Description
Book SynopsisThis timely and important book provides a critical analysis of the changes and challenges that currently affect European universities. Using both theoretical contributions and applied case studies, leading experts argue that universities as institutions are in need of change - although the routes that the process may take are heterogeneous.
The authors debate whether the reform of universities suffers from the undue influence of generalisations that do not stand up to scrutiny. It is simply too narrow to focus on strategies such as imitating a 'university model', hoping that best practices will solve the inefficiencies of the organisation as a whole, or relying on the presence of few external individuals on the universities' board to save the difficult relationships between the university and the surrounding economy and society. These ideas ignore the diversity of universities geographically and historically. Above all, they underestimate the power that such diversity holds in making universities survive across centuries.
Researchers with an interest in university reform will appreciate this important contribution to the debate, whilst policymakers and university administrators will find this book invaluable in understanding the changes and problems facing European universities and gaining insights on possible solutions.
Trade Review'This attractively presented edited collection is a welcome analysis of issues facing universities. It consists of 14 chapters by experts who work in university management and economics' departments. . . this is an excellent collection. Its value stems from the fact that it enables comparisons to be made and to see that globally the traditional university system is being seriously challenged. The authors in this collection provide a range of perspectives on how the universities in their various locations can begin to respond to these challenges.' -- Anthony Potts, Journal of Educational Administration and History
'The future of the university, this old European institution, is of utmost interest not only to university students and teachers, but to whole societies; not only in Europe, but in the whole world, as the institution has become global. Nobody can predict it, but the editors of this volume were able to ask incisive questions and collected thoughtful and provocative answers, which can contribute to the debate on the fate of universities in a significant way.' -- Barbara Czarniawska, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
'While acknowledging the value of better university management, this book resists the idea that an externally imposed standardization and a more homogenous European system of higher education adds up to a desiderata. On the contrary the book editors argue that the persistence of the university and its survival in the future is aided by differences between universities. European Universities in Transition
is must reading for students of higher education reform.' -- Francisco O. Ramirez, Stanford University, US
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword: University Reform – A Prerequisite for Success of Knowledge-based Economy? Kari Raivio Introduction: Found In Translation? The Persistence of the University as Institution Carmelo Mazza, Paolo Quattrone and Angelo Riccaboni PART I: ISSUES 1. University Reforms: The Tension between Form and Substance Nigel Thrift 2. Minerva and the Media: Universities Protecting and Promoting Themselves Lars Engwall 3. PhD Education – Challenges and Opportunities of Europeanization Marie-Laure Djelic 4. The Role of Business Schools in the Process of University Reform Anthony G. Hopwood PART II: MODELS 5. Bologna and Business Education: Far from a Model, Just a Process for a While… Nicolas Mottis 6. New Modes of Governance: The Re-Regulation of European Higher Education and Research Tina Hedmo, Linda Wedlin 7. Combining the Production and the Valorization of Academic Research: A Qualitative Investigation of Enacted Mechanisms Julie Callaert, Bart Van Looy, Dominique Foray and Koenraad Debackere 8. The University is not an Institute of Technology Gilles Van Wijk PART III: CASES i) Governance and Performance Measurement 9. Australian Higher Education Transformed: From Central Coordination to Control Suzanne Ryan, James Guthrie and Ruth Neumann 10. Managing Modernization: Introducing Performance Management in British Universities Tom Keenoy and Michael I. Reed 11. Higher Education Governance, Leadership and Management Reform: Systemic Corporate Governance Reform at City University, London Ian Creagh and Richard Verrall 12. The Structure and Significance of the Italian Research Assessment Exercise (VTR) Eliana Minelli, Gianfranco Rebora and Matteo Turri ii) Innovation and Regional Economies 13. Education and Training for Innovation in SMEs: A Tale of Exploitation Stuart Macdonald, Pat Anderson and Dimitris Assimakopoulos 14. European and Regional Disparities in Human Capital: The Case of Italy Paolo Emilio Signorini Afterword Pasquale Gagliardi Index
