãu.ution
and deveropm*r uåiuity in trr"
Flanders'

if achieved, may increase demand ro. ¿o"iàr¿ qualifications.
National data
indicate that the number of people
who ná¿- o¡tãinJ u doctoral degree in
Franders
increased by almost 4}%obetweei
zolt ur¿ zorã rõ"få,n.n, of Economy,
science and
Innovation' 2017n)' This mav reflect.
i""¿rÅ"rìl#r*es, as the number of doctorar
degrees awarded ii included as an
indicator ií ti" állåcation of funding
to institutions
(see chapter 3 of (OECD,2019¡21)).
r"
govemment has increased
the availability of scholarstrips fol
"¿áitør,Ji.]Ëi.ri.r,
áoctorul
,tuàLntr-in
.r-..nt yçars
years (¡lemlsn
--^"- ^^r rvvçrrr
(Flemish Mil
Ministry for
the Economy, science and Innovati
on,20ll ,,i.

At the same time, it is unclear how the increased
numbers of graduates may translate
into
supply for research and development
elan¿e.s, as no data are available
for
-in
the
proportions of these gïaduates
who subsequ.ntiy pu.ru" a career outside
of Flanders
(Deparrment
'Franders
of Economy, science an¿ tnnouati

"Ã,zitîirir¡.

Belgium is one of the reast active performers

of basic research

Basic research is research that is
aimed at gpaling new knowledge
without a specific
purpose or application in mind,
while applied re"search is focuöd on-.iåuìing
n.*
knowredge with a specific practicar
?óE¡il-)îisor¡. pubric funding of basic
research is considered a fundámental
"i,n
requiremeria'.;;";" continued production
of new
knowledge' The knowledge created r.o,n
uuri" r".;;Ã;" underpin the development
of
novel products or processes, or ensure
that topics
r.r*r"rt areãs that have sócial and
cultural value, but not necessarily economic
".
uuìu., ur"fu.rued
(see chapter 6 of (.ECD
20lepù).
,
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OECD 2OI9

:

.

$o I cHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY
Figure I0.13. where o"*

tl'.,Ï;iüffi:i;äT1ìiî,îåt the oECD distribution?

Full'lime equivalent resêarchers

per I 000 peoplê' 25S4 yea¡-olß (2016)
Max (151

Min (1)

riànoèrsis)
Propoilion of researcherswo*ing in

higher educaton (201ô)
Mex (631

M¡n (11)

riãñdersli?i
Proporlion otu/omên researcheß in

hbher educa[on (iÐ'lô)
Max l52l

Min (26)
Dodorate holders in lhe populalion

(2017)
Max (3.6)

Min (0.1)

-

riànders(osi
Proporlion ofbre{¡n cilizen dodorate

holden (2016)
Max (41.91

Min (4.6)

riãnäers (10.1)
Share of HERD tunded by lhe bu$nee8

enterprise e€dor (201ô)
Max {15'1}
-

Min (0.8)

eelgiLim {i2:si

Higher educalion-business collabo¡al¡on

in R&D'1-7 scale (2017)
Max (s.8)

M¡n (2.5)

Be;lcium ls.3)

ShareofsMEscollabofat¡ngon¡nnovalionuliÛthigheleducdbnofreseafchingttulions(2012.2014)
Mâx {24}
-edlg¡um

M¡n (3)

Share of PCT published applications

bylhe hþher educalion sedor

(22)

(2010-2016)
Max (æ)

Min (0)
Belgium (6)

Propoíion of HERD on basic Ìeseerch

(2015)
Max (100)

M¡n {1e)
setc¡urä (Iei

Med¡ân

Bottom quart¡le

Top quartile

a subset of the indicators pres.ented in

Table l0'l' The

chart are
Note: Tlteindicators represented in this
pãtrrill rt the 9ECD distribution' The circle is not
Community's
trr"-iti"'n¡rr,
of countries
coloured circle represent,
¡arár*tiöó'i-tount¡"t (the minimum number
coloured when data ur. *uiiiur.'äï'i;;rlú
see 9ECD (20l9pt)
metadata'
on..úo-lJogitãii"uttä¿
with avaitable data is l4). F;î-! i"iã.."ti"r
trt" data underlying the calculation of the
and the references cited

tr,.*i".iã¡"* the Statlinkt"'ã"-^lãtJ

scorecæd.

(2019P)'
l;r;;;,, AdaPted from OECD
4d7-en'

Benchmarking Higher Education System

Perþrmance'

SxaxLin k *=æp https ://doi'ore/ 1 0' I 7 87/8

8893 3 9425 64

httos://doi.ors./1 0. I ?87/be5 5 1

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

O OECD 2OI9

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISHCOMMUNITY

have a job' In 2013, fhe employment rlte_9f 25-34 year-old.bachelor,s
graduates from
professional HEIs was 93%o inFianders, in
line with the Ñethà.tan¿s and above Estonia.
10.4. Research and engagement
Responsibility for research and development is delegated

to the communities and regions
attracts more than 60%o of

of Belgium' The Flemish research anã develop."nt ryrt".

national gross expenditure on research. and'develop.."i
CcEno¡ pepãrtment or
Economy, Science and Innovati on,2017¡z).

Many of the research and engagement indicators used in
(particularly those related to intemati

comparablé regional breakdowns. Therefore, the

the benchmarking exerclse

national performance of Belgium is used

in much of the discussion that follows in this secti on, although

analysis is augmented with Flemish data.

where possible the

Highlights

r
¡

women are better represented in research compared to
most other OECD
countries' rn 2076, 44% of all researchers were female,
reflecting tftç,trong
policy focus on gender equity in research in the Flemisr,
ôãmmunity.
The proportion of researchers working in higher
education is close to the OECD
median, although the proportion of éxpenõiture
on ....*"h

allocated to the higher education sector iÅ lower than

¡

ano aeuetop,nent

in most OECD countries.

