European higher education policies that were first developed as an empirical, short-term response to financial difficulties at the start of the decade have now assumed a long-term strategic character that affects the relationships between government and higher education and between society and higher education. (MSE)

Technological advancement, seen as the key to the economic status and fortune of the European nations, is at the heart of national debates over international industrial competition and the role of higher education in a wide variety of countries. (MSE)

The primary changes in the teaching profession occurred in the mid-1970s as a result of pressures for student participation in decision making and closer government supervision of procedure and expenditure. Included were changes in the conditions of service and in the relationships between teaching and research and between faculty and…

This article looks at vocationalism in higher education in terms of three stages of vocationalism in western Europe. It also examines the shifting legitimacy toward vocationalism, new forms of stratification in the academic profession, and vocationalism as a response to "massification" of higher education. (DB)

Western Europe's demand for quality higher education at lower cost is discussed. It is argued that the criteria for quality are determined by external interests, including governments looking for economic development through an improved labor market. The situations in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom are considered.…

The last few years have seen an acceleration in "the drive toward the market" as the principal element underlying higher education policy in western Europe. The trend, seen in historical perspective, is more than just another example of higher education policy as crisis management. (MSE)

An analysis of the changes in Western European higher education in the last decade focuses on three developments, all with origins in earlier periods: the increased pace of international exchange and cooperation, strengthening of regional cooperation and planning, and a reassessment of the role of government in educational planning and governance.…