The Bologna Process and its Global Strategy

Motivations and External Responses

Hannah Moscovitz, Hila Zahavi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781032838939
• eBook ISBN: 9781000040098
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book critically reflects on the international function of the Bologna Process by exploring motivations and interests behind its 'global strategy' as well as how the reforms have been perceived and applied beyond Europe.

Since its initiation in 1999, the Bologna Process has evolved into an important example of regional higher education policy coordination. Now with 48 signatory states both within and outside the European Union, the Bologna reforms have pushed forward an ambitious agenda for a European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and the EU specifically as it aims to consolidate its knowledge-economy. Alongside its regional focus, the Bologna Process has also promoted an international reach through its 'global strategy'. Through this externalisation, the Bologna Process has become a point of reference for higher education internationalisation worldwide

Featuring examples of Bologna's 'reach' from Oceania to North America and in between, the book offers a timely contribution to the understanding of the reform's global influence. As a whole the contributions offer important insights to the understanding and conceptualisation of the EU's global influence, comparative regionalism and global higher education development more broadly.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Higher Education.

The Bologna Process as a foreign policy endeavour: motivations and reactions to the externalisation of European higher education

Hannah Moscovitz iD and Hila Zahavi iD

ABSTRACT
As the Bologna Process reaches its twenty-year mark, reflecting on its global influence is of particular value. This special issue aims to take stock of the Bologna Process’ international function by critically examining the motivations and interests behind its ‘global strategy’ as well as scrutinising how the reform has been perceived and applied beyond Europe. The issue offers a ‘bidirectional’ perspective on the externalisation of the Bologna Process by examining both motivations behind it (with a particular focus on the EU as a leading actor) and global responses to it. This introductory article sets the stage for this discussion by unpacking the relevant literature related to the Bologna Process and its global strategy, providing both a contextual and theoretical background to the ensuing contributions. The article considers the Bologna Process through a foreign policy lens by revealing the underlying EU interests tied to the reforms, and higher education policy more broadly. Through this perspective, the article aims to launch a discussion on higher education as a foreign policy tool and the wider implications for EU policy and global higher education.

Since its launch twenty years ago, the Bologna Process has had an undeniable impact on the European higher education landscape. With 48 signatory states (along with the European Commission) both within and outside the European Union (EU), the Bologna reforms have led to significant changes in national higher education systems as well as pushed forward an ambitious agenda for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the EU more broadly in its aim to consolidate its knowledge-economy and overall competitiveness. Over the years, the Bologna Process has incorporated a range of priorities and objectives or ‘action lines’, turning it into a force to be reckoned with in the global competition over higher education. A significant development in the Bologna Process’ evolution involves its incorporation of an ‘external dimension’ or as it is referred to today, the ‘global strategy’. Introduced in 2005, the notion that an external dimension should be prescribed to the Bologna Process was motivated by the view that the EHEA ‘must be open and should be attractive to other parts of the world’ (Bergen Communique 2005). Since its first mention in 2005, the global strategy has gained momentum alongside the wider Bologna objective of establishing a common vision for European higher education.

This special issue aims to critically examine Bologna’s global strategy and the motivations behind it, as well as scrutinise its degree of effectiveness by exploring how and to what extent the reform has been perceived and applied beyond Europe. An underlying theme of this discussion involves the EU’s role and interests tied to the Bologna Process and its externalisation. The EU is conceived as a central policy actor engaged in the elaboration and designing of the EHEA, carrying with it a specific set of interests linked to its engagement in this sphere. Against this backdrop, the introductory article considers the Bologna Process through a foreign policy lens, launching a discussion on the use of higher education as a foreign policy tool and its wider implications for an understanding of EU foreign policy and global higher education.

The article sets the tone for the special issue by providing both a contextual and theoretical background to Bologna’s global strategy; the interests and motivations behind it as well as its degree of effectiveness. The article’s structure is divided between two central themes, reflecting the dual perspective offered by the contributions in this special issue. First, a discussion of the EU’s motivations and interests behind the Bologna Process and its externalisation specifically, is provided. This section aims to outline the various underlying drivers or ‘push factors’, which incentivise the EU to take on a more prominent role in global higher education. A particular focus is placed on the foreign policy perspective and geo-political motivations behind Bologna’s global strategy. The article then moves on to discuss the external responses to the Bologna Process outside Europe, through a review of both empirical and theoretical insights on the actual effects of Bologna’s externalisation strategy. Prior to these wider discussions, the following section sets the stage by providing a brief overview of the Bologna Process.