Flanders had a lower proportion of the population
with a doctorate compared to
the OECD median in 2017. Following poticy erforts,
tl.r. nurnu"rs of doctoral

graduates have been growing in recent years.

r

The proportion of expenditure on basic research performed
in2015 in the Belgian
higher education sector was the lowest among OECD
countries. However, the

time series for Belgium in the shares of ba$"c ,...u.rh,

applied research and
aircontiníity between 2013 and.
2014' which could reflect changes ù th. una".tying
classifications and
experimental development present an important

definitions.

o There are relatively strong links between the higher education

and business
sectors in Flanders. Levels of reported collaboratioñ
iiilì,+between both large
and small businesses were well above the OECD
median.

'

Belgium produced more scientific publications per

1 000 people than the

OECD
median in 2016, and was in thê top oECd quartile'of^the
p.opo.tiãn or
publications among the top t0% most cited in
flre s'copùs databas".

10.4.1. Inputs and activities
Vïomen are better represented in research than

in most other OECD countries

The proportion of women working as researchers in

the Flemish R&D system is higher
than the median lever_ acro-ss thã OECD, and is
moving towards parity with male
researchers' ln 2076' 44Yo of all researchers were
women, flacing Handers near tiltop

quartile of the OECD distriburion (Figure 10.13).

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE O OECD 201 9

I szg

s2s I

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Highereducationgraduatesarelesslikplythanotherworkerstoworkinjobs
with routine tasks
Althoughhighereducationgladuateshavearelativelylowemplovmentandearnings
or
,u[;; oiî¿"r, Still,,'in 2012 onlv 2Vo
premium, according tJ;á írom the OECD
tasks
routine
jobs
with
in
young"r"thun i5 worked
Flemish higher education graduates
iiX of *otters wiih only upper secondary
.o*pur.d'to
where little learning ir'in"ífn.¿,
with routine
präportion àf higt.t .4":!"i graduates
educarion. This is r"*.. ãr"ii"e
skills
Adult
of
Survey
"
participating* in"ttr. OECD
tasks than in any other country
(Figure l0'12).
Figure 10.12. Rerarive share

DEU

"r*"ru",îoîjîåïH

NLD

education in jobs with routine tasks

FIN SWE

DNK

AUT,80

VtG,14

Top quartile

Med¡an

Bottom quart¡le

Nole,.A|JT=Austria;DEU=Germany;DNK=Denmark;FIN:Finland;NLD:Netherlands;SWE=
education are l47o.as likelv as

workers with

implies thar workers with higher
are
iïi,tå'yrtirllî'|;::rs ä'ffi:
catculating this indicator' workers
iî.;t,i-;;"il;;,.:i;;: wtren
education
of
secondary
upper
unable to choosè or change "the sequence
tusks if they reportîïe
considered to be in ¡ou, *tf, .outine
to ão the work" (OECD' 201316l)'
www'oecd'ore/ski11s/piaac/data/'
OlSo¡, O^CO luney of Adult S/ril/s,

äk ";;'h"*

Source: AdapteO Ao. Ofiöè

st axLín k *-:æp https ://doi'ors/ I 0' I 7 8? /8 8893 942545
3

Theemploymentrateforshort.cyclehighereducationgraduatesislowrelativeto
change when short-cycle programmes
other levels oy"ar"oirá', - øru ,i¡t could
are absorbed into professional HEß
Theemploymentrateof25.34year-old.graduatesinshort-cyclepfogrammeswas65%in
ihun ìtre-emptoyment rate for

;;;hl"*"'

Zqti,rhelowest uronÀõeCó countries ""d
the Flemish Community'
rtigrtåt .ã"t"ii"" ät¿uates from

"",r*t

Tabte10.4'Employmentratesof25-34year.oldbachelorgraduates,bysubsector(2016)

Universities
Professional HEls

The Netherlands

Flanden

Estonia

79.3

m

82.5

93.2

73.3

oro

for the Netherlands' In the Flemish
for the Flemish Community, and 2016
enter the labour market before
graduates
bacheloris
ôáãrntti y, only a small percentage of

Note'.T\eyear of reference is 2013

äJ"*,y

"#:1"îä'#,:åd"fli OECD (201erzr), Benchmarking Higher Educatíon svsîem

Perþrmance'

https://doi.ordl 0. 1 787lbe55 1 4d7-en'

This could change in the future, as
programmes became t;r"

in 2019, most short-cycle higher education
education

for adult
;;;dffiiiity or p.orá.ríonut HEIs (centres
HEIs in the Flemish

p'ogruÁtttj' Professional

previously offered fno't
graduates
't'o't-ty"f"
in àr.i.ing ïrtuí a large proportion of their
community r,un" u."riäã."r.rrr
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

O OECD 2019

C}IAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNIry

bachelor's (one of the highest among OECD

countries) and master,s programmes (in the
secondáry education graduates was g7o/o,

top quartile) in 2017. similarry,ahai of upper
which is the highest among OE-CD countriås.

over 90o/o of higher
graduates younger than 30 were either
emproyed or in
education in Flanders"9u.li9l
in20l7.1nis strará is.i-n the_top quu.til" or OECD countries,
slightly above Belgium as a whole and slightl!
below Gerir"iry
Nerherlands.
""Jûr"
Due to the high rate of employment across
education levels, the graduate employment
premium - the difference between the
employment rate of higher education graduates
and
upper secondary education graduates
- was relatively low among OECD countries in
2017. In addition, in Flanders, there was
almost no difference between the employment
master's graduates were more likely to be

couitries where

employed.

