Higher Education and Social Change – Looking Forward
At the final conference of the Higher Education and Social Change (EuroHESC) programme on 29-31 August 2012 the four Collaborative Research Projects presented the preliminary results of their empirical research to each other and to invited experts and engaged in debate on four cross-cutting topics concerning the changing relationship between higher education and society:
- Organisational forms and reforms in European higher education systems – causes and consequences for higher education and society.
- Changing conditions and contexts of academic knowledge production: subservience to market rationalities or support for heterarchical networks?
- The changing status and role of the academic profession: from cultural elite to alienated labour?
- Authority lost and gained: the changing coordination and control of academic work.
Conference Booklet (detailed programme, abstracts, final list of participants)
Wednesday 29 August
| Welcome from European Science Foundation Sarah Moore |
| The EuroHESC programme - origins and evolution Jürgen Enders |
| Keynote: The Modern University in its Historical Contexts: Rethinking Three Transformations Björn Wittrock |
| Key problems, findings and implications of the Collaborative Research Projects |
1. Re-structuring Higher Education and Scientific Innovation: the consequences of changes in authority relations for the direction and organisation of research (RHESI) |
| 2. The Academic Profession in Europe: responses to societal challenges (EUROAC) Ulrich Teichler |
| 3. Change in Networks, Higher Education and Knowledge Societies (CINHEKS) Jussi Välimaa |
| 4.Transforming Universities in Europe (TRUE) Ivar Bleiklie |
| A bird’s-eye view – key problems, findings and implications of the EuroHESC programme Barbara Kehm |
Thursday 30 August, Track A
Session A1: Organisation |
| Lead talk: Organisational forms and reforms in European higher education systems – consequences for higher education and society Kerstin Sahlin |
| 1. Organisational transformation of European Universities. An empirical assessment. Marco Seeber, Benedetto Lepori, et al. (TRUE) |
| 2. Corpus Linguistics as scientific innovation and contender against Chomsky’s theory of generative grammar Lars Engwall, Tina Hedmo and Raphael Ramuz (RHESI) |
| 3. Governance reform and actors’ perceptions of drivers and changes impacting on university strategies António Magalhães and Amélia Veiga (TRUE) |
| Discussant: Stéphanie Mignot-Gerard |
| Questions and answers |
Session A2: Networks |
| Lead talk: Changing conditions and geographical contexts of academic knowledge production: concentration in few big cities or heterarchical networks? Michel Grossetti |
| 1. Networks, boundaries and social change Brenda Little, Andrea Abbas and Vassiliki Papatsiba (CINHEKS) |
| 2. Between international institutionalization and national authority relations: Evolutionary developmental biology research in Swiss and Swedish universities Martin Benninghoff and Elias Hakansson (RHESI) |
| 3. Academic labour transformations: A social network approach Aurelia Kollasch and Blanca Torres-Olave (CINHEKS) |
| Discussant: Thierry Chevaillier and Teresa Patricio |
| Questions and answers |
Thursday 30 August, Track B
Session B1: Academic profession |
| Lead talk: The changing status and role of the academic profession: from cultural elite to alienated labour? Catherine Paradeise |
| 1. The changing research function of the academic profession in Europe Jonathan Drennan, Marie Clarke, Abby Hyde, Yurgos Politis (EUROAC) |
| 2. Influences on academic job satisfaction - a comparison in 12 European countries Ester Hoehle (EUROAC) |
| Discussants: Michele Rostan, Sarah Guri-Rosenblit |
| Questions and answers |
Session B2: Authority relations |
| Lead talk: Authority lost and gained: the changing coordination and control of academic work Peter Scott |
| 1. Institutional change, authority shifts and scientific innovations: the mediating roles of protected space and flexibility Richard Whitley (RHESI) |
| 2. New university governance: From academic self-governance to executive university management/the evaluation of teaching and research David Campbell and Elke Park (EUROAC) |
| 3. Evaluation as strategic device: implementation within European universities Emanuela Reale and Giulio Marini (TRUE) |
| Discussants: Anne-Marie de Jonghe, Sverker Lindblad |
| Questions and answers |
Friday 31 August
| Higher education in the European Research Area Stefaan Hermans, European Commission, DG Research |
| Round-table: Still looking forward? The future of higher education and higher education research Moderator: Matthew Reisz Panel: Catherine Paradeise, Peter Scott, John Smith, Björn Wittrock |
| Summing up John Brennan |
