Research is for Hunters, Teaching for Farmers. Investigating Solutions to Lecturer-Related Problems of the Teaching–Research Mission of Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences
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Sheron Baumann
Abstract
This study qualitatively investigates solutions to lecturer-related problems caused by the relatively recent introduction of a teaching–research mission at Swiss universities of applied sciences (UASs). It thereby makes an empirical contribution to the debate on organizational actors in higher education. The investigation is informed by a theoretical framework primarily drawn from the literature on organizational actorhood and relies on data from semi-structured interviews. Representing all public UASs in Switzerland, the sample consists of 19 directors and 1 head of institutes of business schools and engineering schools. The analysis identified five problem themes and numerous solutions. The findings suggest that after almost 30 years of their inception, UASs have been utilizing their decision-making leeway to a great extent at the central and decentral levels, and in some cases are still in the process of solving the problems caused by integrating teaching and research activities at the individual and institutional levels. While various solutions in terms of structure, culture, and resources have been developed and implemented, isomorphic tendencies can also be observed. The data suggest that the common key to solving many problems lies in the human resources and a post-Humboldtian configuration of research and teaching.
1 Introduction
The higher education (HE) sector in Switzerland has been expanded and significantly restructured through reform initiatives over the last 30 years. One of the major aspects of these reforms was the creation of a non-traditional HE sector, which essentially consists of universities of applied sciences (UASs) and universities of teacher education (UTEs). Following the example of other European countries, albeit with a considerable time lag, former post-secondary vocational training and education institutions of regional significance were merged into HE institutions (HEIs) with an interregional significance and given a new legal mandate, which includes research. Before the reform, the institutional predecessors of UASs were teaching-only, a feature shared with other national educational systems (Griffioen, 2020). This study focuses on the problems that emerged with the adoption of the research mandate by UASs, and the solutions these HEIs developed in response and within the bounds of their organizational autonomy.
With the inception of UASs and UTEs in the late 1990s, Swiss HE was restructured into a binary system with research universities and non-traditional universities existing in parallel as “equivalent but different” HEIs according to the Swiss HE Act (HEdA) (Böckelmann, Probst, Wassmer & Baumann, 2021). The most important differences in terms of the profiles of the two types of Swiss HEIs are that research universities are science-oriented and supposed to conduct basic research, while non-traditional universities offer scientifically sound, practice-oriented, and professionally relevant education, and are involved in applied research (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation [SERI], 2016). Almost 30 years after the introduction of a binary HE system, the non-traditional HE sector in Switzerland educates about 40% of all HE students and UASs, the focus of this study, about 31% (Federal Statistical Office [FSO], 2022a). While research activities at the research universities generate 58.3% of their total costs (FSO, 2021), this proportion is 26.7% for UASs (FSO, 2022b).
Another difference between the two types of HEIs in Switzerland, with wide-ranging cultural and resource consequences, is the fact that non-traditional HEIs had to develop a research capacity. This need is typical for such institutions (Hazelkorn, 2005) and can be met by individual and institutional development improving skill levels and the ability to perform useful research (Grange, Herne, Casey, & Wordsworth, 2005). This process results in ambidextrous HEIs that rely on functionally ambidextrous lecturers who can effectively teach and conduct research. In addition, solutions for balancing the new mission of research with the long-standing mission of teaching must be found. Since the views in the literature on the relationship between research and teaching range from conflicting via neutral to synergetic (Cenamor, 2021), such solutions can potentially vary significantly. In Switzerland, this is an ongoing process in which UASs enjoy considerable leeway as organizational actors.
Providing the theoretical framework for this study, the concept of organizational actorhood implies that organizations “are freestanding, strategic and integrated actors imbued with rights and identities” (Zapp, Marques, & Powell, 2021, p. 539) and therefore autonomous decision-makers. As such, they can find their own solutions to the problems of developing and maintaining research capacity and organizing the teaching and research missions within the limits of state policies. It is argued that HEIs, as organizational actors, adopt internal structures and procedures that represent “more flexible and efficient ways of organizing academic work” (Pinheiro & Stensaker, 2014, p. 175) than previous institutional arrangements.
Krücken and Meier (2006) suggest that, from a conceptual point of view, the consequences of the diffusion of the new model of organizational actorhood for universities will be heterogeneous. Fumasoli, Barbato, and Turri (2020) come to a comparable finding. They describe that HEIs are subject to similar pressures and incentives in finding solutions, yet the process can result in unique outcomes as these actors simultaneously emulate relevant institutional templates and develop distinctive behaviors. This observation and the lack of empirical evidence regarding the non-traditional university sector lead to the two-part research question of this contribution:
What problems linked to lecturers and the teaching–research mission do Swiss UASs as former teaching-only institutions have, and what solutions have they found?
Being descriptive and explanatory in character, this study investigates the research question through semi-structured interviews with members of the top management of business and engineering schools of Swiss UASs. The analysis is intended to provide decision-makers and researchers with a better understanding of the empirical outcome when public HEIs with weak research traditions acting as organizational actors in a binary system have to find solutions to the tensions created by their teaching–research mission. The study also provides some insights into human resources management related initiatives, which have traditionally been less prioritized than structural and resource-related solutions in the transformation of HEIs into organizational actors (Pinheiro & Stensaker, 2014). Finally, the study contains some of the first empirical evidence for a post-Humboldtian shift in Swiss HE.
This contribution continues by situating the analysis through the presentation of its theoretical framework of organizational actorhood, along with some contextual information on Swiss UASs. In the subsequent section dedicated to the method, the data collection through semi-structured interviews is detailed, and the composition and construction of the sample are explained. This is followed by the description of the findings, which consist of the identified problem themes and the corresponding solutions. In a further section, the findings and some conceptual implications in light of the presented theory are discussed. The final section covers the limitations of the study and contains the concluding remarks.
2 Theoretical Framework and Context
In order to interpret and understand UASs’ shaping of the teaching–research mission and becoming functionally ambidextrous organizations, it is useful to draw on the concept of organizational actorhood. It helps in the balanced exploration of the interplay between environment and institutions (Zipparo, 2021). This section aims to provide some country-specific context and to demonstrate the applicability of the organizational actorhood model to Swiss UASs. Having done the latter, the analysis can focus on the problems and solutions themselves instead of how and why they were identified and/or developed. That is, solutions can be interpreted as the results of actions of goal-oriented entities deliberately choosing to solve problems that hinder goal attainment. Furthermore, the work by Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014), which provides the basis for identifying and describing in what areas organizational actorhood is enacted to solve the lecturer-related problems caused by the tensions between teaching and research, is discussed in this section.
Except for some institutions rooted in vocational education, research and teaching represent core activities for most publicly funded European HEIs (Deem, 2006). In Switzerland, they are mainly carried out by staff called “lecturers” for the purpose of the Swiss Higher Education Information System. While research associates can also have a role in teaching, lecturers, which include professors, represent the largest group carrying out the teaching–research mission at the micro-level of Swiss HEIs (e.g., FSO, 2022c). Therefore, they are the focus of this research.
Together with 14 legally independent UTEs, 1 private and 9 public UASs (SERI, 2023) form the non-traditional university sector in Switzerland. The fact that two UTEs exist as departments of UASs indicates the similarities between these HEIs. As direct successors of post-secondary vocational training and education institutions, they provide scientifically sound, practice-oriented, and up-to-date education with vocational relevance in their respective subject areas. While UASs educate professionals in engineering and information technologies, architecture, construction and planning, chemistry and life sciences, agriculture and forestry, business and services, design, health, social work, arts, applied psychology, applied linguistics, and sports, UTEs train teachers for the primary, lower-secondary, and baccalaureate levels. As the main admission requirement, UASs accept the vocational baccalaureate, while UTEs and research universities focus on the baccalaureate (SERI, 2023). While all Swiss HEIs award bachelor’s and master’s degrees, only research universities are allowed to award doctoral degrees.
