Session Information
22 SES 10 C, Policy, Management and Governance in Higher Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Our study
It is our intention to consider the major obstacles and concerns raised by the implementation of the Bologna Process in the higher education systems of Sweden and the Netherlands drawing mainly from the framework of the institutional theory, particularly the dimensions further referred to as superficial versus more deeply felt implementations. We selected the major issues on the basis of an analysis of a broad collection of policy documents. Our purpose is to identify ‘real examples’ showing what is being loosely coupled and such is particularly likely for measures that lay outside the primary process of academic activities, e.g. concerning quality care such as the accreditation scheme.
If the Bologna process and its immediate features/consequences are implemented in the higher education system, without a direct relationship to the primary process (the actual teaching process) or acknowledging the specific nature of higher education institutions, the whole process can very likely work against its own intentions. In other words, instead of improving the quality of teaching, it can lead to its deterioration.
Some measures were implemented rather superficially; in other words, they resulted into rather superficial changes in the teaching of higher education. For example the implementation of the Bachelor Master structure in the Netherlands, resulted more or less into a cut of a 4 year course into two courses of three [bachelor] and one year [master]. This somewhat artificial cut resulted into the dubious status of the bachelor and the choice options for students streaming through from the bachelor to the master. Similar national/local solutions can be reported from Sweden.
Other measures have been implemented in a more profound manner and consequently raised more extensive resistance. Examples of such more influential measures involve quality control/care, the accreditation process, the increased emphasis on teaching quality, e.g. through evaluations and sanctions. It is our intention in this paper to use institutional theory to provide an explanation for these contradictions.
What we will discuss in this paper, on the basis of empirical evidence is whether more thorough implementation refers to increased diversity while superficial implementation (isomorphism) refers to convergence between HEIs. Our intention in this study is to problematise and debate some of the outcomes traced in the Bologna Process and mainly what varies between countries on a micro level, understanding ‘the devil is in the details’, and even more so, better understand any exposed tensions or conflicts in terms of some possible consequences for/in HE that might become even more visible and noticeable following in the footsteps of the BP progresses?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
References Brignall, S. and Modell, S. (2000) An Institutional Perspective on Performance Measurement and Management in the “New Public Sector”’, Management Accounting Research 11: 281–306. Greenwood, R. and B. Hinings (1996). Understanding radical organisational change. Bringing together the old and the new institutionalism. Academy of Management Review 21(4): 1022-1054. Hallett, T. (2010) The Myth Incarnate: Recoupling Processes, Turmoil, and Inhabited Institutions in an Urban Elementary School. American Sociological Review 75, 1, 52-74. Leisyte, Liudvika (2007) University governance and academic research: case studies of research units in Dutch and English universities. PhD thesis, University Twente. Meyer, J.W. and Rowan, B. (1983) ‘Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony’, in W.R. Scott and J.W. Meyer, Organizational Environments, Ritual and Rationality, pp. 21–44. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Oliver, C. (1991) Strategic responses to institutional processes, Academy of Management Review, 16, 1, 145-179. Powell, W. and Dimaggio, P.J. (1991) The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Teelken, Christine & Monne Wihlborg (2010) Reflecting on the Bologna outcomespace – pointing to some pitfalls to avoid!? Exploring the universities in Sweden and the Netherlands. European Educational Research Journal (EERJ), 1,105-115. Teelken, Christine (2008) The intricate implementation of performance measurement systems in public, professional-service organizations. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74, 4, 615-635. Christine Teelken (2012, forthcoming) Compliance or pragmatism, how do Academics deal with Managerialism in Higher Education? A comparative study in three countries. Studies in Higher Education. Wihlborg, Monne (2009) The pedagogical Dimension of Internationalisation. A Challenging Quality issue for the Twenty-First Century. European Educational research Journal, 8(1), 117-132.
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