Innovation and Creativity in Higher Education:

the Role of the Humanities in the Knowledge Triangle

Prof. Dr. Dirk Van DammeHead of the Innovation and Measuring Progress Division – OECD/EDU

2

Changing role of universities

• Against context of globalisation and massification, universities are changing...

• ...from providers of human resources to skilled professions...

• ...to dynamic actors in the knowledge society with an increasingly important role in innovation– New skills demands– More flexible ways of knowledge

production, knowledge distribution, and knowledge utilisation

– Multiple level connections to global knowledge flows, but also to regional and local communities

3

Changing role of universities

• Consequences for research:– Mode 1 research complemented by Mode 2– Applied, technology-oriented research

• Consequences for teaching:– More practical teaching with real-life topics– Professional internships

• Expanding innovation function:– Universities as partners in knowledge

infrastructure with industry and governments (“triple helix”)

– Spin-offs, technology-transfer

4

Questions

Humanities

Research

InnovationEducation

What is the role of HE in the creation of new

knowledge

What is HE’s contribution to

innovation?

Does HE fosters the skills for innovation

and creativity?

5

CHANGING SKILLS DEMAND FOR INNOVATION

1.

6

New skills demand

• Changing external skills demand is the main driver for innovation

• Research questions:– Do innovation-driven economies require

more and better educated populations?– What qualifications do innovative

businesses need?– What individual skills should education

systems foster?

New skills demand

40

45

50

55

60

65

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Routine manual

Nonroutine manual

Routine cognitive

Nonroutine analytic

Nonroutine interactive

Source: Levy and Murnane, 2005

Mea

n ta

sk in

put a

s pe

rcen

tiles

of

the

1960

task

dis

tribu

tion Economy-wide measures of routine and non-routine task input (US)

7

8

New skills demandIncrease in creativity-oriented jobs (Canada, 1901-2006)

Skills supply hampering innovation

No need to innovate because no demand for innovations

No need to innovate due to prior innovations

Uncertain demand for innovative goods or services

Markets dominated by established enterprises

Lack of information on technology

Difficulty in finding cooperation partners for innovation

Lack of information on markets

Innovation costs too high

Lack of funds within your enterprise or enterprise group

Lack of qualified personnel

Lack of finance from sources outside your enterprise

0.3

0.35

0.44

0.97

0.98

1.00

1.05

1.14

1.18

1.29

1.37

1.39

Source: OECD, based on CIS data

(odds ratios: innovative vs. non-innovative (ref))

9

Critical skills for the most innovative jobs(tertiary-educated workers)

assert your authoritynegociate

knowledge of other fieldsperform under pressure

write reports or documentswork productively with others

mobilize capacities of othersuse time efficiently

make your meaning clearuse computers and internet

write and speak a foreign languagecoordinate activities

master of your own fieldanalytical thinking

present ideas in audiencealertness to opportunities

willingness to question ideasacquire new knowledge

come with news ideas/solutions

0.90

1.56

1.76

1.76

1.81

1.94

1.95

1.97

1.98

1.99

2.00

2.02

2.05

2.11

2.15

2.18

2.24

2.34

2.44

2.97

Likelihood (odds ratios) of reporting the following job requirements: people in the most innovative jobs vs. least innovative jobs

Source: OECD, based on REFLEX and HEGESCO data10

Skills utilisation and workplace learning

Sweden

Norway

Denmark

Netherlan

ds

AustriaMalt

a

France

Finland

Luxe

mbourg

Germany

Ireland

Belgium

Estonia

Hungary Ita

lyLat

via

Slovenia

Poland UK

Czech

Republic

Slovakia

Cypru

s

Portugal

Lithuania

Romania

Greece

Spain

Bulgaria

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Learning Lean Taylorist Traditional

Source: OECD, Innovative Workplaces

Distribution of employees across organisation classes (2005)

Learning organisations are associated with innovation

Discretionary learning

18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53 58 63 685

10

15

20

25

30

19

25

13

8

18

24

22

20

29

25

11

R² = 0.440518468860396

% Discretionary learning

% L

ead

inno

vato

rs

Lean organisation

15 20 25 30 35 40 455

10

15

20

25

30

2019

13

8

20

18

24

22

20

18

29

11

R² = 0.442840047690019

% Lean organisation

% L

ead

inno

vato

rs

Skills for Innovation

• Lack of skills hinders innovation– Lack of qualified personnel quoted as one

of the top impediments to innovation by innovative businesses

– Diversity of skills / qualifications is needed due to sectoral diversity of innovation

• Not only science and engineering, but also general tertiary education and vocational education and training

Individual Skills for Innovation

• Foundation skills (literacy, numeracy…) are key to access lifelong learning

• Which individual skills for innovation are key?– Subject-based skills (know-what and

know-how)– Skills in thinking and creativity (critical

thinking, imagination, curiosity...)– Behavioural and social skills (self-

confidence, energy, passion, leadership, collaboration, communication...)

