New DFG Research Group on Competition in the Higher Education System

In the science system, actors are involved in diverse and interconnected competitions. This results in a complex web of demands that the various actors face. The research group "Multiple Competition in the Higher Education System: Actors' Constitution, Coordination of Actions and Consequences" intends to investigate this manifold competition by means of sociological and economic approaches. The DFG has now approved a research group for three years.

The group comprises eleven researchers from eight universities, with the University of Kassel in the lead. The basic research assumption is: competitions and the interaction of the individual competition processes give rise to an increasingly complex network of demands on the participants, which has a significant impact on the individuals and institutions involved. The work of the research group follows three common research questions: How do actors position themselves in multiple competition? What internal and external dynamics does multiple competition unfold? What are the consequences of multiple competition at the action level and at the system level?

The applicants hope that the cooperation between social sciences and economics will lead to a deeper understanding of interdependent competitive dynamics in the higher education system. This is also of fundamental scientific importance for the analysis of other areas of society, in which there is also no overarching evaluation and pricing system. Furthermore, relevant results for higher education policy and funding are expected.

The spokesperson is Professor Dr. Georg Krücken, Director of the International Centre for Higher Education Research (INCHER-Kassel). He also heads the sub-project "Multiple Competition in Research and Teaching: Organizational Competition and its Consequences in the Excellence Initiative and the Teaching Quality Pact". Another Kassel subproject is entitled "How does competition among universities affect the job market for doctoral graduates?" and is headed by Prof. Dr. Guido Bünstorf.

INCHER-Kassel is an interdisciplinary research institution of the University of Kassel. It is one of the few research institutions at universities in Europe that are sufficiently large to address a wide range of issues related to higher education and society.

Contact:

Christiane Rittgerott
University of Kassel
INCHER-Kassel
E-mail: rittgerott[at]incher.uni-kassel[dot]de