Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The impacts of new governance on teaching at German universities. Findings from a national survey

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this article we will present findings from a national survey questioning the actual impact of the new governance structures at German universities on academic teaching. To begin with, we give a theoretical underpinning to the economization of higher education institutions (HEIs) according to Principal-Agent Theory. This allows for the development of hypotheses about the influence of new selective incentives (merit pay, performance-related budgeting, Management by Objectives, teaching awards) on the professors’ academic teaching behavior. Instructed by critical considerations on Principal-Agent Theory we extended the axiomatics of this economic theory by incorporating concepts like work task motivation and academic socialization for a supposedly more comprehensive explanation. Data from a nationwide German survey allows us then to test our theory-driven assumptions. Our target population was the entire collectivity of all professors at German universities from which we could draft a sample 8,000 individuals. An estimation of four different OLS-regression models shows that the hypotheses derived from Principal-Agent Theory must be rejected whereas the hypotheses based on motivational aspects and socialization processes can be confirmed. Based on our analysis we can conclude that for the status quo of implementation there are no direct influences of new selective incentives on the actual teaching performance whereas we have strong indications for altered mechanisms of enculturation in the field of universities. New Public Management (NPM) seems to produce a new breed of professors whose preferences and practice are conditioned by the imperatives evoked by this new managerialism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Our research project has been financed by the German Research Foundation (project-ID: WI 2052/2-1).

References

  • Amaral, A., Meek, V. L., & Larsen, I. M. (2003). The higher education managerial revolution?. Dordrecht, Boston: Kluwer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. J. (1985). The economics of agency. In J. W. Pratt & R. J. Zeckhauser (Eds.), Principals and agents: The structure of business (pp. 37–51). MA: Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohnet, I., & Oberholzer-Gee, F. (2002). Pay for performance: Motivation and selection effects. In B. S. Frey & M. Osterloh (Eds.), Successful management by motivation (pp. 119–139). New York, Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1975). The specificity of the scientific field and the social conditions of the progress of reason. Social Science Information, 14(6), 19–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1998). Practical reason. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cashin, W. E. (1989). Defining and evaluating college teaching. In IDEA Paper No. 21. Center for Faculty Evalution and Development. Division of Continuing Education Kansas State University.

  • Christensen, F., Manley, J., & Laurence, L. (2010). The allocation of merit pay in academia. Working Paper No. 2010–14. Department of Economics Towson University Maryland.

  • Clark, B. R. (1998). Creating entrepreneurial universities: Organizational pathways of transformation. Great Britain: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Boer, H., Endres, J., & Schimank, U. (2007). On the way towards new public management? The governance of university systems in England, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. In D. Jansen (Ed.), New forms of governance in research organizations (pp. 137–154). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Deem, R., & Brehony, K. J. (2005). Management as Ideology: The case of ‘New Managerialism’ in higher education. Oxford Review of Education, 31(2), 217–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Destatis [Federal Statistical Office Germany]. (2009). Bildung und Kultur. Personal an Hochschulen [Education and Culture, Personnel in Higher Education Institutions]. Fachserie 11 Reihe 4.4.

  • Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enders, J., Kehm, B., & Schimank, U. (2002). Structures and problems of research in German higher education. In R. McAdams (Ed.), Trends in American and German higher education (pp. 85–119). Cambridge, MA.: American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernet, C., Senécal, C., Guay, F., Marsh, H., & Dowson, M. (2008). The work tasks motivation scale for teachers (WTMST). Journal of Career Assessment, 16, 256–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S. (2002). How does pay influence motivation? In B. S. Frey & M. Osterloh (Eds.), Successful management by motivation (pp. 55–87). New York, Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S., & Neckermann, S. (2008). Academics appreciate awards. A new aspect of incentives in research. Working Paper No. 400.

  • Frey, B. S., & Osterloh, M. (2002). Successful management by motivation. New York, Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottlieb, E., & Keith, B. (1997). The academic research-teaching nexus in eight advanced-industrialized countries. Higher Education, 34, 397–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1987): The Idea of the university: Learning processes. New German Critique, 41, Special Issue on the Critiques of the Enlightenment, 3–22.

  • Hodgson, G. M. (2007). Institutions and individuals: Interaction and evolution. Organization Studies, 28, 95–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoko, A. J. (1988). Merit pay–in search of the pedagogical widget. The Clearing House, 62(1), 29–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmstrom, B., & Milgrom, P. (1991). Multitask principal-agent analyses: Incentive contracts, asset ownership, and job design. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 7, 24–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • HRK. (2008). HRK President welcomes the “Excellence Initiative for Teaching” launched by the Donors’ Association—Good teaching must be appropriately financed (http://www.hrk.de/eng/presse/95_2112.php) (Accessed: 18.05.2010).

  • Jaeger, M., Leszczensky, M., Orr, D., & Schwarzenberger, A. (2005). Formelgebundene Mittelvergabe und Zielvereinbarungen als Instrumente der Budgetierung an deutschen Universitäten [Formula-based ressource allocation and Management by Objectives as budgeting mechanisms in German universities]. Ergebnisse einer bundesweiten Befragung. In HIS- Kurzinformationen A13/2005. Hannover: Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH.