14

15

Foundation skills matter for innovation

0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9420

440

460

480

500

520

540

560

Austria

Belgium

Czech Rep

Denmark

Finland

GermanyUKHungary Ireland

Italy

NetherlandsNorway

Portugal

Slovak RepSpain

SwedenSwitzerland

Innovation Index 2007-2011

PIS

A 2

009

Rea

ding

sco

re

Individual Skills for InnovationWhat individual competences should people

acquire to contribute to innovation as producers and users?

Subject-based skills

(know-what and know-how)

Skills in thinking and creativity

(Critical thinking, ability to make connections,

imagination, curiosity,...)

Behavioural and social skills

(Self-confidence, energy, perseverance, passion,

leadership, collaboration, communication)

16

17

21st Century Skills

Ways of thinking•Creativity and innovation•Critical thinking, problem solving•Learning to learn, meta-cognition

Ways of working •Communication•Collaboration (teamwork)

Tools of working •Information literacy•ICT literacy

Living in the world•Citizenship – local and global•Life and career•Personal, social responsibility

Source: Microsoft-Intel-Cisco ATC21S project

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THE ROLE OF THE HUMANITIES

2.

19

Distribution of new entrants into tertiary programmes, by field of education (2009)

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Only those fields in which more than 20% of students entered a tertiary programme in 2009 are shown in the graph.Humanities, arts and education Health and welfare Social sciences, business and law Engineering, manufacturing and construction

1. Excludes advanced research programmes. 2. Excludes tertiary-type B programmes.3. Year of reference 2008.Countries are ranked in descending order of new entrants in Social sciences, business and law programmes in 2009.Source: OECD. Argentina: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (World Education Indicators Programme). Table A4.2a. See Annex 3 for notes (www.oecd.org/edu/eag2011).

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Gender issues in skills

Estonia

Icelan

d

Slove

nia

Hungary

Poland

Slova

k Rep

ublic

Swed

enBrazil

Finlan

d

Norway

New Ze

aland

DenmarkSp

ain

Canad

a1

Ireland

Argentina1

Portuga

l

Czech Rep

ublic

OECD av

erage

United St

ates

ChileIsr

ael

Netherl

ands

Australia1

United Kingd

om

German

y

Mexico

Belgium

AustriaFra

nce

Switz

erlan

dKorea

Turkey

Japan

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percentage of tertiary degrees awarded to women, by field of education (2009)Only those fields in which fewer than 30% or more than 70% of women graduated in

2009 are shown in the graph below.Education Health and welfare Humanities and arts Social sciences, business and law Science Engineering, manufacturing and construction

All fields

1. Year of reference 2008.Countries are ranked in descending order of the percentage of tertiary degrees awarded to women in 2009.Source: OECD. Argentina: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (World Education Indicators Programme). Table A4.3.a See Annex 3 for notes (www.oecd.org/edu/eag2011).

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Humanities hampering innovation?

Austria

Belgium

Czech Rep

DenmarkEstonia

Finland

Germany

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovak Rep Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

UK

Innovation Index 2007-2011

% s

tude

nts

ente

ring

hum

aniti

es a

nd s

ocia

l sc

ienc

es

Which tertiary education studies lead to active participation in innovation?

science

s

engin

eerin

g

agric

ulture

educa

tion

social sc

iences

business

humanities

services

health law

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Innovator work in innov. comp.Not in innovative organisation

Source: OECD, based on REFLEX and HEGESCO data22

23

PEDAGOGIES FOR INNOVATION SKILLS

3.

24

Which pedagogies foster innovation skills?

• The relative importance of theory versus practice-based instruction matters for becoming an innovator (higher education data)

Relative emphasis on practice- and theory-based instruction

any inno-vation

technology, tools

product, service

knowledge, methods

0.950000000000002

1

1.05

1.1

1.15

1.2

practice score theory score

Odds ratios between innovators and non-innovators, by type of innovation

Source: OECD, based on REFLEX and HEGESCO data

Relative emphasis on practice- and theory-based instruction

engin

eerin

g

busin

ess

healt

h

educ

ation

scien

ce

other

s0.950000000000002

1

1.05

1.1

1.15

1.2

practice score theory score

Odds ratios between innovators and non-innovators, by field of study

Source: OECD, based on REFLEX and HEGESCO data

Link between theory- and practice-based instruction and critical skills for innovation

alertness to new opportunities

come up with news ideas and solutions

present ideas in an audience

coordinate activities

question own and others' ideas

use computer and internet

acquire new knowledge

analytical thinking

0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

Theory score Practice score

Effect size on (self-reported) skills level

Source: OECD, based on REFLEX and HEGESCO data

28

Skills impact of theory- versus practice-based instruction

Table 1. Theory-based programmes have distinct strong points from practice-based university programmes

Likelihood of reporting skills as strong points of the university programme, by mode of teaching and learning

Emphasis on Practice (-) (n.s.) (+)

Emph

asis

on

Theo

ry

(+)

¤ analytical thinking ¤ ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge

¤ Mastery of your own field or discipline

(n.s

.)

