The Bologna Process in Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

The Bologna Process opened a new chapter in the history of the European higher education. The idea of a common European Higher Education Area was developed in Western Europe and accelerated increasingly there in the second half of the 20th century, as a phenomenon of globalization. For the post-communist states in Eastern Europe the complete change of the political system made it possible to join the European Union and the Bologna Process. These changes had an impact not only on the educational policies but also on the educational system and the educational culture as well. This book shows the changes in the higher education of ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The country studies are supplemented with an international and a historical comparative analysis, to point out the special features of the implementation of the Bologna aims in the region.




The Bologna Process


Book Description

This book outlines the development of the Bologna Process, reviewing how it came into existence and the milestones reached over the past decade. It provides a critical examination of the state of implementation of its main policy action lines - such as comparable degree structures and quality assurance systems - and assesses its impact in fostering greater student mobility, widening participation in higher education, and developing lifelong learning. The impact of the Bologna Process as a driver of reform is set against challenges in implementing agreed goals. And the authors point to the diversity of results across the 47 signatory countries, highlighting problems with the use of instruments at the institutional level. The book also discusses how the Bologna Process has become a focus of attention for higher education policy-making around the world, presenting examples of the policy initiatives it has inspired. Finally, it considers the lessons to be learned from this European experience, and the challenges to be met in the future.




The European Higher Education Area


Book Description

Bridging the gap between higher education research and policy making was always a challenge, but the recent calls for more evidence-based policies have opened a window of unprecedented opportunity for researchers to bring more contributions to shaping the future of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Encouraged by the success of the 2011 first edition, Romania and Armenia have organised a 2nd edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference (FOHE-BPRC) in November 2014, with the support of the Italian Presidency of the European Union and as part of the official EHEA agenda. Reuniting over 170 researchers from more than 30 countries, the event was a forum to debate the trends and challenges faced by higher education today and look at the future of European cooperation in higher education. The research volumes offer unique insights regarding the state of affairs of European higher education and research, as well as forward-looking policy proposals. More than 50 articles focus on essential themes in higher education: Internationalization of higher education; Financing and governance; Excellence and the diversification of missions; Teaching, learning and student engagement; Equity and the social dimension of higher education; Education, research and innovation; Quality assurance, The impacts of the Bologna Process on the EHEA and beyond and Evidence-based policies in higher education. "The Bologna process was launched at a time of great optimism about the future of the European project – to which, of course, the reform of higher education across the continent has made a major contribution. Today, for the present, that optimism has faded as economic troubles have accumulated in the Euro-zone, political tensions have been increased on issues such as immigration and armed conflict has broken out in Ukraine. There is clearly a risk that, against this troubled background, the Bologna process itself may falter. There are already signs that it has been downgraded in some countries with evidence of political withdrawal. All the more reason for the voice of higher education researchers to be heard. Since the first conference they have established themselves as powerful stakeholders in the development of the EHEA, who are helping to maintain the momentum of the Bologna process. Their pivotal role has been strengthened by the second Bucharest conference." Peter Scott, Institute of Education, London (General Rapporteur of the FOHE-BPRC first edition)




European Higher Education Area: Challenges for a New Decade


Book Description

This open access book presents the major outcomes of the fourth edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC 4) which was held in January 2020 and which has already established itself as a landmark in the European higher education environment. The conference is part of the official calendar of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) for events that promote and sustain the development of EHEA. The conference provides a unique forum for dialogue between researchers, experts and policy makers in the field of higher education, all of which is documented in this proceedings volume. The book focuses on the following five sub-themes: - Furthering the Internationalization of Higher Education: Particular - Challenges in the EHEA - Access and Success for Every Learner in Higher Education - Advancing Learning and Teaching in the EHEA: Innovation and Links With Research - The Future of the EHEA - Principles, Challenges and Ways Forward - Bologna Process in the Global Higher Education Arena. Going Digital? While acknowledging the efforts and achievements so far at EHEA level, the Paris Ministerial Communiqué highlights the need to intensify crossdisciplinary and cross-border cooperation. One of the ways to achieve this objective is to develop more efficient peer-learning activities, involving policymakers and other stakeholders from as many member states as possible for which this book provides a platform. It acknowledges the importance of a continued dialogue between researchers and decisionmakers and benefits from the experience already acquired, this way enabling the higher education community to bring its input into the 2020. European Higher Education Area (EHEA) priorities for 2020 onwards. European Higher Education Area: Challenges for a New Decade marks 21 years of Bologna Process and 10 years of EHEA and brings together an unique collection of contributions that not only reflect on all that has been achieved in these years, but more importantly, shape directions for the future. This book is published under an open access CC BY license.