The differences in the employment rates of
25-34 year-olds across fields of study were
also small in Flanders relâtive to other OECD jurisdictions.
in Hãn¿"^, the difference
between.the employment tate of 25-34 year-old
irigr'r.. .á*utiã" gräouut.s in the field of
study with the highest eli]9r19nt rate
lserviceì) and that *ifi û,. rowest (arts and
humanities) was l0% ¡nzo.li (Figure 10.ìlt.
This was one of the smallest differences
among OECD higher education,yrtemr.
Figure 10'1r. spread in the graduate emproyment

rate across fierds ofstudy (20r7)

25-34 year-olds across all ISCED fields ofstudy
NLD VLG

DNK

FIN

usA" 6
Bottom quartile

fl,?tft.?J-

GRC,33
Median

Top quart¡le

= Denmark; FIN = Finland; GRC = c¡reece; NLD

Source: Adapted from OECD (201g¡:¡), OECD

= Nerherlands; usA = unired states;

vle:

Educatian.statistics,@;
*î
*Ji.ar;^;:""^,

dataprovided by the Ftemish rrairirty óimu*r1""

Srerlrnk +ìæfÐ hnps ://doi.org/ I 0. I 7 g7lg8 g 93 3 942526
Higher educqtion attainment results in a relatively

low' earnings
--¿ -'""""6' premiumþr

graduates

For the indicator on eamings premiums, only
the nationar average of Belgium is
available' Higher education g.ãg*t:r in Beigium
.n¡oy..iutúy*tfî
premiums
on average compared to those in other OECD
m zols,-lhe "u-ings
full+iåe,
f"ll_t";;
eamings of bachelor's
"ouni.iã..
(2s-34 year-olds)
were toolo iigher than the average
.graduates
equivalent eamings of the same age cohort,r,n
ãírv uî;.;IJ"rååry or posr_secondary
non-tertiary education'
premium
gamings
¡o.
úu.rrËiãr'. gräåä.. is in the bonom
lhe
quartile of OECD countries.
Masteis ànd doctoral graduates
the average
earnings of the same age. colol with upper
post-secondary non-tertiary
o. "îri"a'1+ov"of
education, 4 percentage
-s."*du.y
points below tlr" óËCO median.

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

O OE CD 2O1g

I szt

s26 I

CÍIAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH

Figure 10.10. Numeracy

COMMUNITY

proficiency distribution among

ELevel

!Level 1'or below

2

rLevel

graduates younger than 35

3

¡Level4

(2012)

ELevel 5

Flanders

Finland

Netherands

Sweden

o/o

Norway

20

10

30

40

50

bU

70

80

90

100

Source:ÃdaptedftomOECD(2018pù,IECDsumeyofAduttSkitts,www.oecd.ore/skills/piaac/data/.

statLínk +:æfr httos://doi'orsJl

0' 1787/888933942507

Highereducationgraduateshavehigherliteracyand.num.eracyskillsandenjoy
gr a du ot e s
ã t o s e c o n d ;ry e duc at i o n
o *îî,", îr- I o ip or,
ut
o
i
al
c
o
s
r
e
t
e
t
b
"

in the
|n20|2,theoddsofreachingproficiencylevel3wereoverfourtimeshieherforFlemish
than for upper secondarv ãraduates
gender'
ugt'
hieher educarion o"i#:ï'iåöF;:
nume*.'vïoi*i.*y (controll ing-fot These are
attainment)'
,uä. ug" group, ro, uJtTtá.acy-and.
;"i.tiJ .du"æ¡onul
immigrant unO rungoJiË'Uî.[ó"""¿OeCnänni"t
""U
puni"ipatþg in the OECD Suwev
level'
amons the largest
t ättní sw confidenceincrease
"dff;"ri"r';î.ã"g
sienifrcalll
it'tv
uno
to
skills,
of ndilt
19
li"ä;ltã; education svstem
frorã the capacity;i;i;; ftigt'"l
higher levels of
This differen." .out¿ï.iult
,fr" åäiä. oi"ináiui¿uuls with
literacy
srudenrs,
""¿ "ïåï...V'.kitlr,
combination of the two'
o'

:äililïi;h;1"¿ututiot"

'o*t
gtiqtl::

democratic
working life' but also fosters
ln2012'
well-being'
trust,and
^f,:r
pa:rticipation in civil soõety,
odds of
the
twice
engagement among "irirånr,
about
had
;í
graduates
anv sav about what
Flemish higher education
'*lt;;'iM"
be
îåìiãî'í'î"i"*"nt'',':floffi'
l"-1T':1"""e
disagreeing with the
and "onlv few people can
political'efficacy)
of
also
age group' They
rhe government ¿o"sÏ ä';;Ñ;
Juåuriånlr;uutr.'ín the same
The dirferences
health'
trusred,,, *.o,n'ur"ì r"til;äõ
to.be ìn";J; excellent
sraduates for these
had two times the "ää;ï;;p"itns
#;"ä:ià"v ¡1i1"tl'n
the
between higher
level' and ihty utt around
"d"äîå;^;;"d;"íun{
sìgnificant
7'11"'íV'confidence
of Adult Skills'
indicators are statistically
participatitg ít titî O'CD Survey
median across OeCö countrles
higher
in S11era!' includingfor
25-34 year-.otd1 ß high
The employment rate of
levelsándfi'etds of study
education s,onoîu' ;"1o" 'iu"otion

Education not only prepares

TheemploymentfateishigherinFlandersthaninmostOECDcountriesacrossarangeof
graduates were around 90o/ofor
rates ;äö;-;ld
employment
The
education levels.
"f
BENCHMARKING HIGHER

EDUCATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OECD 2019

CFIAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH

Figure t0'9' Where does the Flemish

COMMUNITY

community stand in the OECD distribution?
outcomes

Bottom quârt¡le

Mediân

Graduate

Top quârtile

Note: The indicators re'res€ntecl
in this chart are a subset of.the. indicators
presented in Table 10.1. The
coloured circle represents the Ftemlsh
in't¡"'öËïö"J¡.ii¡r,i"n.
coloured when data are available
f";i;;r rh-ËriÏtL'. orco .ornt ¡ã.1(-tn1;ïir* The circre is not
with availabre dara is r4)' ¡or n'*.
in-rorrii#;"";'ä"¿"ner.ãiirîr.iäî å""ïrrn number of countries
see
(2019p1)
cited rherein. Foilo*;i;;ï;ini'ü

ê;;;;i;orit¡on

a"*rt ad rhe dara underrfng the carcurarion
#r*;å:**"ces
'ECD orthe
tï:,r#"ÄrrÎTr?" (20te¡21), Benchmarking Higher Education

ffi

system perþrmance,

"ii

stat¿mk*ìæ@

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OE CD 2OIg

I szs

524 I CHAPTER 10. THE

FLEMISH COMMUNITY

t 0.3.2. Grøduste outcomes
The maiority of young higher

education graduates have

good litetacy and

numeracY skills

oEcD survev or
NointemationallycomparabledataarecurrentlyavajlableSl,h:-l.u*ingoutcomesof
î"1tr .u.;;., it ir possible use the graduates'
th.'l;rå;r."åî
educarion
hisher
"t
pr"n.i.".v among'higher education
(ptAAc);i.#;t:tii.
Aãult Skilts

InFlanders,approximate|y90%ofhiglrereducationgradultes'aeed16-34reachedlevel3
i.""i r -thã.lowest-to level 5 -the
of the prAAc pron.i.îJ/;;*

hishest) in 2012,3 b"th

ä'dt; l"'"î;i;
;;îuir;cv'

ilä;ãi-ii**tv

hilhest amons oEcDï;#;;ffiidtiieä-piÃÄó-ior

This share was one of the
literacv, and the highest for

numeracy

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

O OECD 2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Figure 10.8. share ofpart-time students
o/o

I

in higher education, by age and ISCED

Flemish Community

rever (2016)

o oECD med¡an

100

90
80
70
60
50
40

20
10

0
All age

30-64 year-otds

All age

Short-cycle

Source: Adapted from OECD (20181:),

30-64 year-otds

All age

Bachelor's

OECD

data provided by rhe Fremish n¿irirt yTil¿u

30-64 year-olds
Masler's

Educ1tln.Syatßtics,@;

"ur¡ilà"o.fraining.

staxLínk ùlg@
The mojority of students are enrolled

in bachelor,s programmes
The majority of students in the Flemish
community were enrolled in bacheror,s
programmes in 2016. Around
20%o of students *.r" .Éori"ãln
master,s programmes,
below the median ofoECD
i.J.
,nun roø orsiuJeni, ',..." enrolled in
short"ountri...
nd the'"¿i un or ó¡co

:ffi .i:ifl#i,ïåi3i"t'åîî,ffiï;îif

"ountries

;rr#;;

Around one-quarter of new entronts
have not yet compreted their programmes
three years after the expected graduation
year
New entrants refer to
who enter a programme at a given revel
of education for
the first time. ln the *.ud.lt:
Flemish cornÀunjtv,'uround a0%
of-nei
entrants
to bachelor,s
programmes in 2008 obtained
a bachelorís degree w¡thin the expected
duration
of the
progmmme' This was at around
the median
óEcö ."*.ìlí *¿ economies with
available dara, and berow Denmart,
""r
rinianã, r.un.. ãn¿ il;åî
Another one_third of
new entrants completed the bachelor's
programme within_thre"
from the expected
í*o
graduation year. However, over
20% ofnãw entrants did not cämplete
the programme
and were not in education in 20r4,"t""
v"ã.r after the expected graduation year.2

The completion rate at the bacheror,s
rever diff:lgq among different
student groups. Mare
students, particurarry those jn p.oresrionai

HEIs, haj

;:iJö',Xj! *îii,:,',ij:ïf;;rart-time

"

r;;

compretion rate as

students arso'hadá."r"tt";i; ro*

Ëo'pr.tt;;;dq

More th(m one'third of doctoral students
are international students, which ís
one
of the highest shares among OECD
countries
Ln2016' intemational students comprised
l7%o of master's level students
and 40%io atthe
doctoral level, which was in Íre topluãrtil.
ãr o¡co countries, at around the same
level
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OECD 2OI 9

I sz¡

FLEMISH COMMUNITY
s22 I CÍIAPTER 10. THE

Accesstohighereducationvariesbysocialbackground'buttheaccessgap
'îä""^"tii"r than in many othet )ECD countries
impact on
Flemishdaþonaccessrategapsbysocio.economicbackgoundarenotdirectly
matemal education has an
*itt, int"riåii;;i iËd, tui ,flo*"tttut
comparable

;:ïïil-*äyi:l-t".t-,iåj,."1ì;.:l*#ïll:*t:iiiîî:',i.i.îl:"4#åJ'åii{i{i
to 83%
educatlon I