The Bologna Process

The Bologna Process is an inter-governmental European process, initiated by the Bologna Declaration, signed in 1999 by twenty-nine states, including both EU member and non-member countries. Today all members of the Council of Europe have signed the agreement (fourty-eight states, as well as the European Commission), and together they make-up the EHEA. Officially launched in 2010, and comprised of all Bologna member countries, the EHEA constitutes the space of action for decision-making on the Bologna Reforms. Biannual ministerial meetings between member countries provide the forum in which objectives are set. The initial aims of the Bologna Process were the promotion of mobility and employability of citizens and enhancing the international competitiveness of the European higher education system. According to the Bologna Declaration (1999), these aims would be achieved through the harmonisation of higher education systems. Practically speaking, it meant that the Bologna member states were to adapt easily readable and comparable degrees, through a common credit system (European Credit Transfer System- ECTS), a common structure for a Diploma Supplement, a 2 (later 3) cycle structure of study, and European cooperation in quality assurance. The main motivations behind these actions were the promotion of student mobility as well as the enhancement of graduate employability (Bologna Declaration 1999). Additional objectives have been incorporated into the Bologna agenda over the years, through the elaboration of ‘action lines’ discussed and agreed upon in biannual ministerial meetings. The Bologna ‘action lines’ are a set of objectives established cooperatively by Bologna members and are understood as fundamental elements upon which the EHEA is founded (Zgaga 2012). Although the Bologna Process’ main sphere of action consists of the European space, it aspires to influence more than the higher education systems in Europe. In this regard, the global strategy action line, established during the 2005 ministerial meeting in Bergen, aims to promote the external attractiveness of the EHEA and enhance cooperation with other parts of the world.

Higher education as a foreign policy tool: exploring Bologna’s externalisation and its underlying EU interests

An exploration of the permeation of higher education within the EU’s larger foreign policy interests necessitates an understanding of the EU’s role in the Bologna reforms and EHEA. As an inter-governmental cooperative system, the Bologna Process is not officially tied to any formal supervisory body in charge of its promotion and development. Despite its strong ‘European focus’, the Bologna Process was developed outside the confines of the EU’s institutional structure, leaving the European Commission with no official leadership role (Ravinet 2008). Yet, the EU-through the European Commission in particular- has ‘asserted’ and ‘inserted’ itself in the Bologna Process structure (Keeling 2006, 205). As the only non-state member to the Bologna Process, the European Commission has a significant role to play strengthened by the financial support it provides to the process (Keeling 2006). It has also been argued that the Bologna Process has been ‘co-opted’ by the EU as an effective platform to pursue its wider regional strategies (Robertson and Keeling 2008). In this regard, Robertson and Keeling (2008) note for example that ‘higher education has become strategically important for the European Union in creating both “minds” and “markets” for the European knowledge economy’ (222).

The EU’s interest in pursuing a leading role in the Bologna Process is also attributed to the perceived contribution to its wider research agenda (and subsequent economic agenda), pursued through the Lisbon Strategy (Keeling 2006). Published in 2000, the Lisbon Strategy aimed to make the EU ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’ by 2010 (European Council 2000). Motivated by this wider objective, the EU began to invest more substantively in its employment, research and innovation policies, viewed as paramount to ensuring its economic competitiveness (Copeland and Papadimitriou 2012). Higher education reforms promoted through the Bologna Process were also perceived as potential contributors to the EU’s economic strategy, often articulated in conjunction with the Lisbon Agenda priorities (Keeling 2006).

While the EU’s economic interests were galvanised through the Lisbon Strategy and Bologna Process, the desire to design a role for itself in the sphere of higher education did not begin with these initiatives. In fact, as early as the 1950s, the ‘crafters’ of the European integration project understood the potential of higher education for their endeavour (Corbett 2005). At this time, the desire to establish a European University was fervently debated by the European Community’s six founding members. While there was no common agreement on the importance of creating a European University, the very fact that the idea was introduced within the initial discussions on the European integration project, is indicative of a sustained interest by the European Community elites and later institutions in higher education as a policy field.

