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In high participation systems of higher education, the link between undergraduate study and progression to graduate employment is increasingly tenuous. One response is a growing emphasis on the development of employability skills and preparing students to take advantage of future opportunities as part of university study. This paper uses a Bourdieusian-based conceptualisation of graduate capitals, combined with a concern for the psycho-social dimensions of classed experience, to consider transitions through university and into employment for students from workingclass backgrounds in England, drawing on data from a study of students who attended the two universities in Bristol UK. It is argued that the assemblage of capitals that make up graduate capital could be seen as constituting a form of symbolic capital with magical powers, that hides the power relations involved in successful progression to graduate futures. While the move from university into work is more prolonged and precarious for students from all backgrounds, access to the resources that enable the development and mobilisation of graduate capitals, along with psycho-social dimensions of class, create additional challenges for the development of viable graduate career identities for working-class students such as those discussed in this paper. The paper concludes by noting implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the impact of tuition fee increases in England on the full‐degree mobility of undergraduate students from the European Union. First, we investigated whether the increase in tuition fees reduced the number of EU students in English higher education institutions. Our analysis shows that, on average, English universities suffered a sudden drop in EU enrolments in 2012/13 but recovered and then expanded their pre‐2012 enrolment levels in subsequent academic years. We observe that those English universities regarded as less prestigious experienced the sharpest decline and took longer to recover their pre‐2012 numbers. Second, we examined how changes in enrolment are associated with EU countries' macro‐level characteristics, using the push‐pull model framework. While there was a significant decrease in the number of students from Northern and Western European countries attending English universities after 2012, the tuition fee increase did not impact the number of students coming from Southern Europe. We found an association between EU countries' youth employment rates and higher education system characteristics with changes in enrolment in English universities. By examining the effect of changes in the tuition fee policy on international student mobility, our research provides new evidence on how tuition fee policies might change the behaviour of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's age of knowledge and technology, societies are changing fast, on both macro and micro levels. Hardly anyone could have predicted several years ago such an acceleration of change and its impact on society, and in particular, on higher education. In Europe as well as globally, higher education has been undergoing many changes for more than two decades. In many countries, the number of higher education institutions has increased, mass education has replaced more elite systems, universities have adopted different agenda, and research has become more competitive. In this new context, doctoral education has also needed to be redefined in order to better respond to societal and academic challenges. Doctoral education—a crucial segment of higher education and the main link between the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area—has been receiving continuous attention for more than 15 years. This paper provides an overall view on changes in doctoral education in Europe, the background of this change process, and the context that led to these major changes. The main analysis will be presented from a European academic context perspective, but it will also reflect a global perspective. It will provide an analysis of all the milestones and consider the relevant policies and recommendations on the supranational level and their reflection on the national level. While taking the reader on a 15‐year journey of the doctoral education system in Europe, a brief look to the future of doctoral education will be sketched as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study on which this article reports investigated the internationalisation of higher education studies by examining collaborations in the form of international co‐authorships. We analyse how network‐based mechanisms, related to structural relationship between authors (preferential attachment, i.e., higher tendency to collaborate among the most productive ones) and node level features (homophily, i.e., tendency to collaborate with similar others), affect higher education co‐authorship networks. We build a bipartite co‐authorship network based on 17,262 publications from 33 specialised higher education journals indexed in Scopus from 1996–2018. Scientific collaboration in higher education mainly occurs within national borders. We found that higher education is not an internationally oriented field of research, with around 90% single‐country publications. A geographical divide was observed between the two largest communities (Europe, Asia and Oceania vs. the Americas) which was also reflected in the research themes addressed by these communities, structured around the known divide between (1) learning and teaching, and (2) policy‐based studies. Preferential attachment was observed to be a network‐based mechanism that contributes to drive the formation of new co‐authorships. Similarly, homophily based on academic seniority and