That compares
secondary
premlílið"Àr""itv *itrrin ite next three years' degree and 55% or
programme in tne
;ilor. åoú,r, r,;d ;îüil;áucation
or uoDer secondary
not'
studänts whose mother did

ild;*

leaving upper
Thesedataimplyarelativegapintheprobabilitytoaccess.h]'loeducationof34o/o
rrigrr.t"Jãr"iion and otheistudents
*"räåÅïi,r,áut
with
between children
suqlol 18-24 vear-olds
"r
ïs';';;p;r'".1ìn.'rJiä^;;Ã
data
with
countries
secondary education.
r''íen.riãJ'äìi;;;;É'oeco
#;ÃÑitn
with
least
at
countries
and without
Ñ;.*"; (he smallest access gap across

was 50ol0, und urounî';düä;
åJ*putuü1. ¿*ul'

TheshareoJ'part-timestudentsacrossallagegroupsisre'lativelylargebutthe
,*åiíloitompar"d to )ECD countries

share of marur" nu,irn r-'i-s

rerativery

Nearlyone-fourth.ofallstudentsinbachelor,sprogrammeswereenrolledpart.timeinthe
ji,i?, *,irn is.aUoie irt.öËôn median lFisure l0'8)' Part-time
î"
Communrry
tertiary education
Flemish
l"rg., ,hu."'Jf t*"rÁt"t in short-lvã'e

f-ïr .".i"

students accounted
ftemitt' Community in or
master,s O.orrulnáJr'¿öt;;)"ì,hìtte
(6g%)and
orosrammes
roi uottr education levels'

il:;äìili.ìpóÉöì""*'re

Maturestudents(25otolder)accountedforlessÏhal5g/oofnewentrantstobachelor's

:iåH,3iå:
îöd;1.':"'t"ltmfí#nXh*'m'+*1iöiiï",,ilf
"education
tertiary
OECD countrles,
i"l" in short-cycle
s

similarly ,'nu' ur'îrtå ï;"ir

ätiö;t;;

r"r.''îr,""-

and around | 5o/o inmaster's

programmes'

Theshareof30-64year.oldstudentswhowereenrolled-inbachelor'sprogrammespart;ell below the median or OECD
+ð"7Í'i"'ît'ïî-#tÏ'
around
was
in 2016 was higher
time
rh. ;ää;îiin-tit..tludents
rãun.i".,
lnorröí"cö
rn
also the case inthe
counrries.
t'hl1
than a919ss';ä";;"gt*n¡t
30-64.u*t,'oup
wasrelatively
the
groups
among
age
ìtr" ¿in"r.i." uît*"""nit't. two
hao a
co,nrun,il"nî*äî"r,
communitv
Flemish
inJi.uto tttut the Flemish
ir,i,
ptemilir
to
compared
the
in
part-time
low

áffi;ltv;

y*

äffi;;q,.-

of youngt'
relatively large proportion
other OECD countries'

u"åä;öå"Joi t"oving

EDUCATION SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER

PERFORMANCE @ OECD

201 9

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

I szt

Figure 10.7. rilhere does the Fremish

community stand in the OECD distribution?
Access,
student profile, completion

Firs{ime enrry fates to bachero/s

or equ¡var€nt Eogrammes.

Min {11)

proporrbn

exduding inbrnarionar dudenb (2016)

t'"t'tn totirunitv (71)
of srudenb in masle/s and dodorar programnns

M¡n (81

Max {78}

(20, ur
Max (rr5)

Fleni¡Ch CórÌimrinfty

Propoflion of nelv entranb 25 o¡

older, bachelor,s programmes (20iô)

M¡n (0)

rlerälih Coniärunnl/1rii

Max (32)

PropoÌlbn of pad{ime sfutlenb,

bechelor,s programmes (20i6)

Mrn l0l
Mâx (s3)

rlemiih Community (22i
Proportbn of inbrndional øbrei¡n

*¡denb, master,s programrnes (20{6)

Min {1}
Flem¡sh Community(17)

Mâx {73)

Proporlion of nel enûants who gladuate

on tìme or wihin hr€e yearsfrom

Min (51)

fte expêcted time (2014)
Mâx (84)

Flem¡sh communityf?3)

2S34 yearolds with hþher education

qualification (2017)

Min (23)
Max (7o)

Flanders (rts)

Bottom quart¡le

Note:The indicators reoresenled in

Medien

Top quãrtile

this chart are a subset ofthe indicators

prescnted in Table I0.1. The
¿;ñ;ì;î;"ri,i"l iì'ir,,.'öiïî"jolìor,,on.
rhe circre is not
ilË;.",ñ;iliiirìtå or.o
number
orcountries
inform"i"" ä""rå,¡"oorogicar
"";;;;r"(,h;;i;,;"n'
l;;;;.ä î.iä¿r,., see .ECD
cited therein' Foll";';il'î;,¡,i,i'ä
(20r9tzt)

coloured circre represenrs rhe.Fremisrr
coloured when dara are avairabre
with available data is l4)' For.more

ii.j5å:**"ces

¿o'*'r"ad rhe dara underrying rhe

,P-i:î;o,,l*li3l.,r"y;Ë"r8lf-".(201ep1),

Benchmarking Higher Education

Stat l-?n k .rÌr*
Table 10.3. Flexible learning pathways

carcuration of the

.system perþrmance,

http s / / doi.or s,/ I 0. 1 7 87 / g Bg 9 3
:

in the Flemish Community (2012)

All higher educalion institutions

are required to offer all of their programmes
as part{ime and modular education
modules and receive a credit
certificate from the institulion
upon complelion
Under certain conditions, students
can enrol only for the assessment
and obtain credits without attending
Tuition fees are based on the
classes
number of credits in which students
enrol (i.e. they change with study
load)
No distinction between part{ime
and full-time students tn terms
of financial supp0rt
Students can enrol in single

Source: Adapted ûom information provided

by the Flemish Ministry of Education

BENCHMARKING HIGHER
EDUCATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OE CD 2OIg

and Training.