At its inception, the European Community was also strongly motivated by the importance of freedom of movement for individuals and ideas (Del Sarto and Schumacher 2005), increasing the potential to establish a common higher education area. At the same time, EU member states were hesitant and suspicious of the involvement of the supranational level in higher education (Elken et al. 2011; Gornitzka 2007; Neave and Maassen 2007). While a few ventures were discussed following the establishment of the European Community, the 1986 Erasmus Programme, funding student mobility between European countries, would constitute a ‘breakthrough’ moment for the European dimension to education (Corbett 2005). Among its objectives, the Erasmus programme was directed to promote European identity among EU citizens (Corbett 2005; Papatsiba 2006). The elaboration of the Erasmus mobility scheme accentuated the need to establish the Bologna Process as a way to overcome boundaries and promote mobility in the fields of education and employment between EU member states (Fejes 2008). Hence, a strong historical connection can be observed between the Bologna Process and the EU’s mobility interests. The two are mutually reinforcing as the mobility of individuals (students and employees) pushes higher education systems and institutions to understand the need of a harmonised system, promoting the Bologna Process. At the same time, the Bologna Process promotes mobility of individuals (Papatsiba 2006). This connection is not only evident within the domestic policies of European higher education, but also in the global sphere, as the EU encourages mobility between European students and students around the world permeated by the desire to externalise the Bologna Process (Zahavi this issue).

From economic and cultural to geo-political motivations

From the discussions over the creation of a European Union, to Erasmus, the Lisbon Strategy and Bologna Process, EU political actors and institutions have maintained a sustained set of interests. Economically; higher education is perceived as an instrumental contributor to strengthening the EU’s competitiveness; culturally- it is valued for its ability to encourage mobility and interactions between Europeans as well as construct a distinct European entity through the promoting of a common consciousness (Robertson 2009). Alongside its economic and cultural appeal, the EU’s interest in assuming a central role in the Bologna Process apparatus also stems from wider geo-political motivations, promoting itself as an international player in the higher education field (Dale 2009). By expanding the Bologna Process beyond Europe, or through its internationalisation, the EU and European Commission specifically, is able to justify itself as a state-like actor in the global arena (Robertson 2009). Alongside the perception of higher education as constituting a valuable instrument for the EU’s economic and citizenship agendas, it is also increasingly viewed as imperative for the EU’s international actorness and global reach. In this respect, Robertson (2009) notes how the Bologna Process has shifted from a regionalising project to a ‘global’ one. Describing the Bologna Process as ‘very expansionist’ (72), Robertson also relates to the imperialistic tendencies of such a project, specifically as it relates to the EU’s role therein. The notion that the EU’s Bologna interests are tied to its imperialist ambitions is also discussed by Hartmann (2008) and Figueroa (2010); who define the Bologna Process as a ‘European hegemonic instrument’ (Figueroa 2010, 247), or as an example of the EU as an ‘emerging imperialising power’ (Hartmann 2008, 207).

The European presence in global higher education, and more specifically the EU’s aspiration to take a leading role, renders the Bologna Process more than a simple ‘process’. Rather, as supported in the above-cited literature, the Bologna Process could be thought of as a political tool utilised by the EU to assert and expand its global role. Following this, the characterisation of the Bologna Process as an ‘international higher education regime’ (Asderaki this issue; Zahavi and Freidman this issue) is significant.¹ While normative compliance and international cooperation between actors contradicts the realist Hobbesian view of the international system, scholars have provided theoretical explanations to the mechanisms enabling actors to act in reciprocity without losing their sovereignty (Keohane 1984). The notion of international regime, defined by Krasner (1982) as ‘implicit or explicit pr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: 20 Years of the Bologna Process in a Global Setting: the external dimension of the Bologna Process revisited
• 1 The Bologna Process as a foreign policy endeavour: motivations and reactions to the externalisation of European higher education
• 2 The Bologna Process: an international higher education regime
• 3 Researching the European Higher Education Area external effectiveness: regime complexity and interplay
• 4 Internationalisation of higher education in a Canadian context: responses to the Bologna Process from Canadian universities
• 5 A clash of internationalizations: New Zealand and the Bologna Process
• 6 Higher education regionalism in Asia: what implications for Europe?
• 7 The Bologna Process in Israel as a reflection of EU-Israel relations
• 8 African higher education and the Bologna Process
• Index