Development of higher education and employment in the Federal Republic of Germany

In the Federal Republic of Germany — as in many other industrialized countries higher education has, under the influence of social, economic and political forces, developed from a relatively small, selective and elite-oriented to a large system of mass education. The increasing number of students and university teachers, and the expansion of scientific and technological methods and knowledge has brought about claims for genuine organizational transformations and for massive financial resources. This development has created a number of severe problems in the relationship of the respective socio-economic and political sub-systems; in particular, the relationship between higher education and the labour market has to be considered as a vital but unresolved problem.This article gives a short account of the quantitative development of the German universities and the labour market in the last two decades. It also describes the organizational transformations which followed the federal framework law on higher education (Hochschulrahmengesetz) of January 1976, and deals with some aspects of research in relation to such problems.     

University Reform and Skeleton Legislation on Higher Education in the Federal Republic of Germany

This article, Part II of a two-part study by Professor Teichler, has been translated from Pädagogik und Schule in Ost und West, November-December 1972, No. 6. Part I appeared in Western European Education, Fall 1972, Vol. IV, No. 3.     

Federal Republic of Germany: Two-Hundredth Meeting of the Conference of Ministers of Education

Not only Switzerland but also the Federal Republic celebrated a landmark in educational co-operation in a federal system last autumn: the 200th plenary session of German Ministers of Education held in Berlin on October 16 through 17, 1980, in the presence of the Federal President, Prof. Carstens.     

Financing Universities in the Federal Republic of Germany

Financing universities in times of increasing demands in all fields of public expenditure is a problem of nearly all European counnies not least because of the ongoing process of European integration. Comparing the different national systems of financing universities may be a means to foster cooperation and competition in a step by step growing network of universities in the European Community. This paper tries to give some insights into the German system; special considerotion is given to its federal structure and its implications for the universities' financthg system, because these problems may be of interest to other countries also. Of course this survey cannot be complete; details must be left to detailed information. The first part of the paper gives a survey of the higher education system in the Federal Republic of Gennany. The second part deals with the sources of funds, including the structure of mong streams to the universities. The third part refffs to the restrictions in using state money in the universities and the problems resulting; the fourth and final part concentrates on problems of the future, especially getring third party finds, and the diversifiation. of financing.     

Access to higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States

Despite some important differences between the higher education systems of the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States, they share a number of comparable problems, especially in the field of access. The competitiveness of admission in certain faculties and disciplines in both countries and at the more prestigious and selective institutions in the U.S. raise serious questions about the proper balance between meritocratic and egalitarian policies. It is emphasized that access policies cannot be determined in a vacuum because of their close relationship to other factors in higher education institutions and systems.

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Zusammenfassung Trotz einiger wichtiger Unterschiede in den höheren Bildungssystemen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und den Vereinigten Staaten teilen sie einige vergleichbare Probleme, insbesondere auf dem Gebiet des Zugangs. Die Konkurrenz bei der Zulassung zu gewissen Fakultäten und Institutionen in beiden Ländern, und zu prestigeträchtigen und selektiven Institutionen in den U.S.A. wirft ernste Fragen auf über das richtige Gleichgewicht zwischen bildungspolitischen Entscheidungen nach dem Prinzip des Verdiensts und solchen nach dem Prinzip der Chàncengleichheit. Es wird betont, dass Zulassungsfragen wegen ihres engen Zusammenhangs mit anderen Faktoren in höheren Bildungsinstitutionen nicht im luftleeren Raum entschieden werden können.

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Résumé Malgré certaines différences importantes entre les systèmes d'éducation supérieure de la République fédérale d'Allemagne et des Etats-Unis, ces deux pays présentent un certain nombre de problèmes comparables, surtout en ce qui concerne l'admission. Le caractère compétitif de l'admission dans certaines facultés et disciplines des deux pays susmentionnés, et dans les institutions plus célèbres et plus sélectives des Etats-Unis, soulèvent d'importantes questions sur l'équilibre approprié entre les politiques méritocratiques et égalitaires. On souligne que les politiques d'admission ne peuvent pas être déterminées dans le vide, à cause de leurs rapports étroits avec d'autres facteurs dans les institutions et systèmes d'enseignement supérieur.

