The Impacts of Universities on Society and EconomyAn accountability exercise of the universities in Catalonia (Spain) - Josep M. Vilalta, Alba Morales, Alicia Betts

The Impacts of Universities on Society and EconomyAn accountability exercise of the universities in Catalonia (Spain)

Josep M. Vilalta, Alba Morales, Alicia BettsAssociació Catalana d’Universitats Públiques (ACUP)

The Impacts of Universities on Society and Economy

Contents– General context– The study

• Rationale• Methodology• Findings

– Conclusions of the accountability exercise


General context (1)

• Universities are a key educational, social and economic agents • OECD identifies institutions of higher education as bodies with the

capacity to re-invent today’s society• Recent policies that support the role of universities as key agents for

social and economic development:– Lisbon Strategy (2000): the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the

world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.

– Europe 2020 strategy (2010): smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.• Demand for new roles for higher education involves two trends:

– Diversification– Increased strategic capacity of the institutions


General context (2)

• In the last 25 years Spain, and Catalonia, have made an important effort to move from a panorama in which science was hardly present, to become the ninth state worldwide in scientific output.

R+D expenditure (%GDP) and impact on the scientific production 2004-2008. Higher Education, Hospitals and Government (Research Centres). European Union - 15

1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

GRC

SWE

PRT

NLD

ITA

IRL

GBR FRA

FIN

ESP

DNK DEU

CAT BEL

AUT

Normalised impact (HE+HP+GO)

R+

D e

xp

en

du

tre

HE

+H

P+

GO

/ G

DP

(%

)

LOW RESROUCES

HIGH IMPACT

HIGH RESOURCES

HIGH IMPACT

1,47

HIGH RESROUCES

LOW IMPACT

LOW RESOURCES

LOW IMPACT

0,67

Source: ACUP, 2010.


Country PopulationPublic universities Ratio

Research Applied Total PRU/Mhab Hab/PRU Hab/PUCatalonia 7,290,292 7 7 0.96 1,041,470 1,041,470

Spain 45,828,172 47 47 1.03 975,067 975,067Italy 60,045,068 61 61 1.02 384,345 984,345

France 64,369,147 80 80 1.24 804,614 804,614Denmark 5,511,451 9 9 1.63 612,383 612,383

Luxemburg 493,500 1 1 2.03 493,500 493,500United Kingdom 61,191,951 124 124 2.03 493,483 493,483

Germany 82,002,356 88 106 194 1.07 931,845 422,693Sweden 9,256,347 17 11 28 1.84 544,491 330,584

The Netherlands 16,485,787 13 39 52 0.79 1,268,137 317,034Greece 11,260,402 24 16 40 2.13 469,183 281,510

Belgium 10,839,905 15 34 49 1.38 722,660 221,223Ireland 4,450,030 7 14 21 1.57 635,719 211,906Austria 8,355,260 21 21 42 2.51 397,870 198,935

Portugal 10,267,250 16 40 56 1.51 664,203 189,772Finland 5,326,314 16 25 41 3 332,895 129,910UE 15 350,214,768 492 306 798 1.4 712,712 438,866

General context (3)

Dimension of the higher education systems in the EU-15


General context (4)

Public university system of Catalonia (2009)


The Study

• Aims analyse the impact of the public universities in Catalonia’s economy and society, to communicate the results and improve where necessary.

• Offers approach of the indicators that could best show the trends. • But measuring the impact of university activity on society is still a

recent field and it does not yet have, at a comparative level, a system, terminology and set of shared indicators that allow the different parameters of these impacts on higher education systems in Europe to be measured.

• Published in Spanish and Catalan, and has a specific on-line shorter version (http://www.universitat-societat.cat/)

http://www.universitat-societat.cat/



Rationale (1)

• During harsh economic recession periods public investment is revised in depth and value for money must be met.

