Reviews of National Policies for Education The Future of Mexican Higher Education Promoting Quality and Equity: Promoting Quality and Equity

206 Pages·2019·7.54 MB·English

by  OECD

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This review of higher education policy in Mexico was requested by the Mexican Ministry of Education to take n The Future of Mexican Higher
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The report examines the state of the higher education sector in Mexico and analyses key policies implemented f
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by the federal and state governments. It assesses national governance and co-operation structures that help r
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to guide the higher education system, and the relevance of existing national strategies. It also looks at public d
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funding of higher education institutions, how the quality of higher education programmes is assured; and the c
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extent to which the higher education system contributes to equity. The report concludes by exploring two key t
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sectors of higher education: teacher education colleges and professional and technical institutions. n
A companion volume focusing on the labour market relevance and outcomes of higher education is also
available: Higher Education in Mexico: Labour Market Relevance and Outcomes.
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ISBN 978-92-64-30936-4
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Reviews of National Policies for Education
The Future of Mexican
Higher Education
PROMOTING QUALITY AND EQUITY
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The
opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official
views of OECD member countries.
This document, as well as any data and any map included herein, are without prejudice
to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international
frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Please cite this publication as:
OECD (2019), The Future of Mexican Higher Education: Promoting Quality and Equity, Reviews of National
Policies for Education, OECD Publishing, Paris.
https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264309371-en
ISBN 978-92-64-30936-4 (print)
ISBN 978-92-64-30937-1 (pdf)
Series: Reviews of National Policies for Education
ISSN 1563-4914 (print)
ISSN 1990-0198 (online)
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FOREWORD │ 3

Foreword
Higher education in Mexico has expanded rapidly in recent years. Between 2007 and
2017 tertiary attainment among young adults increased from 16% to 23%. Although this
is still well below the OECD average of 44%, Mexico has made considerable efforts to
expand and diversify provision of higher education through public institutions.
Investments and financial aid programmes have helped increase the accessibility of
higher education in regions and among population groups that were previously
underserved. Nevertheless, the 13 public and private subsystems of Mexican higher
education continue to face numerous challenges. These relate, in particular, to the quality
and relevance of the learning opportunities they provide and their ability to reach students
from all parts of Mexican society.
Against this backdrop, in 2018, the Mexican federal Secretariat of Public Education
(SEP) invited the OECD to review the main policies governing higher education in
Mexico. This new review revisits and updates the OECD Review of Higher Education in
Mexico published in 2008, a decade ago. The review team – composed of international
experts and OECD staff - has examined the strengths and weaknesses of different aspects
of the Mexican higher education landscape. Specifically, they have analysed the
governance arrangements and strategy in place to steer the higher education system, the
mechanisms used to allocate public funding, systems for external quality assurance, and
conditions and public policies for equity. In addition, the review has drilled down to
examine the specific challenges facing technical higher education institutions and public
Teacher Education Colleges.
This report presents the findings of the review team and their recommendations for the
future orientation of public policy for higher education in Mexico. The diagnosis it offers
and the policy options it identifies are based upon national data, official government
documents, reports published by Mexico’s higher education associations, scholarly
research, international experience, and a fact-finding mission in which scores of meetings
were conducted in Mexico City, as well as in the states of Puebla, Hidalgo and Yucatán.
I hope this report will support Mexico in its efforts to promote quality and equity in its
higher education system. The OECD stands ready to help Mexico in these efforts.
Andreas Schleicher
Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor
on Education Policy to the Secretary General
OECD
THE FUTURE OF MEXICAN HIGHER EDUCATION: PROMOTING QUALITY AND EQUITY © OECD 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS │ 5

