OECD review of higher education, research and innovation : Portugal.

Description

Foreword Table of contents Acronyms and abbreviations Executive summary Governance, strategy, and funding in the higher education, research, and innovation system Portugal needs a comprehensive and coherent national strategy to guide public higher education, research, and innovation in the mid- to long-term Improved co-ordination across government is needed to support the development of a comprehensive policy strategy and priorities The future of State Laboratories within Portugal’s research system is unclear The resources allocated to higher education, research and innovation are not aligned to an overall strategy, or to policy goals guiding the work of government Funding allocation processes at agency level limit the implementation of national priorities The missions, profiles and use of resources of higher education institutions The profiles and missions of Portugal’s public higher education institutions, viewed as a system, are not well aligned to national and regional needs Higher education institutional autonomy and responsibility have expanded, but remain insufficient Public spending is provided in a way that hampers sound financial management by higher education institutions Funding and steering policies do not encourage institutional profiling and division of labour Higher education provision, access and support mechanisms Differentiation and flexibility in modes of provision and pedagogical approaches remain limited, jeopardising Portugal’s attainment goals Pathways from secondary to higher education limit further widening and social diversification of higher education access Financial and academic support for students needs improvement to achieve attainment goals Doctoral training The funding and delivery of doctoral training is not well configured to prepare doctoral graduates for today’s research roles More needs to be done to create quality employment opportunities for doctoral graduates in Portugal Academic Careers Problems of queuing and in-breeding in academic careers are extensive The structure of careers is marked by weak differentiation and limited performance-based rewards Low career mobility and late retirement hinder innovation and diversity High-skilled employment, co-operation with HEIs and innovation in the business sector There is a need to support low and mid-tech businesses to develop their internal innovation capacity Mismatches between the supply and demand for qualified staff may be hampering innovation Further support for intermediary organisations in low technology industry and service sectors is needed The knowledge transfer infrastructure should be strengthened Chapter 1. Assessment and recommendations 1.1. Introduction 1.2. What does an effective HERI system look like? 1.3. Governance, strategy and funding in the HERI system Policy Issue 3.1. There is no overarching and coherent national strategy to guide the system in the mid to long term Policy Issue 3.2. The capacity to develop an overarching strategy and set priorities is hindered by insufficient co-ordination across government Policy Issue 3.3. The future role of State Laboratories in Portugal’s research system is unclear Policy Issue 3.4. The resources allocated to higher education, research and innovation are not aligned to an overall strategy or the level of ambition of the government Policy Issue 3.5. Funding allocation processes at agency level are not adequate to implement national priorities 1.4. Missions, profiles and resource use in HEIs Policy Issue 4.1 Portugal’s balance of higher education institutional missions is imperfectly aligned to its national and regional needs Policy Issue 4.2. Higher education institutional autonomy and responsibility have expanded, but remain insufficient Policy Issue 4.3. Public spending is provided in a way that hampers sound financial management by higher education institutions Policy issue 4.4. Funding and steering policies do not encourage institutional profiling and division of labour 1.5. Higher education provision, access and support mechanisms Policy issue 5.1. Differentiation and flexibility in modes of provision and pedagogical approaches remains limited, jeopardising Portugal’s attainment goals Policy issue 5.2. Pathways from secondary to higher education limit further widening and social diversification of higher education access Policy issue 5.3. Financial and academic support for students 1.6. Doctoral training Policy issue 6.1. The funding and delivery of doctoral training is not well configured to prepare doctoral graduates for today’s research roles Policy issue 6.2. More needs to be done to create quality employment opportunities for doctoral graduates in Portugal 1.7. Academic Careers Policy issue 7.1. Career planning and entry: queuing and in-breeding Policy issue 7.2. The structure of careers: weak differentiation and performance-based rewards Policy issue 7.3. Career mobility and retirement: low mobility and late retirement 1.8. High-skilled employment, co-operation with HEIs and innovation in the business sector Policy issue 8.1. The Portuguese innovation policy mix needs a careful balance between the support to high and low tech business firms Policy issue 8.2. There are emerging opportunities to support business innovation that merit well-designed policies Policy issue 8.3. Cluster-based approaches are instrumental to support innovation, including in less developed regions Policy issue 8.4. Mismatches between the supply and demand of qualified personnel may be hampering innovation Policy issue 8.5. Further support for intermediary organisations in low tech industry and service sectors is needed Policy issue 8.6. The Knowledge transfer infrastructure should be strengthened Note Chapter 2. Conditions for higher education, research and innovation in Portugal 2.1. Macroeconomic performance 2.1.1. GDP growth, inequalities and well-being 2.1.2. Productivity 2.1.3. Economic structure 2.1.4. Employment and skills 2.1.5. Framework conditions for business 2.2. Overview of the higher education, research and innovation system (HERI) in Portugal 2.2.1. Overall structure of the HERI system 2.2.2. The higher education system: inputs, participation, and outcomes Funding higher education Participation in higher education and equity in access 2.2.3. Research and innovation: inputs and performance Expenditure and funding Research and innovation performance Notes References Chapter 3. Governance, Strategy and funding in the HERI System 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Context 3.2.1. Strategic governance of higher education, research and innovation Formal policy-making bodies Strategic advice and horizontal co-ordination Public consultations Foresight and policy evaluation 3.2.1. Strategic orientation for HERI Overview and typology of strategic documents relevant to HERI National overarching strategic documents National strategic documents in HERI policy fields Overarching strategies and programmes related to EU requirements Strategic documents in the HERI policy fields related to EU requirements 3.2.2. Funding of HERI activities Overall budget process Government funding of