Another difference between research universities and non-traditional HEIs in Switzerland is the diverging research resource allocation. As in other European countries with a binary HE system, public funding for research is concentrated in the traditional university sector (Jongbloed & Lepori, 2015). While most research activities at research universities are state-funded, researchers at UASs and UTEs have to attract third-party, project-based funds from external partners (de Weert & Berkens-Soo, 2009). This has consequences for the extent of research, research competence, and research output, which can also be found in the broader European context (Lepori & Kyvik, 2010). The final difference with consequences on who fulfills the teaching–research mission to be mentioned here is the unequal ratio of research assistants and associates to lecturers. For example, in 2021 it was 3.5 at research universities (FSO, 2022e) and a mere 0.7 at UASs (FSO, 2022c) and 0.3 at UTEs (FSO, 2022d). This indicates that lecturers in the non-traditional university sector can rely much less on mid-level staff in their daily work than university lecturers.
For the purpose of this study and its interviews, a broad understanding of research and teaching was adopted. The definition by Enders and Musselin (2008) reflects this well and states that “Teaching includes all activities linked to training, from teaching class, to preparing courses, organizing internships, using new technologies, conceiving e-learning curricula, tutoring groups, etc.” (p. 147), while research concerns experimentation, writing papers, technology transfer, project writing, networking, and similar activities (Enders & Musselin, 2008). This definition implies that some activities of the teaching–research mission overlap with the so-called “third mission” of HEIs, which often encompasses knowledge and technology transfer, continuing education, and social engagement in the literature (Pasternack, Schneider, & Zierold, 2015). As the concept of the third mission is still evolving or even “nebulous and ambiguous” (Compagnucci & Spigarelli, 2020, p. 18), delimiting the missions can be difficult. This study therefore pragmatically understands activities regarding knowledge and technology transfer, continuing education, and social engagement as being part of the third mission.
The configuration of research and teaching in HE has been a much-discussed matter in HE research over the last few decades (Tight, 2016). The extensive literature on the relationship of research and teaching does not present a homogeneous picture (Malcolm, 2014). There is a long-standing debate in Europe that goes back at least to the nineteenth century when von Humboldt and Newman presented their differing visions of the university (Deem, 2006). Contemporary debates often ignite or respond to policy concerns and stem from discussions about the idea of the university and HE, postwar research failing to find a relationship between research and teaching, and efforts to strengthen the linkages between the two areas (Tight, 2016). Positions in these debates state that research and teaching are either synergetic and positively related to each other, conflicting due to time scarcity, different skills, and different reward systems, or unrelated (Cenamor, 2021). Despite the lack of consensus regarding the link between research and teaching, research has been able to show that it is a pedagogic choice in HE “framed by layers of disciplinary, departmental, and institutional variation” (Malcolm, 2014, p. 296).
One such variation is found in the configuration of research and teaching. Schimank and Winnes (2000) offer a widely used analytical tool that distinguishes between three configurations. The Humboldtian configuration, probably best exemplified by German research universities, is characterized by little or no differentiation of roles and/or organizations and/or resources for teaching and research (Schimank & Winnes, 2000). Pre-Humboldtian HEIs are primarily devoted to teaching, and research is delegated to specialized institutions outside of the educational system, while post-Humboldtian HEIs are active in both areas and differentiate them at the level of roles of the staff, at the level of financial resources, and/or at the organizational level (Schimank & Winnes, 2000).
Swiss HEIs have some latitude in configuring their teaching–research mission. While, according to the latest HEdA, they have to be active in both areas, no legal obligations hold them to a specific way of fulfilling this. In finding solutions for the configuration of research and teaching, and other problems related to their mission, Swiss HEIs can be interpreted as organizational actors.
The organizational actorhood thesis suggests that HEIs behave as autonomous decision makers (Whitley, 2010) like organizations in other sectoral contexts, especially business corporations (Whitley, 2008a). Gaining traction toward the end of the twentieth century, the idea that universities should be more entrepreneurial and strategic when it comes to generating economic payoffs from public investment in academic research led to processes that increased control over their resources and entailed changes to the governance of HEIs (Whitley, 2010). Essentially, autonomy, accountability, and competition were emphasized (Seeber et al., 2015). Krücken and Meier (2006) depicted this globally observable transformation process in HE as the reconfiguration of HEIs into organizational actors that share the four features of accountability, autonomous goal definition, the creation of formal organizational structures around those goals, and professionalized university management.
Conceptually, organizational actorhood is accompanied by isomorphism. This process describes the impingement of the environment on organizations that results in similar solutions to similar problems (Bromley, 2016). In HE, this occurs through practices and ideas that emerge from HE contexts and permeate HEIs globally (Whitley, 2012). However, in the context of research universities, heterogeneous outcomes of the decisions of organizational actors have been shown conceptually (e.g., by Fumasoli et al., 2020) as well as empirically by Gornitzka and Maassen (2011). The latter have demonstrated that even under very similar conditions regarding traditions, values, and norms, solutions can differ considerably. For the context of UASs, however, empirical evidence is rare or non-existent.
When UASs entered the HE stage in Switzerland, the demands for “useful research” had already been established and the way science and HEIs were managed by federal and cantonal governments was changing under the influence of new public management principles (Benninghoff & Braun, 2010). From the onset of their existence as HEIs, UASs were embedded in a science system which Whitley (2008b) calls “state-delegated” or “state-chartered” (Benninghoff & Braun, 2010). Such systems essentially rely on state-delegated control over employment, resource allocation, and facilities to HEIs and scientific elites, while the state retains the ultimate authority over the nature and structure of HEIs, the award of qualifications, and some processes of resource allocation (Whitley, 2008b, pp. 18–19). Thus, Swiss HEIs enjoy a relatively high degree of autonomy as organizational actors in finding distinctive ways to fulfill their public remit. They share this characteristic with other post-reform European HEIs that commonly have some degree of autonomy as they adapt and interpret state directives (Musselin, 2009). The European University Association (2017, p. 190) classifies the autonomy of Swiss HEIs as “medium low” in organizational, “medium high” in financial and staffing, and “high” in academic terms.
According to Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014), university management has three key areas which need to be controlled in order to successfully change and adapt universities. These are culture, which concerns meanings, roles, and identities; structure, pertaining to the organization of people and work; and resources in the form of people and funding. These three areas provide the framework for categorizing the solutions the HEIs in the sample found as organizational actors in changing and adapting to the teaching–research mission. This seems appropriate, as Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014) investigated how academic work is newly organized by rationalizing structures and replacing procedures perceived as outdated with new ones that promise more flexibility and efficiency. They show mainly conceptionally that although HEIs are subject to “dominant global ideas, blueprints and/or archetypes at the (macro) level of the organizational field of HE” (p. 5), local arrangements and their consequences for the performance of HEIs can vary significantly due to contextual factors. In considering risks, opportunities, and rewards, HEIs acting as organizational actors facilitate processes of change and adaptation specific to their local context through the control of culture, structure, and resources. Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014) suggest that culture is the most difficult area to control because universities are known for their institutional persistence. According to the two authors, structural and resource-based changes are easier to implement because of their stronger link to strategic processes.
