Evaluación de riesgos

Higher education is considered one of the main missions of the state and all Greeks have the right to free education at all levels as article 16 of the Greek constitution stipulates. The higher education sector in Greece is comprised of

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For example, the law 3374/2005 was introduced for the establishment of transfer and accumulation credit systems and the Diploma Supplement.

94 two sectors: the university sector and the technological sector. The

Universities, the Technical universities (or the so called Polytechnics77) and the School of Fine Arts falls within the university sector, while the Technological Education Institutions (TEIs) 78 along with the School of Pedagogical and Technological education falls within the technology sector 79 (Law 3549/2007 in Bologna Report, 2009). It was not until the 1983 that technological

educational institutions were established in Greece (1404/1983) while in 2001 they are incorporated in the higher education sector along with the universities (2916/2001). There are also private colleges, working as franchising

organisations cooperation with mainly UK and American universities. The colleges have been registered as commercial enterprises while recently their responsibility has been fallen under the Ministry of Education and Culture which has provided to some of them a license to be considered as post- secondary education institutions.

Education is one of the main governmental priorities where a big part of the state budget is often devoted. The rhetoric of the Greek policy makers on the importance of education, (Deniozos, 2010; Georgiadis, 2007) do not seem to coincide with the statistical evidence provided. Eurostat figures (EC.2010) show that Greece has raised its spending in 2005 to 4% (EU-27 average was

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It should be mentioned that Polytechnics in Greece are very prestigious institutions providing courses in engineering and technology fields and they do not carry the negative connotation of lower status higher education institutions as it might be the case in other countries.

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TEIs offer 3-4 year degrees which are characterised by a more applied character than the university degrees. Universities and TEIs are considered as institutions providing Tertiary type A, ISCED 5A. Only universities are eligible in conferring masters and doctoral degrees while TEIs can only provide Masters degrees through cooperation with universities.

79 _{TEIs are considered low status institutions since they have recently been allowed to confer} postgraduate degrees in cooperation with the university sector for the time being. After the completion of evaluation procedures by the Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency, they would have the right to award postgraduate degrees on their own.

95 5.05%) of GDP on educational institutions since 2001 while private

expenditure remains quite low (0.25% in 2005 while the EU-27 was 0.67%). In addition, the expenditure on public and private educational institutions per pupil/student remained quite low in 2006 at 4,485 PPS while the EU-27 reaches 6,003 PPS.

Weaknesses of the Greek higher education system

Recent policy reports (Eliamep, 2006; ADIP, 2009) have highlighted some of the main weaknesses of the Greek higher education system, which date back to its origins and development, and might explain why Greek students go for studies abroad. Eliamep (2006) highlights the introvert character and the subsequent lack of transparency, the inefficient internal control and the limited social accountability that characterise the Greek higher education system. Some of the criticisms concern not only the lack of organisational and building infrastructure of HEIs, but also the lack of administrative, technical staff and permanent teaching staff (ADIP, 2009). An important point made in this report about the Greek higher education system was:

“the inability [of the system] to attract excellent postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers who go abroad due to the lack of incentives and scholarships” (ibid, p.21).

Access to higher education

Access to higher education is undertaken through the matriculation exams (Panhellenic national exams). The responsibility for the exams lies within the Ministry of Education. The national exams system has changed in the last ten years respectively to the changes in the government and the ministry of education. Admission is regulated by the Ministry according to numerous

96 clausus policy that defines a specific number of persons for each university department. Gouvias (1998) has argued that this system contributes to enhancing inequality of access to the Greek students.

The Greek higher education system is organised in three cycles80 compatible with the Bologna process: the first cycle (undergraduate education); the second, (Masters’ programmes); and the third (doctoral education).

Enrolment

Higher education has always been in high demand (Saiti and Prokopiadou, 2008;Nassiakou, 1981; Tsoukalas, 1981; Psacharopoulos and Soumelis, 1979),which can be seen by the high participation of Greek students in HEIs. In 1997, only 16% of 25-64 year olds completed tertiary education

According to the latest figures of OECD (2010), Greece has a high enrolment rate in education81 (82.7% in 2008, see Table 3.10) which is higher than the OECD average (81.5%). Within the last 15 years, more and more Greek youngsters of 15-19 year olds are enrolling upper secondary education and tertiary education (see table below).

