Nachhaltige Entwicklung von Schweizer Hochschulen: Das Potenzial der institutionellen Akkreditierung

Abstract

Die nachhaltige Entwicklung von Hochschulen wird von unterschiedlichen Faktoren beeinflusst. Dazu gehört auch das institutionelle Akkreditierungsverfahren, mit dem regelmäßig die Qualität von Hochschulen in den Bereichen Lehre, Forschung und Dienstleistungen überprüft wird. Doch welche Rolle dieses Instrument der Qualitätssicherung tatsächlich für die nachhaltige Entwicklung von Hochschulen spielt, ist bislang weitgehend unerforscht. Antworten bietet diese Analyse am Beispiel der Schweizer Hochschullandschaft. Die Ergebnisse machen das Potenzial der institutionellen Akkreditierung als Impulsgeberin für die nachhaltige Entwicklung von Hochschulen deutlich. Die Analyse umfasst zudem Handlungsempfehlungen für die Weiterentwicklung der institutionellen Akkreditierung und des Qualitätsmanagements von Hochschulen.

Using the Swiss higher education landscape as an example, this study examines the question of how institutional accreditation and the sustainability standard it contains affect the sustainable development of higher education institutions (HEIs). The aim of the study is to find out what changes institutional accreditation has brought about at Swiss HEIs in terms of sustainability. The study was carried out using an explorative, qualitative research design. The necessary data was collected via guided expert inter-views with sustainability officers from eleven Swiss HEIs and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results show that the relationship between institutional accreditation and the sustainable development of HEIs can be described as a causal mechanism or impact model. Overall, four causal mechanisms emerge: 1) In the case of weak institutional anchoring of sustainability at HEIs, institutional accreditation is a necessary condition for the sustainable development of HEIs. It brings about changes in strategies, structures and resources with regard to sustainability. 2) However, institutional accreditation may not be a prerequisite for HEIs with a weak institutional anchoring of sustainability if they succeed in being institutionally accredited by means of greenwashing. 3) In the case of HEIs with a mediocre institutional anchoring of sustainability, institutional accreditation is a sufficient and supportive condition for the sustainable development of HEIs. It can, but must not necessarily, lead to changes in strategies and structures with regard to sustainability. 4) In the case of strong institutional anchoring of sustainability at HEIs, institutional accreditation is not a condition for the sustainable development of universities and does not bring about any changes in strategies and structures with regard to sustain-ability. With regard to all four causal mechanisms, institutional accreditation and the sustain-ability standard contained therein do not cause a longer-term organizational change process at the HEIs. They do not lead to comprehensive sustainable development, to sustainability-related changes in the HEI-specific fields of action and to a culture of sustainability. Rather, institutional accreditation is handled by the HEIs as an intervention and requirement to be implemented. The aim of the HEIs is to meet the sustainability standard, whereby they achieve a certain minimum level in terms of sustainability, but without striving for fundamental sustainability-related changes.