Through the case of a Danish research university, Pinheiro and Stensaker were also able to demonstrate that the central administration played a major role in initiating and implementing change. They interpret this as a tentative manifestation of the general trend of European universities becoming more unified organizational actors. This finding suggests that processes of change and adaptation at Swiss UASs should also be analyzed through this lens and led to a priori codes reflecting central/decentral aspects, of which only one regarding the primary initiator of the solution was used in the final analysis.
3 Method
3.1 Sample and Interview Procedure
To understand what lecturer-linked problems Swiss UASs have encountered in fulfilling the teaching–research mission as former teaching-only HEIs and how they have been solved, a qualitative approach was adopted. As cases, business and engineering schools were chosen because they have the longest histories as UASs in Switzerland (Graf, 2016) and therefore also the longest exposure to the tensions caused by the teaching–research mission and manifested in the area of human resources. Consequently, engineering and business schools, which are all organized as departments of multidisciplinary UASs, have had the longest time to find solutions to problems as organizational actors. They were also chosen for reasons of representativity since business and engineering represent the only subject areas that are found at every public Swiss UAS. Due to its relatively small size and specialized nature, the only state-accredited private UAS was not included in the sample.
Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. This form of interviewing was chosen because it allows for following leads as well as posing follow-up questions and permits the understanding of the experiences and contexts of the interviewees (Hill & Haigh, 2012) as they delve into how they perceive and solve the problems resulting from the inherent tensions between research and teaching. The sample, representing all public UASs in Switzerland, consists of 19 directors and one head of institutes standing in for a director who was appointed only shortly before the interview and did not have time to acquaint herself with the topics of the interview yet. The organizational actorhood approach understands HEIs as integrated organizations (Krücken & Meier, 2006), i.e., with some degree of unity at a central level. While the chosen interview partners were at a decentral level, they were directly connected to the center and implement centrally initiated measures. Through the narratives of the interviewees, it should therefore be possible to capture the degree to which solutions are initiated by the central administration and adapted by decentral units. This should also make it possible to identify subject area specific differences, as these are the result of decentral adaptations of solutions.
One of the UASs encompasses more than one business school and also several engineering schools. In two preliminary interviews with the persons coordinating the schools within these subject areas, a sample of interviewees was identified. Hereby the representativity of the schools for this organizationally complex UAS was the main criterion, while potential language barriers were also considered.
Directors at Swiss UASs are the heads of the departments that may include more than one subject area and contain the business schools and engineering schools. As such, directors hold the most senior management position of their departments and are ultimately responsible for their development. At the time of the interviews, the participants had been active in their roles from 12 months to 14 years and often had management or teaching positions in the predecessors of their employers. Table 1 presents an overview of the sample and, to provide some context, the full-time equivalent (FTE) represented by the lecturers, research associates, and assistants working for the organizational units headed by the interviewees, as well as the number of students.
Sample description
| UAS | Dept./School subject area | FTE | No. of studentsa at dept./schoolb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lecturers | Research associates and assistants | |||
| 1A | Engineering* | 147.3 | 132.1 | 1,323 |
| 1B | Business | 81.8 | 9.5 | 1,396 |
| 2A | Engineering* | 134.0 | 146.0 | 925 |
| 2B | Business | 41.1 | n.a. | 676 |
| 3A | Engineering | 62.1 | 109.0 | 383 |
| 3B | Business* | 83.8 | 86.3 | 822 |
| 4 | Business | 41.4 | 23.1 | 931 |
| 5 | Business | 62.5 | 79.3 | 1,666 |
| 6A | Engineering | 192.4 | 137.7 | 1,966 |
| 6Bc | Business | 172.3 | 31.8 | 3,763 |
| 7A | Engineering* | 134.4 | 207.0 | 1,524 |
| 7B | Business | 187.4 | 39.5 | 2,702 |
| 8A | Engineering | 93.1 | 181.2 | 1,723 |
| 8B | Business* | 49.9 | 16.1 | 1,564 |
| 9A | Engineering | 134.1 | 259.1 | 1,705 |
| 9B | Business | 75.9 | 11.7 | 982 |
| 10A | Engineering | 39.9 | 10.9 | 471 |
| 10B | Business | 95.2 | 38.5 | 1,531 |
| 11A | Engineering | 203.7 | 275.7 | 2,468 |
| 11B | Business | 257.3 | 173.0 | 8,532 |
* = Multidisciplinary department. a = Does not include students in continuing education courses with less than 60 ECTS. b = Academic year 2021/22, sources: for nos. 4–5, HE-Arc (2022)/HES-SO Genève (2022), for nos. 1; 6–11, FSO (2022f), for nos. 2 and 3, personal communication with author. c = Head of institutes as interviewee.
Before the interviews were conducted, all interviewees were informed about the research project and its aims. They were assured that participation was voluntary, and that their answers would be kept anonymous and confidential. The interviews, which were conducted individually, lasted between 50 and 90 min. Due to the restrictive measures against the Covid-19 pandemic, part of the interviews took place online, while another part was conducted in a location chosen by the participants.
An interview guide was used to ensure consistency with the themes identified as important to the research question in the literature (Brewster et al., 2015). Regarding the usage and structure of the interview guide, the recommendations of Mason (2004) and Mertens (2009) were followed. The interviews were structured into five sections that addressed the current organization of individual research, teaching and third mission activities, the individual and institutional problems caused by the teaching–research mission and their solutions, how the competences of lecturers are ensured, and the origin of the idea that UASs should combine research and teaching. To gather clarifications, examples, and details, follow-up questions were asked. With the help of digital recordings of the interviews, verbatim transcripts were written and then subjected to thematic analysis, which identifies, analyzes, and reports patterns, i.e., themes within data, according to Braun and Clarke (2006).
3.2 Analysis
Within the methodological frame of thematic analysis, the investigation presented in this study principally followed an a priori theoretical orientation suggested by Creswell (1998). With this approach, which grounded theorists like Charmaz (1990, p. 1162) might call “more traditional logical-deductive,” the research question, data collection through the interviews, and the initial coding system were influenced by existing theories and knowledge. The deductive codes resulting from this theoretical orientation concerned the areas of control regarding the problems and solutions, the problem themes “configuration of the individual teaching–research mission” and “practice requirement,” and whether solutions were initiated from the central administration or decentral units of the UASs in the sample. The search for other concepts and passages illustrating specific themes capturing “something important in relation to the overall research” (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p. 82) led to the development of additional codes, which introduced an inductive element to the analysis. Thus, the codes for the solutions per se and the remaining problem themes of “research and teaching competences and qualifications’”, “establishing a research track through the acquisition of research projects and risk aversion,” and “academization vs practice-orientation” were developed inductively. Complementary contextual codes for organizational characteristics, such as size, subject area, and institutional profile, were also developed in order to build a basis for comparisons. For this purpose, information was gathered from the HEIs’ websites, if the interviewees did not mention it.
The coding work per se was done with the help of the ATLAS.ti software. Primarily, the inductive search for themes and, to a lesser extent, the development of the contextual codes followed the NCT model introduced by Seidel (1998). It offers an iterative and recursive process consisting of “Noticing,” i.e., finding interesting things in the data, “Collecting” similar issues, and “Thinking” about what has been noticed and about patterns and relations in the data (Friese, 2019, p. 109). The analysis thereby focused on what was said during the interviews instead of how it was said.
As a first step, the author read and re-read the interview transcripts, identifying all statements in which interviewees refer to problems linked to lecturers and the teaching–research mission or their solutions in an implicit or explicit way. In a second step, the statements regarding solutions were coded with one of the three key areas that are important for the university management to control, as suggested by Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014) and described above. Next a within-category analysis was conducted to find patterns and similarities which were used for drawing descriptive conclusions on the variations within the main categories and between the HEIs.
