and Master Programmes in German Higher Education Institutions

contrasted with the actual state of development as reported in the survey and reflected in theHSK data.Two central strategic decisions to be taken by institutions are whether they want to introduceB/M comprehensively or only in selective subject areas and, related, whether theywant B/M to replace the existing degrees or they want the two degree structures to co-exist.4.3.1 Comprehensive versus selective introductionIn our survey we asked respondents to tell us if Bachelor and Master degrees were alreadybeing offered in all subjects, or whether they had only been introduced in some subject areas.According to the respondents to our survey, there are some differences between typesof higher education institution with regard to whether or not all subject areas are covered.23 (or 41%) of FH respondents informed us that Bachelor and Master degrees are beingintroduced in all subject areas. This can be compared with 10 (or 18%) in the universitysector, and 4 (or 25%) among the TUs. It is interesting that only a few respondents indicatedthat there is widespread resistance to the introduction of Bachelor and Master degrees: thisresponse was given by 1 FH (or 2%), 4 Universities (or 7%), and 1 TU (or 6%).We also asked whether institutional management is aiming for comprehensive introduction.Across the three main sectors (FH, Uni, and TU), around a quarter (33 or 26%) of institutionalmanagement are hoping to introduce Bachelor and Master degrees in all areas 41 . Institutionalmanagement at FHs and TUs indicated more often than at universities that theyare hoping to introduce Bachelor and Master degrees in all areas (16 or 28%, 5 or 31%, and12 or 21%, of FHs, universities and TUs, respectively). More than a third (47 or 37%) ofour respondents indicated that they do not plan to introduce these degrees in all areas. A bitmore than a third (45 or 35%) indicated that institutional management has not decided aboutthis yet. There are, however, some differences between sectors: a nearly half of the respondentsfrom the university sector (27 or 48%), and half (8 or 50%) of the respondents fromthe TU sector indicated that institutional management is not planning to introduce thesedegrees in all areas. In the FH sector, on the other hand, less than a quarter of the respondents(12 or 21%) gave this answer. In the FH sector, nearly half of the respondents (27 or48%) indicated that institutional management have not yet decided about this (comparedwith 15 or 27% in the university sector and 2 or 19% in the TU sector).4.3.2 Replacement versus parallel structuresIn Chapter 2 we reported the open discussion in the higher education community aboutwhether the new degrees should eventually replace the existing degrees - as recently suggestedby the Science Council - or if parallel structures should be maintained in the longrun. In our survey, we therefore asked which tendency so far prevailed in institutions: B/Mreplacing the existing degrees, B/M and the existing degrees running parallel, or B/M andthe existing so far existing side by side but with the intention to replace the existing degreesin the medium run. Respondents indicated that in most cases the older degrees continue tobe offered, and that the Bachelor and Master degrees run parallel with them (rather thanreplacing them in the short or long term). The highest number of respondents in each sectorgave this answer: 29 (or 52%) in the FH sector, 22 (or 40%) in the university sector, and 841 Most of these (26 out of 33) indicated that they hope this will happen in the medium-term, but they do nothave a definite plan concerning when this will happen.34