CONCLUDING REMARKS

The author sums up the discussions which took place during the CHER conference of November 1990 by briefly identifying the main features of the discussions. Western and eastern European researchers in higher education were able to meet on terms of equality to discuss problems of higher education research. While the problems on both sides of the divide reflect many similarities, it is obvious that the researchers from the East have had to work under much harsher conditions than those in the West and that they have not been able to keep up with the scholarly literture on higher education research generated in the West. Given the realities of today, researchers from the East will have to devote most of their time and resources to short‐time practical projects linked to immediate and pressing reform projects in their respective countries. The western colleagues must be aware of these problems and be willing to lend assistance in a number of ways.