• Accountability strengthens the legitimacy of the institutions. • Informing about the impacts of university activity is also an

exercise of institutional responsibility and correct management:– obliges the universities to critically examine their own action– subjects them to critical reviews from stakeholders and society


Rationale (2)

• The Impacts of the public universities of Catalonia is a bottom-up initiative and seeks to: – present a system wide report on the direct and indirect impacts of the

public universities on society and the economy of Catalonia– fill the gap in the current accountability mechanisms


Methodology

• The study analyses the impact of the university activities around four major impact areas:– Education and human capital– Scientific research– Social and cultural development– Innovation and economic progress

• The study is based on already existing data and recent studies (only new data was created for the last chapter).


Education and human capital

Scientific research

Social and cultural development

Innovation and economic progress

Findings


• Attracting talent and highly-qualified human capital Almost 30% of the thesis defended in the public universities of Catalonia were submitted by foreigners, higher than the Spanish average (20%).

• Better and more highly trained citizensIn 1977, 3% of Catalan people of working age had a university degree. In 2007, this had risen to 15%. At present, the percentage of university access for each generation of young people is around 40%, one of the highest ones in the OECD.

Percentage of the population between 25 and 65 years old holding higher education degrees, international comparative (2008)

Education and human capital (1)

Finlan

d

Denmark

Irelan

d

Belgium

Netherl

ands

Swed

en

United Kingd

om

Catalonia

Spain

Luxe

mburg

France

German

yUE2

7

Greece

Austria

Italia

Portuga

l05

1015202530354045

25-64 years 25-34 yearsSource: Eurostat.


• Creating quality employment The Catalan public universities create more than 40,000 jobs, 1.1% of all the jobs that are part of the Catalan economy.

• The success of lifelong learning education In 2004, 75% of university graduates continued studying at Catalan public universities. 40% of the offer of lifelong learning education in Spain takes place in Catalan public universities.


% employed % inactive % unemployed

Àrees /Year 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011

Humanities 89.44 81.51 4.81 5.57 5.75 12.93

Social Sciences 94.15 89.85 2.92 3.32 2.93 6.83

Science 90.44 86.45 6.6 4.98 2.95 8.87

Health 95.28 92.49 2.63 2.4 2.09 5.11

Technical 95.02 89.11 2.63 3.24 2.35 7.65

Employment situation of the Catalan university graduates, by discipline (percentage 2010 and 2011)

Source: AQU, 2011.


• Training of highly qualified doctors with difficulties in finding employment in the private sector

In recent courses, an average of 1,500 doctoral thesis have been defended in Catalan public universities and they are the leaders in high-quality doctoral programmes. At the same time however, the labour insertion of doctors in the private sector is 16%, compared to the 44% in the United States.

• High employability of university graduates and satisfaction with the chosen academic programmes

The employment level of university graduates is around 80%, almost 30% above the total of the population. In 2011, 73% of the degree holders said that they felt satisfied with the degrees they had followed and that they would repeat the choice.



• Quality research Catalan public universities have a scientific impact of 34% more than the world average, in front of Germany, France and Finland, and above the EU-15 average.

• Catalan public universities leading the country's researchBetween 2004 and 2008, 20% of the scientific production in Catalonia was produced in public universities. If the research carried out in university hospitals and research centres linked to public universities is added to this, a figure of 90% is reached.

• Catalonia, a race towards international scientific excellenceThe country's university scientific production in terms of population, is ahead of Germany, Japan and France, and is leader in Spain.

Scientific research (1)



CH IL SECA

T NL FI CY UK BE AT FR IS DK IE DE7P

M NO ES+

HU IT PT EL ES- EE CZ BG PL

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Source: Generalitat de Catalunya, 2010.

• Leaders in obtaining resources for scientific researchThe Catalan public universities were in fourth position in obtaining grants from the EU Framework Programme for R&D between 2007 and 2010. At the same time, between 2007 and 2010, Catalonia received 57% of the total ERC awards in Spain.

ERC awards by country in the five calls (M/hab., 2007-2010)


• At the head of applications for university patentsThe increase in the application of patents by Catalan universities between 2000 and 2009 was 89% and places it in the group of countries with the greatest proportion of worldwide applications for patents from the university sector.

