During the war, a significant number of Ukrainian universities were tragically destroyed, while others were relocated. The challenging wartime circumstances in which universities operate in Ukraine have increased the use of distance education. University management and academic staff agree that the quality of services offered hinges on the…

The article investigates two cases of displaced universities facing challenges after a new phase of Russia's aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. We analyse prospects for displaced universities. Also, we identify models suitable for developing and reinventing universities, aligning their activities with wartime needs and allowing them to…

Comparing universities and courses is of interest to a variety of stakeholders including potential students, policy makers, news and media organisations, ranking providers, and universities themselves. There are a range of existing university ranking schemes that provide comparisons (e.g. Academic Ranking of World Universities) but typically these…

One of the specificities of French higher education is that there is no single higher education system but two compartmentalised and hierarchical higher education systems comprising (1) universities and (2) "grande école" higher education institutions. Competing for a place in the latter requires that students have succeeded in…

This article reports on a study in which the legitimisation of shared governance in the Chinese higher education sector was investigated. Norman Fairclough's three-level discourse analysis was used for analysing documents and interviews. The research materials consist of thirteen Chinese university statutes and qualitative semi-structured…

This article analyses the process of reforming the governance of Danish universities, from an anthropological perspective. Observers saw that the assemblage of steering concepts, tools and mechanisms in the 2003 Danish university law could be articulated in two contrary ways: one would make the university into a "power force" with ideas…

The implementation of a new higher education policy started in Poland in 2020. The new policy seeks to internationalise and transform universities to increase their competitiveness. This article describes the historical context, issues and reasoning behind the reform as well as some of the challenges for the future development of higher education…

Under the pressure of globalisation, both China and Europe have active strategies to internationalise their higher education systems. This paper explores the cultural and institutional constraints of these strategies in both territories, analysing their impact on the cooperation and competition among higher education institutions. The article…

In the context of globalisation, public organisations are undergoing rapid transformation, and how to govern them scientifically has become an important research topic. University governance is an important research area in the field of higher education; it has been addressed by many scholars across the world. In order to fully understand the…

The Swedish system of research funding has undergone major changes, while competitive funding schemes gradually have gained popularity, at the expense of institutional block grants. In recent years, there has been a strong drive to improve research performance in universities as a result of governmental desires, resulting in performance-based…

Global university rankings are a worldwide trend that emerged in times of the globalisation and internationalisation of higher education. Universities worldwide are now striving to become "world-class" institutions and are constantly aiming to improve their ranking position. Global rankings of universities are thus perceived by many as…

"Learner agency for what?" is one of the key questions addressed in this article and the response distinguishes between more self-interested responses and answers that suggest a wider orientation towards global transformation. The context is that of education at global centres of international development studies and the mid-career…

An analysis of the phenomenon of combining work and study amongst university students is made using data obtained from surveys of graduates carried out four years after finishing their degrees. First, the article reviews the evolution of the phenomenon over the last ten years, taking into account the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency…

In the current context of globalisation it seems inevitable that the international openness of universities would also lead to efforts to attract foreign students. In the case of Spain, this is more necessary, insofar as the drop in population, the existence of other quality educational offerings, and the greater number of public and private…

The literature on quality management at higher education institutions has for some time been working on the basis of two issues: a) the diversity of ideas as to what "quality" means, which makes it harder to apply the principles of quality management in this context; and b) the idea that this diversity is in some way a response to the…