This book addresses the complex phenomenon in higher education of structural reforms in higher education systems. Across the globe, governments initiate comprehensive reforms of their higher education systems because they want their models to be the best and to excel at what they do. This regularly requires governments to change the higher education landscape to achieve their set objectives. Changes can include merger processes, the introduction of a new sector of higher education or a new type of higher education institution or excellence initiative. This book explores the current understanding of how successful such comprehensive reforms have been through an examination of eleven reform cases in European countries. For each reform, the different phases of the policy process - policy objectives, design, implementation, policy tools and evaluation - are systematically described and analysed to provide an overview of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of the reforms.

Autorentext

Jeroen Huisman is Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Sociology at Ghent University, Belgium. He is editor of Higher Education Policy and co-editor of the SRHE Higher Education book series and the series Theory and Method in Higher Education Research.

Harry de Boer is Deputy-director and Senior Researcher at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente, the Netherlands. He is on the Editorial Board of the Higher Education Quarterly.

Jon File is Director of Development and Consultancy at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente, the Netherlands. His international work has taken him to almost 50 countries over the past decade and a half.

Martina Vukasovic is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Higher Education Governance Ghent (CHEGG), Belgium. She is a member of the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (CHER), the network of Early Career Higher Education Researchers (ECHER), and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Standing Group on Politics of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. She is on the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Higher Education.

Marco Seeber is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Higher Education Governance Ghent (CHEGG), Belgium. His research focuses on how macro, meso and micro level factors and their interactions affect the governance of higher education systems and management of universities.

Don F. Westerheijden is Senior Research Associate at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente, the Netherlands. His research interests include international comparisons of quality assurance, accreditation, (multidimensional) rankings and excellence in teaching & learning in higher education. He sits on the Editorial Board of the journal Quality in Higher Education.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Structural Reform in Higher Education: An Introduction; Harry de Boer, Jon File, Don F. Westerheijden, Jeroen Huisman, Marco Seeber & Martina Vukasovic.- PART I. Horizontal Differentiation Processes.- Chapter 2. Reform of the 'Fachhochschulen' in Austria; Attila Pausits.- Chapter 3. Partial Horizontal Differentiation in Croatian Higher Education: How Ideas, Institutions and Interests Affect the Policy Process; Jelena Brankovic & Martina Vukasovic.- Chapter 4. Strengthening Research at the Dutch 'Hogescholen': From Ideas to Institutionalization; Harry de Boer.- Chapter 5. Pulling the Plug in a Bathtub: The Big Consequences of a Small Change in Norwegian Higher Education; Mari Elken & Nicoline Frølich.- Chapter 6. The Government Response to the Private Sector Expansion in Poland; Dominik Antonowicz, Marek Kwiek & Don F. Westerheijden.- PART II: Vertical Differentiation Processes.- Chapter 7. The Danish UNIK-Initiative: An NPM-Inspired Mechanism to Steer Higher Education; Kaare Aaagaard & Harry de Boer.- Chapter 8. France: Initiatives for Excellence; Emmanuel Boudard & Don F. Westerheijden.- Chapter 9. The International Campus of Excellence Initiative in Spain; Marco Seeber.- PART III: Institutional Relationships.- Chapter 10. Setting up Associations in Flemish Higher Education; Jeroen Huisman & Jelle Mampaey.- Chapter 11. Finland: Mergers in the Context of Continuity; Terhi Nokkala & Jussi Välimaa.- Chapter 12. Policy-Making for Structural Reforms in Welsh Higher Education Landscape; Nadine Zeeman & Paul Benneworth.- Chapter 13. Structural Reform in European Higher Education: Concluding Reflections; Jeroen Huisman, Marco Seeber, Martina Vukasovic, Harry de Boer, Jon File and Don F. Westerheijden.