The final categories were the result of the coding process conducted by the author, who manually repeated the coding procedure to provide stability, as suggested by Krippendorff (2004). In order to establish a degree of reproducibility or intersubjective agreement in a single investigator situation, two HE researchers independently checked the a priori coding of several transcripts. Differences between the author and the code checkers concerned two solutions and their categories reflecting the areas of control identified by Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014). As these areas are not entirely unambiguous, such differences were not unexpected and both were related to the question of whether the solutions are structural or resource-based. The differences were analyzed and used to improve the code definitions. This led to the re-coding of one of the solutions in question. Additionally, all translations of quotes were verified by a further HE researcher proficient in English and German.
4 Findings
Overall, five main themes regarding the problems related to lecturers and the teaching–research mission were identified in the interview data. These themes provide the structure for this section at the first level. They are briefly described based on evidence from the transcripts and exemplified through quotes where possible. Following each problem theme, the specific solutions and their decentral or central nature, as narrated by the interviewees and understood as manifestations of organizational actorhood, are presented. The three areas proclaimed to be important for the control of change and adaptation by Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014) provide the structure for the solutions. Even though the problem themes are all related to lecturers and are thus resource-based, they often overlap with the areas of structure and culture. This also applies to the solutions and attributing them to one area of control cannot be done unambiguously in every case. Table 2 provides an overview of the identified problem themes, along with the solutions and the associated areas of control.
Overview of the problem themes and areas of control of the solutions
| Area of control and identified solution | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Identified problem theme | Resources | Structure | Culture |
| Research and teaching competences and qualifications |
|
|
External accreditation as a justification for the restructuring of lecturer body |
| Practice requirement | Building practice experience, hiring from neighboring countries, and relying on contractors | ||
| Configuration of individual teaching and research activities | Differentiating lecturers through personnel categories | ||
| Establishing a research track through the acquisition of research projects and risk aversion |
|
||
| Academization vs practice-orientation | Embrace academization | ||
4.1 Research and Teaching Competences and Qualifications
A clearly identifiable problem caused by the teaching–research mission, reported by virtually all interviewees, is that many lecturers have to be competent in both areas. In particular, the research competence has been described as increasingly crucial because “One can’t improvise oneself as researcher anymore” (8B). At the same time, interviewees acknowledge that “the best researchers are not necessarily the best teachers” (4). As an additional difficulty, the professional orientation of UASs entails that lecturers need a solid professional experience in order to convey current knowledge and practices to students who want to apply the lessons in their occupations. This problem is treated in a separate section below. However, the data show that this requirement favors professionals without teaching qualifications and a weak research competence. In combination with the fact that most university graduates with research skills are not qualified teachers either, UASs are often confronted with a situation in which they have to decide between practice-oriented lecturers with weak teaching and research skills or research-oriented university graduates with weak teaching skills and little practical professional experience.
Several participants mentioned the detrimental effect of the absence of the right to award doctorates on the presence of research competence at their HEIs. Unlike research universities, UASs cannot directly create a supply of research affine young academics matching their specific requirements. This situation is aggravated by two factors. First, most participants reporting this problem acknowledge that UASs lack the critical mass of master’s graduates in order to efficiently run doctoral programs, even if they had the right. Second, several participants from both school types expressed their doubts about whether each UAS on its own terms could shoulder the financial and organizational burden of doctoral education. Nevertheless, the majority of interviewees representing business schools would welcome the right to award PhDs. This is in contrast to the directors of engineering schools, who were of the opinion that this right was not needed.
4.1.1 Resource-Based Solutions
4.1.1.1 Prioritization of Research Competence
A solution used by the majority of schools, regardless of the subject matter, is that they prioritize research qualification and competence over teaching when hiring new lecturers. The prioritization takes place within the scope of recruiting processes that are a decentral responsibility and is justified by the perception that teaching competence is easier to acquire than research competence. The following quotations illustrate this:
This has always been an important point [in recruiting]. What do the research activities of new lecturers look like? What do they want to research? In what direction? What’s the potential for acquisitions and of the network? Ultimately, these are very important criteria for the selection of applicants. We clearly steer in this direction. […] I would say that it is easier for a good researcher to acquire teaching competence, to which we also attach great importance. For example, with our certificate [in HE didactics] and our internal continuing education. We take our student survey very seriously in this respect. This is easier for our institution than the alternative, i.e., developing people with no or little experience in research. (11A)
Last year, I hired a lecturer who came to us just because he can do research here. That’s his motivation, to do research and provide services. Teaching, of course he does that too, but there are varying aspirations; one has to look at that in a multifaceted way. (10B)
The prioritization of research over teaching competence at the time of hiring goes hand in hand with a clear tendency to recruit PhDs at virtually all schools in the sample. The PhD quota among newly hired lecturers is described as up to 90%. Among lecturers in general, it is lower, and 50% was frequently mentioned. However, the quota at engineering schools seems to depend on the industry specialization of the lecturers, with some areas where PhDs are still a clear minority. Some participants also emphasized the need for PhDs in teaching at the master’s level, as exemplified below:
Well, the trend goes definitely in that direction [of hiring PhDs]. I don’t think it is a must, but I am of the opinion that a dissertation is a useful additional form of education to the master’s degree or a diploma. And since in teaching we always have a ‘plus one’ rule, a dissertation is required for broadly utilizing people and that they can teach at the master’s level. I think this is appropriate for a UAS. (9B)
4.1.1.2 Increasing the Levels of Competences
A further, more broadly applied measure to build and maintain research capacity, which is pursued by all schools, is strengthening the competences of lecturers, thereby improving human resources. While all participants report that research competence can be acquired through internal continuing education courses, a majority of schools also employ sabbaticals and individual continuing education budgets ‒ in some cases described as “generous” (10B; 11A/B) ‒ for this purpose. While these measures are initiated and provided with resources at the central level, they are determined and carried out at the decentral level. Several interviewees reported that lecturers and their superiors determine together whether such qualification measures are necessary and jointly monitor the progress.
Less diverse solutions regarding the teaching competence were given an account of. Apart from declaring teaching experience as a desirable trait during recruiting processes and offering help through didactics coaches, all interviewees described their schools as relying on formally qualifying the many lecturers who enter the schools without a teaching background. Universally, schools require lecturers to go through some sort of teacher training organized and coordinated through central means. In many cases, there is a reliance on structured continuing education programs amounting to a minimum of ten ECTS points and called Certificates of Advanced Studies (CAS). While most schools will cover the fees for this, lecturers have to complete it during their spare time. As one of the interview participants put it:
Concerning didactics, there are programs at the level of [UAS] that are well-made. Lecturers have to follow a certain teaching track. Either they have already completed something, or they follow the track of [UAS]. It’s 15 days, which are not an entirety but more or less correspond to a CAS and are very helpful. We can see, when we hire somebody from the field or from research – both have this problem – didactically, they are mostly not very good, and these 15 days really help. (2A)
4.1.2 Structure-Based Solutions
4.1.2.1 Phase-Out of Non-Research Affine Lecturers
Despite efforts to qualify lecturers for research work, a significant number of the interview participants, all from business schools, reported that they have given up on qualifying later-career lecturers that lack research competence. Instead, this decentralized solution uses structures that allow them to be assigned tasks that are not directly related to research but are rather part of the third mission. While several interviewees admitted that this would lead to a “two-tier society” (11B), the problem is clearly perceived to be “transitional” (4), as the natural fluctuation in the body of lecturers continually reducing the number of older, less qualified lecturers. The following quotation represents this stance and the fact that older, non-research affine lectures are tasked with third mission activities:
As mentioned, I still have these older lecturers who don’t meet [the requirement to teach and do research]. In one institute, I have relatively many people who predominantly teach. So, they can sometimes do consulting, but there is little research going on. Consulting is also part of the knowledge and technology transfer mission. It’s a certain compromise we’ve made for them. (10B)
4.1.2.2 Team-Based Research
Another tendency visible in the interview data is the quite common reference to the facilitation of more team-based research at the decentral level. This brings the research mission to the institutional level and combines the practice-orientation and research competence of several lecturers, akin to an “orchestra” with “musicians that have to get to know each other” (9A), as the quote below illustrates:
But one of the two areas [of practice and research] has to be present in depth in everyone. And then, it absolutely works that competences are combined. Someone who intimately knows the current practice and others who are scientifically up to date. (7B)
Team-based research allows competences that might not be present in a single lecturer to be pooled and also facilitates the acquisition of third-party funded research projects. Lecturers with strong theoretical backgrounds but weak industry ties can rely on colleagues with strong networks but weak research competences to reach out to potential project partners. In turn, scientific rigor can be guaranteed to project partners. This is important, as they are often small to medium enterprises that are not primarily focused on research activities and would find it challenging to establish scientific credibility on their own. Team-based research entails that lecturers are “no longer automatically project leaders” (9A) and suitable project structures have to be found.
