Third mission, internationalisation are top HE priorities

A survey of nearly 500 higher education institution leaders from across the European region put “internationalisation and global outreach” alongside “third mission and services to society” as top priorities as they spelt out changes to the sector since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first Trends report from the European University Association (EUA) in five years paints an overview of how European higher education institutions have faced up to the challenges of socio-political and economic changes since before COVID-19 and Russia’s war against Ukraine, and sheds light on how they see their future direction.

The survey, titled Trends 2024 – European higher education institutions in times of transition, received responses from 489 higher education institutions in 46 European higher education systems and focused on education mission, changes to the student body and education offer as well as the rise of non-degree education, and developments in mobility and internationalisation.

When asked about their priorities, 83% placed “third mission and contribution to society” alongside “internationalisation and global outreach” as their most important, although the priority setting varied depending on the institutional profile.

For example, while collaboration with industry and entrepreneurship was highlighted as being a high priority by 76% of respondents overall, it was prioritised by 100% of technical universities, while 94% of technical higher education institutions also prioritised innovation (94% compared with 80% overall) and 92% mentioned internationalisation.

Other priorities were collaboration with industry and entrepreneurship, highlighted by 76% of respondents while 74% mentioned sustainable development and 73% social inclusion and equity. Lifelong learning was a priority for 60%.

Among the main changes since the COVID-19 pandemic was the increased focus now given to students’ mental health and well-being, which was highlighted by 66% of respondents. Attention to staff mental health and well-being was also mentioned as a priority by 47% of institutional leaders.

Blended learning was another big change, mentioned by 64%.

Institutional preparedness for emergencies is also rising up the agenda, with around half of higher education institutions now paying greater attention to crisis management.

Third mission and internationalisation

The new Trends 2024 report highlighted the growing importance of the third mission, or service to society. This, it said, has grown at both policy and institutional levels, with 83% of respondents considering it to be highly important.

While “third mission and service to society” remains a broad and loosely defined concept, 61% of respondents pointed to “skills development relevant to the labour market” and 51% mentioned “environmental sustainability and greening” along with “regional or local development”.

Internationalisation continues to be a very high priority for European higher education institutions, with 83% saying it was a main priority (the same percentage given to third mission).

A webinar held by the EUA to support the launch of the Trends report on 1 October heard from Michael Gaebel, the EUA’s director of higher education policy, who said: “International collaboration was a top priority of over four out of five respondents and 70% of higher education institutions reported that international exchanges and other forms of collaboration had increased over the past five years, with 64% wanting this area to increase in the future.”

However, over one in five respondents said this activity was under-resourced compared to other missions.

Student mobility

As for physical student mobility, the figures reported to the EUA survey are way behind those envisaged in the Bologna Process and the European Union’s goal of having one in five European university students experiencing a period abroad by 2020 – a target that was recently revised upwards to 23%, as University World News reported.

According to the Trends survey, just over a third of respondents had less than 5% of their student population having a “physical mobility experience”.

Only 13% of respondents said they had more than 20% going abroad for part of their bachelor programmes, while the figure for masters students was 14%.

Chief among the challenges was that 81% of students say they cannot afford it, said Gaebel.

Other issues highlighted by over two-thirds of respondents were difficulty finding credit mobility in some academic disciplines and differences in academic calendars between various countries. Sixty-seven percent of survey respondents said “many students face some sort of mental barriers” to going abroad during their higher education.

One of the most important ways to encourage greater mobility is through the Erasmus+ programme, which was rated the highest among important European strategies, initiatives and funding programmes by 90% in the survey. The European Universities Alliances were highlighted by 67%.

Over half of the institutions surveyed are currently offering joint programmes and joint degrees within and outside the European University Alliances, with Gaebel telling the webinar that a quarter of higher education institution respondents now have five or more joint degrees or joint programmes.

However, a further quarter do not have any and 4% have discontinued them.

“It is not just about sending a student abroad for six months but about combining different approaches,” said Gaebel, who said “internationalisation at home” activities were growing fast, with virtual exchanges now offered by 52% of higher education institutions, compared with 12% before COVID.

A further 20% of higher education institutions plan to offer them in the future, according to the Trends report.

Gaebel noted: “It is important not to see virtual exchange as a replacement for physical exchanges, but as a nice complement and more universities are looking at doing part of their international collaboration and exchanges online and partly physically.

“This can enhance not just the numbers taking part, but also the quality and flexibility. Before COVID this was used by a small niche, but it’s now become eligible in the Erasmus+ programme. However, it is resource intensive, so it’s not an easy alternative to physical mobility.”

Recruitment

Thérèse Zhang, deputy director for higher education policy at the EUA, told the webinar that 80% of European higher education institutions responding to the EUA survey said they now have institution-wide strategies to attract international students, with 77% expecting an increase in international students over the next five years.

Zhang said: “There’s going to be a lot of competition to recruit international students and universities will need to increase their profiling. One way is through European University Alliances.”

Other growing areas for targeted student recruitment are non-traditional students, with 59% targeting more socio-economically disadvantaged students.

Just over half of respondents said they were trying to attract more students with disabilities and 49% had targeted strategies aimed at students with a refugee background. Thirty-six percent said they were trying to recruit more students from ethnic minority groups. Around a quarter are also targeting part-time and mature students.

Another area growing in importance is non-degree education, with 51% expecting an increase in non-degree education and 41% expecting an increase in mature learners over the next five years.

However, only 25% reported significant growing demand for short-term non-degree learning opportunities with a certificate upon completion.

Challenges for non-degree programmes and courses include issues related to fees and funding, which 67% reported to at least some extent, followed by recognition and identifying demand and finding a business model.

Tackling depopulation

Commenting on the Trends survey, John Edwards, secretary general of the European Association of Applied Higher Education Institutions (EURASHE), told University World News that he believed greater focus needs to be given to depopulation in certain regions of Europe.

“This is particularly affecting universities of applied sciences which are more likely to be located outside the core cities – the regions that are losing young people the fastest.

“We want national governments and the European Union to concentrate more on lifelong learning, upskilling and reskilling, and to cap student numbers in the core cities.

“They can also boost their R&I activities which can compensate for a reduction in student numbers.

“The main worry is that a reduction in knowledge and skills in less developed regions will lead to ‘places left behind’ that become hotbeds for populism and nationalism,” warned Edwards.

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com