European Higher Education Area: The Impact of Past and Future Policies


Book Description

This volume presents the major outcomes of the third edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC 3) which was held on 27-29 November 2017. It acknowledges the importance of a continued dialogue between researchers and decision-makers and benefits from the experience already acquired, this way enabling the higher education community to bring its input into the 2018-2020 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) priorities. The Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC) has already established itself as a landmark in the European higher education environment. The two previous editions (17-19 October 2011, 24-26 November 2014), with approximately 200 European and international participants each, covering more than 50 countries each, were organized prior to the Ministerial Conferences, thus encouraging a consistent dialogue between researchers and policy makers. The main conclusions of the FOHE Conferences were presented at the EHEA Ministerial Conferences (2012 and 2015), in order to make the voice of researchers better heard by European policy and decision makers. This volume is dedicated to continuing the collection of evidence and research-based policymaking and further narrowing the gap between policy and research within the EHEA and broader global contexts. It aims to identify the research areas that require more attention prior to the anniversary 2020 EHEA Ministerial Conference, with an emphasis on the new issues on rise in the academic and educational community. This book gives a platform for discussion on key issues between researchers, various direct higher education actors, decision-makers, and the wider public. This book is published under an open access CC BY license.




The European Higher Education Area


Book Description

This volume presents the state of the art with respect to the most important elements of the Bologna process. The reflections on the past are also used to fuel the debate on the next decade.




Policy Experiments, Failures and Innovations


Book Description

Policy Experiments, Failures and Innovations takes a policy studies perspective in considering post-communist EU member states’ experiences since accession. The book analyses policy transfer processes and expands the new and growing sub-field of policy failure by interrogating the binary ideas of ‘failure’ and ‘success’ in the context of the Central Eastern European (CEE) transition, democratic consolidation and European Union membership.




Europeanizing Education


Book Description

The study of common and diverse effects in the field of education across Europe is a growing field of inquiry and research. It is the result of many actions, networks and programmes over the last few decades and the development of common European education policies. Europeanizing Education describes the origins of European education policy, as it metamorphosed from cultural policy to networking support and into a space of comparison and data. The authors look at the early development and growth of research networks and agencies, and international and national collaborations. The gradual increase in the velocity and scope of education policy, practice and instruments across Europe is at the heart of the book. The European space of education, a new policy space, has been slowly coaxed into existence; governed softly and by persuasion; developed by experts and agents; and de-politicized by the use of standards and data. It has increasing momentum. It is becoming a single, commensurable space on a rising tide of indicators and benchmarks. The construction of policy spaces by the European Union makes Europe governable: policy spaces have to be mobilized by networks of actors and constructed by comparative data. They are the result of transnational flows of people, ideas and practices across European borders; the direct effects of European Union policy; and, finally, the Europeanizing effect of international institutions and globalization. The European space of education and research has become a new place of work through interconnected institutions, networks and companies, and it is being constructed through the flow of policy ideas, knowledge and practices from place to place, sector to sector, organization to organization, and across borders. This book will be useful to any scholar of the new arena of study, the European Space of Education.




Higher Education System Reform


Book Description

The Bologna Declaration started the development of the European Higher Education Area. The ensuing Bologna Process has run for already 20 years now. In the meantime many higher education systems in Europe have been reformed – some more drastically than others; some quicker than others; some with more resistance than others. In the process of reform the initial (six) goals have sometimes been forgotten or sometimes been taken a step further. The context too has shifted: while the European Union in itself has expanded, the voice for exit has also been heard more frequently. Higher Education System Reform: An international comparison after Twenty Years of Bologna critically describes and analyses 12 Higher Education Systems from the perspective of four major questions: What is currently the situation with regard to the six original goals of Bologna? What was the adopted path of reform? Which were the triggering (economic, social, political) factors for the reform in each specific country? What was the rationale/discourse used during the reform? The book comparatively analyses the different systems, their paths of reforms and trajectories, and the similarities and the differences between them. At the same time it critically assesses the current situation on higher education in Europe, and hints towards a future policy agenda. Contributors are: Tommaso Agasisti, Bruno Broucker, Martina Dal Molin, Kurt De Wit, Andrew Gibson, Ellen Hazelkorn, Gergely Kovats, Liudvika Leišytė, Lisa Lucas, António Magalhães, Sude Peksen, Rosalind Pritchard, Palle Rasmussen, Anna-Lena Rose, Christine Teelken, Eva M. de la Torre, Carmen Perez-Esparrells, Jani Ursin, Amélia Veiga, Jef C. Verhoeven, Nadine Zeeman, and Rimantas Želvys.




Gender and Academic Career Development in Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

The nature of academic institutions is inherently gendered. This is because higher education institutions (HEIs) do not operate in a void but, rather, are part and parcel of patriarchal social structures. This book offers a comprehensive presentation of the gendered and gendering academic career development. It explores various scholarly roles that academics face throughout their careers and how they are gendered in their nature. The book connects relevant literature on the topic with novel empirical studies to increase the understanding of how gender is played in academia across different roles and different career stages. The empirical context is conducted in Central and Eastern Europe and sheds new light on the gendered and gendering nature in academia in the region. The book also offers propositions on how to undo gendered academia to make it a more inclusive workplace for all. Dedicated to the academic reader employed in HEIs, particularly among those who are involved in the management of such institutions, this volume will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and advanced students in the fields of human resource management, organizational studies, higher education, and gender studies.