In the second episode of Beyond Boundaries series two, CityU president Way Kuo continues his conversation with University of Vienna rector Heinz Engl
Like many higher education institutions today, the University of Vienna faces a challenge in keeping the quality of its education consistently high alongside increasing student enrolment targets.
In the second series of Beyond Boundaries, produced by City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Way Kuo spoke to Heinz Engl, rector of the University of Vienna, for the second time. The pair continued their conversation about the ancient European institution’s strategy for the future.
CityU is an international university that emphasises the integration of research and teaching. The university has a strong focus on diversity through cross-cultural studies, and its Beyond Boundaries series is an extension of that philosophy.
Having served as president of CityU for more than a decade, Kuo seeks to explore the future direction of education development by discussing some of the emerging global challenges faced by university leaders worldwide.
Meeting with Engl, Kuo gave the example of American universities, which are known for producing both globally competitive research and a large population of graduates. In this regard, many European and Asian universities were seen to be “Americanising” their own approaches, Kuo suggested.
America remains “a model of research” for many institutions, including his own, Engl said. Student education was “different” and more difficult to replicate, however.
“It’s expensive, it’s competitive, but you have to compare the whole system,” he explained. “In Austria, we pay much higher taxes than in America, but on the other hand university education is free. I personally prefer a European system, but we have to acknowledge that American research…is among the leaders worldwide”
Universities are increasingly recentring their efforts towards ensuring students graduate with the required skills to serve the modern labour market. As a result, many European institutions, including Vienna, are restructuring their doctoral degree programmes.
“Years ago, we had a very open system,” Engl explained. “Anybody who had a master’s degree could just admit themselves – we had no entrance exams. Now this has changed dramatically.” Consequently, his university has “far fewer doctoral students now – but the completion rate is much higher,” he explained.
Despite the university’s prestige, it struggles to compete with the large amounts of funding handed to researchers in Germany, for example, a country where research institutes and their funds are closely tied to universities.
“If you look at German Nobel Prize winners, nearly all of them are linked to a university and a [research] institute,” said Engl. “That's what’s lacking in Austria.”
Talking about the link between research and graduate degrees, Kuo noted that “the Americans have been very successful, but partially because US universities receive significant funding from industry.”
In recent years, the University of Vienna has actively sought third party research funding to drive its research activities. But it also faces a challenge in recruiting higher numbers of local and overseas students while reducing student dropout rates.
The European Union has a target for 30 to 40 per cent of the population to have a university degree. In Austria, the percentage has doubled to roughly 20 per cent in the past decade. “We are well on our way,” Engl concluded.
Find out more about CityU’s Beyond Boundaries series.
