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Informationity in assisting the public and private sectors to identify m o r e clearly their educational priorities, and to communicate these requirements to its con- stituents and society at large.
The Secretariat of C H E R N is located at the Faculty of Administration:
Canadian Higher Education Research Network, c/o Faculty of Administration, University of O t t a w a , 275 Nicholas Street, O t t a w a , Ontario K I N 6 N 5 Tel: (613) 2 3 1 - 3 3 0 1 / 2 3 1 - 5 0 5 9
(Source: Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, April 26, 1985)
D E N M A R K :
. . . In an effort to deal with the diminishing job prospects for arts grad- uates, D e n m a r k ' s five universities plan to introduce n e w shorter degree courses better geared to the practical needs of private industry and c o m m e r c e in
order to offer a m o r e flexible range of non-humanistic subjects built o n an arts base.
(Source: HE EA Newsletter, September 1985, p. 19)
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of freshmen. During the 1984 summer and winter semesters, there were no more than 232,000 new students, far fewer than forecast by the education ministers. The latter had based their calculations on birthrate developments and pupil numbers and had arrived at an (estimated) total of between 248,000 (lower limit) and 269,000 (upper limit).
W h e n analyzing this development, statisticians point to the fact that more and more young persons now prefer to embark on a trade training course after passing the Abitur. It is estimated that as m a n y as 100,000 Abiturienten will be applying for apprenticeships in 1985. At the same time, the Bundeswehr (the Armed Forces) are now calling up an increasing number of Abiturienten straight from school. Even so, neither of these developments can fully explain the drop in the number of freshmen. The statisticians of the Standing Conference of the Education Ministers of the Federal States in the Federal Republic of Germany ( K M K ) assume that a large number of Abiturienten, w h o have already left school, are currently "bidding their time" before making decisions as to their future careers.
O n the strength of a survey, the Institute of the German Economy (IW), calculated that a bare 60 per cent of all Abiturienten enter higher education upon leaving school. This level ran at 75 per cent in 1976 and was as high as 90 per cent at the outset of the 1970's. This Cologne institute, closely associated with industry, is of the opinion that this trend could increase for the short as well as the long-term. A further survey showed that 10 per cent of those with university entrance qualifications embarked on a studies course only because they were unable to gain a training place in industry.
According to the I W , Abiturienten particularly favour jobs in industry and commerce, especially in sales sectors. These jobs include bookselling, data processing, banking, insurance, and industry, as well as the wholesale and export trade branches. In the (handicraft) trades, the most popular are opti- cian, dental mechanic, goldsmith, radio and T V technician, and carpenter.
According to the German Industrial and Trade Association (DIHT), the number of Abiturienten-tTainees in industry and commerce increased more than seven- fold between 1970 and 1983, to 84,000. This increase represents a jump from
1.1 to 8.1 per cent of the population at large.
Professor Theodor Berchem, president of the West German Rectors' Conference, estimates that, despite this development, the present level of 1.3 million students will rise by a further 200,000 in the next five years. W h e n the low birthrate year groups start flocking to university at the end of the 1980's /beginning of the 1990's, the total student population will be in the region of about 1 million. The drop in the birthrate, Berchem feels, will have little effect on the number entering university since the "percentage of young persons with the entitlement to study has increased". Whereas only 4 to 5 per cent of a year group passed the Abitur in the late 1960's, the proportion has now risen to 25 per cent.
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InformationThe Federal Government/Federal State Commission for Educational Planning ( B L K ) , a body set up jointly by the Federal Government and the federal states to coordinate the education system in the Fedeial Republic of Germany, pointed out, in its latest analysis, that university graduates would have to take up professions in future which would not relate to the traditional status expectations of persons with academic qualifications. With a continued high level of general unemployment, the job risks involved for graduates would be no less than those for persons successfully completing other forms of train- ing. The B L K estimates that 2.8 million university graduates will be surging onto the labour market by the year 2 000.
