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The proposed paper seeks to add a different dimension to the educational borrowing, lending, and transfer literature by examining the consequences of educational reforms that are implemented under dictatorships and their lasting impacts. In using Tunisia as an example, we assess the effects of the 2008 Licence-Maitrise-Doctorat ([LMD] Bachelor-Master-PhD) reform under Tunisia's former dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (from 1987 to 2011). The use of coercive transfer and subsequent implementation of LMD reforms by Ben Ali's government were in response to the creation of the European Higher Education Area in 1999 under the Bologna Declaration, which was adopted by twenty-nine European countries. The justification for the indirect coercive transfer of the Bologna model was to ensure the quality of higher education, to encourage student and teacher mobility, to facilitate both the equivalence of diplomas and young people's integration into the labor market. In what follows, we seek to construct a typology of the consequence of wholesaling adopting a reform without tailoring it to the local needs. In this typology, we account for the processes of policy mobilization, local articulation and ownership, structural factors, and path dependency by discussing the power relations through which indirect coercive transfer occur. In doing this, methodologically, we use a comparative-historical approach to Tunisia's higher education policy discourse. Theoretically, we seek to advance the literature of indirect coercive transfer by concluding as to the different factors that should be considered in North-South policy borrowing and transfer.

Reforms in higher education have been passed in many European countries in the last decades, mostly trying to adapt national systems to new European and global challenges. This study examines some consequences of such major reforms in France and Spain. Specifically, these reforms introduced new agencies whose remit was inter alia to provide evaluation of research and to make such assessments pivotal for academic career progression. The paper investigates empirically whether, and to what extent, these new forms of authority have been capable of engendering the expected change to the system of academic career evaluation. The respective policy approaches and policy implementation in France and Spain reveal that these reforms triggered a reconfiguration of powers at various levels of academic life – affecting strategies for successful career development. Policy-making implications are relevant when these two countries are compared, suggesting that more radical policy approaches (coercive isomorphism, the French case) do not result in more change to academic evaluation practices than mimetic ones (the Spanish case). It is also important to note that coercive isomorphism encountered more frictions in its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stakeholder theory has thus far received limited attention in the context of entrepreneurship education and university management. This paper addresses this research gap by examining the collaboration of stakeholders from the entrepreneurial ecosystem in entrepreneurship education at European higher educational institutions (HEIs). We contribute to existing research by combining literature streams from the fields of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial ecosystems and stakeholder theory. Empirical research is based on a cross-case analysis of 20 HEIs from 19 different European countries. Data sources include next to secondary data and observation a total 216 interviews with entrepreneurship education stakeholders at these 20 HEIs. The results of the case studies are further validated through an independent peer group and through 14 interviews with international experts in entrepreneurship education. Based on this data, an overview of the key external stakeholder groups of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of HEIs and their forms of involvement in entrepreneurship education is provided. Furthermore, the strength and coordination of stakeholder collaboration and the overall approaches to stakeholder management are discussed. This analysis results in the development of a set of propositions on stakeholder involvement in the context of entrepreneurship education at HEIs. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of stakeholder collaboration from the entrepreneurial ecosystem at HEIs. Implications of the findings for entrepreneurship educators and university management are ultimately discussed along with suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Polish Journal of Management Studies is the property of Czestochowa University of Technology, Faculty of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Participation rates in higher education are an important indicator to pursue one of the main European policy objectives, which is to increase the proportion of population attending higher education. A model used to detect the determinants of participation rates is proposed in this paper, and it is empirically tested for 14 European countries through a five-year panel regression. The model considers the potential explanatory factors as follows: the country's socio-economic conditions, the human capital stock, the organisation of the higher education sector, the higher education expenditure. The results show the important role of financial resources devoted to higher education; but also, as expected, the influence of other factors. More specifically, there is a role for the variables related to higher education organisation and structure, also confirming that higher entry rates are influenced both by an improvement in public investments in the sector and by organisational elements. These findings are relevant for policy purposes, since they suggest some possible solutions for improving participation rates. Although future research would need to explore the impact of income inequality, the overall level of spending is the key element that influences entry rates. Therefore, in periods of public finance pressure, the best way to resolve this problem could be to improve private resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often difficult to meaningfully convey concepts like security incident management cycle, information sharing, cooperation, as well as the roles of people, processes and technology in cybersecurity courses. Serious gaming can help solve this problem, since it can provide a more immersive and interactive learning experience than traditional methods. This paper presents a light weight tabletop exercise format that has been successfully used in