4.1.2.3 Informal and Formal PhD-Structures
Another avenue that is detectable mainly in the data of business schools, with only one smaller exponent being the exception, is that structures for lecturers willing to pursue a PhD, and thus increase their research competence, were created at a decentral level. Although Swiss UASs are not allowed to award doctoral degrees, informal and formal arrangements are widely used by both types of schools to offer master’s students and graduates working as assistants a perspective. Especially business schools extend this possibility to lecturers and also research associates with the potential to become lecturers. Such employees are supported to varying degrees in pursuing a PhD while working at the same time. This form of qualifying employees, who sometimes “even at the age of 50 really like to start a PhD” (8B), is perceived as more advantageous than hiring young PhDs with a university background, who often lack the required practical experience. Two exemplary quotations represent the solution:
With the somewhat younger candidates, we clarify whether they have a research interest or research experience. If so, the question “Are you going to do a PhD?” arises sooner or later. This is in the sense of personal development or of a PhD as advancement. Doctoral sponsorship, as you might know it. In a way, this is a form of academization, but not in the sense of a university academization, […] but in the sense of a continuing development, of securing faculty development. (6B)
We have a PhD program that financially supports doctoral candidates. On the one hand, with time and on the other hand, with cash for travel expenses and publications. (11B)
While some schools rely on formal agreements with Swiss research universities, informal and formal agreements with universities from other countries seem to dominate. Participants justify this solution with the universally reported suboptimal cooperation between Swiss research universities and UASs, the latter being described as “permanently in the role of the supplicant” (7B). Each UAS tries to find ways around this problem with their PhD-structures, often on an ad-hoc basis and “relying on personal contacts” (3B), which underlines the decentral nature of the solution.
4.1.3 Culture-Based Solution
4.1.3.1 External Accreditation as a Justification for the Restructuring of the Lecturer Body
A clear difference in the interview data between subject areas is the strategic use of international accreditations by business schools as a tool to shape the prevalence of competence in the body of lecturers. One prestigious and globally active association was particularly frequently mentioned in connection with this subject area-specific solution at the decentral level of UASs. While three of the larger schools have already completed the process, three more were undergoing their first accreditation by this association at the time of the interviews. Interviewees narrated that the accreditation criteria represent a strong exogenous influence on their expectations regarding the qualifications and academic performance of lecturers and limits the recruitment of personnel with little research competence. Accreditation criteria are integrated into individual performance agreements and formulated as medium-term goals, such as “One publication in an A-level journal every five years” (11A). The effect of accreditations is illustrated by the following quote:
For quite a while during the [global nonprofit accreditation association] accreditation process, we had the challenge of meeting the quota for scholarly academics with a doctorate and a sufficient research performance. In order to meet the quota, we had a clear focus on PhDs when hiring. However, with the very explicit target that this is not permanent. The point was to change the percentages of PhDs and the other lecturers. (7B)
4.2 Difficult Recruiting due to Practice Requirement
The other competence-related problem frequently mentioned in the context of the dual mission of UASs is the difficult recruiting due to the practice requirement for lecturers. Typically, new lecturers should have gained prior professional experience outside of the HE sector over a meaningful period. Depending on the UAS, 3–5 years are the minimum given by the interviewees. One of the common issues resulting from this requirement is the fact that potential candidates often have had long and successful careers in their respective industries, which is reflected in their salaries. This creates a situation in which UASs compete with the private sector. Virtually all interviewees described this difficulty in recruiting suitable lecturers, as illustrated here:
The bigger problem [than the high workload] is that, for example, in electrical engineering, we got stuck several times during the recruitment process. Simply because there were no suitable candidates. The good ones, that is, engineers in big, interesting R&D projects tackling exciting challenges, have different kinds of renumerations in the industry, and it’s very hard to find people. (2A)
And if the ideal candidate exists, he doesn’t come to us because of the wage level we have. So, from that, the ideal candidate does not exist. (4)
4.2.1 Resource-Based Solutions
4.2.1.1 Building Practice Experience, Hiring from Neighboring Countries, and Relying on Contractors
Regarding the practice requirement, which enables a practice-orientation that interviewees described as the “unique selling proposition” (2B) of UASs, the data reveal a variety of solutions in conjunction with hiring practices pursued at the decentral level that cannot be pinned on the type of school represented in the sample. From a clear but not unimportant minority of interviewees, one solution appeared. It consists of hiring young PhDs or master’s graduates “that don’t have direct industry experience” (8A) as scientific staff and developing them through the exposure to practice in major applied research projects and third mission activities, such as services. This solution also implies that the practice requirement is redefined and that “practice experience can be gained on the job in research and service projects” (3B). Gaining practical experience this way may require many years. A faster solution that is also reportedly practiced by most schools is to hire candidates from surrounding countries like “Germany, Italy, France” (11A) that “have lower wage levels” (10B) than Switzerland.
A further solution to the requirement of teaching current and practice-oriented course content is to rely on external lecturers who are not employed by the schools but instead teach as individual contractors. Business schools in particular make extensive use of such freelance teachers, who are often highly specialized practitioners in their fields. Several participants described that they outnumber the lecturers on a permanent and fixed-term basis at the bachelor’s level. Usually, such lecturers have a teaching load below 20% of an FTE and are exempted from the requirement to do research. As some interviewees remarked, such external lecturers also offer the advantage that schools can part quickly with them when their expertise or time is no longer needed. They fulfill a role as an “adjustment variable” (4) at the decentral level.
4.3 Configuration of Individual Teaching and Research Activities
Relying on an open admission system in a mass HE system, teaching cannot be postponed or only partially fulfilled by Swiss UASs. The resulting primacy of teaching, coupled with high teaching loads, is universally reported to be a problem for lecturers who are also supposed to do research. Growing student numbers contribute to the severity of the problem in the eyes of business school directors. Several interview participants from both types of schools lament the lack of teaching assistants who could provide some relief for lecturers involved in time-consuming research. This is also perceived as a disadvantage compared to research universities. Only one business school participant reported providing teaching assistants to lecturers. In general, lecturers are therefore severely limited in the possibility of meaningfully engaging in research. As two participants put it:
We continue to have this dilemma between time for teaching and time for research, and the good researchers are not always satisfied that they don’t get the research time they wish for. I regret that, but somebody has to teach, and I don’t want somebody who just reels off the content of the curriculum. (11B)
The second issue that we have due to the dual mission and the lacking possibility to have substitutes for lecturers, like professors at universities with assistants, is that this leads to very full schedules, and then one has to do research between 2.30 and 4 pm. That is very demanding! (9B)
A less frequent but nevertheless typical problem described by several interviewees is that research affine lecturers conduct research outside of their paid time. The lack of or limited funding provided by third parties and the schools prompt them to work more hours than contractually agreed, as otherwise they would have to do less research. This leads to cases of research being conducted at least partially in the spare time of lecturers. While in the short run, this behavior sometimes facilitates research for UASs and is tolerated, many participants admit that it creates frustration and needs to be limited.
