The paper studies the relation between different national cost-sharing models and how students from different socio-economic backgrounds finance their higher education in six different European countries: the Czech Republic, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain. The findings reveal considerable differences both between the…

This paper presents an institutional research on service quality conducted to analyze the students' motives and influences on their selection of studies and university. The research was carried out by collecting data from first-year students in a multi-campus system where institutions are independent in their recruitment strategies. Results from…

Risk-based regulation is a relatively new mode of governance. Not only does it offer a way of controlling institutions from the outside but it also provides the possibility of making an organisation's achievements visible/visualisable. This paper comments on a list of possible risks that higher education institutions have to face. In a second…

This study attempts to provide a new perspective on current shifts in knowledge production through analysing the relationship between research and education. The study, based on interviews and questionnaires, focuses on the interaction within applied research centres with a close industry cooperation. The results suggest that the interaction…

A framework is described to assist institutions in evaluating the extent to which activities described as "quality improvements" or "quality enhancements" are likely to directly improve the student experience. The framework classifies ways of improving the student experience into "coaching improvements", "umpiring improvements", and "facilities…

This paper explores the ability of students to achieve their optimistic educational scenario (aspirations) and to provide contextual information on the factors which may have influenced their failure to do so. With a large sample of approximately 20,000 respondents from a government longitudinal database, the authors have been able to further…

Growing national and international competition for students puts pressure on higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop marketing and student recruitment strategies; these are also driven by financial stress caused by performance-based funding mechanisms. In this paper we explore Norwegian HEIs' student recruitment strategies. What type of…

This paper reports on the second phase of a multi-country study examining cross cultural perspectives of gender and management in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It examines the broader labour market context and legislative frameworks for higher education in each country and then analyses the literature on women in university management. The…

This paper focuses on the way lecturers observe, feel restrained by and cope with quality management systems that have been implemented in the higher education systems of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As two sides of the same coin, quality enhancement and quality control are of increased significance in European Higher Education…

Higher education institutions are facing major challenges requiring traditional leadership and administrative policies and practices to be rethought and renewed. These challenges concern the whole academic community but mostly the institutions' administrative leaders. This article suggests how applying the democratic principles of "inclusion",…

According to Altbach in 2004, "everyone wants a world-class university". Corresponding developmental efforts undertaken by higher education institutions are very often referenced to improvements in ranking results. Surprisingly, there is relatively little analysis of variations in higher education ranking systems across countries regarding how…

Brazilian higher education institutions face a complex and challenging environment as the national market in education is becoming more competitive. International investment, a decrease in the population of potential students, and the proliferation of innumerable small institutions add to this complexity. Organizations are becoming flatter and the…

Managing by performance indicators (PIs) is an important and controversial issue for many stakeholders concerned with higher education in the university systems all over the world. This study analyzes the voluntary disclosures of PIs by Canadian universities. The sample consisted of the 44 universities used by Maclean's Canadian Universities…

This article addresses the inherent tension in the Bologna process between the aim of convergence and the will to maintain the diversity of national higher education (HE) systems, as well as the decentralised and autonomous nature of national policy formulation on Bologna reforms. Starting from an analytical discussion of the concepts of…

The transformation of higher education systems under the pressure of new needs required by the "society of knowledge" in France and Italy has had a deep effect on the relationship between state and university, and therefore a direct impact on university governance. This article sums up the main results of a research carried out on university…