German Perspectives on Management Education in a Globalizing World

Abstract

"Es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen" - which could be translatedas "Educated people don ' t fall from the sky". This Gennan saying means that youhave to work hard for a good education. To enter general higher education 12 to 13years of hard work in primary and grammar school arc necessary.In Germany higher education is offered in three types of Higher EducationInstitutions.Universitiiten (Universities) including various specialized institutions offera whole range of academic disciplines. In the Gennan tradition, universities focus inparticular on basic research so that advanced stages of study have mainly a theoreticalorientation and research-oriented components. At 103 universities andcomprehensive universities including 15 colleges of theology, about 1.3 Millionstudents or two thirds of all students are enrolled.Fachhochschulen (Universities of Applied Sciences) concentrate theirstudy programs on engineering and other technical disciplines, business-relatedstudies, social work, and design areas. The common mission of applied research anddevelopment implies a distinct application-oriented focus and professional characterof studies, which include integrated and supervised work assignments in industry,enterprises or other relevant institutions. In Germany we have 176 universities ofapplied sciences and 30 comparable colleges of public administration. Due to theirpractical orientation the graduates from these institutions can be integrated moreeasily into companies. They are less expensive and therefore it is the goal of thegovernment to increase the share of all students from 30 to 40 %.