THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION
The transformation of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe has occurred within a relatively short period and has been intertwined with broader social and economic changes accompanying the transition from socialist regimes to market-based economies. Most post-socialist countries in the Western Balkans region abolished socialist regimes and survived a devastating civil war over…
Recent Russian initiatives on raising the competitiveness of its higher education system in the international context have been more than successful: The British Times Higher Education magazine included 13 Russian universities on its 2015 list, while only two universities were on this list in 2014. Little by little, Russian universities are moving up into good…
Despite increasing awareness towards the important role that universities play in society and the economy through their third missions – of regional development, innovation, outreach, etc. – a series of key challenges remain largely unaddressed. Structurally, a balance needs to be achieved between the core tasks of teaching and research, which take the bulk of the…
In the recent years, there has been lively discussion on needs to renew academic career structures in European universities. The career paths have typically differed between European countries. This may be problematic if increasing mobility is a significant policy aim. It has also been considered whether the current circumstances for pursuing academic career are attractive…
Social science researchers who plan or are involved in international comparative research projects must make conceptual choices and answer methodological and practical questions that do not pertain to non-comparative projects. Although international comparative research does not differ in its logic and methods of analysis from research undertaken within a country, and making comparisons among units is a…
Any study of the contemporary university is best approached with cognisance of an institution and ideology in the grip of profound change; contested change; and some would claim, crisis. The fabled playground of the intelligentsia has been reimagined as an institution that beats to the drum of a global mass market economy of higher education…