3 9 42 4 5 0

s2o I

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

graduatesanduppersecondaryeducationgraduatesintheprobabilityofreaching
area'

ifti, go"¿ tevet óittitts is among the largest

in the OECD

oDatafromtheoECDSurveyofAdultSkillsalsoshowthathighereducation
;;"d to enjoy better social outcomes than
graduares in the"FfãÃirn bofnrunity
în rort or óÉco countries. The difference
secondary gr"¿r"*,^"r ì, it. "u..
i' ut utun¿ the median of OECD countries'
between th.

t*;;;;pt

aged25-

employment 3f-ut^ory individuals
o The Flemish Community had a highattai-riÀent
in 2017 ' As à result' the graduate
34 across uff f"n.i, of education
in the employment rate between the
- th" difft"ntt
employment p;;î;
gladuates nná upp.t ."tondnty education
gladuates of bachelor,s programmes
of
was just uUou. itrãîåoJ.n õrunif.

was no
O'ifj countries. In addition' there perhaps
eraduates,
or u*tr"to.'r and master's
difference i, rh;öi;;1nJni.ur.
of bachelo-r's graduates in
related to rhe strong employment;;;;;;"
Professional HEIs'

10.3.1. Access, student proJile,

completion

Around45%of25.34year-oldshavea|ighereducationqualificalion,andover
ìr""ri, ntigher educàtion in the course of
two-thirds of young åírit^ àr, prt ¡r"rrd
their life

education in

(25-64year-olds) had completed higher
In Flanders, over one-third of adults
34 vear-olds)' nearlv
tt'r.. yängo-âg" grolp
2016, just below the öËðo r"ilun.'tn
^(?:, which was slightlv
half of them had outuiíãf üigttã, .Ou.utij"i"iifitätãninzott'
above the median of OECD countries'

AroundT0%ofyoungadultsareproþctedtoenterabachelor'sprogrammeatleastonce
entry rate' as
ift. highest in the OECD area' The high
in their lifetime. Thi, ;il;'; on! ãf
wellasthelargep,opo.tionofstudentsstudyirrgpart-1iT"-T1{beattributablepartlyto
the barriers
c",nti"titv iiable 10'3i' This lowersparticipate
in
flexible study provisiálir irr" Flemish
can
siudents
which
optionilntãug-t
to access by increasing the availabf"
higher education.

SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION

PERFORMANCE @ OECD 2019

CIIAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

The academic stalf-¡6-student ratio

is higher than in the Netherlands and Estonia
Students benefit from interacting with
academic staff, for example through individual
meetings, Iectures or tutorials. iherefore,
ii is usuatty
a rarge academic
stafÊto-student ratio contributes to studeni
"*"rnJ-iiræ
leaming, ¿".pii.lÀ.lmio.tant
limitations of
this indicator (see Chapter 4 of OECD
e0t9¡21¡1

In the Flemish community, the academic
staff-to-student ratio was about l:20 in 2016,
a
ratio placing Flanders in.tire.bottom quartiìe
oróËCD-;;il...îJ*.u".,
rhis
indicator
only includes senior academic staff for ttre plemish

community, meaning that it excludes
employed doctoral students, post-doctoral
researcher. und :other junior categories.
Therefore, it is not directry comiarabre
to oirt.r .ECD
countries.

L')ata on the academic staff-to-student

ratio by subsector show

that, in 2016,it was higher
in the Flemish-community than in Estonia
ánd the Netherlands in both universities
and
professional HEIs' In contrast to
the ratio included in ttl" scoreuoard, the
u..u[ào*n
uy
subsector is comparable across the jurisdictions
with uruiiuul. data, because it includes
both junior and senior academic sta'ff
categori.r f;ìil;iãmish communiry as
well as
for Estonia and the Netherlands. This indicato.
ulro
rlrows
that
there
were
wide
differences b"1*-t91 the subsectors; in
the plemisrr õãrnmunity, the ratio was l:7
in
universities and 1:15 in professional
HEls. The larger.iurr-to-rtu¿.nt ratio in universities
can be attributed, at leasi in part, to the
larger rrrurããriåirtime that is spent on
research
within these institutions.

10.3. Education

Hightights

o Around 45% of 25-34 year-olds had obtained

a higher education degree in
Flanders in 2017, which is around the
median oi oac¡ countries. over twothirds of young
projected to enter u bu"t.rã.'. programme
at reast once
in their lifetime, "9-r]r.:.1"
one of thshighest rates among
countries.

o Nearly one-fourth of students in bachelor's programmes
'ECD

are enrolled part-time
(planning to obtain less than 45,credits
inon.i.u-.ln the Hemirh community in
2016' above the oECD median. rrre rleríish'tommunity
has distinctively
flexible study provision: all higher education
inJitutøn, were required to offer
prosrammes part+iìne in2017; rtu¿*ni,-.un
arso register ioilùgr.

*::ïi:ïrr

o The proportion of new entrants who graduated on
the expected graduation year was around

of OECD countries.

¡

time or within three years from
70%
in2lli,
- ' - '^\
-v \ t) whichis above the median

The shareof mature students (25 or older)
in bachelor's progrummes was less than
5%o in 2016, one of the iowest

among OECD countries.

