About Das Hochschulwesen

Das Hochschulwesen

Das Hochschulwesen (HSW) — "Forum für Hochschulforschung, -praxis und -politik" — is the German higher-education journal, published six times a year by the UniversitätsVerlagWebler in Bielefeld. Founded 1953 in the DDR, it is the oldest still-existing German Hochschul-Fachzeitschrift: one of the very few German-language scientific journals dealing with universities and their development. The 74th volume (2026) continues the generalist observation: the universities, the Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW), the Berufsakademien, the special Hochschulen — the research, the best practice, the policy.

Overview

The target groups — the UVW's definition — deserve their telling. The Hochschulleitungen — the university managements — lead: the rectors, the presidents. The Entscheiderinnen — the decision-makers (higher education, science, education policy, administration) — decide: the ministries. The Hochschullehrerinnen — the professors — teach: the faculties. The wissenschaftliche Nachwuchs — the young researchers — qualifies: the future. The Wissenschaftsverbände — the science associations — and the Wissenschafts(förder-)organisationen — the funding organizations — organize: the system. The Wissenschaftsausschüsse — the parliaments' committees (Landtage, Bundestag) — legislate: the policy. The Arbeitgeberorganisationen und Gewerkschaften — the employers and unions — negotiate: the conditions. The breadth — "unsere Leserschaft war und ist breit gefächert" (our readership was and is broadly diversified) — defines the forum: the higher education's all — the research, the practice, the politics. The subtitle — "Forum für Hochschulforschung, -praxis und -politik" — defines the program: the research, the practice, the politics. The three main sections — "Ergebnisse der Hochschulforschung" (higher-education research results), "Hochschulentwicklung und -politik" (development and policy), "Anregungen für die Praxis/Erfahrungsberichte" (practice suggestions/experience reports) — structure the six issues: the theory, the empirics, the programmatics.

The generalist concept — the journal's distinction — deserves its telling. "Als generalistisch angelegte Zeitschrift beobachtet Das Hochschulwesen die Entwicklung der Universitäten, Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW), Berufsakademien und Spezialhochschulen in ihren verschiedenen Aktionsfeldern sorgfältig" — the careful observation of all higher-education types: the universities, the applied, the academies, the specials. The rarity — "zu den ganz wenigen Zeitschriften im deutschsprachigen Raum" (among the very few in the German-speaking area) — marks the niche: the scientific higher-education journal. The arc — "von der wissenschaftlichen Erforschung über die best practice im Alltag bis hin zur Gestaltung dieses Feldes" (from scientific research via everyday best practice to the field's shaping) — defines the mission: the research, the practice, the policy. The young authors — the "besonderes Augenmerk" — invest the future: the Nachwuchs. The concept's endurance — the 1953 to 2026 — proves the need: the higher education's forum, generalist. The controversy forum — the "Forum kontroversen Meinungsaustausches" (forum of controversial opinion exchange) — debates the open: the problem views, the interpretations, the solutions. The ISSN — 0018-2974 — marks the bibliographic identity: the ZDB's 2699549-9.

History

The 1953 DDR founding — the journal's origin — deserves its telling. Founded in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik — the socialist state's higher-education journal — Das Hochschulwesen served the DDR's universities: the science, the policy. The reunification — the 1990 transition — carried the title West: the Bielefeld continuation. The 2001 UVW founding — the publishing company's establishment — secured the independence: the Fachverlag. The "älteste noch existierende deutsche Hochschul-Fachzeitschrift" (oldest still-existing German higher-education specialist journal) — the Nomos's 2026 verdict — honors the continuity: the 1953 to 2026 — the 74 volumes — the East's journal, the united Germany's forum. The subtitle's constancy — "Forum für Hochschulforschung, -praxis und -politik" — bridges the systems: the research, the practice, the politics — then and now. The UVW house — the Bielefeld Fachverlag — deserves its telling. Founded 2001 — "ursprünglich als Herausgebergesellschaft der Zeitschrift Das Hochschulwesen (HSW) gegründet" (originally founded as the HSW's publishing company) — the UniversitätsVerlagWebler grew: the four further journals — Hochschulmanagement, Qualität in der Wissenschaft, Personal- und Organisationsentwicklung, Zeitschrift für Beratung und Studium — and the eleven book series. The GBM — the Gesellschaft für Bildung und Medien — houses the institution: the education and media. The Verlagsleiterin — Carolin Buthke — leads the DACH expansion: the Inlibra/Nomos partnership (September 2026) — the researchers' and students' fast availability. The mission — "fördert den Forschungsaustausch, die Entwicklung, die politische Gestaltung und die Praxisanregungen" (promotes the research exchange, development, political shaping, practice suggestions) — defines the house: the higher education's publisher — the Bielefeld Fachverlag, since 2001. The GBM integration — the "Gesellschaft für Bildung und Medien" — gave the institutional: the education and media.

