Lithuanian Higher Education: Between Path Dependence and Change

Abstract

This chapter provides an analysis of structural transformations of the Lithuanian higher education landscape paying special attention to developments during Soviet times and in the period after 1990. Lithuanian higher education, which dates back to the sixteenth century, has changed from a traditional elite system to a mass system over time. Political, economic and social change, including the Soviet occupation of the country, the re-establishment of independence and Europeanization through the Bologna Process and accession to the European Union have had significant impact on the Lithuanian higher education landscape. We have identified three periods of structural change. The first period from 1990 to 2000 is characterized by the re-establishment of universities and of academic autonomy and sporadic expansion of the system. During the second phase from 2001 to 2009, main system expansion and horizontal differentiation took place due to the establishment of the private higher education sector and a boom of the non-university higher education sector. Further, vertical differentiation within the system was reinforced through the availability of EU funding. The third phase, which started in 2010, has witnessed demographic decline, increasing competition and efforts of internationalization as well as more recently also attempts at consolidation of HEIs. The major challenges for the future of this system lie in increasing trust in public authorities, breaking from path dependencies of Soviet legacy, demographic changes, brain drain and increasing competition.