cybersecurity education to demonstrate these and many other concepts to Master level students in two European universities over the past 5 years. The term light weight is chosen to indicate the low work load and resource requirements for the instructor. The paper provides practical guidance on how to develop and execute such exercises. In addition, it lists observations of concepts and recommended discussion points that have been successfully demonstrated in class using this exercise format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roma, today perceived as the most numerous European minority, face marginalisation and exclusion. Education is considered to be one of the focal points for improvement, and numerous studies have analysed and reported on the educational situation of Roma. Several studies have argued that Romani cultural values are not compatible with institutional schooling and that Romani families perceive schools as an alien institution. Other studies have drawn upon cultural–ecological theory (CE theory), developed by Ogbu and colleagues, and argue that the Romani cultural frame of reference is oppositional to academic success and thus suggest that successful Romani students distance themselves from Romani culture. The paper discusses the application of CE theory in the context of the academic discourse about the educational achievement of Romani students. Drawing on interviews with Spanish Romani university students, the paper argues that Romani students themselves challenge the assumption that educational success leads to cultural alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a new perspective for higher education policy research. It introduces the concept of policy object to designate the discrete preoccupation(s) of a policy text (e.g. a new governance regime, a quality system, or new degrees) and suggests that actor conceptualisations of the policy object intersect with other elements in the policy process to shape enactment and outcomes. First, the policy object concept is described. It is argued that the policy object does not have an objective existence and two concepts are proposed to explain it: ontology and enacted ontology. The former refers to what actors believe the policy object is, a socially-construed context-determined conceptualisation, whereas enacted ontology refers to what the policy object becomes further to enactment under the influence of ontology. Second, the paper presents the findings of a comparative study of master degrees further to the Bologna process in different national and institutional settings to illustrate the policy object approach. This research puts forward arguments to suggest that the policy object could be an important variable to consider in policy research. This somewhat different lens, inviting fine-grained attention to a specific policy object (its ontologies and enacted ontologies), could bring additional insight into policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various studies show that higher education institutions contribute to regional economic development by R&D, creation of human capital, knowledge and technology transfer, and by creation of a favourable milieu. It is brought out that the basic procedure is to sum expenditures of the college community (students, faculty, staff and visitors) created by the presence of the institution and apply multipliers to account for the interdependency of economic activity in a local economy, resulting in an estimated ‘local economic impact'. The aim of the paper is to investigate the relationship between students in tertiary education and economic growth in NUTS 2 level in Europe from 1998 to 2008 by looking whether the share of tertiary students (measuring human capital) is correlated with the share of knowledge-intensive employment (KIE) in different regions. The increase in KIE is related to increasing levels of GDP per capita and R&D expenditures. Taking into account regional-level fixed effects, the share of tertiary students is not statistically significant. We found out that the increase in KIE is related to increasing levels of GDP per capita and R&D expenditures. The share of students five periods ago has a positive relation with the KIE: as we assumed, it takes time for the human capital to contribute to the economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the view of many students, business and engineering education in Europe today do not sufficiently take into account complex problems, tendencies of chaos and uncontrollable business behaviour, and the lack of mutual trust in business transactions. Additionally, universities seem to fail in creating leaders, instead focusing on educating future managers. Therefore, the student-run international organisation the European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management (ESTIEM) offers a whole series of educational activities and programmes in parallel to their own university courses. It is based on the concept of experiential learning. Through ESTIEM, we, students of Industrial Engineering Management, learn and practise working in teams with shared and rotating leadership among ourselves. These experiences are to be described in the paper in some more detail, as a model for university education in industrial engineering and management. Furthermore, the following questions will be tackled: What does leadership mean today? How are problems handled by leaders and managers in industry nowadays? How can leadership to solve complex problems be taught in the university? As a consequence, it is suggested to develop out of the ESTIEM programmes, a series of university-equivalent ESTIEM courses. In the long term, the goal might be to realise the vision of a genuine Europe-wide 'ESTIEM University' in its own right, similar to normal universities which will help in shaping new leadership generation in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the impact of enterprise education on entrepreneurial attitude within European higher education institutions (HEIs) in France, Germany and Poland. The research seeks to consider whether differences between cultural and industrial heritage can influence entrepreneurial attitude and mediate the effectiveness of enterprise education. Design/methodology/approach - Research argues that Europe requires more entrepreneurs willing to innovate and create new ventures to facilitate economic growth. This research builds on prior studies, which have examined the impact of enterprise education and training on business start-up. In particular the study utilises the concept of entrepreneurial attitude to measure how enterprise education influences students'' perceptions of, and motivations towards, entrepreneurship