Strategies of higher education institutions towards postgraduate education in Poland

This paper addresses the problem of the development of postgraduate education in Poland. It aims to analyse how the different types of higher education institutions (HEIs), such as public universities, public universities of applied sciences (UAS) and private sector organisations, engage in postgraduate learning. It draws data from 11 case studies of HEIs which were individually studied with the help of an analysis of institutional strategic documents, as well as 49 individual in-depth interviews with university leaders and academic staff involved in postgraduate education. Drawing on this data, the paper offers two major conclusions. The hierarchy of organisational resources determines the institutional policy of HEIs and provides an account of different levels of institutional involvement in the development of postgraduate studies. It demonstrates the reason private HEIs are the most active in the market of postgraduate education followed by UAS. Second, private HEIs depict typical features for the 'complete organisations' helping them to acquire the lion's share of the postgraduate market. However, public universities with traditional governance models remain relatively passive in this field, allowing individual academics to perform their business.