When it comes to the personnel situation, satisfaction at German universities is limited. According to the current university barometer, 47.6 percent of rectors and presidents at state universities and technical colleges regard the personnel situation as "bad" or "rather bad".
This is the highest value since 2011, when the Stifterverband asked for the satisfaction of the rectors for the first time. In private colleges it looks much better in terms of staff: Here only 19.6 percent of the lines perceive the situation as "bad" or "rather bad".
Overall, the mood among rectors and presidents "cautiously positive," says the study. Respondents were able to state how satisfied they are with different topics. Your details were then converted to a scale from -100 to +100. The overall index, at 21.4 points, is similar to that of the past five years. However, there are considerable differences depending on the size, type of institution and sponsorship.
45.1 percent are particularly satisfied with the lines of private universities. This is followed by the state universities of applied sciences with 26.8 percent and more than 10,000 students. These were at the top of the previous survey. Overall, the rectors and presidents of major universities are happier than smaller ones.
Private universities did better than state ones. This is mainly due to the fact that the university directors assess the framework conditions such as equipment, financing and also the personnel situation much more positively than their colleagues at state institutions. But satisfaction at private universities is also falling. In 2011, the total number of universities and technical colleges was 46.6 points, now only 25.2.
More professorships for digital topics
Although the general conditions assess the rectors and presidents critically, even in the next five years, not everything is bad when looking to the future. Over the next five years, the university heads of academics consider the competitiveness of their own university in research and teaching to be very good. This discrepancy will probably continue to increase.
More about the study
Who commissioned the survey?
The University Barometer is a joint initiative of the Stifterverband der Deutschen Wirtschaft and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation. They interview rectors and presidents of German universities. The survey has been conducted annually since 2011.
What data was collected?
For the current survey, all German universities were contacted from December 2018 to January 2019, with the exception of the administrative colleges. Altogether there were 394 colleges, 162 of them answered.
How meaningful are the results?
According to the authors, the results are representative of the differentiated German higher education landscape.
Many of the interviewees agree on a future-oriented field: About every second university wants to focus on research topics with digital topics in the future. This is also reflected in the replacement of professorships. According to the Rectors, in 2018, three in ten newly appointed professors specialize in digital topics such as data analysis or the digital economy.
