What is the Nature of the Relationship between Changes in European Higher Education and Social Science Research on Higher Education and (Why) Does It Matter?

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between changes in European higher education and social science research on this theme and why it matters. Higher Education (HE) research is a new field significantly assisted by European funding, the Bologna process and the massification of HE. The field is populated by many emerging researchers but few established academics. The paper examines the sub-field’s characteristics including lack of theoretical/methodological consensus, co-production of the knowledge base and the differing micro and contextual backgrounds of emerging European HE researchers (drawing on a recent study). It considers three recent major European-funded HE research projects as examples of co-production, specifically looking at the kinds of knowledge produced and the strategies adopted to ensure that research outcomes permeate the policy process. It is suggested that the sub-field needs to develop a better infrastructure to support emerging researchers, but care needs to be taken not to impair their independence from European bureaucrats.

Key Words:

• Higher education
• policy
• co-production
• Bologna
• emerging researchers
• knowledge communities

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ‘Making Europe: The Social Sciences and the Production of European Integration’ workshop, University of Copenhagen, 4–5 February 2013. I am grateful to the anonymous referees and participants in both the Copenhagen workshop and those at the September 2014 Joint Network 22 (HE) of the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) and Society for Research into Higher Education workshop ‘European Higher Education — Exploring Effective Strategies for Turbulent Times’ held at the University of Porto, Portugal, for their helpful comments on the paper.

Notes

1. This ambiguity between whether Higher Education research is a sub-field or a sub-discipline relates to a wider debate about the status of Education as a discipline or subject. It may be best characterized as a subject because its proponents come from a wide range of disciplines and there is no paradigmatic agreement between different academics within the field. This is reflected in Higher Education research too.

2. CHERI closed in summer 2011 and its staff have now dispersed.

3. Confidential communication to the author.