research productivity emerged as a significant explanatory mechanism. We present a methodology for disambiguating the names of higher education institutions. We demonstrate an associated effect on co‐authorship networks. Our research and analysis support the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes up the challenge of curriculum change in relation to the contested purposes of universities. It argues for an expansive, public good understanding, rather than the thin market exchange norms which currently drive higher education policies. The paper suggests that a human capital approach to curriculum is then insufficient to capture the full range and potential of a university curriculum. Instead, an approach to curriculum based on human development and capabilities formation is advanced as offering a richer perspective on what it means to be human and hence on the kinds of graduates universities should educate. Some implications for teaching, learning and assessment are outlined and a framework to design and operationalise a human development approach to curriculum is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of doctoral students internationally is on the increase, yet low completion rates seem to be stable. Universities need to learn from each other to strengthen doctoral education. In doctoral education, the person and the doctoral project are intertwined and both must be nurtured and developed. This article presents the signature pedagogy of the Norwegian Research School in Teacher Education (NAFOL). The international and national context of NAFOL is described and the reasons for establishing NAFOL are presented. The pedagogical vision behind the research school is outlined, and examples of how the vision translates into activities are provided. The last part of the article analyses experiences from NAFOL and highlights points that might be useful to other research schools in different contexts. Based on the experience gained at NAFOL, a whole person approach to doctoral students in doctoral education is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a consequence of reforms in doctoral education, notably since the 2005 publication of the Salzburg Principles, doctoral schools represent the state of the art in contemporary doctoral education in Europe. They aim at supporting the collective vision and endeavour to ensure the personal and professional growth of doctoral candidates, the socialisation of doctoral candidates in the scientific community and their preparation for future careers in a knowledge society. But how is it possible that this new structure is not only perceived as an additional, perhaps dispensable bureaucratic layer that disrupts the traditionally very private relationship between supervisor and doctoral student, but is recognised by the latter as support and added value. We argue that this is directly related to the way the doctoral schools themselves are set up and governed. In this article, we use the example of the University of Vienna to illustrate how different leadership styles were used by the university management to ensure faculty buy‐in. In particular, we point out that the mix of transactional leadership, which incentivises and rewards certain behaviours, and transformational leadership, which also encourages initiative and self‐responsibility, has contributed to the fact that the doctoral schools at the University of Vienna, after only a short time in existence, are recognised as adding value; which has had an immediate positive impact on the situation of the students in particular, but also on the awareness of doctoral education in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the specificities of French higher education is that there is no single higher education system but two compartmentalised and hierarchical higher education systems comprising (1) universities and (2) grande école higher education institutions. Competing for a place in the latter requires that students have succeeded in classe préparatoire studies at the undergraduate level (an intensive foundation degree). While access to university is open to all students, access to classe préparatoire is very selective and remains the source of many inequalities. Thus, in 2018, only 7% of students studying in classe préparatoire programmes had a working‐class father, compared with 50% whose father was a manager, and less than 43% were women, 30% of whom were in the science stream (RERS, 2018). Numerous reforms have been implemented over the past thirty years to mitigate inequalities associated with gender, social and cultural status, as well as geographical location. This study analysed the impact of reforms on the evolution of inequalities. With focus on social and gender inequalities, I use a dual approach to analyse questions pertaining to access and the impact of reforms; specifically, (1) a cliometric approach, based on a quantitative historical analysis of long time series, and (2) a microeconomic approach that relies on individual series. I show that despite measures aimed at opening access to students of different gender and social backgrounds, the grandes écoles higher education institutions remain a relatively compartmentalised system that perpetuates the reproduction of social and gender inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on focusing the experiences of students in various countries and various stages of the student life cycle for providing insights into continuing and persistent inequalities facing by students. Topics include asking about the value of democracies, economies, and individuals focusing on increasing participation in university higher education; and exploring the diverse range of inequalities encountered by learners throughout the student lifecycle.