But during this same period, only 900,000 academics will be vacating their jobs and going into retirement. This statistic means that almost 2 million new jobs will have to be created for young graduates.
(Source: Bildung undWissenschaft, No. 3—4(e), 1985, p. 11)
3. Studies Abroad: Bonn Considers Increased Promotion Necessary The number of German students abroad rose from 10,000 in 1971 to an estimated 22,000 in 1983, i.e. it more than doubled. This increase corresponds to the growth of the student population in the Federal Republic of Germany in the same period: there are 27 German students abroad for every 1,000 stu- dents in the Federal Republic of Germany. These statistics are included in a survey by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science.
The most popular countries continue to be (as in 1971) the U S A , Austria.
France, and Switzerland. In 1981, 63 per cent (12,500) of all German students abroad (total: 20,000) were studying at a higher education establishment in one of these countries (1971: 75 per cent). Whereas the number of students in France and the U S A has increased, the number in Austria and Switzerland has dropped. Studies in Eastern European countries, particularly Romania and Hungary, have also become more significant in recent years.
According to the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, a large number of German students abroad, particularly students studying foreign languages and other arts subjects, are there for special reasons. There are also small groups of medical students taking advantage of the opportunity to study medicine abroad, which they cannot do because of current admission restrictions in the Federal Republic of Germany.
W h e n broken down by individual countries, the pattern is as follows:
In the 1982/83 academic year there were 3,051 German students following courses in France, including 2,194 (71.9%) "Foreign Language, Arts and Sports students", 316 (10.4%) studying "Economics or Social Science" and 284 (9.3%), "Medicine".
At higher education institutions in Switzerland there were 2,730 matricu- lated German students during the 1983/84 winter semester. Of these,
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1,015 (37.2%) were reading "Foreign Languages, Arts subjects and Sports", 872 (31.9%) "Economics and Social'Science" and 433 (15.9%), "Mathematics and Natural Sciences".
T w o thirds (66.8%) of the 1,196 German students in Italy were studying Medicine during the 1981/82 academic year.
Of the total of 682 German students at universities in Belgium, 481 (70.5%) were studying Medicine during the 1982/83 academic year.
A course of medical studies in Romania or Hungary has become in- creasingly popular in recent years. Almost 80 per cent of the 274 German students in Romania were studying Medicine during the 1981/82 academic year ; in Hungary two-thirds of all Germans studying there were studying Medicine during the 1983/84 academic year.
In Sweden and Denmark, German students showed a preference for the
"Foreign Language, Arts and Sports" disciplines. Of the total of 372 German students in Sweden during the 1978/79 academic year, 125 (33.6%) and of a total of 312 in Denmark during the 1982/83 academic year, 168 (53.8%) were following courses in these subjects.
There were 882 Germans studying at Canadian universities in the 1981/82 academic year. Of these, 209 (23.7%) were studying "Foreign Language, Arts and Sports" disciplines and 113 (12.8%), "Mathematics and Natural Sciences".
(Source: Bildung und Wissenschaft, N o . 3—4 (e), 1985, p. 13)
4. W o m e n in Higher Education
Mrs. Dorothée Wilms, the Federal Minister for Education and Science, would like to provide employment as university professors to a greater number of w o m e n . The Minister deplored the fact that only 2.4 (in table = 2.3) per cent of the professors employed in the graduate schools of the Federal Republic of Germany are w o m e n . The percentage is 8.3 (18.3 in the table) for assistants, while for the auxiliary scientific staff, it is 30.8 per cent. As far as the number of students is concerned, w o m e n now represent a higher percentage than in the past, now almost 40 per cent of the total. The Minister asserted that w o m e n should not be handicapped by decisions taken in order to fill vacancies. Professor Roswitha Wisniewsky, a specialist in Germanic languages and literature, as well as being a political (CDU) expert in education deplored, in this connexion, the fact that scientific education should still be an endeavour reserved for m e n . The fact that one belongs to one or the other of the sexes should not be a determining factor in employment decisions. One should take into consideration only the achievements and the abilities of applicants, irrespective of sex.
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InformationPercentage of w o m e n per field of study, 1 9 8 4 , in the F R G Field of study
Theology
Philosophy, languages, literature and civilization
History
Psychology, education, and sports Economics and social sciences Law
The exact sciences The natural sciences Medicine
The technical sciences Total
Students
30.6 60.6 48.1 60.8 24.2 29.4 11.0 28.0 39.0 12.6 35.4
Assistents 19.8 41.2 38.5 40.1 19.7 30.8 7.9 16.9 20.1 6.0 18.3
Assistent Professori
_ 4.4 8.0 10.8 0.9
—
1.2 2.3 2.0—
2.3(Source: Bildung und Wissenschaft, N o . 3—4 (f), 1985, p. 15)
F I N L A N D :
Steady Increase in Foreign Students
During the last ten years the n u m b e r of foreign students studying in Finland has been notably small b y international standards. T h e n u m b e r of students from the developing countries has remained stable at around 0.03 percent of all university level students a n d the total n u m b e r of foreign students has fluctuated between 0.72 a n d 0.5 percent. In D e c e m b e r 1975, the total n u m b e r of foreign students studying at Finnish institutions of higher education w a s 6 3 3 . In the a u t u m n of 1980 the n u m b e r h a d dropped to 6 1 0 . B u t according to the latest available statistics, b y the a u t u m n of 1983 there h a d been a n increase in foreign students to 766. Table 1 shows that over the last ten years there has been a steady increase in the n u m b e r of foreign students studying at the Univer- sity of Helsinki, where they currently represent 1.6 percent of the total student b o d y . Table 2 shows the distribution of foreign students according to faculty for the years 1975—1984.
Table 1 Enrollment of Foreign Students at the University of Helsinki b y Continent
and Country of Origin, A u t u m n 1975 — A u t u m n 1 9 8 4
Year 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Continent
Africa 25 31 32 31 29 32 29 27 38 52 Asia Gl 56 57 54 62 52 62 69 63 73 Australia and
Oceania 2 2 7 3 6 3 2 3 5 6
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Europe Latin America North America Stateless Total Country Algeria Bulgaria China Denmark
Federal Republic of Germany France Hungary India Italy Japan Netherlands Nigeria Norwav Poland Sweden Switzerland Turkey
United Kingdom U . S . A .
U . S . S . R .
Other Countries Total
155 14 59 3 319
3 9 7 4 28 7 5 13 6 16 5 6 6 6 28 7 3 20 49 12 74 319
156 10 58 4 317
3 12 7 3 26 10 5 19 7 13 7 6 8 6 27 8 3 20 45 9 65 317
157 12 52 1 318
3 11 4 4 29 12 7 19 5 14 5 5 5 7 23 9 3 21 40 12 76 318
170 12 59 1 330
4 15 1 3 38 17 7 19 6 17 6 9 4 9 28 10 1 18 44 11 60 330
194 11 50 2 354
4 14 6 3 35 21 12 18 6 19 5 9 6 13 28 7 1 19 36 13 75 354
188 12 49 3 339
4 7 6 3 37 19 11 18 6 14 6 8 7 8 28 8 1 18 41 13 71 339
189 14 44 4 344
5 7 3 4 36 16 7 16 7 17 9 8 4 11 28 8 2 16 37 12 84 344
187 15 47 2 350
4 6 1 4 37 9 4 15 5 20 9 5 4 13 29 7 3 20 40 12 94 350
197 15 59 1 378
4 6 2 6 33 12 5 15 6 14 8 5 10 14 32 8 3 21 53 11 103 378
217 18 59 1 426
5 6 3 8 39 11 4 14 7 12 10 5 7 14 39 8 7 20 53 15 133 426
Table 2