¤ ability to write reports, memos or documents

¤ ability to question your own and others' ideas ¤ knowledge of other fields or disciplines ¤ ability to use computers and the internet ¤ ability to speak and write in a foreign language

¤ alertness to new opportunities ¤ ability to come up with new ideas and solutions ¤ ability to present products, ideas or reports to an audience ¤ ability to mobilise the capacities of others ¤ ability to negociate effectively ¤ ability to assert your authority

(-) ¤ ability to perform well under

pressure ¤ ability to use time efficiently

¤ ability to make your meaning clear to others

¤ ability to coordinate activities ¤ ability to work productively with others

Legend: (+) indicates a significant positive association; (-) a significant negative association; and (n.s.) a non-significant association.

Source: based on Reflex and Hegesco.

29

SOFT SKILLS, SOCIAL CAPITAL AND INNOVATION

4.

30

Levels of interpersonal trust (2008)

Denmark

Norway

Finlan

d

Sweden

Switzerl

and

Irelan

d

Netherl

ands

Great B

ritain

Austria

Luxe

mbourg

German

y

Belgium

France

Spain

Czech

RepIta

ly

Hunga

ry

Portug

al

Slovak

Rep

Greece

-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

31

Interpersonal trust and innovation

-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 10

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

AustriaBelgium

Czech Rep

DenmarkFinlandGermany

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Norway

Portugal

Slovak Rep

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

UK

Interpersonal trust 2008

Inno

vatio

n in

dex

2007

-201

1

32

Proportion of adults expressing interpersonal trust, by level of educational attainment (2008)

Den

mar

k

Nor

way

Finl

and

Net

herla

nds

Sw

eden

Sw

itzer

land

Aus

tria1

Isra

el

Uni

ted

Kin

gdom

Irela

nd1

Est

onia

OE

CD

ave

rage

Bel

gium

Spa

in

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Italy

2

Slo

veni

a

Slo

vak

Rep

ublic

Fran

ce

Gre

ece

Pol

and

Hun

gary

Por

tuga

l

Turk

ey

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Below upper secondary education Upper secondary education Tertiary education

1. Year of reference 2006.2. Year of reference 2004.Countries are ranked in descending order of the proportion of adults expressing interpersonal trust among those who have attained upper secondary edu-cation.Source: www.oecd.org/edu/eag2010

Percentage

33

Incremental differences in interpersonal trust associated with an increase in the level of educational attainment (2008)

-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

From upper secondary to tertiary

Slovak RepublicGreeceCzech RepublicAustria1Italy2FinlandIsraelUnited KingdomDenmark

TurkeyPortugalHungaryNetherlandsSwitzerlandIreland1BelgiumNorwaySpainFrancePolandEstoniaSwedenSlovenia

-5051015202530

From below upper secondary to upper secondary

Group 1

Group 2

% %

1. Year of reference 2006.2. Year of reference 2004.Countries are grouped by those in which the incremental differences in interpersonal trust are higher at a higher level of education (Group 1) and others (Group 2). Countries are ranked in descending order of the incremental differences in interpersonal trust associated with a shift from upper secondary to tertiary education attainment.

34

-0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.2535

40

45

50

55

60

65Austria

Belgium

Czech Rep

Denmark

Finland

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovak Rep

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

UK

Added value of HE in interpersonal trust

% s

tude

nts

ente

ring

hum

aniti

es a

nd s

ocia

l sc

ienc

es

35

Conclusions

• Innovation strategies should have a more comprehensive look at the skills base and should make better use of the available talents and skills, including of women

• Rapidly changing skills demand has an impact on all higher education programmes, including humanities and social science

• Also graduates with a humanities or social sciences qualification end up becoming innovators

36

Conclusions

• Humanities and social sciences have probably a particularly significant contribution to the development of specific skills for innovation

• Some pedagogies have a differentiated impact on innovation skills

• Also social capital matters for innovation and both probably share some (soft) skills

• But there is little evidence that more humanities students also increases the added value of higher education in the production of social capital

Thank you !

dirk.vandamme@oecd.orgwww.oecd.org/edu/ceri

37