Global university rankings are a worldwide trend that emerged in times of the globalisation and internationalisation of higher education. Universities worldwide are now striving to become "world‐class" institutions and are constantly aiming to improve their ranking position. Global rankings of universities are thus perceived by many as an ultimate tool for assessing the level of internationalisation at individual higher education institutions. This article first discusses the meaning of and relationship between the globalisation and internationalisation of higher education, as their influence on the emergence of global rankings is undeniable. It then outlines the methodological designs of four main global university rankings which serve as key prerequisites for the subsequent analyses of both the international(‐isation) indicators that these rankings include and of the international ranking initiatives that focus exclusively on the international outlook of higher education institutions. In the concluding discussion, the article reveals that, due to the predominantly quantitative orientation of global university rankings (on the internationalisation of higher education), their results should not be generalised or understood as a means to improve the quality of (internationalisation of) higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University technology transfer has been receiving significant government funding since 2012. Results of this major investment are now expected by the Turkish government and society, not only in terms of better teaching and research performance, but also of new jobs, new products and services, enhanced regional development and contribution to economic growth. This article examines the technology transfer capacity of Turkish universities and provides several policy recommendations for further improvement. The analysis uses the dataset of a recent project funded by the European Patent Office and managed by Ege University Science and Technology Centre (EU.EBILTEM-TTO) and the Turkish Patent Institute. This was the first large-scale national assessment of IPR activities in Turkish universities. The findings reveal an early-stage university technology transfer capacity, facing many challenges caused by low technology- and market-oriented research capacity, institutional obstacles to patenting, licensing and spin-offs, low IPR awareness and spread of IPR policies, and the current IPR regime. University-industry cooperation activities, such as contract research, joint projects and publications, consultancy, etc. that have been present for three decades in Turkey continue to be the major paradigm and tend to be considered as a separate strand from technology transfer activities, such as patenting, licensing and spin-off formation that are less developed. Systemic policy intervention expanded to the broader national innovation ecosystem to improve technology absorption capacity and interest in technology-driven innovation, together with a combined top-down/bottom-up transformative action that can accelerate the change of deeply-rooted old perceptions and practice. [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]

This study presents in-depth empirical analyses of drop-outs from all Swiss universities for the entire student population between 1975 and 2008. The results show that most identifiable factors associated with a greater or lesser probability of dropping out are identical to those found in a recent Systematic Review ( Larsen et al., 2013). The main findings are that: first, since the 1970s, there has been a marked trend towards falling drop-out rates which is largely due to female students who, today, have lower drop-out rates than their male counterparts; secondly, not only are there different drop-out rates for specific subjects of study, but there are also differences in baccalaureate profiles, which indicates that the skills acquired prior to entering university have a great impact on successful study; thirdly, students who change their first subject choice are at great risk of dropping out. No firm conclusions can yet be drawn about the Bologna reform but, based on the subjects which changed to the Bachelor/ Master system between 2001 and 2003, no reduction in drop-out rates can be found as a result of the reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows how the probability of enrolment in tertiary schools has evolved for different social groups in Poland during the period of the educational boom. It also analyses how the socio-economic status influences the choices between full-time and part-time studies (the latter being of relatively low quality), and the probability of admission to subsidised, free programmes versus programmes with tuition fees. Between 1994 and 2008, Poland improved the participation of students with a low socio-economic status in university education. However, if we look at the change in the ratios of enrolment probabilities for different layers of the social strata, we find that the improvement refers to those with a low family educational background who live in small cities, but not to those from low income families. Further investigation shows that the policy makers should focus not only on ensuring equal access to tertiary education for all social strata, but on allowing the unprivileged groups access to education of acceptable quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussion on the crisis in/of the humanities and in/of the university institution has in the past decades become ubiquitous. The surge of literature on the subject strongly suggests that the problem is a genuine one. However, the variety of explanations that have been offered not only have brought along confusion, but the majority of these explanations also neglect the historical development of higher education. As such, they tend to underestimate the scale of the problems affecting the humanities and higher education. This article seeks to investigate an alternative explanation that takes into consideration the history of the changing 'value' of humanities within higher education. In doing so, the legacy of postmodernism is considered and the idea of a 'spiritual centre' of the university and its relation to the humanities is put forth and explored. The article concludes with some contemplations on a possible way out of the current crisis in the humanities and in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the impacts of the Portuguese quality assurance system on academic cultures, using the Cultural Theory proposed by Douglas (1970, 1982) and developed by Thompson, Ellis and Wildavsky (1990) as an explanatory framework for Portuguese academics' preference formation in relation to quality assessment. The Portuguese higher education system has been undergoing a change of paradigm by moving from traditional collegial system to a legal framework influenced by New Public Management. The former institutional context, where academic collegiality was the basis of democratic decision, promoted the egalitarian way of life, where the group dimension is stronger. However, recent