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The massification of higher education has been an important development across education systems in Europe over the second half of the 20th century. Nurtured by political, economic and social goals, including the improvement of social justice in education and beyond, massification has been associated with inclusion as a goal of higher education systems. Generally, it has been construed as the realisation of a democratic project. This article reports on a study that examined the extent to which higher education systems effectively have moved towards a better inclusion of the various social groups composing national populations. Based on a quantitative analysis using data from the European Social Survey, this article presents an assessment of the level of inequalities in access to higher education degrees by employing indicators that are traditionally used by countries participating in the survey (gender, socio‐economic background) and indicators that are not as widely shared (ethnic belonging, religion) in order to offer an original and comprehensive analysis of the extent to which national social diversities are represented in higher education. A comparison of three generations (born 1930–1949, 1950–1964 and 1965–1979) shows a development of decreasing inequality between the first two generations, but a slowing or interruption of this development in the 1980s. Also, the effect of social belongings on educational trajectories became more complex. The importance of ethnic belonging increased, underscoring the importance to consider ethnicity in addition to socio‐economic dimensions in sociological research. The study outcomes highlight differences in individual country trajectories in relation to the geopolitical reconfiguration of political territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roma are Europe's largest, most marginalised minority, with a long history of racism and exclusion informing complex inequalities. Roma higher education participation remains under addressed, and paucity of research hinders understanding. While there is variation between countries, the proportion of Roma accessing higher education compared to the general population is extremely small in all countries. Spain has the largest Roma population outside Central and Eastern Europe, and relatively high levels of Roma participation in higher education. As part of an international project on Internalisation and Mobility, here we discuss insights from eleven qualitative interviews carried out with Roma students and recent graduates in Central and Eastern Europe and Spain. Findings from a thematic analysis of interviews highlight identity and inclusion and how experience intersects with distinct national approaches. We focus in particular on competing pulls of ethnic invisibility versus coming out, and related onus on a responsibility to give back. The participation of Roma in higher education remains an important social justice issue in Europe. Our research shows that proactive efforts by higher education institutions in Europe are needed to challenge persistent assumptions that fail to value the contribution and potential of Roma students within higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the European Parliament is increasingly involved in EU governance, its role in policy developments in domains of strategic importance for the EU has not been the focus of many studies. In this article, we analyse a new digital dataset containing more than 10,000 speeches delivered in the European Parliament plenary between 1999 and 2014 and identify patterns related to temporal increase or decrease in the Parliament's focus on higher education, the topics linked to higher education discussions and patterns concerning the country and party group affiliation of the European Parliament members who speak about higher education. Our findings suggest that the total number of speeches, either specifically dedicated to higher education, or mentioning higher education when addressing other issues, did increase over time and particularly during the adoption of action programmes and related budgetary decision. Furthermore, higher education was less referred to in the Parliament speeches as a stand‐alone issue than in relation to other policy areas in which the EU has strong jurisdiction. Finally, our findings indicate that the variance in whether a Member of the European Parliament speaks about higher education is more closely linked to country of origin than party affiliation, highlighting the persistent national dimension of higher education discussions at the European level. These findings attest to the increasing – yet largely overlooked – role of the European Parliament in higher education policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims at clarifying whether and how University Business Cooperation (UBC) can be expanded from knowledge transfer to the core field of education. Higher education institutions exert a decisive influence by teaching students to understand academic theories, methods and areas of knowledge, contributing to their cultural enrichment and development of personality, and preparing them for further work and other spheres of life. Higher education aims at establishing the basis of relevant knowledge that will help students to understand and acquire the competencies they will need in their professional lives. Universities supply graduates to the economy and that includes developing the right set of skills to acceptable levels. Consequently, an explicit goal of UBC should be to point out what those skills should be and how to target education at developing them. The competencies acquired by the flow of new graduates emerging each year from higher education institutions in the labour market is an expression of the multidimensional output obtained from the resources allocated to the higher education system. New ways for UBC are called to play a prominent role in defining both a model of teaching and learning that is better adjusted to social and economic demands and a dynamic and flexible system of continuing education to retrain people as social and economic conditions evolve. Nevertheless, the implementation of reforms in higher education calls for a deeper understanding of possible trade-offs between the diverse types of resources involved and the outcomes obtained. Resources should be examined in terms of their