Transformation of Higher Education Policies in the Context of the Industrial Revolution 4.0

Universities are expected to have leading roles to increase their global competitiveness by adapting themselves to the 4.0 industrial revolution. In order to conduct these roles, they need to transform their policies in education, teaching, research, and product development. Therefore, this study aims to determine what policy transformation universities need to catch the 4.0 industrial revolution regarding education-instruction, technical infrastructure, and administrative structures. The research was designed with a qualitative phenomenological method. The participants consisted of 15 faculty members who had post-graduate degrees or served at a university abroad for a while. They were determined by using a purposeful sampling method. The data were gathered with a semi-structured interview technique and analyzed with the inductive analysis method. Research results showed that universities need major policy shifts to train human resources needed by the 4.0 industrial revolution in Turkey. Also, it was discovered that the physical capacity of classrooms, libraries, and laboratories is insufficient according to the number of students and the curriculum is generally theory-based, and course contents are very intensive.