Higher education reforms in Greece, France and Germany : a comparative approach with special reference to the non-university sector in Greece, as a European semi-periphery

This thesis is about higher education reforms - with special reference to the institutions of the non-university• sector of higher education - in Greece, in comparison to apparently similar reforms in France and Germany. Overall, the thesis attempts to analyse and explain the similarities and differences in these reforms (starting from the late 1960s) through an interpretation of Greece as a 'semi-peripheral' society within Europe.\ud Chapter One presents an overview of the thesis, and thus introduces the background of the research problem, the comparative framing, the purpose, the theoretical orientation, the main argument and the organisation of the thesis. \ud Then, the thesis has two parts. The first Part is both descriptive and analytical and sets out to show the apparent similarities in the reforms of higher education in the three countries. Chapter Two outlines the higher education reforms in Greece. Chapter Three analyses the reforms in France and Chapter Four analyses the reforms in Germany. Chapter Five summarises the similarities and the differences.\ud The second Part of the thesis is both theoretical and descriptive. It interprets the Greek case. Chapter Six works on two theoretical approaches to 'semiperipheral' societies. Chapter Seven presents, in detail, the case of Greece as a 'semi-peripheral' society within Europe. Chapter Eight offers a reinterpretation and an analysis of the similarities and differences in higher education reforms identified earlier, in terms of the 'semi-peripherality' of Greece. This Chapter is also the conclusion of the thesis. \u