and Master Programmes in German Higher Education Institutions

Another effect of the parallel situation is that Germany is at present only producing a verylimited number of graduates with a bachelor or master degree. This implies that it will continueto produce a high number of graduates who enter the labour market later than theircolleagues with the new type of degrees and many of their foreign fellows. Pressure fromthe institutional level to change this situation does not seem to be very strong as yet. Only7% consider complete replacement of the traditional structure by bachelor-master at presentand only 15% in the medium term. Economic factors (labour market, international competitiveness)may put more pressure on this situation at some point.10.3 Curriculum characteristicsIt seems that both countries are still struggling to some extent with the labour market qualificationof the first degree. In Germany more explicit statements have been made on it atnational policy level, but the discussion is still going on about how this degree will be acceptedin the labour market. In the Netherlands, national policy documents reflect the expectationthat students would enter more often the world of work on the basis of a first degreeand would then come back later to continue their master studies (as is often the case inthe UK and the USA). This should however not lead to a reduction of the number of graduateswith a master level degree, because of the above mentioned shortages. Especially universitiesare very reluctant to the idea that students would leave the institution after threeyears.Currriculum length seems to become quite similar in the two countries: bachelor 3 or 4years, masters 1-2 years. Exception is that in Germany Fachhochschule can offer both 3 and4 years programmes. In the Netherlands all bachelor programmes in Hogescholen will take4 years. In Germany most master programmes take more than one year. In the new sitationthis will basically not be the case in the Netherlands, as the duration of bachelor-masterswill in principle be based on the duration of the current programmes. This means that mostprogrammes (except those in science, technology and medicine) will have a 3+1 structure.Dutch universities organised a strong lobby for a fifth year across all sectors. This will onlybe granted in specific cases, however.The trend toward programme rather than institutional diversity can be observed in the twocountries. Both theory and application-oriented programmes can in principle be offered byuniversities and Fachhochschule. The discussion on the relevance of this distinction is alsogoing on in both countries. The according difference in degrees (B.A., BSc, M.A. and M.Scfor theory-oriented programmes and bachelor of …. for application-oriented programmes) isexistent in Germany and will also play a role in the Netherlands. The idea that the first categoryof degrees would be reserved for universities was heavily contested by the Hogescholen.But discussions in parliament brought the distinction back. Employers wereamong the stakeholders who are attached to a distinction between the two type of degreeswhich they consider both relevant for the labour market. It is observed in both countries thatthe “academic drift” of the polytechnic sector is more important than the “vocational drift”of the universities.In Germany, only 10% of the bachelor-master programmes are currently offered (mainly in)English. Without yet having precise data on the new situation in the Netherlands at our disposal,we can report that the use of English as a language of instruction is more widelyspread in the Netherlands. The introduction of the medium started already in the early 1990s75