Continuity and change at German public universities since the 1990s

Thomas Heinze and Joel Emanuel Fuchs
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Thomas Heinze: University of Wuppertal

No 2m5pw, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: This paper aims at understanding continuity and change at public universities in Germany with a focus on the growth (and decline) of subject fields. We apply three theoretical perspectives to investigate how disciplinary profiles, size, age and prestige are associated with structural change of the university landscape. Despite the relative stability with respect to the four main disciplinary groups (humanities, natural sciences, engineering and social sciences), non-technical universities (NTUs) have experienced more structural change than technical universities (TUs). At the same time the natural sciences are shrinking while the social sciences are growing. We find that larger and older universities host disciplines affected by decline while smaller and younger universities embrace growing disciplines. In addition, while NTUs supported by the German Excellence Initiative exhibit a stronger disciplinary profile in the natural sciences, universities without such support (both NTUs and TUs) are more social sciences-oriented.

Date: 2023-11-08
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:2m5pw

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/2m5pw

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