The shares of
international students were 17%o at a masterb
level and 40% ata doctoral level in
2016,inthe top quartile of OECD countries.

r

According to the .ECD survey of Adult
sk'rs (prAAC), the Fremish
Community has one of the hieheit shares
oi
lã_iî"v"ur_otd higher education
graduares wirh.good (lever 3 or
ãbovetìi;;;.y
sk¡rs among 9ECD
^u.t*.rn
countries participating in PIAAC. he
";ã,i#..u.y
¿iíreren..
higher education

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OECD 2OI9

I srq

sls I CÍIAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH

COMMUNITY

is relatively low
staffwjth
Pe.rman''f'::"".':o
teaching
ofyoung
!
The share
and Norwav
;hr;;"^pLíu¿ tã ntnnialthe Ñetherlands
staff) had a
staff with teaching d*ies lelching jurisdictions
academic
of
half
about
four
overall,
ugong the
This share ** i.tutin"ly'iow
staff in
oermanent contract in 2016.
exercise'irîgt*io'o)' Y:r1-1gÏ academic
benchmarking
the
in
10% of
only
as
oarticipating
pr.rurìori" employment position'
in the
than
particutar appeared," úîi"-. ,"laiively
level
lo*"t
with a p"*unåniäärü"".ì,i lnu"h
worked
category
this
in
staff
j
other benchmarking urisdictions'

Figure 10'6' Share ofteaching

staffwith permanent contracts'

duties,
Academic starrwith teaching
':Tlîî:.t

share with permanent contracts

across

sî.|:Jî:åîfiîi.Ji:
¡4&59

03S44

¡ 34 and Younger

%

by age (2016)

I 60 and older

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10

0

Flemish Communlty (52)

Estonia (45)

Netherlands (74)

(20l9rzr), Benchmarking Higher
q¿l-tn'
I
O'l ZgflbtSS 'ECD

source:.Adapted from
Ittor,¡l¿o¡.otøt

'

NoMay (70)

Education system Perþrmance'

s xaxLink

AhighshareoJ.currentexpenditureisSpentonstffiparticulartyonteachingstaff
within the
goods and
expenditure.'oY':"
:"*l:ïjonsumed
cyrent
education
ofpersonnel
Higher
ofinstituiiJns. lt includes compensation for general
current year to ru.ru,nìnå;;ii;iii",
u, *"riäi"ïritärt"ot", for^example'
academic and
(both

"d;ffi;t"") ,urtt u. building, cleaning and maintenance'

supplies and for."r""äåä'rä.rî..,

staff
TheFlemishCommunityspent.thrge.qrartersofitshighereducationcurrentexpenditure
of-OE'CO countries' Teaching
the
it--in
placing
on staff in 2015,
,O¡"nff"
also a relatively high share
staff .*p.noi,itä,ïrti"tt was
of staff
accounted for over ooí,ïrall
àata. The remaining 40o/o
rl"t";te
among higher
includes-academic staff without

tn

*u,"¿,r"urion-

r;;Ñ yi*

Jfiú-hich

expenditure
fn tttt Flemish higher education
'p"'''iãn'non+eachi"g
and othei
reaching duties, uo^*ir,*i"e
staff in 2015' one of the
äemic
staff
;Ë;^iõ0
non-academic
42
were
cr¡creñl rhere
OECD countries reporting data'

t"*J'#ô'

ìåilffi;;mong

EDUCATION SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER

PERFORMANCE O OECD2Ol9

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

The share of younger academic
staff (berow 35) was 16% inthe Fremish
community
2016' slightly below the median
oi oióö'.ounrries. The share oi ot¿er academic in
(above 60) was 7yo, one of
staff
the rowest.r";g O.ECD countries,
resurting in a rerativerv
young age profile of academic
staft and mitigating
staff experienced by some orher.ouÁJi.r
i.".'rupt".4 of (.ECD, 2019pù).

i*".1ã-..*i;;;;;¡'h,il;;ilîi

The share ofwomen among academic
staffincreased by I0% over the past
decade
- one of the highest increases

among occn countries

Nearly

half of all academic staff in the Flemish
Community were female in 2016. This
share was in the top quartile of
OECD countries, slightly below Belgium
as a whole and
above the Netherlands. The share
was rhe Sedonl highestincreãG
among
OECD countries after Korea.

Gender equality has been a_key goar

of higher education poricy in the Fremish
community in recent years. For eriampt",gender diversity in academic
staff is one
indicator in the formula fot allocaiin['n
naing to highei education institutions.
addition, almost ar Fremish hish.;
;à;;;n iãstitutioñr;;;;"pted the principresIn
contained in the European chaiter
for nåsearchers and úr.- c"J. of conduct
for the
äïi:tå':l(",íråï:1î|;lìi1""'"ot"l tr'i.. ui'.¿ p,åî",i"g-gender equarity (see
"t

women comprised ararger share of
academic staff among younger age
groups than older
ones, both in rhe Fremis{r.cgmmunity
unJ ìn the majori-ty ãiõE'c; countries.
women
two-thirds or rlémi'rr aca¿emi""
rhan 35

J*";";;Ë

(it#:'i3,imost

Figure 10'5' share of women among

academic staff in higher education,

I Flemish Community

i, ;01¿

by age group (20r6)

o oECD Median

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Younger than 35 years

35-44 years

45-59 years

older than 60 years

Statl-rnk rìSp httos ://doi.ore/ I 0. I 7 g7l8 g8

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

O OECD 2019

93 3 9423 93

Isn

s16 |

CHAPTER 10. THE FLEMISH

COMMUNITY

share places Flanders in the
level as the Netherlands'

3g% of the total expenditure. This

;;;;rtt.t;; around iht 'utt

top quartile of OECD

t 0. 2. 2. H uman reso urces
The Flemish community has

a young age profile of academic

stqff, relative to

other OECD counties

Theinternationaldefinitionof..academicstaff,coversawiderangeofjobtitlesin
ittftOe full-time professors" associate
and professional HEIs' ü"tt
Flemish universities

ñ;.;;;T"1111,3;iå'.;l,:-:ntl'".rx':ilå;"1ï'î,il'iffi[i":'iJ';iän:i
senlor ren
researchers,
education institution'