At the same time, tendencies for avoiding research and striving for teaching dominated work portfolios ‒ described by several interviewees as a “flight” ‒ seem to be an almost universal problem that has to be addressed. This problem is caused by the fewer risks and uncertainties of teaching activities compared to research work at UASs. Participants from both subject areas raised this problem with a similar frequency:
My problem is the flight into teaching. So, people like to teach, and in teaching, they can plan their whole year by January. They know they will get a certain amount of ECTS in the spring and fall, and then they are happy. They have planning dependability. In research, they never know if they can get into a project, for instance. (10A)
The funding for teaching is totally secured, and the organization of a daily routine is much easier. […] The risk is that the ones with a dual profile suddenly realize that it is more comfortable to be active in teaching only. (8B)
4.3.1 Structure-Based Solution
4.3.1.1 Differentiating Lecturers Through Personnel Categories
In the interview data, one theme regarding the solution to the problems linked to the configuration of the teaching–research mission has clearly come to light as dominant. Instead of expecting every lecturer to be active in research and teaching, interview participants described the introduction of personnel categories at the central level of their UASs in order to regulate differing requirements to be active in the two areas. The number of categories already in use ranges from two to six. Generally, they include one or more categories without research requirement and several categories with graduates increases in the expected time spent on research activities. The business and engineering schools of at least two UASs have even introduced categories for pure researchers that are ranked above mid-level staff.
The more differentiated categorization simplifies the recruitment of new lecturers and makes it possible to link wages to categories of lecturers with different individual configurations of the teaching–research mission. Thus, the higher risks and stress involved in research can be incentivized. Several interviewees stressed that research and teaching require different mindsets in the context of UASs. In the words of one director, “teaching is farming and research, that’s hunting.” (2A). Differentiated lecturer categories facilitate the recruitment of employees with the right preferences and reduce the phenomenon of “flight into teaching.”
Only one UAS in the sample started its institutional life with differentiated lecturer categories. However, over the years, it has become common practice to create categories with differing requirements, and Swiss UASs are at various stages and maturity levels. Only two larger UASs with a single lecturer category remain. However, according to their directors, they are in the process of introducing new categories through reforms initiated at the central level, which should be completed within the next few years. Since “it simply isn’t realistic to expect all lecturers to do research” (7B), the business school of one of these UASs has already introduced a category for lecturers without a research requirement on its own terms. Several participants also described that they have used categories defined by the central administration of their HEIs and complemented these with additional ones. This indicates that the centralized solution can allow adjustments at the decentral level. The differentiation and categorization of lecturers are illustrated by these quotations:
Well, basically, there’s a framework provided by [UAS] called the ‘new typology of teaching and research personnel’. And in there, teaching-oriented lecturers are clearly defined. […] Then there are assistant, associated, and full professors, just like at universities. And here, we were a bit inspired by [a canton] and have two levels of teaching-oriented lecturers. We have those that really just teach and then go home, and then we have a higher wage group for those who take on certain tasks in continuing education, the administration, or are regularly doing research without being a project manager. They receive a wage supplement. It’s not enormous, but still approximately 500 Swiss Francs per month. (4)
[…] because of the constraints in the real world, we understand that if people would like to do research, they have to specialize in research. And so, because of that, we have these different categories. (5)
4.4 Establishing a Research Track and Risk Aversion
The interview participants, especially the ones from engineering schools, emphasize that the applied nature of the research connects lecturers with up-to-date scientific and technological developments and keeps lecturers in touch with the real world, which enables them to teach relevant, updated, and practice-oriented content. However, the low levels of research funds force UASs to require lecturers to find funds. Since “the grapes don’t grow into your mouth” (2A), entrepreneurial skill and motivation are needed, which is described as problematic by a number of participants from both types of schools. New lecturers are reported to often experience difficulties in acquiring research projects and establishing a research track. This can be the result of the above-mentioned problems regarding competences. More importantly, this can also be caused by a weak network in a specific research area or by time constraints when newly appointed lecturers have to develop their teaching while at the same time being obliged to start doing research.
However, the interview data show that difficulties in acquiring research projects and establishing research tracks are frequently the consequence of the risk aversion of newly appointed and established lecturers alike. Even though participants assure that lecturers rarely have to face reprimands or other negative impacts on their careers due to research projects gone awry, they seem to fear personal consequences if, e.g., they cannot stay on budget or schedule. As the data suggest, building the right “culture of solidarity and shared risks” (2A) to combat this problem has not been broadly concluded in a successful manner. The following two quotations represent aspects of this problem theme:
In research, there is always a certain amount of risk involved and projects have to be acquired. At UASs, it’s really the case that you have to generate funds for 50% of your research time. Simply because we have very low levels of internal research funds, and this does cause a certain stress. (1B)
It is really noticeable that [the risks involved in research] generate a lot of stress, especially for lecturers that have a whole team around them. They are the breadwinners of their teams, put bluntly. […] And that creates a lot, a whole lot of pressure to perform, I have to say. […] In principle, a tenured lecturer has something like a small business that needs to be managed. It’s not much different from the carpenter, who has 15 employees and also needs to secure deals. (3B)
4.4.1 Structure-Based Solutions
4.4.1.1 Team-Based Research and Expansion of Mid-Level Staff
While some schools seem to rely on financial incentives to motivate lecturers to take risks in finding research projects, a majority of the interviewees explained that they try to emphasize teamwork in research. While this does not necessarily take the pressure of the acquisition off lecturers, it distributes the workload and, as described above, competence requirements. Several participants from both types of schools mentioned that this would also bring the individual research mission to an institutional level, e.g., a team, an institute, or an organizational unit below that.
The emphasis on teamwork and the consequential division of labor are essentially made possible through a substantially expanded mid-level staff at the decentral level, as many interviewees reported. While lecturers remain the main drivers in the acquisition of projects, research assistants and associates support them in writing proposals and by doing much of the hands-on research work. As one of the participants put it:
Increasingly, it is the lecturers who make acquisitions and then it is the assistants who do the actual research. That was certainly not the case when I started as a lecturer 15 years ago. I did a lot of research by myself. (4)
The expansion of the mid-level staff is done through recruiting younger PhDs with a thorough methodological know-how or master’s graduates who are motivated to write a dissertation in the short to mid-term, as described above. The establishment of this solution at the decentral level results in a varied picture. While one engineering school goes as far as providing a personal research assistant to lecturers with important research responsibilities, most engineering school interviewees recount a ratio of one lecturer to two to four assistants, and one described, “My company rules are […] two to five research assistants per lecturer. Either his or her own or pooled in an institute setting. That adds up; that’s what works.” (9A)
Several interviewees stressed that the division of labor between lecturers and mid-level staff also has financial advantages. The hourly wage rates of lecturers make exploratory research, as well as labor-intensive methods, expensive, and the involvement of mid-level staff brings project costs down.