     

Teacher Training in the Federal Republic of Germany

Teacher training in West Germany is on the verge of fundamental change. As the schools—traditionally tripartite on the secondary level-begin to become integrated into comprehensive institutions (similar to the American model), the hitherto different training systems for elementary and secondary teachers face reform patterns aimed at equalizing the length and standards of training. In addition, the planners call for programs that prepare teachers for continuous reforms of the curriculum and of instructional media. Much emphasis is given to scientific studies of didactics-i.e., to the adaptation of fields of knowledge to modes of teaching and learning.     

New Paths for Preschool Education: Preliminary Guidelines and Experiments in the Federal Republic of Germany

The founder of the kindergarten, Froebel, was a German, and yet his homeland has never accepted early childhood education as a general public institution. Only day care centers for children of working mothers have been maintained by communities, and a number of kindergartens have been established—most of them under the auspices of Protestant or Catholic parishes with state support.     

Federal Republic of Germany: Ten Years of Fachhochschulen

In reply to a question from Liberal and Social Democrat parliamentarians, the federal government has summed up experience with the Fachlochschulen (colleges of advanced technology, comparable to the British polytechnics and the French university institutes of technology), created a decade ago.     

战后联邦德国政治教育思想理论的嬗变与发展

二战结束后,政治教育在德国的经济恢复、政治重建以及肃清纳粹思想等领域都起到了重要作用。战后不同时期所涌现出的政治教育思想理论,一方面反映出德国议会、政府和学术界对不同时期政治教育的认识历程,另一方面也指导了不同时期的政治教育实践。本文期望通过对战后联邦德国不同时期政治教育思想理论的研究,发现其变迁的规律和特征,为联邦德国政治教育思想理论的发展梳理出一条清晰的线索。     

Recent Changes in the Transition from Higher Education to Employment in the Federal Republic of Germany

Much has been written in the industrialized countries, particularly in Germany, about the problems of unemployed and under‐employed higher education graduates. Although in the case of Germany much is known about the rate of general unemployment, and that graduates fare better on the job market than persons not having higher education qualifications, the specific situations of graduates in regard to the job market are not all that clear. The author argues that most studies on graduate employment, unemployment, under‐employment, and mis‐employment have been skewed by the underlying idea that educated talent is scarce and should be used and rewarded accordingly. Thus the continued expansion of higher education is viewed as an indication of the erosion of graduate employment and as leading to an oversupply of talent. However, if on one hand, employment opportunities were such that employees would do work of both very high and very low levels of skill and complexity as parts of the same job, and, on the other hand, the generalization of higher education qualifications was considered a prerequisite for a highly educated society, the scope of research on this subject would change. The massification of higher education might not be automatically viewed in negative terms.     

The outcomes of university education: Some empirical findings on aims and expectations in The Federal Republic of Germany

Aims and expectations of three groups, the population in general, university graduates, and legislators and university representatives, are described and compared. Social status advantages (allocation function) and extra professional qualities (socialization function) are the main outcomes taken into account. The data stem from representative surveys, surveys of university graduates and highly qualified non-graduates, and an analysis of documents. The quality expectations which the public has of university graduates and the norm that graduates bear a particular social responsibility form an interrelated pattern, which can be regarded as a social role. As compared to public opinion, graduates' own conception of their qualities and responsibilities displays characteristic additions, which point toward a cultural elite of critical intellectuals. On the other hand, graduates fail to identify with some of the educational aims put forward by the university and its legislators. Graduates' personal experiences at university match their generalized conception of the outcomes of higher education, since they report socialization effects and attribute especially the acquisition of cognitive skills and rational and critical habits to university rather than to other educational contexts.