The editor generations — the Herausgeberkollektiv (2010: Bathke, Cremer-Renz, Huber, Klockner, Lüthje, Meffert, Palandt, Teichler, Webler, Wolter) — shaped the science: the higher-education research's names. The current editors — Michael Stückradt (the Cologne chancellor a.D.), Wolff-Dietrich Webler (the IWBB Bielefeld's head), Andrä Wolter (HU Berlin) — lead the 74th volume: the 2026 issues (the private HAWs' employment regimes). The Inlibra partnership — the 2026 digital — deserves its telling. The September 2026 Nomos announcement — "Inlibra begrüßt den UniversitätsVerlagWebler als neuen Verlagspartner" — brings the Bielefeld house to the platform: the Hochschulforschung, -entwicklung, -politik. The researchers' and students' benefit — the "schnelle und unkomplizierte Verfügbarkeit wichtiger Fachtexte" (fast and uncomplicated availability of important specialist texts) — serves the DACH: the visibility, the reach. The Verlagsleiterin's verdict — Carolin Buthke's "wir freuen uns auf die Zusammenarbeit" — welcomes the cooperation: the broader audience. The open archive — the hochschulwesen.info's 3-year-older free full texts — complements the commercial: the access. The digital's logic — the platform's distribution — modernizes the 1953 journal: the research's availability — the higher education's science, digital.

Coverage and Content

The editorial program follows the higher-education year's agenda. The 2026 research — the current volume's science — deserves its telling. The Höhle/Zimmermann study — "Beschäftigungsregime an privaten HAWs" (employment regimes at private universities of applied sciences) — the HSW 74 (3+4), pages 59–68 — examines the personnel structures: the six regimes (the Federal Statistical Office's data, the hierarchical cluster analysis). The findings — the pronounced heterogeneity, the flexibility's diverse patterns — inform the policy: the working conditions' discussion. The private HAWs — the 9% of Germany's professors (2023) — grew substantially: the differentiation by profile, size. The study's function — the orientation for institutional and individual actors — exemplifies the journal: the research's policy relevance — the HSW's mission — the higher education's science, current. The policy coverage — "Hochschulentwicklung und -politik" — debates the governance: the reforms. The practice coverage — "Anregungen für die Praxis/Erfahrungsberichte" — shares the best practice: the model experiences.

The personnel coverage — the academic employment (the 9% professors at private HAWs) — analyzes the working conditions: the policy's information. The international coverage — the Bergen professorship (Webler) — compares: the systems. The young-authors focus — the "besonderes Augenmerk" (special attention) — promotes the next: the Nachwuchs. The controversy coverage — the open problems' forum — hosts the debate: the opinions.

Organization and Ownership

Das Hochschulwesen is published by the UVW UniversitätsVerlagWebler GmbH, Reepeweg 5, 33617 Bielefeld (0521/923610-0, hsw@universitaetsverlagwebler.de) — the Fachverlag für Hochschulthemen. The publishing director — Carolin Buthke (Verlagsleiterin) — manages the house: the five journals (HSW, Hochschulmanagement, Qualität in der Wissenschaft, Personal- und Organisationsentwicklung, Zeitschrift für Beratung und Studium) and the eleven book series. The GBM — the Gesellschaft für Bildung und Medien — owns the institution: the education.

The business model follows the academic-press pattern: the subscriptions (the institutions), the Inlibra/Nomos distribution (2026), the open archive (the 3-year-older full texts free). The hochschulwesen.info — the tables of contents (from volume 50, 2002), the free older full texts — serves the research: the access. Detailed circulation and revenue figures are not publicly confirmed.

Digital Presence

The journal's digital home is hochschulwesen.info: the tables of contents (2002–), the older full texts (free). The UVW site — universitaetsverlagwebler.de — presents the program: the journals, the books. The Inlibra partnership — the Nomos platform (September 2026) — distributes the digital: the DACH's researchers and students. The preview PDFs — the 2026 issues' (the Höhle/Zimmermann) — sample the science: the open.

The digital strategy follows the academic logic: the print six-issues for the subscribers' depth — the research, the policy — the portal and the platforms for the access — the citations, the downloads. As the higher-education journal — the 1953-founded title, published by UVW — Das Hochschulwesen remains the field's forum: the research, the practice, and the politics — six issues a year, the 74th volume, online on hochschulwesen.info.