A CHANGING EUROPE: CHALLENGES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

The subject of the 1990 Brussels CHER annual meeting is introduced and analysed in relation to the themes of the papers presented by the various participants. Significantly, the freeing of higher education in eastern Europe from the rigours of Communism, democratic centralism, and command economies have come about while the higher education systems of the West have been strengthening their commitment to the market principle (voluntarily and/or imposed from without). The resulting situation is significant, mutually reinforcing, and ambiguous. It offers great opportunities, both East and West, for the further development of higher education research as a distinct field even while it is accentuating the precariousness of the other so‐called value sciences. Certainly a major opportunity comes from the fact that higher education researchers and their supporting institutions are being increasingly called upon to aid their respective governments in the understanding and the possible application of the higher education strategies and methods of other climes. The meeting has suggested markers for a future research agenda, and it has helped integrate the various methodological and technical perspectives as well as the insights of participants representing both East and West.