Zmiany instytucji formalnych w polskim szkolnictwie wyższym i ich konsekwencje
Changes of formal institutions in Polish higher education and their consequences

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the changes of formal institutions and the model of funding of higher education in Poland in the last two decades. It argues that transformation of Polish higher education may validate Adam Ferguson’s idea that social institutions are the result of human action, but not the result of a human plan. The paper looks at changes in Polish education from the perspective of new institutional economics, especially a conception of the interaction between formal and informal institutions. The private sector in higher education and the shortage of public funding leads to a greater emphasis on competition, efficiency and performance metrics. Nonetheless when there is no compatibility of formal and informal institutions, the competition and striving for profits can lead to an increase of enrollment rates, but they hardly ever lead to a better quality of education. What we are afraid of is the tendency to subordinate a university to current political and market forces.

• Details
• Contents