Acknowledgements
This report was prepared as part of the OECD’s series of Reviews of National Policies for
Education, and undertaken by the Policy Advice and Implementation Division within the
Directorate for Education and Skills. The review was coordinated by Thomas Weko
(Senior Analyst, OECD), and preparation of the report was coordinated by Simon Roy
(Analyst, OECD). The review team consisted of Javier Botero Álvarez, World Bank Lead
Education Specialist for Latin America; Pablo Landoni-Couture, Dean, Instituto
Universitario Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes and Professor, Catholic University of
Uruguay; Elizabeth Balbachevsky, Associate Professor, University of São Paulo; Thomas
Weko, Senior Analyst, OECD; and Simon Roy, Analyst, OECD (see Annex A for
profiles of the review team). Simon Roy, Thomas Weko, and Daniel Trujillo (OECD
Consultant) authored the report, with input from Pablo Landoni and Elizabeth
Balbachevsky.
We wish to especially thank the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) for its support of
the review. This support was guided by Salvador Malo, Director General for University
Education, who served as the national co-ordinator for the review and oversaw the
preparation of a country background report.
During a fact-finding mission to Mexico (conducted from 18 to 28 June 2018) by the
OECD review team, the team met with a wide range of government officials and higher
education stakeholders. This included SEP staff responsible for higher education
planning, steering and student aid; quality assurance bodies; the National Council for
Science and Technology (CONACyT); representatives of national social partners in
higher education and management; and staff and students in higher education institutions.
The review also undertook visits to higher education institutions in the states of Puebla
and Hidalgo, as well as institutions and state authorities in the state of Yucatán. The team
is grateful to all of the above for their time and valuable input. The mission concluded
with a presentation of preliminary findings made to Otto Granados Roldán, Secretary for
Public Education, Rodolfo Tuirán Gutiérrez, Undersecretary for Higher Education, and
staff from the Secretariat of Public Education (see Annex B for a schedule of the review
visit).
Key planning and operational support for the project was provided by Manuela
Fitzpatrick (OECD, consultant), and administrative support was provided by Jonathan
Wright (OECD, Project Assistant), who also prepared the report for publication. The
review team is grateful for the feedback and support received from OECD analysts Jose-
Luis Alvarez-Galvan (EDU), Victoria Galan Muros (EDU) and Sonia Araujo (ECO), as
well as from Andreas Schleicher (Director, Directorate for Education and Skills (EDU),
OECD) and Paulo Santiago (Division Head, Policy Advice and Implementation Division,
EDU, OECD).
While the OECD review team benefited greatly from many discussions with a wide range
of Mexican stakeholders, as well as documents, data, and the country background report
provided by SEP, any errors or misinterpretations in this report are the responsibility of
the review team.
THE FUTURE OF MEXICAN HIGHER EDUCATION: PROMOTING QUALITY AND EQUITY © OECD 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS │ 7

Table of contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ 5
Abbreviations and acronyms .............................................................................................................. 11
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 13
Governance of the higher education system ...................................................................................... 13
Higher education strategy in Mexico ................................................................................................. 14
Funding higher education in Mexico ................................................................................................. 14
Quality in higher education ................................................................................................................ 14
Equity in higher education ................................................................................................................. 15
A specific focus on technical higher education and Teacher Education Colleges ............................. 15
Chapter 1. Assessment and recommendations.................................................................................. 17
1.1. Focus of this chapter ................................................................................................................... 18
1.2. Governance of the higher education system ............................................................................... 18
1.3. Higher education strategy in Mexico .......................................................................................... 21
1.4. Funding higher education in Mexico .......................................................................................... 23
1.5. Quality in higher education ......................................................................................................... 26
1.6. Equity in higher education .......................................................................................................... 29
1.7. Educational sectors: Specific challenges and opportunities........................................................ 32
References .......................................................................................................................................... 39
Chapter 2. Key features of higher education in Mexico .................................................................. 41
2.1. The context for higher education in Mexico ............................................................................... 42
2.2. Higher education in Mexico........................................................................................................ 47
References .......................................................................................................................................... 62
Chapter 3. Governance, planning and resources.............................................................................. 67
3.1. Focus of this chapter ................................................................................................................... 68
3.2. Governance frameworks for higher education in Mexico........................................................... 69
3.3. Higher education strategy in Mexico .......................................................................................... 83
3.4. Funding higher education in Mexico .......................................................................................... 94
References ........................................................................................................................................ 111
Chapter 4. Quality in higher education ........................................................................................... 117
4.1. Focus of this chapter ................................................................................................................. 118
4.2. Mexico’s existing mechanisms for quality assurance ............................................................... 120
4.3. Strengths and challenges of the current systems for external quality assurance ....................... 125
4.4. Key recommendations .............................................................................................................. 134
References ........................................................................................................................................ 141
THE FUTURE OF MEXICAN HIGHER EDUCATION: PROMOTING QUALITY AND EQUITY © OECD 2019
8 │ TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 5. Equity .............................................................................................................................. 145
5.1. Focus of this chapter ................................................................................................................. 146
5.2. Equitable access, participation and support: strengths and weaknesses of the Mexican higher
education system .............................................................................................................................. 146
5.3. Key recommendations .............................................................................................................. 164
References ........................................................................................................................................ 168
Chapter 6. Educational sectors: Specific challenges and opportunities ....................................... 175
6.1. Focus of this chapter ................................................................................................................. 176
6.2. Technical higher education in Mexico ...................................................................................... 176
6.3. Teacher Education Colleges in Mexico .................................................................................... 188
References ........................................................................................................................................ 197
Annex A. Review team ...................................................................................................................... 199
Annex B. Schedule for review visit to Mexico ................................................................................. 201

