WiHo editorial team: What especially appealed to you in the opportunity to become scientific director of the IHF?
Isabell Welpe: What especially appealed to me was the chance to support current developments in the German higher education sector, developments which are being driven by internationalisation and efforts to enhance transparency and quality assurance. In addition, I am interested in the question of how we can use the models and results emerging from current management research to support scientific research processes, and to support management and leadership of research institutions.

WiHo editorial team: What activities of your institute have been especially noted by the scientific community and/or by the general public?
Isabell Welpe: The Bavarian Graduate Panel (Bayerisches Absolventenpanel – BAP), a regular survey of graduates of all Bavarian universities and state universities of applied science, and the IHF's studies of higher education institutions' regional and economic impacts, have attracted special attention. In addition, the "ProfQuest" project has generated considerable discussion. ProfQuest is a Bavaria-wide survey of professors regarding the conditions for research and teaching at Bavaria's higher education institutions. And the "HD-MINT" research project has also attracted attention. That project has been studying professionalisation in teaching, with regard to didactic methods, as well as the ways in which improved student advising and support can improve students' longer-term academic success.

WiHo editorial team: What challenges do you think the Centre will face in the coming years, and what sort of profile do you think it will have 10 years from now?
Isabell Welpe: A number of current developments are affecting our profile and will define the challenges we face in the coming years. One of these is digitalisation, which is changing our economy and is going to change our higher education institutions and science sector. We want to see what new types of higher education institutions are emerging, and how such institutions, through their curricula, teaching and research, can contribute – as they need to do – to the positive development of our economy and society. Another relevant development is the internationalisation that is occurring in the science sector. This is affecting us, just as it is affecting higher education institutions, and thus we plan to expand and intensify our dialog with the international community – for example, via various cooperation projects and via presences at international conferences. The central challenges we face in these regards include the growing diversity of our student populations, and the consequences of that diversity for higher education; the impacts of demographic trends on higher education institutions; and the search for ways to fulfil our aspirations in the areas of lifelong learning and digital learning.

WiHo editorial team: Regarding the status quo of research on higher education and science in Germany: In what areas is such research especially strong? In what ways does it still need to improve?
Isabell Welpe: The importance of research and academic teaching continues to grow, with regard to the future and the healthy development of our society and economy in the areas of technological innovation, economic growth and employment. This trend is increasing expectations pertaining to research into higher education and science. Such research is charged with generating evidence-based findings and reliable models, on the basis of empirical data, that key stakeholders can use as a basis for decisions such as those pertaining to science-policy reforms. To this end, research on higher education and science needs to continue improving the quality of its theories, methods and data, and thereby keep pace with international research trends. Another area in which research on higher education and science needs to improve has to do with its involvement in international expert discussions. Researchers need to intensify and systematise their participation in such dialogue, with regard to both content and methods.

WiHo editorial team: Currently, we are seeing a strong trend in which more and more people are enrolling in higher education programmes. In addition, the numbers of study programmes being offered have grown rapidly in the past few years.  Can you explain these trends from your perspective as a researcher who studies the higher education and science sectors?
Isabell Welpe: The trend towards higher enrolments is politically desired, and thus is certainly also a result of political efforts. Possibly, it is also being driven by expectations that certain training occupations are going to be phased out as automation and digitalisation take greater hold. As far as the growing numbers of study programmes are concerned, they can be seen in the context of a general trend toward greater individualisation. In other words, higher education institutions are meeting demand resulting from an increasing diversity of education biographies and backgrounds and from new training and education requirements. In addition, higher education institutions and their departments can use specialised study programmes as a way of developing special profiles. For higher education institutions in structurally weak regions, development of such profiles can be a way to attract highly qualified and motivated students and staff.

Bayerische Staatsinstitut für Hochschulforschung und Hochschulplanung (IHF)