as a viable career option. The study contrasts and compares the impact of a short enterprise course on entrepreneurial attitude among undergraduate students in French, German and Polish HEIs. A quantitative methodology employed a research instrument utilising five-point Likert arrays to contrast attitudes and opinions of students both prior to, and after, the delivery of the course. Findings - Enterprise education has a positive impact on entrepreneurial attitude of French and Polish students. Conversely, the course had a negative impact on male German students. It was also found that while female students are more likely to perceive a greater benefit from the learning experience, the impact of enterprise education on entrepreneurial attitude is actually more significant for male students. Practical implications - The research findings are of interest to academia and policy makers. The study suggests that entrepreneurial attitude among European students can be influenced by exposure to enterprise education. The results also indicate that gender, cultural and industrial heritage can moderate the impact of enterprise education. Originality/value - The paper provides evidence that differences between gender, culture and regional settings need to be considered in the design and delivery of enterprise programmes if they are to have the desired impact on entrepreneurial intent and graduate entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the relationship between open access and academic institutions, as well as the initiatives that spring from this relationship with a mainly European geographical focus. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes the main European initiatives and collaborations in the area of open access that have been university-driven so far. Findings - The strength of many universities is in leading many national European initiatives, and collaborations by universities that aim to provide open access to research output, scientific publications and student theses and dissertations. Individual university efforts are the ones that pioneer in software and application development. International agreements and declarations are also signed by university representatives in order to promote open access and the close bond between higher education and open access. Originality/value - The paper describes the latest developments regarding the promotion of open access in European universities and the collaborations that they form. Smaller countries can benefit from these examples. E-theses projects are estimated to lead the next pan-European projects related to open access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a brief outline of the European Consortium for Accreditation in Higher Education project and future intentions. The paper notes that significant progress in the first two milestones in its road map has been achieved: mutual understanding of accreditation organizations and mutual recognition of accreditation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper presents the vision, strategy and goals set in the Guidelines for sustainable development of the region of North-East Bulgaria, North-West region of the Black Sea. In the focus of analysis are the requirements to the higher education in this region so that the goals set in the Guidelines can be accomplished. Issues concerning higher education at technical universities are raised and solutions suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European quality assurance has a complicated history that must be viewed as taking place on two levels: first, in a national effort to deregulate the public sector and to make universities accountable for their teaching performance; and second, a supranational endeavor to accomplish European integration in the field of higher education. Similarly, the web of institutional constraints and opportunity structures in which accreditation agencies are embedded spans two policy levels, the national and the European. In this paper, we examine how German accreditation agencies achieve some level of autonomy in a highly entrenched institutional environment. The paper is based on a qualitative study comprising archival data and over 70 semi-structured interviews. Drawing on the insights of neo-institutional theory, we argue that quality assurance agencies seek political leverage at the European level in order to strengthen their standing in the higher education systems of their own countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to answer the question of what motivates governments to introduce and implement reforms in higher education (HE). The political and economic reasons why some governments in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), for the period 1990 and 2015, have invested resources in order to facilitate cooperation between employers and universities, and have introduced quality criteria in HE finance while others have not, are identified. Use of a comparative perspective on Poland and Hungary revealed important differences in HE regulations in these seemingly otherwise very similar cases, showing that what drives regulations, at least in part, is the governments’ responses to the labour market, i.e. the dynamic between students – future workers – and employers – largely multinational companies. Moreover, differences in HE regulations in the two countries are responsive to voters’ concerns. The paper thus contributes to the literature on skill formation in Central and Eastern Europe and to the literature on political economy focusing on this part of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Working Papers on Operations Management is the property of Editorial UPV and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although universities are asked to play a role in the European knowledge society, the precise scope and meaning of this role is still under discussion. A major issue in this debate is the trend to adapt universities to economic needs and demands of society. In view of taking a critical stance against a one-sided economic interpretation of activities and functions of universities, their so-called “public” role is increasingly stressed in the debate as a crucial responsibility of universities that should not be marginalized and therefore deserves our attention. In this paper, which is the introduction to a special issue on the public role of the university, we want to stress the importance of addressing the question of “the role of universities in the Europe of knowledge” in an open way and thus, without prejudices against or in favour of possible answers. It is our contention that a critical view of what is happening in universities today cannot simply rely on authoritative