Table 3.9 Trends in enrollment rates of young people in upper secondary education

1995 2000 2003 2008

Greece 62 82 83 83

OECD average 74 77 79 82

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Until 1982, the system was organised in two cycles: undergraduate and postgraduate where the latter concerned primarily doctoral education.

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97 Source: Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators

In terms of disciplinary preferences, Greek students similarly to other

European students prefer social science subjects, business and law to study in tertiary education. Engineering, manufacturing and construction subjects also seem to be quite popular in Greece in comparison to the EU-27 and the UK, which might be owed to the prestige of the Technical schools in Greece and the increasing power of the Technical chamber of Greece82 regarding access to the labour market. Looking closely to Eurostat figures by gender, more male graduates were in science, mathematics and computing fields while three to one in engineering and related fields (Eurostat, 2010, p.264).

Table 3.10 Disciplinary preferences of tertiary education students in Greece, UK and EU.

% Human ities & arts Social sciences, business & law Science, maths & computing Engineering, manufacturing and construction Agricult ure & veterina ry Health &welfare Services EU-27 13.1 33.9 10.5 14 1.9 12.6 4.1 Greece 13.5 31.8 13.6 17 5.8 9.6 3.1 UK 17.1 26.9 13.4 8.4 0.9 16 3.1 Source: Eurostat, 2010 Postgraduate education

The legal framework 2083/1992 enhanced the autonomy of departments in organising postgraduate programmes, which led to an exponential increase of Master’s programmes, Master’s graduates and subsequently doctoral

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The Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) is the professional association for engineers and architects. It is a prestigious and very powerful body in negotiating and ensuring access of its members to various occupational sectors. Graduates in engineering and architecture need to undertake exams in TEE and acquire a special license in order to ‘exercise’ their profession and access relevant occupational areas.

98 candidates and graduates. Indicators show that while there were 50.057

postgraduate students in 2001-2002, only six years later, this number reached 77,167 out of which 37,712 were PhD students (Kathimerini, 2009). In Greece, during the last decade (2001-2010) the number of students enrolled in Master and PhD programmes has almost doubled (ELSTAT, online, see Figure 3.3). The data provide an interesting picture in terms of gender distribution between Master’s and PhD students. Similar numbers of male students are observed in Masters and PhD programmes but the number of female Master’s students has increased exponentially overcoming continuously male Masters’ students since 2004/2005. On the contrary, fewer women are enrolled in doctoral programmes reflecting potentially the unattractiveness of a long term degree (more than three years) in a period where life-cycle events might be more important for women (Karamessini, 2004, p.21).

Figure 3-3 Trends in postgraduate education enrollment in Greece, 2001-2009.

13538 30469 12540 21404 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09

Total number of MA and PhD students in

Greece 2001-2009

99 It could be argued that the Universities were quite motivated in designing and creating more and more postgraduate programmes due to both collective and individual returns. After all, universities are able to charge fees for their postgraduate programmes, while academics could use postgraduate programmes for their establishment and promotion.

Figure 3-4 Trends in postgraduate education enrollment in Greece by gender, 2001-2009.

From the individual perspective of Greek students, investment in higher education is considered as a means to reduce unemployment risk and enhance career prospects. For example, Mitrakos et al. (2010) showed that Masters’ and PhD graduates enjoy high earnings in the Greek labour market based on LFS data. Postgraduate qualifications can thus be a competitive advantage in the Greek labour market. In addition, as mentioned before, the

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/2007 2007/08 2008/2009

Postgraduate students in Greece by gender

during 2001- 2009

Female MA students Male MA students Female PhD students Male PhD students

100 Greek public has always considered education highly important as it is

reflected in the high demand for higher education and the continuous financial parental support provided (Saiti and Prokopiadou, 2008).