Mission diversity - the case of mature students in Ireland

A key policy objective of many higher education systems is to have a diverse set of higher education institutions whose missions are distinctive and different but which combined result in a coherence that enables the system as a whole to meet all potential requirements.  In practice what does this mean and what would it look like if it were achieved?  Instead of every institution trying to do everything the system as a whole would be characterized by institutions that focus on a smaller number of key objectives.  In Ireland, there are some obvious high level policy objectives that have been articulated over recent years; more part time and flexible learning opportunities, more labour market upskilling and  more students from abroad are just three of the more obvious objectives that reference the type of students and the type of delivery.

Mission diversity can also refer to the range and emphasis of academic programmes being offered and not just to the origin of students and mode of delivery.  Where it is perceived that an institution is moving into academic areas that someone (usually from another part of the system) believes they should not be in it is referred to as ‘mission drift’; IoTs moving into the humanities or universities into labour market skills development, for example.  The National Strategy for Higher Education refers explicitly to ‘mission drift’ in the Irish higher education  system.

Lest one might think that ‘mission drift’ in Irish higher education is rampant and every institution is doing everything, a recent report by the HEA shows that, at least in the case of mature students entering higher education, this is not the case.   The report shows that  

·        11% (2,189) of full-time new entrants to the universities are mature students compared to 20% (3,755) in the institutes of technology.

·        The most popular area of study for full-time mature students in the universities is Health and Welfare (28%) followed by Social Science, Business and Law (18%). The latter is the most popular discipline for full-time mature students in the IoTs (20%), however this is followed by Health and Welfare and Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction (both 18%).

·        Part-time mature students in the universities are drawn to the Humanities and Arts (27%) while in the institutes of technology Health and Welfare and Social Science, Business and Law (both 34%) are most popular.

Mission diversity is alive and well in Ireland, at least as far as mature entrants to Irish higher education institutions is concerned.