Student employment in Europe: an economic, financial and cultural phenomenon

The politics and administration of institutional chang

Quality assurance in the political context: In the midst of different expectations and conflicting goals

Higher education quality assurance systems develop within a complex political environment where national level goals and priorities interact with European and global developments. Furthermore, quality assurance is influenced by broader processes in the public sector that set expectations with respect to accountability, legitimacy and regulatory quality. As a result, quality assurance systems often face different and even conflicting goals from different parts of society. The traditional goals of securing minimum standards and facilitating improvement within universities are augmented with such goals as providing information to the public, supporting inter-institutional competition and positioning institutions or higher education systems in the global competition. The relative priority of these goals is in a constant change over time. This paper aims to map the main tensions that emerge from the conflicting demands and discusses the extent to which impact evaluation can address some of the difficulties.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Enhancing internationalization by labels and certificates: the power of voluntary policy instruments

About ten years ago, an innovative instrument was developed to promote internationalization in European higher education institutions—a Certificate for Quality in Internationalization (Cequint). The initiative fits well the contemporary governance philosophy that promotes voluntary instruments, an individualized approach, and an orientation towards transparency instead of control. While labels and certificates are becoming popular, their effectiveness is often questioned. In this paper we examine critically the value of Cequint and its potential for enhancing internationalization. The empirical results confirm that certified study programs outperform their uncertified peers. Partly the effect is explained by self-selection as internationally inclined programs are more likely to apply for the certificate, but there seems to be also a significant independent effect of the certification process. The paper suggests that a voluntary certification scheme can support organizational improvement by three mechanisms: by enhancing motivation, self-awareness, and expertize.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Evidence-based policy and higher education quality assurance: progress, pitfalls and promise

Evidence-based policy has become a norm in the current policy-making rhetoric, affecting also higher education quality assurance. This article agrees with critics that rigorous ex-post impact studies are highly challenging in the field of quality assurance. Nevertheless, there are alternative ways how evidence can effectively guide quality assurance policies and how evidence-based mentality can be encouraged by government policies. A more realistic view on how evidence informs policies (indirectly and via stakeholders’ arguments) and how professionals incorporate evidence in their work (selectively and next to other information sources) broadens the scope for useful evidence for higher education quality assurance.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Kwaliteit en verantwoording in het hoger onderwijs: indicatoren, processen en beleidsalternatieven: eindrapport

The politics and administration of institutional chang

International staff and diversity in missions

Contemporary universities have many different tasks. Next to the traditional research and teaching mission, universities are also expected to engage in other activities that create social value. A balance between these different tasks varies across higher education systems, institutions, and individuals. This chapter examines the position of international staff on this landscape of different missions. International mobility is usually associated with research excellence. In this chapter we empirically examine the difference between local and international staff to test this image about international staff. The analysis shows that international staff is indeed significantly more oriented towards research and less on teaching, both in their intrinsic interest and time investment. Difference with respect to ‘third mission’ activities is small. International staff is equally or even more active in activities like patenting or creating spin-off companies. On the other hand, they are underrepresented in activities that are embedded in a local context, such as serving on expert committees or undertaking consultancy work. This triggers a question about an optimal engagement of international staff in the diversity of missions.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Academic leaders and leadership in the changing higher education landscape

The politics and administration of institutional chang

Leadership behavior repertoire: an exploratory study of the concept and its potential for understanding leadership in public organizations

Rapidly accumulating literature on public leadership tends to zoom in on specific aspects ofleaders’ behavior. Such a fragmented approach may overlook the most challenging aspect ofeffective leadership: combining diverse behaviors in relation to various stakeholders to matchcontextual needs. This article therefore argues for a comprehensive approach that recognizes thebehavioral complexity of most contemporary leaders, particularly in ambiguous contexts. The conceptof leadership behavior repertoire facilitates this. The article conceptualizes the perspectiveof the leadership behavior repertoire and illustrates in which ways leaders combine behavioraloptions from their repertoire using data from in-depth interviews with public leaders. Based onour findings, we propose integration of this perspective into the field’s research agenda to makeour understanding of leadership in public organizations more complete. Moreover, the repertoireperspective can challenge and advance theorizing of leadership in relation to its context and outcomesin a more comprehensive way.The politics and administration of institutional chang

'Wij doen dat zo': Onderzoek naar de grenseffecten van Europees beleid

The politics and administration of institutional chang