Patent petition increase EU-15, world and universities of Catalonia (PCT 2000-2009)


EU-15 World Universities in Catalonia

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

43.16%

67.00%

88.89%

Source: ACUP, 2011


• Closely collaborating with companies and promoting knowledge transfer Catalan public universities invoiced a total of 125.7 thousand/million€ to companies for special technical services and studies in 2009.

• Research groups and centres par excellence Catalan public universities have 684 consolidated research groups and have fuelled most of the research centres promoted by the Generalitat of Catalonia. They also closely participate in university hospitals’ research.



• A university for everyone, that promotes the improvement of social statusThe proportion of students in higher education whose parents do not have university education is 40% in Catalonia, the highest figure in OECD countries. In 1973, 37% of students in public universities were women. In 2010, this percentage was 54%.

• Promoting a more participative, plural and culturally rich societyThe statistics corroborate that the higher the level of education, the greater civic and political participation, tolerance and cultural consumption.

• A university system with a greater need for scholarships and grants for studentsPublic spending on scholarships and grants for students in Spain as part of the total expense on education is very low (8.2%), far from the OECD average (17.3%) and that of countries such as the United Kingdom (25.8%) or Denmark (30.8%). In Catalonia, 80% of young people study without grants, a percentage that is much higher than the most advanced European countries.



• An impulse to social sciences and humanities and to Catalan culture In 2009, 24.32% of all the funding granted to research groups was destined to these areas. The Catalan public universities were clearly notable thanks to their contribution to studying and promoting the Catalan language, culture and nation.

• At the forefront of international cooperationCatalan public universities are the most active ones in Spain in matters of university cooperation for development. Catalonia coordinates 17 UNESCO chairs, as opposed to 19 in France, 11 in Italy and 15 in the United Kingdom and the United States.



• A notable impact on the country's economyThe short-term direct and indirect benefits of the existence of eight Catalan public universities is around 0.6% of Catalonia's GDP and around 1% of the GDP if we include the institutions linked to universities.

• Catalan public universities, among the most efficient in scientific research in Europe Measuring efficiency (publications per researcher depending on resources) and impact, the Catalan public university system is above the European average and is comparable to countries such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Expenditure in R+D (%)/ GDP in Europe and Catalonia (2006)

Source: Eurostat


DE BE CZ DK IE FR CY CAT HU IT ES NL BG0

0.0050.01

0.0150.02

0.0250.03

0.0350.04

0.0450.05


• A decisive impulse towards innovation and entrepreneurshipIn 2009, there were 2,165 innovative, technology-based companies in Catalan scientific parks, of which 81.38% were small enterprises and micro companies. In 2008, Catalan public universities created 21 spin-off companies.

Expenditure in Technologic Innovation. Catalonia 2003-2009


2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

2916.821

3073.661

3490.488 3539.7993926.94 3780.644

3494.868

2966.8542473230.294258 3186.701786

3389.4776833211.815499

2933.830842

Nominal

M€

Source: ACUP, 2011.


• A nexus between Catalonia and the worldMore than 6,700 students attended Catalan public universities during the 2007-2008 academic year, whilst 3,600 Catalan people went abroad to study.

• Every euro invested in universities in the economy produces 1.88 eurosFor every euro invested in higher education the economy receives 1.88 euros, making higher education institutions crucial economic agents.



Conclusions (1)

• Evidence that public universities in Catalonia are are dynamic, high-performing institutions creating a higher education and research system that can compete at an international level and with a key impact on the social and cultural development and economic progress of Catalonia.

• Indirect outcomes, the need to:– Develop follow-up studies on university graduates and their professional careers upon entering

the labour market;– identify appropriate indicators that can provide accurate information for future analysis of this

kind to reflect the impact of the social and cultural dimension of the universities on society and economy, and, the need to systematically gather and analyse the data;

– engage in further research on how innovation and technological activities impact; and– in-depth research on the skills and capacities that the labour market values, and those that the

university aims to provide students with.


Conclusions (2)

• The study concludes that universities are probably the institutions with most impact and that bring most value to the territory, whether through training and human capital, scientific research, social and cultural development or innovation and economic progress.


Thank you.

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