Promoting competency-based education in higher education by using “collaboration” as an example: lessons learnt from a change perspective

Abstract

Competency-based education (CBE) is a persistent challenge in higher education, particularly regarding 21st-century competencies. This paper uses the transversal competency of collaboration as an illustra-tive case, given its importance for addressing global challenges that demand interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and team-based solutions. Drawing on a qualitative case study from the School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), the paper examines change processes required to promote CBE at the levels of strategy, structure, and culture, and across stakeholder groups including management, faculty, and students. Data was collected through different streams, projects and initiatives and combines different methods, including document analysis, surveys, interviews, and observations. Results show measures at a strategic, structural, and cultural level ad-dressing different stakeholder and the fragile interplay between them, emphasising the significance of aligning strategy, structure, and culture to ensure sustainable change. Measures include for example the development of a competency model, the curricular integration of collaboration through constructive alignment, and the deployment of a digital toolbox to support both students and lecturers. The findings underline that advancing CBE requires coordinated, multi-level measures and sustained engagement, offering lessons and implications for institutional practice.