legislation has promoted two different logics. On the one hand it has decreased the influence of the group dimension by favouring individualistic values and beliefs. On the other, it has reinforced the grid dimension through greater centralisation of power and separation of roles of universities and polytechnics, thus promoting the hierarchic way of life. The new legislation framework has produced changes that have strongly modified traditional governance structures and mechanisms and are likely to affect academics' perceptions of quality assurance processes and impacts as much as they influence the development of beliefs and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on the discourses of educational policy in Europe to focus on the implications of the Bologna Process for higher education in Russia. The Bologna Process, as a multi-dimensional discourse involving a variety of social actors, reflects some of the complexities and contradictions of globalisation, in many local cases evoking responses and leading to outcomes which were neither planned nor predicted by the official educational policy planners. The role of international organisations in the reform of Russian higher education is considered and the barriers, limitations and possible consequences of Bologna for the Russian situation are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the network development and promotion of the learning region model in HEIs in the framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), focusing on quality, partnership and social equality in the Hungarian context. It argues that the learning city-region model can be used and put into practice in many different ways for a new learning climate to occur, as in the case of the Pécs Learning City-Region Forum. However, there are parallel ways to implement the model for HEIs. The first is a purely economically centred one for those HEIs that reflect a reformed social identity to serve mainly employability, economic productivity and innovation through education and research in post socialist countries. The second is more holistic, reflecting not only education and research, but also making use of innovation based on economic and social partnership and networking in local, regional, national and international contexts. The article elaborates on the opportunities for this model as one into which Hungarian HEIs may develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the global market for higher education has expanded rapidly, while internationalisation strategies have been developed at university, national and European levels to increase the competitiveness of higher education institutions. This article asks how institutional settings prevailing in national models of capitalism motivate distinct national approaches with regard to the internationalisation, globalisation, and Europeanisation of higher education systems. While the university is defined as an organisational actor embedded in the higher education system, the higher education system itself represents an institutional subsystem within the national model of capitalism. An analytical framework is then developed on the basis of the Varieties of Capitalism approach to compare the internationalisation of German and British universities. Findings indicate that the relations between the various actors involved in the internationalisation of universities are based largely on market coordination in the British case. In contrast, this process in Germany relies more on strategic interactions between the various organisational actors in higher education. The development paths in the internationalisation of universities are found to be influenced by and reflect the specific mode of coordination in the respective higher education system and the national model of capitalism more generally. This comparative case study shows that recent conceptions of path dependence as well as conceptual tools developed in the Varieties of Capitalism literature, such as institutional complementarity and comparative institutional advantage, may be fruitfully applied to research on institutional change in higher education systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international dimension of higher education has expanded rapidly in recent decades and private provision is becoming increasingly widespread in response to the diverse pressures of globalisation, rapid expansion in demand and increased pressures on public finances. As higher education has become marketised, opportunities for international providers have increased dramatically. Foreign providers may opt for delivery locally or remotely and via a variety of different legal and organisational arrangements. The focus of this article is on foreign provision of HE with specific reference to China and the UK. In the period post-Mao, the policy environment for higher education in China has changed dramatically, culminating in 2003 in the decision to allow foreign universities to formally establish partnerships with Chinese universities for the delivery of higher education. The development and operation of the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China, is discussed in order to provide more detailed insights into the nature and challenges of delivering foreign HE provision in a Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, and from a Humboltian perspective, research was conceived as an important part of the tripartite mission of universities, with teaching and services to the community being the other two. The traditional idea of universities as cultural and social institutions is increasingly being replaced by another: the entrepreneurial, capitalist or, even, industrial university. In the new university, research also changes in line with the economic instrumentality of higher education. In this article, we shall analyse if these new ideas were institutionalised in Portuguese public universities. To do this, we analyse the way in which research is signified in communication processes by analysing the content of universities' websites. In the main webpages, the dominant implicit social meaning of research seems to be a traditional one. However, a more specific analysis reveals the presence of entrepreneurial elements. In Portuguese public universities, creating and commercialising intellectual property could be an institutional objective, but it was not used in the web communication as such. One could say that, despite the New Public Management influences on universities, the idea of research as an entrepreneurial issue was not yet completely institutionalised and, consequently, communication tools such as websites showed hybrid meanings of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on recent trends in quality assurance initiatives, analyses how the European Higher Education Area promotes quality enhancement mechanisms and their implications for quality cultures in universities. It presents and discusses two approaches towards quality enhancement both at the institutional and programme level: 1. Quality Enhancement at programme level: the