ideas or principles that are vaguely reminiscent of our university traditions. Consequently, this introductory paper pleas for a firmer argumentative and a richer empirical basis that takes account of the fact that our background (horizon) has thoroughly changed in comparison to traditions that still implicitly inform our judgement of what universities can do, should do or should not do. Finally, we will discuss the way in which the articles collected in this issue are intended stimulating and supporting the debate on the public role of the university in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After integrating the main lines of argumentation developed in the special issue, this paper makes a balance of the question on the public role of the university. Furthermore, the paper focuses on the discussion underlying the articles collected in the issue. A distinction is made between “comprehending” the past and present of the university on the one hand and “justifying” the university and its public role on the other hand. In view of this distinction, it is argued that the question concerning the value of a (normative) idea of the university and its public role is related to the question of democracy. The question is, however, not only whether we live in a democracy, but whether we may still speak of a “commitment to democracy”. An inquiry into the meaningfulness of a (normative) “idea” of the university arises directly from this question. At this point, the viewpoint of Derrida is introduced to discuss the question of the democracy and university of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous paper the author described the present situation and recent advances regarding accreditation of engineering programmes in Europe. This paper contains an attempt at examining perspectives from a global viewpoint. While the variety of educational approaches within European higher education is to be considered a great asset of the European cultural background, the ‘Bologna Process’ is working to build up the ‘European Higher Education Area’ (EHEA) and ‘a system of easily readable and comparable degrees’ in the context of making Europe ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’. In this framework a pan-European system of accreditation of engineering programmes and qualifications will be essential in order for European engineers to be competitive on a global scale. While the merely ‘professional’ aspects of recognition are covered by the European Directive 2005/36/EC ‘on the recognition of professional qualifications’ (which replaces all previous Directives on the subject, including the 1989 General Directive 89/48/EEC), little progress has been made towards trans-European accreditation of educational programmes as the entry route to a profession. This is particularly damaging in highly internationalized professions, like engineering. Several initiatives have been put forward in recent years to remedy this situation: in particular, this paper will illustrate the current EUR-ACE (EURopean ACredited Engineer) project, which is working towards the establishment of a European system for accreditation of engineering educational programmes based on a network of spontaneous agreements between national and regional bodies and associations concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To different extents, academic development units (ADUs) face common problems the world over. Often situated in an institutional environment which values research over teaching, they can find it difficult to integrate their work into that of the university community generally. For them, policy imperatives such as the Bologna accord present both challenges and opportunities. Thus perhaps the most fascinating aspect of these papers is the insight they provide into the nature of the relationships between ADUs and their university contexts. De par le monde, les centres de développement académique (CDA) sont confrontés à des problèmes communs d'envergures différentes. Souvent situés dans un environnement qui privilégie la recherche plutôt que l'enseignement, les CDA éprouvent certaines difficultés à intégrer leur travail dans celui de la communauté universitaire en général. Pour les CDA, les impératifs politiques découlant de l'accord de Bologne présentent aussi bien des défis que des opportunités. Ces articles sont particulièrement fascinants en raison de leur éclairage au sujet de la nature des relations entre les CDA et le contexte universitaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era in which ‘teaching excellence’ in higher education attracts much attention, what is ‘scholarship’? In this conceptual paper, I re-examine the notion of scholarship in relation to the goals and purposes of higher education. How does ‘scholarship’ speak to value-based conceptions of ‘good’ education in the European tradition, encapsulated in the German termBildung? How might the notion of scholarship relate to the principles, practices and ‘outputs’ of research? I argue that a more nuanced understanding of the legitimate diversity of scholarly practices in higher education could help individuals develop scholarly careers that draw on their personal values, strengths and goals. It can also help departments and institutions reward education-focused scholars and leaders more equitably. Finally, realising fully the synergies between education and research within a holistic ‘scholarship circle’ can strengthen institutions’ capacities for making an impact for good in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing demand for highly skilled workers in all advanced industrialised economies. Although most jobs require occupation-specific skills to carry them out, it is widely recognised that generic skills are ever more needed by job seekers, to increase job opportunities and maintain employability; this applies to all sectors of the economy, from selling cars to undertaking marine research. Several recent European Union strategy documents emphasise the importance of generic skills. However, the apparent mismatch between the skills sets that employers seek and that job seekers offer remains a major challenge. This paper focuses on perceptions of and attitudes to generic skills training for university graduates intending to gain employment in aquaculture, fisheries or other marine sectors and presents the results of a survey administered to academics, industry representatives, students (at different stages of their academic career) and graduates. The various respondents regarded most of the 39 generic skills under investigation as important, with none classified as unimportant. However, students undertaking different types of degree (i.e. B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D.) prioritized different generic skills and the level of importance ascribed to generic skills training increased as students progressed in their university careers. On the other hand, university staff and other employers were fairly consistent in their choice of the most important generic skills. We argue that there remains a need to place generic skills and employability attributes and attitudes at the centre of the higher education curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper recognises the growth in emphasis in work-based learning as Europe moves forward on economically driven life-long learning. We support such a move and point to issues which still need to be resolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of job satisfaction determinants of higher education graduates across six selected study domains. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the theoretical considerations, derived from human capital theory and signalling theory, the authors formulate the model explaining job satisfaction as a broad measure of labour market success. Explanatory variables include various socio-demographic characteristics as well as market environment and process of learning, modes of teaching and study programme characteristics. Data used in the analysis comes from two special surveys of European research projects REFLEX and HEGESCO. Principal component analysis method and OLS regression were used to estimate model parameters. Findings – The results of our research show the important role of characteristics of educational process, as well as individual graduates’ early work-related experience in predicting job satisfaction. Differences in job satisfaction determinants across domains may be to some extent explained by the differences in the labour market characteristics for graduates in given discipline. Variety of education-related characteristics taken into account in the empirical analysis of determinants of job satisfaction is a key valuable contribution to the research in the field. Originality/value – Research findings indicate the areas of potential actions aimed at improving future job satisfaction which can be undertaken by higher education institutions’ management bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governance of higher education has been changing across Europe, most notably in response to the reform agenda that has been pervading many higher education systems. This wave of reforms has given enhanced visibility to external stakeholders, which has been often received with contrasting views. Some regarded it as a factor that would undermine institutions' mission, while others viewed it as a rhetorical change, which would hardly have an impact on institutional life. In this paper, we analyse the introduction of external stakeholders in governance and quality assessment processes by looking at the Portuguese experience, and more specifically at their contribution to the implementation of internal quality assurance systems. We use empirical data collected from four higher education institutions under the framework of the IBAR project, subsumed in the form of barriers to and good practices for the implementation of policies and procedures for quality assurance. The results suggest that although the presence of external stakeholders has become more visible, it is yet to be fully reflected in the way institutions are governed or the way in which they manage their internal quality assurance processes and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades regional agreements have become more significant in educational and training. This paper situates and analyses the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Strategy and explores their influence on the integration of higher education systems in Mercosur (the Southern Common Market of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela). Mercosur is still a customs union, and the project of integrating higher education is at an early stage. Lacking organically established regional bodies, coordination of integration in Mercosur has focused on summits and meetings of officials. However, in a context of unequal maturity in regional integration, there is emerging evidence that the EHEA project is influencing the reforms of national systems of higher education and even Mercosur’s model for a regional area of higher education. A nascent Europeanization of higher education systems in the Mercosur region is emerging, by-passing Mercosur’s regional structures. The formulation of policies has been permeated by policy transfer from Europe to national territories within Mercosur. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present paper discusses the components of language teachers' awareness, which should differ qualitatively and quantitatively from that of language learners and users. It is argued that especially teachers of English, the European lingua franca, should develop plurilingual awareness to train learners to become multilingual citizens. This awareness involves crosslinguistic, metalinguistic and psycholinguistic knowledge concerning multiple language acquisition. Apart from that, teachers should ideally be multilingual themselves. The paper reports on a survey carried out on over 230 pre-service and in-service Polish teachers of English. It compares their levels of plurilingual awareness relative to their teaching experience, bilingualism/multilingualism factors and the level of L3-Ln languages known. Their awareness seems to be linked with both teaching experience and multilingualism, but it is higher for multilingual teachers proficient in several languages. The paper also presents a qualitative study in the form of a guided interview on a focus group of five in-service teachers. This provides in-depth insight into how they understand plurilingual language teaching. Finally, conclusions are drawn concerning changes in teacher training that would enable teachers to promote plurilingual approaches in class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that affect progression to university education across Europe. Design/methodology/approach – The data used are obtained from the fourth round of the European Social Survey (2008). Findings – Findings point to interesting age by gender and age by parental education interactions affecting the entrance to university. It demonstrates the disparity that exists across Europe whereby in some countries progression has been a smooth process for the past few decades while in others widening participation to higher education has only been a recent phenomenon. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study are discussed with reference to social reproduction theories and have implications for wider European educational policies for enhancing access to university education. Originality/value – In a globalised education market inequalities may be observed within countries but also between countries making the outcomes of policies for offering equal opportunities a complex one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contextos Educativos is the property of Universidad de la Rioja, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose - It is generally agreed that carers in mental health care play a vital role in helping people to maintain their place in the community and reducing the time clients spend in hospital or residential settings. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual approach to involving carers in higher education by acknowledging their contribution to improving practice and identify the impact upon student learning in mental health and social care professions.Design/methodology/approach - A brief review of the policy and literature on involving carers in mental health services and education explored the historical and current influences upon practice. This was then applied to the experience of the authors when teaching nursing and social work students in a higher educational setting and evaluated as developing outcomes in carer involvement practice.Findings - Relationships between carers and students in health and social care may be created in higher education settings that can develop supportive, informative and recovery-focused care in practice. Creating such relationships in the higher educational setting helps students to prepare for developing relationships with carers in practice.Originality/value - Involving carers in education may improve outcomes in recovery for the client and carer experience and the development of professional and self awareness skills in students. Developing involvement practices in higher education begins the process early in the experience of health and social care students, providing a safe environment in which to master such skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From international comparisons we know that the German education system is more socially selective than many European or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and has only been slowly catching up during the last several years. At the same time, German higher education (HE) has consisted mostly of public institutions that were not allowed to charge tuition fees. Only since 2005 have some of the Länder allowed for a modest tuition fee of €500 maximum.While the German higher education system seems to be struggling with the task of including disadvantaged students and those with a non-German, non-academic background, the country faces an unprecedented demographic change that will make young people a rare good and education even more valuable than it is today.This paper explains the German discussion on tuition fees and the background to this discussion of lurking demographic change. It describes the challenges that demographic change poses for German higher education institutions (HEIs) and the strategies to deal with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper is on the linguistic future of the United Europe considering two important theories: that of multilingualism and on the other hand, that of a lingua franca. The two theories have several supporters but, for the moment, neither of the two theories has prevailed. This paper intends to discuss the idea that, in a democratic Europe, all the peoples should be able to communicate among each other, regardless the channel of communication. Globalization of economic changes involves the risk of language and cultural standardization. The European Union is in opposition to this idea, suggesting a multilingual model, based on the consideration of the diversity. Higher education has to play an important part in the cross-cultural preparation of the younger generation and give them the linguistic background for international communication. We are trying to present in the present paper, some means of developing the multi-linguistic skills of the students and, educate them as European citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of university teaching has been one of the main concerns in Education in recent years, and with it the quality of teachers. And whenever the topic of quality is raised, inevitably evaluation is also mentioned. Evaluation is a complex process, and perhaps even more so in the field of education, due to the many agents involved and the aspects that must be evaluated. This paper is based on the premise of evaluation as a way to improve, insofar as evaluation would involve personal awareness about how to give classes, and would entail a training process and would result in improvement (see De Miguel, 2003). Thus, this instrument could be useful for identifying the weaknesses of individual university teachers and, based on the results obtained, each would be able to propose specific training sessions to resolve any difficulties that were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the educational experiences of research in Engineering Education in the Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria Tecnica de Telecomunicacion at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid are presented. The research attempted to go beyond the experiences in the framework of the European Higher Education Area during the academic years 2005-2007. This paper describes the experience within the first-year course in the Escuela Universitaria de Ingenieria Tecnica de Telecomunicacion. Three years after the beginning of this research some feedback is given and some conclusions are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), its creation, its guidelines, and its inherently innovative potential. It looks closely at the theoretical proposals, the innovative regulations and institutional practices in the process of academic change that relate to teaching, research and management. It also describes the emergence of creative processes in quality assurance and methodological renewal. These bring new professional challenges and educational opportunities to the fore; challenges which raise ethical issues for those involved in these approaches to universities in Spain and the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context The Bologna Declaration of 1999 has led to the initiation of profound changes within the European Higher Education Area. Methods This paper gives an overview of the Bologna Process, reviews the developments within European dental education that have arisen as a result of the Process, and describes the impact of the continuation of the