FROM CERTIFICATES TO PERFORMANCE: A PARADIGM SHIFT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

Against the backdrop of recent social and technological developments, the relationship between the educational system and the employment system has also changed. The “lifelong learning” paradigm is now firmly established within the field of educational research. In this article, we argue that empirical researchers have shifted using certificates to capture educational attainment, focusing instead on competence and performance. We define “performance” as the ability to react adequately and flexibly to new situations within job-related contexts. This paper thus aims to describe the shifting research paradigm in the context of political agenda-setting and presents some examples from different disciplinary perspectives to illustrate the potential of interdisciplinary research. Interdisciplinary, collaborative research, we suggest, shows great potential for providing empirical evidence to measure the consequences—intended and unintended—of political reforms in higher education. Even though our arguments and implications are formulated from the perspective of the German education and science system, their essence can also be applied to other national contexts.