Figure 10.4. Where does the Flemish

Community stand in the OECD

distribution? Human

resources

Share of academicslafi

youngerlhan 35 (201ô)
Max (59)

M¡n (3)

Flem¡ih Commun¡tY(i6i

(æ16)
Share of academicsþf 60 orolder

Mãx (26)

M¡n (4)

Ftemilh aómmunity {7}
Share of women among academic

atafi (2016)
Max (71)

Min (27)
Proporlion of currênt êxpendlt'¡re

spent on slãfi (2015)
Max (89)

M¡n (411

Ratioofacademicstafitodudentinhighereducahoningtlulion3(20t6)
Min {0'02)

Max (0.13)

Flemish Cómmtin¡it (o'05)

Non-academic slafi per l00academicstafi

(20,t5)
Max {173)

Min

Top quartile

Med¡an

Bottom quartile

The circle is not
Note:TlteindicatorsrepresentedinthischartareasubsetoftheindicatorspresentedinTablel0.l.The
cã-.r"irv'r.p".i,i* i"',rt" óÈcD d'istribution'
of countries
number
minimum
coroured circle represeno,rrä'îì.r"rri,
,rt* ¡ar;r då ciËöî|"""i¡tt tttt:
(20l9tzt)

cotoured when data u,. "".,ìîo*'iåïìïr,
it'u"t and meradata' see OECD
iniorrution 9l i";;d"bCi.åt
with availabte data is l4).
un¿ttrving the calculation of the
and the references cited tn.ïåiÏ.ïrm*"tt'e

n*î"*

scorecard.

source: Adapted ffom OECD

itott¡nt.ï"äì:;äËãutu

(201gtzl), Benchmarking Higher

Educaîion system Perþrmance'

iü,ü¿"i.åìiió.i rtr¡¡"s s r +¿r-""'
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EDUCATION SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER

PERFORMANCE O OECD 2019

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH COMMUNITY

Box r0.1. priv-ate-third partyfunding in Frcmish

institutions

Relative to other European.countries, Flemish

large am.o-unt of private third parfy fuiding,

higher education institutions receive a
i.e. revenue from private sources earmarked

for specific activities and insiitutionur ,niir,

rypicalrylh;ãrgt".""o"crs, and often for
accounted ror ú% or.î.r.nt revenues in
Flemish
universities in 2015, trrè trighest snñe among
European ,nr,nu., countries of the OECD.
In Flemish professional HÉIs, this ,trur. *u,
much lower (3o/o), butit was the second
highesf across countries with availabl
aitu.
research' Private third parry- funding

"

Figure r0.a private third party funding in

higher education, as a proportion ofcurrent
revenues (2015)

By type of institution

Universíties pOL, 0.7

ITA

NOR

PRT LVA
NLD

Professional

HEts

DEU

CHE

NLD

72.9

EST GBR

NOR

SWE

VLG

LVA, 0.0
PRT

Note: cHE = Switzerrand;,DEU^= Germany:

iåifi[:fl'="lj;f;.nu"o''

cHE, 8.7

DEU

EST = Esronia; GBR = unired Kingdom;

NoR = N"*uy; porî päiäi'iîir:'äi,iTii'rrE rrA = rraly: LVA =

source: European Tertiary Education Register

= sweden: VLc =

(ETER) (201g¡,t), ETER Database,

www.eter-oro.iect.com/.

srerL','k'Ð*@
The high proportion of third parf¡'. funding

in the Flemish

the high repofted level of .oiluuorutiãn berween community is consistent with
b;ri";;";;
higher educarion
inslitutio.ns in Belgium (Section lo.+.r1.
However, because ãi ,rr. differences

methodology and coverage, it is-not compárable

expenditure presented in Figure 10.3.

High emphasis on R&D activities in higher
Flanders spent 0'5% of its GDP on R&D

in
to the share oi non-rrour"hold education

education instirutions

activities in the higher

education sector in 2016,
which was in the top quartile of OECD countries.
In addiîion,
higher education
expenditure on R&D activities on a per
"rir"l
student basis was

uaô ?îðö u 2015,which was

BENCHMARKING HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

@ OECD 2019

I srs

514

CHAPTER IO. THE FLEMISH

COMMUNITY

and 2015' from l0 to 12%'

but remained

between.2008
institutions increased steadily
(Figure 10'2)'
throughout this period
among the lowesr

",;;ä;äoîounoi.,

Figure 10.2. Higher education

expenditure from private sources

As a share oftotal expenditure

35

on higher education institutions

- - -oEoDmedian -

Flemish Community

To

(2008-2015)

' -oEcDbottomquartile

-

30

IJ

20

\.r'

----

-

15

10

5

0

Note:Prwatesources include

both household5 atrd oÛ¡sr

2015

2014

2013

2012

201 1

2010

2009

2008

non'educational private sou

D-8d""';;;;-;;;;;;;;'-¡ttp:rr¿x'¿oi'ore/@;

source: Adapte¿ aom osðJäit'']';;t
p¿u.ution and rraining.
y
ói

äffiffiffi;,irãri.n1¡l"lrlini-.t

StatLínk
Figure 10'3' Share ofhigher

education expenditure' by

source (2015)

rcovernment Elnternational ¡ Household

¡other private

Norway

Finland

lceland

Sweden

Flemish Community
o/o

Netherlands

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Source:AdapledfromoECD(2018t¡t),oECD.EducationSÍatistìcs,http://dx.doi.ore/10'1787/edu-data-en;
p¿u"ution and rrainin g'
tÁ lt¡ìnitttv ä i

ää ñ;ffiåö,t't'n"'i

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0' 1787/888933942355

EDUCATION SYSTEM
BENCHMARKING HIGHER

PERFORMANCE O OECD

2019