Universities Between the Expectations to Generate Professionally Competences and Academic Freedom Experiences from Europe

Valuable Traditions of higher education seem to be at risk in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century. Many actors and experts advocate a close utilitarian linkage of higher education to the presumed demands of the employment system. There seems to be little room for the Chinese tradition of educating “wise” bureaucrats or for the ideas of the Prussian governmental officer Wilhelm von Humboldt about 200 years ago according to which the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake might turn out to be more relevant and innovative than instrumental education or research. In the framework of the so-called “Bologna Process” in Europe, “employability” recently became a popular term. A closer look at the European debates, however, reveals that there is not any consensus emerging at all in favour of a subordination of the higher education curricula to the current presumed demands of the employment system. Rather, there is a general call to reflect the professional relevance of study, whereby each individual university or even each study programme might find its own way in a diversifying higher education, and all scholars choose an appropriate option. As universities do not have only the function to create experts for the current world of work, but to educate students to challenge the conventional wisdom, university could chose a proactive role and could educate students to become change agents in economy and society.