9.15 From Bergen to London: Bologna priorities for European higher education institutions

Transcription

1 9.15 From Bergen to London: Bologna priorities for European higher education institutions Emerging Trends David Crosier EUA 1

2 European University Association (EUA): Mission EUA: representative organisation of universities (c770) and their national Rectors Conferences (34) in 46 countries across Europe (= Bologna area) Mission: to promote coherence in European higher education and research Interaction with members through Policy development & representation Support to members: projects & services 2

3 EUA role in Bologna Process Bologna central to our member institutions, & therefore central to EUA EUA participates in the official decision-making processes member in the BFUG represents European HEIs in the biannual Ministerial meetings Policy positions for the European higher education sector Salamanca, Graz, Glasgow and (next year) Lisbon Trends reports 3

4 Trends: exploring the changing state of European higher education & accompanying Bologna 1999 Trends I & II for Bologna & Prague: painted the picture of European higher education & gave arguments for the Bologna Process/EHEA 2003 Trends III for Graz/Berlin: Institutional perspective from 800+ HEIs: sounded a wake-up call - HEIs don t see all things as Ministers do 2005 Trends IV for Glasgow/Bergen: Site visits: revealed complexity of implementation, and increasing demands on HEIs 4

5 Picture in TRENDS IV 2005 Focus shifting to institutional implementation... national commitment national legislation national incentives/ support instit. institutional communication leadership/ deliberation policy decision instit. reality Many HEIs still find that nat.legisl. undermines auton. decisionmaking Only 6 countries provided funding for implementation at institutional level 5 Bologna reforms an integral part of inst. strategy Role of academics: investing lots of extra time, taking up the challenge student involvement depends strongly on national context

6 For Lisbon/London Trends V What has/hasn t changed, and why/not? Questionnaire: to compare information from HEIs over 4 years Focus Groups: to explore perception of issues from different perspectives Institutional Site visits: to explore some aspects of picture with qualitative research work Special consideration to situation of new member countries 6

7 High response rate: Questionnaire response About 920 responses (about 150 more than Trends III) Broader coverage than Trends III: new member countries represented (although not strongly) Most countries similar response rate as Trends III, or slight increase 7

8 Preliminary findings: 3 cycle system developments.. Overall structures largely in place, with only a small percentage saying that they do not yet function in the Bologna 3 cycle framework Issues of articulation between cycles now important to explore: from what type of bachelors to what type of masters? Conditions of access to PhD? etc 8

9 Credit systems and Diploma Supplement ECTS gaining ground both as accumulation and transfer system Yet no improvement in recognising credits from partner institutions Diploma Supplement: almost half of the HEIs say they issue it to all students 9

10 Employability Employability appears to be a major driver of curriculum reform, with a strong majority of institutions now considering the concern for employability of graduates very important But little involvement of employers in curriculum design & restructuring Employment tracking not undertaken systematically in many HEIs (only one-third say they monitor employment of all recent graduates) 10

11 Qualifications frameworks an area of confusion Institutions don t (yet) understand well the purpose or the practical value of qualifications frameworks Many institutions do not know whether there is an NQF in their country (many think there is when there isn t, or that there isn t when there is ) EQF x 2 (HE & LLL): may increase confusion 11

12 Institutional Mission & Research A majority of institutions envisage increasing their share of research activity Very few aim to increase their share of teaching activity What are the implications for mission diversity? 12

13 Social Dimension Nearly all institutions state that increasing and widening participation is a (very) important issue for them Yet most institutions don t think they need to do more to increase access, with a significant minority stating that this is not their responsibility 13

14 Internationalisation: opportunities for students? EHEA will provide better opportunities for: All students at your institution (similar to T3) Most outgoing students (big increase from T3) Most incoming students (big increase from T3) Non European students (big increase from T3) => Perception of increased opportunities for mobile students, but many institutions don t see potential benefits for all students of studying in a more international environment 14

15 Internationalisation: opportunities for institutions? EHEA will provide better opportunities for: All institutions (similar to T3) Mainly the most competitive institutions (big increase from T3) Increased perception of competition 15

16 Some issues to address further: Are changes real / cosmetic, & what impact are they having in heis? What should be done to make employers more aware? Is curriculum reform being undertaken in a spirit of student-centred learning? Are learning outcomes, modules and credits well understood? Mobility: why are the Bologna tools not helping more? Research: can so many heis really develop their research role/ambitions? Social Dimension: is there genuine concern or lip service? External dimension: what do we need to do to develop our relationship with the rest of the world? 16

17 Some very tentative conclusions: Shift in BP from govt legislation to institutional implementation evident Things moving fast: picture 4 years on is changing dramatically No longer if Bologna will be implemented, but how But countries & institutions moving from different starting points, in different conditions, at different speeds and we need to be very sensitive to this 17

18 Thank you for listening More info on EUA Stand 134 Website 18