  • Jansen, D. (2007). Governance of research–working towards interdisciplinary concepts. In D. Jansen (Ed.), New forms of governance (pp. 110–133). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, D. (2010). Governance and performance in the german public research sector. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kehm, B. M., & Lanzendorf, U. (2007). The Impacts of university management on academic work: Reform experiences in Austria and Germany. Management Revue, 18, 153–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kember, D. (1997). A reconceptualisation of the research into university academics’ conceptions of teaching. Learning and Instruction, 7(3), 255–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kish, L. (1990). Weighting: Why, when, and how? University of Michigan: Michigan. http://www.amstat.org/sections/srms/Proceedings/papers/1990_018.pdf. Accessed 11 May 2010.

  • Kline, P. (1986). A handbook of test construction: Introduction to psychometric. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kollock, P. (1998). Social dilemmas: The anatomy of cooperation. Annual Review Sociology, 24(1), 183–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, J. E., & Kivisto, J. A. (2008). Interests, information, and incentives in higher education: Principal-agent theory and its potential applications to the study of higher education governance. In C. J. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 141–179), Vol. XXIII. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leišytė, L., Enders, J., & de Boer, H. (2009). The balance between teaching and research in Dutch and English universities in the context of university governance reforms. Higher Education, 58, 619–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leszczensky, M., Jaeger, M., & Orr, D. (2004). Evaluation der leistungsbezogenen Mittelvergabe auf der Ebene Land-Hochschulen in Berlin [Evaluation of performance-based ressource allocation for the federal state of Berlin]. Gutachten. Im Auftrag der Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur. In HIS- Kurzinformationen A4/2004 (pp. 1–74). Hannover: Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH.

  • Liefner, I. (2003). Funding, resource allocation, and performance in higher education systems. Higher Education, 46(4), 469–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. J. (2005). The political evolution of principal-agent models. Annual Review of Political Science, 8, 203–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. J., & Whitford, A. B. (2006). The principal’s moral hazard: Constraints on the use of incentives in hierarchy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17, 213–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moses, I., & Ramsden, P. (1992). Academic values and academic practice in the new universities. Higher Education Research and Development, 11(2), 101–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Flynn, J. (2007). From new public management to public value: Paradigmatic change and managerial implications. The Australian Journal of Administration, 66(3), 353–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M. (1968). The logic of collective action. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouchi, W., & Wilkins, A. (1985). Organizational culture. Annual Review of Sociology, 11(1), 457–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prosser, M., & Trigwell, K. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis of the approaches to teaching inventory. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 405–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rambo, E. H. (1999). Symbolic interests and meaningful purposes. Conceiving rational choice as cultural theory. Rationality and Society, 11(3), 317–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-Determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimank, U. (2005). ‘New Public Management’ and the academic profession: Reflections on the German situation. Minerva, 43(4), 361–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, N. (1996). Uses and abuses of Coefficient Alpha. Psychological Measurement, 8(4), 350–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shore, C. (2008). Audit culture and illiberal governance: Universities and the politics of accountability. Anthropological Theory, 8(3), 278–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smeenk, S., Teelken, C., Eisinga, R., & Doorewaard, H. (2009). Managerialism, organizational commitment, and quality of job performances among European university employees. Research in Higher Education, 50(6), 589–607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swedberg, R. (2005). Can there be a sociological concept of interest? Theory and Society, 34, 290–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. L., Hunnicutt, G. G., & Keeffe, M. J. (1991). Merit pay in academia: Historical perspectives and contemporary perceptions. Review of Personnel Administration, 11(3), 51–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigwell, K., & Prosser, M. (1996). Congruence between intention and strategy in university science teachers’ approaches to teaching. Higher Education, 32(1), 77–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trigwell, K., & Prosser, M. (2004). Development and use of the approaches to teaching inventory. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 409–424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trigwell, K., Prosser, M., & Taylor, P. (1994). Qualitative differences in approaches to teaching first year university science. Higher Education, 27, 75–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., & Koestner, R. (2008). Reflections on self-determination theory. Canadian Psychology, 49(3), 257–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, D. (1998). Rational choice, situated action, and the social control of organizations. Law and Society Review, 32(1), 23–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkesmann, U., & Schmid, C. (2010). Ist der Lehrpreis ein Leistungsanreiz für die Lehre? [What can teaching awards really achieve in regards of teaching performance?]. In P. Tremp & K. Burri (Eds.), Lehrpreise an Hochschulen [Teaching awards at universities] (pp. 39-55). Münste: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dortmund University of Technology, Center for Continuing Education, Hohe Str. 141, 44139, Dortmund, Germany

    Uwe Wilkesmann & Christian J. Schmid

Authors
  1. Uwe Wilkesmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christian J. Schmid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Uwe Wilkesmann.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4, 5, and 6.

Table 4 Principal component analysis of instructional design (importance and effort)
Full size table
Table 5 Principal component analysis of motivation to teach
Full size table
Table 6 Table principal component analysis teaching approach with oblimin rotation (∆ = 0)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wilkesmann, U., Schmid, C.J. The impacts of new governance on teaching at German universities. Findings from a national survey. High Educ 63, 33–52 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-011-9423-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-011-9423-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation