Drivers for Change in the Austrian University Sector: Implications for Quality Management

Abstract

Education is broadly seen as a decisive factor to ‘improve productivity, employability, nutrition and healthcare, and general prosperity’ (OECD, 2011, p. 54), and this has led to an increasing interest by governments in education policy. In the so-called knowledge-based economies, this interest has placed higher education at the centre of national competitiveness agendas (Sursock and Smidt, 2010, p. 14). For example, the EU bases its 2020 strategy on ‘smart growth through more effective investments in education, research and innovation’ (European Commission, 2014). As a consequence of both internal and external change pressures over the past decade, Europe has undergone many ground-breaking reforms. Managing these change processes — especially if initiated by external players — takes time and conviction, and the question arises as to whether universities have managed to stay well positioned in these turbulent times and if so which strategies have proven to be successful?