Tuning approach and 2. Scottish Enhancement-led Institutional Review. It also argues that current approaches towards quality culture are reorienting the focus from quality assurance towards contextual quality enhancement and that quality enhancement becomes the primary responsibility of universities and university stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the changing nature of doctoral study in higher education in the context of significant global changes in higher education. From its origins with Humboldt, the trajectory of doctoral study is traced through the traditional Ph.D, the extended 'American model', to the professional doctorate. A university case study charts how these global changes impacted on a specific UK university as it attempted to position itself in the changing market for doctoral study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public debate on higher education reform today is dominated by competing views about what higher education institutions, particularly universities, are or should become. To a surprising extent, these views are based upon highly simplified characterisations of university history. The claims in question have been repeated so often that they have become clichés. Historical research has challenged all these conventional claims. The article aims to acquaint readers with the most important of these challenging results. Central here is an analysis of The Humboldt Myth about the rise of the modern research university in Germany and its alleged export to the US, and of the reasons why that myth remains so powerful, even though it has very little relation to realities on the ground. A second goal is to try to bring out some of the implications that a revision of standard views of higher education history might have for current policy debates, focusing in particular on the Bologna process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bernard Convert, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CLERSE, Lille, France), Francis Gugenheim, OFIP-Université de Lille 1, France This article examines why numbers have declined in French science universities. It shows that the main causes of this decline are the growth in student numbers between 1985 and 1995 and the changes that this brought about in the educational and social composition of the student population. Since the mid-1990s, increasingly fewer French students have been enrolling for science subjects at university. Speaking of a ‘loss of interest in science among young people’ is nevertheless premature. The phenomenon is primarily due to socio-demographic changes. As a result of their position in French higher education, universities, which do not operate a selective admission policy, are a last resort for students rejected by the selective options. Between 1985 and 1995, when student demographics grew apace, universities absorbed most of this growth. After 1995, the supply of selective training increased, while student demographics stagnated. As a result, university enrolments have declined, especially in the sciences. At the same time, holders of science baccalaureates have not been as top-notch, educationally and socially, as they were fifteen years previously. These students from more modest backgrounds and performing less well in education are shying away from the sciences which are reputed to be more difficult and less ‘profitable’ than other subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses implementation of comparable degrees in order to implement the Bologna process. Adopting a system of easily readable and comparable degrees, essentially based on two main cycles, was one of priorities of the Bologna Declaration. And to achieve this, governments and higher education institutes have to cooperate closely so that they can ensure that the implementation of the new degree structures is not done superficially but is accompanied by the necessary curricular reform, taking into account the ongoing European discussions on descriptors for Bachelor-level and Master-level degrees, learning outcomes and qualification profiles. It will also be essential that they elaborate national qualifications frameworks based on external reference points that are in tune with a common European Qualifications Framework.

The article discusses different aspects of implementation of Bolonga process in Austrian Universities. Implementing the Bologna process makes high demands on all the European higher education systems. Challenges differ in each country. The reform effort t

Introduces a series of articles about the implications of lifelong learning initiatives for universities in Europe. Obstacles and problems experienced by universities in adapting to lifelong learning policies; Changes in the concepts and organization of knowledge; Impact of lifelong learning on power relations and university structures; Interplay of international policies, national policies, and university practices.

Explores the lifelong learning policies of universities in Norway. Analysis of universities' offer of continuing and distance education in relation to four criteria that characterize lifelong learning; Modes of curriculum delivery; Lifelong learning access policies; Quality assurance procedures.

Examines the appropriateness of the concept of key skills in higher education. Discussion on the changing environment for education; Evaluation on the changing ways of working in higher education; Investigation on skill development in higher education.

The preceding comments show the importance of international co-operation for the university as a social institution provided the programmed actions are effective in strengthening and mobilising the potential of each institution according to its human and material resources. However, with very few exceptions, an asymmetric distorting relationship exists between European and Latin American institutions which does not favour the establishment of permanent international co-operation. The optimum state can only be achieved when a continuity of actions and a reciprocal horizontal flow are sustained between the institutions which derive mutual benefits from their participation in the co-operation programme. Moreover, it is also necessary to briefly analyse the actual state of international co-operation within the Latin American region since the organisation of permanent links will be useful in optimising co-operation with the system of European and Latin American universities. This article sets out to describe, from our point of view, the situation of higher education in Europe and in Latin America, the more important co-operation mechanisms that have been successful, and finally future scenarios for co-operation among universities of the two continents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the humanist view of university, highlighting its implication for higher education framework. Different models of university; Overview of the humanist movement; Controversy concerning the proper conception of science and university; Importance of adopting the humanist conception of the university.