Process on health science education in the UK. Conclusions The Bologna Process has led to the establishment of the European Higher Education Area, which is committed to implementing a series of action lines by 2010. Currently, we are just over halfway to 2010, and the importance of UK higher education institutions engaging with the Bologna Process is stressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called ‘Bologna process’ is an effort to standardize higher education in Europe. Among journalism educators in particular, the goal is a harmonization of best practices in order to establish common training protocols. Contrary to assumptions, however, best practices often conflict with cultural values. Specifically, there has been little attention paid to on-camera behavior of TV journalists. Denmark is a case study where standard Anglo-American on-camera presentation styles violate deeply held cultural values. This paper argues that cultural differences matter and have serious consequences for European TV journalism educators in the age of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this paper has been to define a quality university from the user's perspective, based on what students expressed regarding different aspects of the institution. Two methodologically different formats of collecting information have assisted in testing the coherence of their opinions. A qualitative and quantitative approach helped to evaluate the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the changes that are taking place in European higher education: a shift from the Humboldtian notion of the university to one that operates under quasi-market pressures. While increasing the culture of accountability in universities, this development, linked to shifts in their sponsorship and associated 'missions', is associated with an erosion of traditional mechanisms of trust. The focus is on UK experience, which is now extending internationally. Lessons are drawn on some of the institutional changes and problems that may lie ahead for European universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European universities must face the crisis of the Humboldtian model, and find new organisational solutions. This paper proceeds from two starting observations. The first is the one according to which we are in a “cultural shift” that makes culture the element on which performance, including technologically and cognitively, depends. The development of societies now depends on the culture shared by human beings more than on their economy or technology. The second observation is that culture itself and its ethical underpinning should be open for consideration. The development of society now depends on culture and on its adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the apparent conspiracy of silence and/or culture of disinterest with regard to ethical issues in higher education. A first interpretation treats it as an almost entirely negative phenomenon – the subordination of university values to external political and market forces. The second interpretation, elaborated here, is more nuanced and less judgmental; the apparent erosion of the autonomy of the university and growing fuzziness of traditional academic values are seen as evidence not of decline-and-fall but of higher education's success within the expanding territory of the knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This author focuses on the ethical aspects of conducting university research and teaching. What function does the university perform in making the contemporary world more humane, and what threats are connected today with this mission? Scientific work is, of course, also practised outside the university, and teaching does not have to follow the university model; however it cannot be denied that the university is a ubiquitous scientific and educational institution, the values of which should be remembered and emphasized in light of modern scientific and cultural developments. This paper highlights first the features specific to the university, with an emphasis on educational and cultural production. Next, the challenges faced by the university in the context of modern civilization are addressed. To conclude, a few personal observations about moral dimensions and challenges are shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written with the intent to argue for the purposeful place of ethics in the curriculum, this paper examines the role of the university in the knowledge society, the moral challenges that arise from this, and the importance of developing a pragmatic ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional structures and processes as well as norms and beliefs in the field of research training across Europe are challenged by four recent trends. They encompass the implications of the expansion and diversification of the student body in higher education, the changing functioning and role of research in the knowledge economy, the internationalization of the Ph.D. factory and the growing role of governmental supervision for doctoral training. Altogether, these trends foster internal diversity within higher education and research as well as external diversity in the contribution made to the economy and the growing variety of careers for those who have gone through doctoral training. The paper reviews these processes and respective responses in public intervention as well as in higher education to reorganize doctoral training. It is argued that a diversity of organizational and structural forms as well as different validation criteria and procedures will probably determine the future face of doctoral education across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines current trends and developments in higher education (HE) and the responses of HE institutions to these changes. The contribution of Library and Information science (115) institutions to innovation in Europe is examined through three case studies - the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), the Robert Gordon University (RGU) and the Tallinn Pedagogical University (TPU). Technology, globalisation, and competition have caused the ground to shift under HE worldwide. HE institutions have had to rethink their environment in the light of new technologies. During the last five years MMU, RGU and TPU have developed new programmes and courses, new teaching and learning approaches and used information communication technology to support teaching and learning. All staff members have been actively involved in change and the innovation process. In most cases changes have been incremental and the impact of these changes has been rather positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]