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Education

BACK TO `BOLOGNA‘

by Prof. Dr. Tümmers

With the "Sorbonne Declaration" of May 1998 signed by the Education Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain and the "Bologna Decleration" of June 1999, which was signed by the Education Ministers of 29 European countries, the way for an important reform process of Europe’s universities was cleared.

By 2010, Europe is to have a standardized university system with comparable degree structures. However, this is to happen without member countries losing their educational traditions. This reform is seen as an important step towards increasing mobility among students. This would again be an important contribution on the way to the vision of a "Citizens’ Europe"

The central element of this educational reform is the European-wide introduction of a degree system based on "undergraduate" and "postgraduate" degrees. Universities will however still be free to set the duration of a bachelor degree to three or four years. Master degrees can similarly have a duration of one or two years. This could nonetheless cause some confusion, and it might have been wiser to agree upon a jointly unified system.

For German universities, this reform has two main implications. University studies will now be divided into two different stages. (bachelor and master) Universities will consequently be forced to define a clear and ultimately binding structure in terms duration, syllabus and exam schedule for the different degree programmes offered.

The "free structure" of university studies, which up until today has been common for German universities will therefore soon belong to the past. The positive outcomes of these measures will be shorter university programmes and the number of students who drop out from a degree scheme will be reduced. A further consequence is that the separation of traditional universities and universities of applied sciences (polytechnic colleges) will be abolished as they now will award the same degrees.

A degree from a polytechnic college has up until today been inferior and much less prestigious than that of a traditional university. Now that these two degrees finally are to be equally regarded, this will lead to a strong competition between different educational institutions. It is to be noted that universities and universities of applied sciences still will remain different in form and concept, and that the right to award doctorates rightly will remain in the hands of the universities.

"Bologna" initiated the most comprehensive reform of the German university system since the foundation of the modern university by Wilhelm of Humboldt in 1810.

Widespread changes can particularly be seen within business administration studies. The Anglo- Saxon model of Business Schools could until now in Germany only partly be found in private universities and business schools. Closely linked to this is the fact that German public universities today still play a rather minor role when it comes to offering international MBA programs. There are several reasons for this.

Up until the University Act of 1998 was passed, German universities were not even allowed to offer their own MBA programs. Germany does therefore not have a tradition for MBAs and will therefore have to focus strongly on how to catch up it with Anglo-Saxon universities. Today, only few German graduates hold a bachelor degree and as the average age of a German university graduate is about 27 years, a large demand for full-time MBA programs does currently not exist in Germany.

The most legendary Business Schools does however recruit their full-time MBA students worldwide and in this way gain their highly recognized international reputation. In the latest ranking of the Financial Times from January 2005, the domination of Anglo-Saxon universities was once again strongly confirmed. This report revealed that 80 out of the 100 top Business Schools worldwide are found in the United States, Britain or in Commonwealth Countries. Unfortunately, no German Business School can be found among the top 100.

This process of catching up will go on for several years and there will be a strong demand for full-time MBA programs in Germany only once the bachelor system has been fully implemented. Nevertheless, one should not neglect the fact that no such demand exists in France, Spain or in the Netherlands. The university systems in these countries, have however over the last years systematically been changed, this in order to achieve an increased international focus. These countries have realised the strong impact international management schools can have on their economies. Spain, whose GDP is three times smaller than that of Germany has been able to establish and fund three worldwide top-tier Business Schools. Two more are about to gain a similar status. Unfortunately, the German business sphere has not been able to establish the financial platform needed for building up a top standard business school. Missing know-how may indeed also have been a reason for why those interested among German public still has to wait for a German version of INSEAD.

Germany would in fact have excellent preconditions for contributing to the world market of MBA schools. Combining Anglo-Saxon teaching methods with German universities’ emphasis on theory and research, a completely new and internationally competitive business school model could be created. Several universities are already trying to realise this potential and an increasing number of part-time and executive programs at German universities gives reason for optimism.

The danger of too hastily giving approval to all types of different MBA programs must also be pointed out. Not every major or concentrated course in business administration corresponds to a real MBA. German MBA programs therefore face severe problems of gaining an international reputable name. The market today is too confusing and distorted. The solution to this problem however can already be seen today: On a middle-term basis, only MBA programs holding the AACSB, Equis, or the AMBA accreditations will be able to gain an international reputation. The process of climbing the ladder and at some stage hopefully advance into the worldwide Champions League of Business Schools will therefore call for a lot of hard work.