relative costs and the results interpreted with regard to their value to individuals and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses enterprises' engagement in university-business cooperation (UBC) activities: research and development, mobility of academics and students, curriculum development and lifelong learning. It first provides an introductory overview of university-business cooperation policy. It then presents a selection of UBC models, elements and processes that help to develop this area. In the second part, it introduces a UBC survey among enterprises in various European countries. With the survey, it first conceptualises an own research approach and, on this basis, studies the relations between UBC approaches and the processes, drivers, barriers, organisational characteristics and modes of cooperation. It explores which are the most practised UBC modes and the most important determinants. One of the key findings revealed that companies' engagement in innovation departments supported all five modes of UBC under investigation. Other findings of the article suggest that national and European policies cannot uniformly address the development of various UBC modes. There are substantial differences between teaching- and research-related activities. Integrating these two areas represents one of the biggest challenges with regard to orientating HE towards the world of work. It is related to the agreement on employers' role in the overall development of graduates' competencies and also on the future of academic teaching from the perspective of practical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most prior research on academic entrepreneurship focuses on the interplay between university research and technology transfer activities in the form of joint research, spinoffs, licencing and patenting. Yet questions still remain with respect to the role of academic entrepreneurship in education and learning. Lifelong learning has been developing to one of the top priorities for many higher education institutions, with a greater emphasis on developing transversal skills in students, including entrepreneurship. An increasingly adopted approach to developing transversal skills through education is through problem-based learning (PBL) which shifts the focus from teacher-driven education to student-centred learning involving active participation of learners. By taking the students' perspective, this article presents the effects of PBL in the context of university-business cooperation (UBC) on the development of student's transversal skills. According to our findings, UBC-based PBL has an effect on the interpersonal skills of students, such as teamwork and communication, and is a promising approach with regard to entrepreneurship education and paving the way for long-term and more intense UBC activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few decades, global changes such as an ever more integrated world economy, new technologies or the emergence of an international knowledge network have increasingly determined developments in European higher education. Policymakers have addressed these challenges using processes that support the practical orientation of higher education, including university-business cooperation. Because employers are becoming important stakeholders and partners in the creation of higher education policy, the future developers of higher education need to know what employers expect of future development and whether they will meet or resist those expectations when it comes to their input. In this article, we identify the areas that need to be improved upon and examine the ways in which employers' experiences with higher education determine their perceptions of it. Building on the EMCOSU (Emerging Modes of Cooperation between Private Sector Organisations and Universities) survey, we analysed the responses of professionals of 397 companies based in five European countries. The analysis indicated that the level at which companies participated in university-business cooperation strongly influenced their perception of the way higher education institutions should develop. To be precise, those with greater experience in university-business cooperation pressed for more strategic cooperation between universities and business, more support for the international orientation of academic institutions, and less attention to the immediate valorisation of applied research, practical orientation and short-term skill development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the emergence of higher education as a field of research, scholarship and study. In the first part, the meaning of higher education as a field of research is defined contrasting Europe and the US. Then, the institutional basis of higher education research in Europe is analysed (learned societies, institutes and centres, professorships, journals, study programmes). In the second part, the main areas of research and knowledge production are discussed, while the third focuses on the relationships between higher education research, policy and practice. The article ends with sections on future perspectives and conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-binding nature of the Bologna Declaration and loose policy-making and implementation through the open method of coordination ( OMC) have led to varied national responses to the Bologna Process. The OMC has allowed countries room for manoeuvre to interpret Bologna policy and attach different degrees of importance to it. Looking at the interplay between agency and structure in policy implementation, this article aims to illustrate the localised character of Bologna policy implementation driven by national priorities and political agendas, a reflection of the 'policy as text' metaphor (Ball, 1994). The analysis is driven by an agentic understanding of the policy process, highlighting 'actors' perceptions, perspectives, preferences, actions and interactions' (Trowler, 2002). Three different country reactions are examined - England, Portugal and Denmark, described as selective acquiescence, creative commitment and strategic conformity to capture the essence of the cases in question. In analysing the countries' responses, the article considers national readings of Bologna, motivations behind responses to the Process, as well as its reception and implementation at national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]