4.4.1.2 Grace Periods and Internal Funding for New Research-Active Lecturers
To address the specific problems newly appointed lecturers face, several interviewees explicitly mentioned that newcomers with research obligations get a grace period of several years to establish themselves and come up with meaningful third-party funded projects. The solution appears to be a central directive linked to personnel categories, and depending on the UAS, 2–6 years seem to be deemed necessary for this purpose. A minority of interviewees also described structures within spending powers at the decentral level that provide initial aid in the funding of research conducted by newly appointed lecturers and the subsequent preparation of academic publications through earmarked internal funds.
So, [newly appointed lecturers] have this pressure, this pressure of the acquisition. Somebody who is just teaching certainly doesn’t have that. That’s certainly a challenge for [the management of the school]. That’s why we created this incentive with this performance-focused support, which gives me a certain amount of latitude if I am a new researcher. (10B)
4.5 Academization vs Practice-Orientation
In general, interviewees described that academization to various degrees was necessary for building a research capacity, which is then the basis for an institutional research profile. Frequently, the melding of the two opposing forces of academization and practice-orientation has been reported as challenging. This is not only a problem at the level of lecturers but also has reputational aspects because stakeholders in the form of politicians and students react to a perceived outcome.
On the political level, the interviews reveal that, especially in the more peripheral UASs, participants face criticism from politicians and other stakeholders supporting strong vocational education. They perceive the academic drift as an obstacle to the successful professional qualification of highly employable graduates, who are often seen as the key success factor of the Swiss economy. In acknowledging that academization really is a problem at some UASs, a number of directors explained that these political discussions have consequences for the acquisition of research and service projects, as many entrepreneurs no longer consider UASs fitting partners, as illustrated by this quotation:
[The shift to more academic lecturers] is a problem and I think one really has to be careful who we send out there to provide services and find research partners. UASs have made mistakes in this respect. And then we lose our unique selling proposition of ‘practical relevance’, I can already feel that sometimes. It’s because all UASs are lumped together. (2B)
Closely related to this is the tension between the teaching of more theory-driven academics and students’ expectations. The latter can perceive lecturers as too theoretical or too distant from practice and then conclude that the curricula do not align with their primary interest in work-related matters.
Another problem created by the general trend of academization is that lecturers with an academic background are oriented toward academic performance measures. Several interviewees explained that the visibility of applied research is difficult to establish for such lecturers. One reason, which seems to be more prevalent in engineering schools, is that many projects are accompanied by “thick non-disclosure agreements” (11A). Increasingly, this visibility is especially important for business schools striving for an international accreditation. However, this creates another tension because the transfer of academic research to teaching is not always possible:
At a school of management, this is not easy. If you really look at it closely, the link between teaching and research is not so clear. I have many good researchers. They do research and they also teach. But what they do research on can’t really be communicated in teaching. […] One can research certain topics in accounting, for instance. But this isn’t transferred to bachelor students. (4)
4.5.1 Culture-Based Solution
4.5.1.1 Embrace Academization
The interview data suggest that at the level of lecturers, academization is mainly perceived as a generational problem. Lecturers who do not like the way UASs are developing and either think that practice-orientation is not emphasized enough or that the research requirement is an unnecessary burden for practice-oriented lecturers are reported to be older and to have a weak academic identity. Therefore, these lecturers will gradually disappear and be replaced by more research affine lecturers. The quotation below exemplifies the solution:
Over time, this will resolve itself quite mechanically, also due to the new appointments. […] The problem exists primarily due to older lecturers who were suddenly told that they have to do this and that and never delivered. So, I would say a tension still exists, but it’s declining. (4)
A common solution to the sub-problems of defining relevant research and successfully combining the academic drift with practice-orientation is to embrace academization. Not all schools in the sample seem to do this to the same degree. Particularly larger ones seem to pursue it within the scope of decentral HR policies and accept it as a condition for successfully fulfilling the teaching–research mission more readily than smaller ones. The fact that certain research is not transferable to teaching is thereby accepted. Especially business schools that are trying to get accredited have to adopt this stance to a certain degree:
I take it as a compliment. We are academic! […] I am a strong proponent of academization as long as two conditions are met: we primarily accept students with a vocational baccalaureate […] and our research helps to improve practice. So, please, let us work. What happens here is our concern and if we want to be internationally competitive, we have to be academized. That’s good, after all, we are a higher education institution. The goal of our school is to be among the 50 best-ranked business schools in the world within the next ten years or so. […] This requires top publications and mentions in the international media. And that new things are explored, not just consulting services on a higher level. (11B)
One important aspect of embracing academization is winning research grants awarded by Swiss and international funding agencies and carrying out academically prestigious projects. Typically, such projects are the realm of research universities and confront UASs with financial problems because project leaders at UASs are not financed through the grants. Nevertheless, the practice supports the building of a long-term research capacity for all types of schools in the sample by attracting lecturers who are research affine. However, the interview data indicate that smaller schools are “very selective” (10B) and generally show more restraint in venturing into such projects. While they are pursued “for reputational reasons” (4) or because the overall strategy of the UAS demands it, only select lecturers are expected to conduct prestigious research because “Not everyone can handle something like that” (9B). The following quotes exemplify the differing approaches to such research for smaller and larger schools, respectively. The second quote also illustrates that the driver for embracing academization can be at the central level. However, most UASs undergo academization because it is important for strategic purposes at the decentral level.
We have a few lecturers who are supposed to try to secure National Science Foundation projects; they number three people. And we have the other lecturers that are more active in services and Innosuisse projects, so, work more with businesses. […] So, from that point of view, we have engaged certain profiles that can do National Science Foundation projects. But we, as the business school, are not the drivers in this; it comes from the [UAS]. (4)
I don’t place any restrictions on what kind of research projects are acquired. […] But I push for SNSF and EU projects. That’s research for the long term; with that, we can better build long-term capacities. Thus, our school has become very attractive to strong researchers, and everybody here feels that research has a very high significance. (11B)
5 Discussion
The interview data suggest that the global isomorphic trends shaping HEIs, as described by Whitley (2012), can also be found on a national level. The solutions, although not always found in all interviews, are only exceptionally unique for a single school or UAS.
Overall, few problems regarding teaching become evident in the interview data. The history of Swiss UASs suggests that their teaching culture is firmly established, and the financing mechanisms seem to guarantee that the human and financial resources for the teaching mission are relatively abundant. Teaching is most often reported as difficult to combine with research work. This is a well-known structural problem in HE research.
The data suggest that most of the problem themes tackled within the scope of the organizational actorhood of the sampled UASs are addressed through measures from one area of control. However, the theme of research and teaching competences and qualifications seems to require a combination of measures from all three areas of control that Pinheiro and Stensaker (2014) have identified. While teaching competence is still valued by the management of the schools in the sample and lecturers are required at the central level to obtain teaching qualifications, the interviews revealed that PhDs are often preferred for lecturer positions because they possess the much valued and increasingly important research competence. Less research competent lecturers and also mid-level staff are given the opportunity to improve their skills through support structures such as continued education courses and PhD sponsorships. Lecturers are also encouraged to participate in team-based research in order to bundle competences which might not be present in a single person. This solution could contribute to human resource development if properly applied. However, less research affine lecturers, often in the end phase of their careers due to their age, do no longer seem to fit UASs. One solution is to task them with third mission activities, such as consulting, as they slowly disappear into retirement or become the exception because UASs are reluctant to employ them. This leads to a restructuring of the body of lecturers, for which international accreditations appear to be an additional legitimate justification at the decentral level in the case of business schools. The development of a temporal two-tier system appears to have been accepted.
