maria kelo senior officer, aca amsterdam, 22 march 2007 bologna process and mobility – good, bad,...
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Maria KeloSenior Officer,
ACA
Amsterdam, 22 March 2007
Bologna Process and mobility – good, bad, or
insignificant?
This presentation
• Bologna aim: enhanced mobility• Bologna impact on intra-
European mobility• Mobility between the US and
Europe• Beyond Bologna: impacts
coming from elsewhere
Bologna objective – enhanced mobility
• Harmonisation of degree structure more easily readable and comparable
• Introduction of a number of “tools” to facilitate mobility and to remove existing obstacles
• Facilitate employability across boarders
Create a borderless European higher education area
Bologna and intra-European mobility
• Too short time to assess the impact of the degree structure on mobility
• Picture further blurred by other factors influencing mobility flows
• Data collection is not adapted to measure mobility
Problems with data
• Measuring tool ‘passport’ captures foreign, not (necessarily) mobile students
• Available data do not differentiate between bachelors and masters level (ISCED 5A or ISCED 6 only)
• Official international data do not capture short term mobility
Usefulness for measuring Bologna impact on mobility?
Bologna and intra-European mobility (2)
• General fear: decreased horizontal mobility (or shorter periods of stay abroad) – especially DE
• No evidence available either way (too early, deficient data)
• Steps to be taken to ensure short-term mobility does not die out
Bologna and intra-European mobility (3)
• Little known about impact on vertical mobility
• Expected to increase such mobility (tools in place to facilitate this, without great negative side-effects)
Bologna may change the type of mobility that takes place
Bologna and intra-European mobility (4)
• hard to evaluate the weight of the degree structure in eventually changing mobility patterns
• Other tools come to count, but also independent reforms (e.g. ELTDPs)
• Motivations vary between levels and range from ‘fun and sun’ to employment prospects and research environment
Europe –US mobility
• Has the process had and is it expected to have a positive or negative impact?
• Or will it change the kind of mobility taking place (degree vs. credit mobility)?
Europe –US mobility (2)
• Main issue: recognition of 3-year bachelors
• BUT: admissions decentralised, and often ‘case-by-case’ (holistic approach)
• Degrees have never been entirely comparable what would really change?
Europe –US mobility (3)
• Council of Graduate Schools survey 2006– 18% of institutions do not accept
Bologna 3-year bachelor for PG study (down from 29% in 2005)
– 80% do not see it as an obstacle in itself
Europe –US mobility (4)
• Open Doors: data do not show changing trends in shares of PG vs. UG students
• UNESCO DATA: no distinction between the two levels
• No reliable and comparable data on short term mobility from Europe to the US
US - Europe mobility
• Low numbers (about 27 000 in 2002/03 in 32 European countries) of degree mobile students
• Rather than Bologna, other reforms such as ELTD can perhaps increase such mobility
• Different motivations for study in Europe
US - Europe mobility (2)
• Including short term mobility: about 200 000 in 2005/2006 (OD)
• 60% to Europe, 45% to top 4 destinations (UK, IT, ES, FR)
• Largest growth area exchanges of less than a semester (56% of the total)
• Only 6% of the total degree mobile
Relatively insignificant in terms of numbers and length of stay
Unlikely that such movement will depend on the new Bologna degree structure
US - Europe mobility and Bologna -the ‘bottom line’• Recognition issues are nothing new:
Bologna might not solve all problems, but could make things even easier
• No evidence of big changes any direction; hard to attribute to Bologna
• Other drives likely to have a far greater impact (+ or -)
• Perhaps unnecessary and unjustified worry
Beyond Bologna
• Lisbon process-related reforms may increase Europe’s attractiveness
• increasing offer of programmes taught in English may encourage movement towards Europe
• Increasing interest in more ‘exotic’ destinations?
• Growing HE sector in China, India…
Beyond Bologna
• No proof to date regarding impact of Bologna on mobility, within Europe, or between Europe and the US
• Hard to say if mainly good or mainly bad, though perceptions seem to indicate the former
• Mobility flows are likely to depend more on other factors than Bologna reforms
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