In important respects, European ideas of the university have spread across the world. The principal "philosophical" statements on which this idea of the university is based (Humboldt and Newman) assumed the people inhabiting universities--as students--would come from the youth of a social elite. The outward-facing elements of the Bologna…

The central questions addressed in this paper are the following: (1) In the context of the (European Union) EU's goal of severing the link between social class background and higher education participation, what progress has been made in widening access over the past two decades? (2) Has the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) helped EU…

Widening access to higher education is clearly part of the European policy agenda. Higher education ministers in the Bologna countries, as well as the European Commission, have all expressed a wish to make higher education more representative of national populations. This policy objective has been echoed at national level. One approach to widening…

Public higher education has a long history, with its growth associated with mass higher education and the extension of a social right to education from secondary schooling to university education. Following the rise in student numbers since the 1970s, the aspiration to higher education has been universalized, although opportunities remain…

This paper compares access to full-time undergraduate higher education (HE) by members of less advantaged social classes and ethnic minorities across the four "home countries" of the UK. It uses data on applicants to HE in selected years from 1996 to 2010. In all home countries students from intermediate and working-class backgrounds…

This paper addresses the issue of the impact of expansion and differentiation on widening access to higher education. In particular, it considers the impact of the growing importance of full-time short-cycle higher education in Scotland's colleges of further and higher education, the progression pathways which have now been established from…

This article provides a critical sociological analysis of trends and perspectives pervasive during the emergence of North American adult education (1919-1970). In discussing transitions during the first 50 years of what is considered modern practice, it draws on Webster E. Cotton's (1986, "On Behalf of Adult Education: A Historical…

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…

The development of a continuing vocational training programme at the Information Satellite Systems Joint-Stock Company (ISS JSC) during the transition from the planned Soviet economy to what is now called the Russian market economy is briefly outlined. How the collapse of a planned economy led to the degradation of engineering higher education…

In modern society, individuals are having to assume increasing responsibility for their own career trajectories. One of the key ways in which individuals can engage in such "career self-management" is by taking up learning opportunities through further study. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore, using the conceptual…

For highly educated refugee professionals who flee to the UK, gaining a university qualification is one of the key strategies which can be used to re-establish a professional identity and find employment, and yet little is known about their experiences in higher education. This article utilises Bourdieu's framework of field, capital and…

Given the widening participation agenda and associated enrolment targets, mature students who enter higher education by non-traditional pathways look set to become an increasingly prominent cohort who bring with them valuable skills, experiences and personal attributes that can and do enrich the learning environment. However, the Australian case…

This article contains an analysis of policies aimed at increasing the participation of adults in higher education (HE) in seven countries (NL, DK, SE, UK, BE Flanders, DE and the state of California in the USA). In order to maintain their economic competitiveness, many countries have developed policies to increase the participation of adults in…

In this study, we aim to explore and thematically analyze higher education teachers' notions about the most important problems related to students' learning, including the teachers' notions about the approaches to learning adopted by students. The study was carried out in Rwanda with 25 university teachers engaged in group interviews. Inspired by…

The decision to make the UK student population financially responsible for their own university education has major implications for the future of higher education provision. Chief among these implications will undoubtedly be a much stronger emphasis on the student experience, not least the experience of the teaching and learning environment.…