Academic vocational training?

“Universities of Applied Sciences should not be university-light” the NRC stated almost ten years ago. It is unmissable that the study climate at universities of applied sciences (hbo) and at research universities (wo) are getting more and more alike. Universities of applied sciences, or in other words higher vocational training, used to be known for a more practical, occupation-oriented education with a school-like character. But now, we also see that students from research universities are looking for links with actual practice more frequently. How does the Dutch higher education sector respond to these developments and what can we expect from the future?

University of Applied Sciences

To start with, we should probably ask ourselves if the Netherlands and it’s higher education are not rather odd. The so called hbo institution are something uniquely Dutch and therefore sometimes freely translated to Universities of Applied Sciences. Additionally, hbo institutions focus more and more on also offering hbo-master degrees. This is similar to the structure on research universities, where bachelors are usually followed by a subsequent master. In the academic year 2015-2016, only 3% of the hbo students followed a Master’s degree!

Science in practice

While we can see that the structure of hbo institutions is more and more similar to the structure of wo institutions, students from research universities demand more focus on the practical application of their skills. From research we can see that university students are increasingly dissatisfied with the link made between the educational content and its application in the work field. While internships are usually a standard part in the hbo curricula, it becomes more and more popular among university students to take a gap year in order to do an internship. Starting in 2018, the UG will offer a career minor during which students will learn how to apply their academic skills in practice. Recently, Lijst Calimero plead for making this minor accessible for students from the entire University. In that way, students with room for electives in their curricula can acquire practical skills without having a study delay. You can read the full proposal here.

Joining forces

Due to the changed requirements of both students and the labour market, research universities and universities of applied sciences cooperate more frequently. A nice example is the Data Sciences programme, offered jointly by the University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Besides that, the UG cooperates with other institutions at the Campus Fryslan, such as the NHL University of Applied Sciences. Also cooperation as in adjusting a hbo bachelor according to a subsequent wo master is a trend. In this way, hbo students can efficiently continue their studies at a research university.

Customized secondary education

But not only higher education is changing. Also secondary education is more and more customized. Pupils can acquire a diploma with partial certificates for both, senior general secondary school courses (havo) and pre-university courses (vwo). Thirty high schools are currently participating in a pilot in which pupils can for example follow more challenging courses or follow courses in preparation for higher education. The pilot will take two years and based on the results the government will decided upon an amendment law so that pupils will be able to receive more customized education.

Focus on the student

For Lijst Calimero it is most important that students can develop their full potential. Therefore it is good that different institutions focus on different types of research, namely application oriented research and fundamental research. In the same way, we can argue that it is important that pupils can enjoy customized education in high school.

But that is easier said than done. At which moment should a pupil decide on which level he or she wants to follow a course? And what should be done with late developers, as in students that only figure out at a later time that they would have wanted to follow a course on a higher level? Additionally, being confronted with that many choices at a young age might increase study pressure and stress. A consequence might be, that the stress of making choices, something students in higher education already struggle with, will increase even further.

Besides that, there will also be major consequences for higher education. What will happen to the labour market and higher education in the Netherlands? What is our country’s direction? Especially customized diplomas in secondary education might have fundamental consequences. How will institutions of higher education select their students in the future? And does it mean that diplomas in higher education will also be customized, with parts of hbo and parts of wo?

A new territory

Changes in the educational sector create more questions than answers. On top of all the unclear effects on the education itself, they will also have impact on the labour market. How will employers select among their applicants? And will it make our already complicated system of higher education even less comparable internationally?

It is evident that it is important to teach students all the necessary skills for their future, something that is easier said than done as we are confronted with an ever changing labour market, too. We are very curious for the results of the pilot for customized secondary education and what its effects will be on higher education. An interesting development that we will surely keep an eye on!