higher education and academic research Financial support to business innovation 3.3. Assessment Policy issue 3.1. There is no overarching and coherent national strategy to guide the system in the mid to long term The multiplicity of national agendas and plans stemming from different parts of the system does not create a consistent strategic framework Strategies and plans guiding Structural Funds allocation do not compensate for the lack of a national strategy. Existing strategies are insufficiently supported by monitoring, evaluation and foresight Recent initiatives demonstrate progress in stakeholder engagement Policy Issue 3.2. The capacity to develop an overarching strategy and set priorities is hindered by insufficient co-ordination across government Policy silos hinder horizontal co-ordination There is no high level advisory body to foster horizontal co-ordination across ministry boundaries Policy Issue 3.3. The future role of State Laboratories in Portugal’s research system is unclear Policy Issue 3.4. The resources allocated to higher education, research and innovation are not aligned to an overall strategy or the level of ambition of the government Drastic reductions of state funding for R&D, in contradiction with national and European spending targets Instability of funding hinders the ability of HERI organisations to make ambitious mid- to long-term plans The EU and national procedures associated to the management of structural funds create a heavy administrative burden and limit flexibility Policy issue 3.5. Funding allocation processes at agency level are not adequate to implement national priorities Agencies mainly allocate their funding in a bottom-up way without explicit priorities The internal organisation of FCT hinders the co-ordination of the different funding instruments The framework within which FCT interacts with its line ministry and its beneficiaries hinders its autonomy to act effectively The creation of specific research agencies in specific fields can create additional co-ordination challenges and reduce funding efficiency 3.4. Recommendations Notes References Chapter 4. Missions, profiles and resource use in HEIs 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Context 4.2.1. Higher education institutions and their missions 4.2.2. Regulation of study places and programmes 4.2.3. Quality assurance 4.2.4. Institutional autonomy 4.2.5. Funding public higher education institutions 4.2.6. Higher education system-level governance and steering 4.3. Assessment Policy issue 4.1. Portugal’s balance of higher education institutional missions is not fully aligned to its national and regional needs Policy issue 4.2. Institutional autonomy and responsibility have expanded, but remain insufficient Policy issue 4.3. Public spending is provided in a way that does not support sound institutional financial management Policy issue 4.4. Funding and steering policies do not encourage institutional profiling and division of labour The national policy framework does not support institutional profiling Internal constraints limits profiling Weak profiling limits the performance of the nation’s higher education and research system 4.4. Recommendations Notes References Chapter 5. Higher education provision, access and support mechanisms 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Context 5.2.1. Higher education provision 5.2.2. Admission system to higher education 5.2.3. Support for higher education students 5.3. Assessment: Key points Policy issue 5.1. Differentiation and flexibility in modes of provision and pedagogical approaches remains limited, jeopardising Portugal’s attainment goals Policy issue 5.2. Pathways from secondary to higher education limit further widening and social diversification of higher education access Policy issue 5.3. Financial and academic support for students 5.4. Recommendations Note References Chapter 6. Doctoral training 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Context 6.2.1. Stock and flow of doctorate holders in Portugal 6.2.2. Organisation and funding of doctoral training in Portugal 6.2.3. The destinations of doctoral holders in Portugal 6.3. Assessment Policy issue 6.1. Doctoral training capacity in Portugal Thematic focus: diversified training capacity, but little strategic prioritisation A hesitant shift towards greater structure and skills focus in doctoral training A strong tradition of internationalisation on which to build Undiversified and unstable public funding for doctoral training Policy issue 6.2. Employment opportunities for doctoral graduates in Portugal Few opportunities for doctoral graduates in the academic sector Limited absorption capacity of PhDs in the wider economy A lack of strategic focus on brain drain and its impacts 6.4. Recommendations Notes References Chapter 7. Academic careers 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Context 7.2.1. Entry to academic careers: post-docs and early-stage researcher posts 7.2.2. Academic careers in Portugal 7.3. Assessment Policy issue 7.1. Career planning and entry: queuing and inbreeding Limited employment opportunities, precarious contracts and unrealistic expectations A new initiative to create academic employment opportunities that carries risks Inbreeding already creates its own challenges Policy issue 7.2 The structure of careers: weak differentiation and performance-based rewards Centralised regulation of staff workloads restricts flexibility and limits specialisation Evaluation, pay-setting and promotion procedures do little to reward good performance Policy issue 7.3. Career mobility and retirement: low mobility and late retirement Limited incentives for mobility between institutions in Portugal The Portuguese higher education system fails to attract many international staff A tendency for older staff to remain in post 7.4. Recommendations Notes References Chapter 8. High-skilled employment, co-operation with HEIs and innovation in the business sector 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Context 8.2.1. Business R&D and innovation investment 8.2.2. Business innovation performance 8.2.3. Entrepreneurship 8.2.4. Advanced skills for innovation and upgrading 8.2.5. Research-industry knowledge exchange 8.2.6. Knowledge transfer infrastructure 8.2.7. Government direct and indirect support to business innovation 8.3. Assessment Policy issue 8.1. The Portuguese innovation policy mix needs a careful balance between the support to high- and low-tech business firms Policy issue 8.2. There are emerging opportunities to support business innovation that merit well-designed policies Policy issue 8.3. Cluster-based approaches are instrumental to support innovation, including in less developed regions Policy issue 8.4. Further support for intermediary organisations in low tech industry and service sectors is needed Policy issue 8.5. Mismatches between the supply and demand of qualified personnel may be hampering innovation Policy issue 8.6. The knowledge exchange infrastructure should be strengthened to improve connections between tertiary education institutions (TEIs) and industry 8.4. Recommendations Notes References Annex A. Assessment framework Annex A. Assessment framework