The difficulties of finding mission-critical lecturers meeting the practice requirement are tackled mainly through resource-based means by UASs. One solution emerging at the decentral level and in accordance with decentralized responsibilities is to broaden the base from which suitable human resources are recruited. In part, this is done by frequently hiring lecturers from neighboring countries. In another part, the use of external contractors for teaching assignments, rather than employing lecturers with the same level of practice-orientation on a permanent or fixed-term basis, contributes to minimizing the problem. Business schools seem to make more use of this solution. Engineering schools tend to rely more on employed lecturers who are also involved in research projects to connect their students with the current practice. The interviewed engineering school directors all described how important this function of research was for up-to-date teaching and several also emphasized it as a key differentiator from HEIs on the other side of the binary divide. One important contributing factor to business schools’ greater reliance on external lecturers could be the third solution of broadening the base for finding human resources. Business schools have been recruiting younger PhDs with little relevant practical business experience to enhance their research capability, a practice that was already described by Lepori (2008). These academics are allowed to gain relevant practical experience by conducting research and through third mission activities. One result of this practice might be the slow but profound redefinition of the practice requirement, which is a strong cultural component of Swiss UAS and their vocational mission.
The configuration of individual teaching and research activities is a persistent problem at Swiss UASs. The dominant solution appears to be the structuring of lecturers into a number of categories that are prescribed at the central level of UASs and are tied to different requirements regarding teaching and research activities. Thus, lecturers are no longer only in principle expected to be engaged in both missions. While one UAS started with such a differentiated body of lecturers, the other participants described the rather recent introduction of or current push for more than one personnel category for lecturers. The differentiation of lecturers has also been observed at German UASs and described by Duong, Hachmeister, and Roessler (2014). However, given the described propensity for a flight into teaching, even the categorization of lecturers according to how much research and teaching are supposed to be done does not entirely solve the problem.
The differentiation of lecturers includes the possibility that lecturers have no research obligations at all. This can be interpreted as a transition to a post-Humboldtian configuration “characterised by differentiating roles and resources for teaching and research” (Leišytė, Enders, & de Boer, 2009). This shift is accentuated by the introduction of more team-based research at the decentral level as a solution to the competence problems.
Even though post-Humboldtian tendencies are visible, a meaningful individual teaching–research nexus remains desirable for the interviewees. The federal financial incentive to have lecturers active in both research and teaching continues to contribute to this ideal.
In order to facilitate establishing a research track through the acquisition of research projects and to counter risk aversion in this process, Swiss UASs have been building structures to allow lecturers to adapt slowly to and cope with the challenging research environment. Consequently, lecturers are not required to distinguish themselves through a high research productivity and the acquisition of third-party funds from the very early stages of their employment thanks to the introduction of grace periods and the possibility of falling back on, albeit limited, internal funds. The relief provided by more team-based research and the possibility of resorting to the help of an expanded mid-level staff further reduces the strain on lecturers, who are typically faced with high teaching loads. In light of the literature testifying to the problems regarding teaching loads and low research productivity (e.g., Leišytė, 2016; Maske, Durden, & Gaynor, 2003) the solution holds some promise. It seems to be partially driven by the difficulties of finding suitable lecturer candidates among practitioners working outside of HE, for whom establishing a meaningful research track can be a daunting prospect.
The problem theme of academization vs practice-orientation essentially has its roots in the culture of the UASs. The data suggest that it calls for a solution at the decentral level that is also from that area of control. While it seems to be easier for larger schools or departments to embrace academization, smaller ones cannot completely stem themselves against this trend, in part because academically prestigious research projects are required at the central level. The described differentiation of lecturers thereby plays an enabling role since it allows for employing strong researchers with fewer teaching obligations compared to traditional UAS lecturers. However, the interviews also imply that the solution is not risk-free. Some UASs could end up with largely academized lecturers who have difficulties in transferring their research to teaching and, hindered by the challenges of UAS research funding, are not able to achieve the desired success by the standards of academic performance measures. The ramifications for the motivation of the lecturers as well as for the students, of whom only about 15% advance to a master’s program and who expect practice-relevant curricula on the bachelor’s level, are potentially grave.
Overall, the findings also suggest that the organizational actorhood of Swiss UASs entails a relatively heavy reliance on decentralized solutions by departments and schools when creating solutions to lecturer-related problems of the teaching–research mission. Virtually all solutions seem to be decentral except for the requirement of teaching qualifications and the introduction of personnel categories. As these two solutions involve basic conditions of employment that have to be uniform for all employees across the departments or schools of a UAS, they are largely determined by the central administration. The creation of personnel categories addresses a problem highlighted by Lepori and Attar (2006). The two authors found the personnel structures of Swiss UASs to lack clear differentiations between lecturers with different profiles.
The fact that the majority of solutions are linked to resources and structure also illustrates Pinheiro and Stensaker’s (2014) principle that these two areas are controlled more easily when organizational actorhood is enacted, and thus offer more potential to initiate change and adaptation when UASs choose and take action in their interest. Relatively few solutions concern culture and they are concentrated at the decentral level of a UAS. This suggests that cultural change is easier to implement at the decentral level in the context of Swiss non-university HE. The organizational actors thereby seem to respect that understanding culture at a disciplinary or departmental level is essential for initiating cultural change (Godfrey, 2014).
A final observation of note concerns the use of the third mission to support the transformation of UASs. On the one hand, lecturers with insufficient research competence are entrusted with consulting and similar activities; on the other hand, young academics who lack the practice experience that is mission-critical for Swiss UASs are expected to gain relevant industry experience through activities falling under the third mission.
6 Limitations and Concluding Remarks
This study relies on qualitative measures and a small sample size to detect patterns in the problem-solving of organizational actors. It is bound to the culture and organization of Swiss HE that grant substantial discretion to HEIs in the pursuit of their public mission, which allows for a high degree of organizational actorhood. While the sampling can be considered representative of Swiss business schools and their counterparts in engineering, the findings cannot be assumed to be applicable to other subject areas without careful consideration or further research. The same is true for generalizing the findings to other national contexts, where the lecturer-related conditions for the teaching–research mission of UASs might be quite different from the Swiss situation.
Furthermore, both the interviewer and some of the interviewees faced linguistic challenges – albeit minor ones – as several interviews were not conducted in the first language of the participants. It cannot be completely excluded that this setting has influenced the findings.
In conclusion, this investigation confirms empirical as well as conceptual findings from the research university sector in a different context, that of UASs. The solutions to lecturer-related problems found by Swiss UASs reflect the leeway of their organizational actorhood in decision-making and the importance of devolving problem-solving to the decentral level. The latter is especially true when change is needed in the area of culture, which is hard to control for the university management. At the same time, the findings suggest that this leeway is limited by isomorphic pressures, as exemplified by the universally applied solution of differentiating lecturers into post-Humboldtian categories, the embrace of academization, or the prioritization of research competence.
Overall, this study has made the trend toward more research-oriented HEIs with academized staff in a binary HE system visible. The test of time will reveal how this is perceived by the public and employers in an economy shaped by small and medium enterprises, who so far have been critical of academizing higher vocational education.
Future research could try to shed light on whether subject areas that have been introduced into the non-traditional university sector more recently follow the trend toward research-oriented HEIs with largely academized staff and how they might differ from the subject areas analyzed in this study in finding solutions to the problems created by integrating teaching and research. A different but no less promising future direction for research, especially for policy measures, could further deepen the understanding of the reportedly suboptimal cooperation in PhD education between Swiss research universities and UASs.
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful for the contributions of Sude Pekşen, Lina Zenkienė, and Anna-Lena Rose, all working at the Center for HE of TU Dortmund, to this research project.
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Conflict of interest: The author states no conflict of interest.
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