What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

This report examines the changes that have taken place since the 1998 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, in particular the main engines of change and their impact on higher education. This trend report is intended to provide background analysis and to animate discussion at the 2009 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. It examines the central issues and the contextual factors that have shaped higher education in the past decade, and presents prospects for the immediate future. Much of this report is concerned with the ways in which higher education has responded to the challenge of massification. Other issues examined include globalisation; inequalities in access; increasing student mobility; teaching, learning and curricula; quality assurance, accountability and qualifications frameworks; financing and the public good-private good debate; the growth of private higher education; the academic profession; the research environment; information and communications technology; and the impact of demographics and the economic crisis on the development and reform of higher education in the immediate future.

Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution: A Report Prepared for the UNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher Education

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Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution

A free electronic version of this report is available through www.eua.be This project has been funded with the support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Tables Table 1 (page 16) Q11. Besides the Bologna Process, what have been the three most important reforms implemented in your country? Table 2 (page 18) Q8. Over the past ten years how important have the following changes been to your institution? Table 3 (page 23) Q9. In the past fi ve years what have been the three most important developments in the funding of your institution? Table 4 (page 26) Q7a. Over the past three years, how important have the following developments been for your institutional strategy? Table 5 (page 30) Q6. In my institution, the realisation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has been Table 6 (page 34) Q12. Does your institution have a degree structure based on either two or three main cycles (Bachelor, Master, PhD) in most academic fi elds? Table 7 (page 36) Q16. Has your institution reconsidered curricula in connection with the Bologna Process, particularly with regard to adapting programmes to the new degrees structures? Table 8 (page 37) Q14. If the following professional disciplines are taught at your institution, does the Bachelor/Master structure apply to them as well? Table 9 (page 40) Q32. What do you expect your students to do after the fi rst cycle (Bachelor) degree? Table 10 (page 42) Q.15 In the framework of the Bachelor/ Master structure, has your institution recently defi ned the entry requirements for Master level programmes? Table 11 (page 46) Q18a. Have you changed the organisation of study programmes from a system based on the academic year to one based on study units or modules? Table 12 (page 47) Q18b. If yes, has the modularisation of courses led to? Table 13 (page 47) Q18c. If yes, has the modularisation of courses led to? Table 14 (page 48) Q19. Have Learning Outcomes been developed? Table 15 (page 50) Q21. Does your institution have a credit transfer system for all Bachelor´s and Master´s programmes? Table 16 (page 52) Q20. Does your institution use a credit accumulation system for all Bachelor's and Master´s programmes? Table 17 (page 55) Q22. If your institution has a credit system, …

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Trends 2010: A decade of change in European Higher

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The Bologna Process for U.S. Eyes: Re-learning Higher Education in the Age of Convergence

Rue d’Egmont 13 1000 Brussels Belgium Phone: +32-2 230 55 44 Fax: +32-2 230 57 51 www.eua.be C A SE S TU D Y : EM B ED D IN G Q U A LI TY C U LT U R E IN H IG H ER E D U C A TI O The European University Association (EUA) is the representative organisation of universities and national rectors’ conferences in 46 European countries. EUA plays a crucial role in the Bologna process and in infl uencing EU policies on higher education, research and innovation. Thanks to its interaction with a range of other European and international organisations EUA ensures that the independent voice of European universities is heard wherever decisions are being taken that will impact on their activities.

Embedding quality culture in higher education : a selection of papers from the 1st European Forum for Quality Assurance

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Quality Procedures in the European Higher Education Area and Beyond--Second ENQA Survey. ENQA Occasional Papers 14.

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Emmi Helle

Papers

Embedding quality culture in higher education : a selection of papers from the 1st European Forum for Quality Assurance

Quality Procedures in the European Higher Education Area and Beyond--Second ENQA Survey. ENQA Occasional Papers 14.

Terminology of Quality Assurance: Towards Shared European Values? ENQA Occasional Papers 12.

Implementing and Using Quality Assurance: Strategy and Practice: A Selection of Papers from the 2nd European Quality Assurance Forum

Creativity and diversity: Challenges for quality assurance beyond 2010: A selection of papers from the 4th European Quality Assurance Forum