Managing the Dynamics of the Bologna Reforms: How Institutional Actors Re-Construct the Policy Framework

Abstract

How do the constituencies in higher education re-interpret Bologna’s function with regard to the European Higher Education Area? This research examines how institutional actors re-construct the policy framework in the light of their own institutional agendas. Drawing on empirical data from a survey of Academics, Students and Administrators in seven universities in Germany, Italy, Norway and Portugal, the analysis focuses on the processes of mediation within national and European policy depending on the location of institutional actors. It dissects the tensions between macro political processes and the role status and function of the different constituencies and sheds new light on the role played by the Academic, Administrative and Student Estates in re-interpreting the Bologna Declaration whilst adopting the reforms it introduces.