The chimera of the dual competency profile

In recent years, the concept of dual competence profiles has received a lot of attention in Swiss higher education policy, particularly in relation to universities of applied sciences and teacher training colleges. University lecturers are expected to excel in both practice and research. However, this article argues that, in its current form, the concept is a politically induced misconstruction. It individualises institutional requirements, fails to recognise findings on the division of labour in expert organisations (not only at universities), and distracts from structural issues in university development. The article proposes an alternative perspective: it is students, rather than lecturers, who require a dual competence profile, understood as a reflective relationship between theory and practice. The article substantiates this thesis and discusses how university teaching and research policy can be student-centred in such a way that professionalisation is understood as an integrative educational task, rather than the additive accumulation of competences.