Tables
Table 2.1. Key labour market outcome indicators in Mexico and OECD countries, 2017 ................... 44
Table 2.2 The Higher Education System in Mexico ............................................................................. 49
Table 2.3. Enrolment by qualification level, 2016 ................................................................................ 53
Table 2.4. Tertiary education qualification types .................................................................................. 53
Table 2.5. Enrolment by detailed subsystem and modality, 2016-2017 ................................................ 54
Table 2.6. Share of academic staff by highest level of educational attainment, 2010-2011 to 2016-
2017 ............................................................................................................................................... 56
Table 2.7. Share of higher education academic staff by level of time commitment, 2010-2011 to
2016-2017 ...................................................................................................................................... 57
Table 2.8. Tertiary education enrolment by field, 2016 ........................................................................ 57
Table 2.9. Enrolment by age in tertiary education, 2016 ...................................................................... 58
Table 2.10. Share of population by educational attainment, 25-34 year-olds, 2017 ............................. 58
Table 3.1. Administrative units in the Under-secretariat for Higher Education (SES) ......................... 77
Table 3.2. Higher education in the National Development Plan 2013-2018 ......................................... 86
Table 3.3. Allocation of core funding to public higher education institutions .................................... 100
Table 3.4. State and federal core funding to selected UPES in Mexican pesos (MXN) per student
and as a proportion of GDP per capita ........................................................................................ 102
Table 3.5. Spending per student in selected public HEIs in the State of Puebla 2016 ........................ 103
Table 3.6. Extraordinary funding programmes for higher education in 2018 ..................................... 105
Table 4.1. Characteristics of effective quality assurance systems ....................................................... 119
Table 4.2. Enrolment in programmes designated as “good quality”, by sector (August 2018) .......... 131
Table 4.3. Enrolment in postgraduate programmes with quality recognition, 2018 ........................... 133
Table 5.1. Education level by indigenous status, 25-64 year-olds, 2015 ............................................ 147
Table 6.1. Enrolment in the technical sector of higher education 2016-17 ......................................... 178
Table 6.2. Proportion of enrolment by field of study in the technical higher education sector ........... 179
Table 6.3. Annual expenditure per student for all services, by subsector in euro (2015) ................... 181
Table 6.4. Spending per student in technical HEIs in the State of Puebla in 2016 ............................. 182
Table 6.5. Teaching staff in technical higher education by contract type ........................................... 183
Table 6.6. Enrolment in programmes designated as “good quality”, by sector (2018) ....................... 185

THE FUTURE OF MEXICAN HIGHER EDUCATION: PROMOTING QUALITY AND EQUITY © OECD 2019