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This paper attempts to explain how the German higher education system strategically used quality assurance, through the new system of accreditation, to offer globally recognisable degrees such as the Bachelor's (Bakkalaureaus) and Master's (Magister) degrees. We also discuss the types of effects that this strategy has produced on the current structure of the German higher education system. In order to strengthen this discussion, the fundamental impacts of quality-related funding on the system's structured are scrutinized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Most European countries have introduced systematic quality assurance as part of an overall governance reform aimed at enhancing universities" autonomy. Researchers and economic entrepreneurs tend, however, to underestimate the political dimension of accreditation and evaluation when they consider the contribution of quality assurance to the economic competitiveness of universities and/or the economic system as a whole. I intend to shed light on this aspect of quality assurance by 1) analysing how the provision of quality assurance is constrained by the institutional setting in place, and 2) studying the implications of that constraint on the constitution of a national and international market of quality assurance agencies. I begin the analysis by commenting on the political stake in the emergence of a German market of competing quality assurance agencies, then highlight the irreducible dimension of national politics in creating a European market of quality assurance agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent past, universities in the western world have been expected to play a greater role in the national economic welfare of their countries in addition to their traditional role of education and research. In 1997, following the examples of national governments in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, the German government launched an entrepreneurship initiative at universities. Two of its goals were entrepreneurial teaching and culture. I decided to explore how universities participated in, implemented and evaluated the public initiative to introduce entrepreneurship into German universities. During interviews with senior academic administrators at 22 tertiary institutions, I collected data on leadership, organisational re-design and development, recipients of change, and academic and administrative cultures. Similar to Clark (1998, 2004) and Gjerding et al. (2006), introducing entrepreneurship into university culture requires support both from the top and the bottom, especially the faculty. Academic decision makers behave entrepreneurially to external opportunities for financial and/or branding reasons but they respect their colleagues' decisions whether to join. The traditional inter/intra faculty model needs to include external stakeholders for entrepreneurial teaching initiatives. German universities have been successfully using this model for external research programmes without changing their core purpose: teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its federal order and unlike countries as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Germany has no national policy regime of quality assurance in higher education. There are several instruments aiming at defining minimum standards or assessing quality in some way, but none is targeted at quality assurance on a national level. State approval of courses and universities is within the responsibility of the individual states ("Lander") and follows more or less formal criteria. Evaluation is carried out either by single universities or on a regional level (e.g. in the "Nordverbund"). As a consequence their results did not get much public attention. Accreditation is still in its infancy and restricted to the newly introduced Bachelor and Master courses. The only nation-wide instruments of comparison in higher education are rankings that are carried out by private institutions. The implications of this lack of a national policy regime are discussed with respect to both national policies of quality assurance and rankings. Key methodological standards for rankings which they have to meet in order to fulfill their function, are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the general higher education framework in Germany. Problems and failures of the German system of higher education; Elements for managing the higher education system; Management mechanisms within different types of higher education.