Systematic Development of Generic Skills to Enhance Innovation Capacity of Eastern and Southeastern European Universities

The level of innovativeness within the higher education systems of east and southeast Europe and their graduates is still assessed as modest or moderate. Besides the general socio–economic context and the inherited institutional management types, this deficiency stems from a lack of generic skills crucial for increasing the innovation capacity of the universities. TrainESEE v.2 project suggests that significant changes should be already put in place within the applied teaching methodology, but also highlights the importance of developing project development and management skills, innovation, entrepreneurial skills, and finally competences needed to strengthen science to business cooperation.

European Universities Initiative: How Universities May Contribute to a More Sustainable Society

The European Universities initiative, launched by the European Commission in 2018, has its origin in the concept of Civic Universities (CivUs) and consists of transnational higher education alliances throughout the European Union that share long-term strategies. They are expected to become universities of the future, to promote European ideals and character, and to revolutionize the competitiveness and excellence of European higher education. European universities add 41 alliances, involving 31 different countries. This article presents an early quantitative evaluation of this initiative. This paper addresses the coverage of the 41 alliances and selects five of the most advanced for a deeper evaluation of their best practices and their contribution to the realization of CivUs. This paper also outlines the criteria for evaluating the extent to which good practices implemented by these alliances are aligned and can contribute to the attributes of CivUs, based upon state-of-the-art educational standards. A quantitative framework, based on application of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), is also provided to rank the good practices developed by these alliances against the previous evaluation criteria. Furthermore, by applying a sensitivity analysis, this paper also addresses the robustness of this approach.

Mapping the Role of European Universities of Applied Sciences as Entrepreneurial Hubs of Regional Development

The chapter focuses on mapping and analysing regional engagement of universities of applied sciences through an institutional self-reflection tool which is developed within the international project UASiMAP and which aims to be useful at institutional level as well as to highlight the important role of this specific area of HE activities. The tool should serve not only for immediate self-evaluation but also to inform institutional improvement and dynamics. The authors define UAS as a specific entrepreneurial hub for regional development and propose a multidimensional model for reflection of the UAS role in regional development. Opportunities, challenges, and limits of the model´s individual dimensions are discussed in two ways: firstly, as reflections of relevant literature and, secondly, using the practical experiences of project partners from different European countries as arguments for the proposed dimension(s). A strategy for assessing progress using the proposed model and criteria for indicators are presented and discussed.

Strategic Management of Higher Education Institutions in a European Context

This chapter explores the strategic management of European universities and aims to provide an overall picture of the focus of contemporary strategic research. Twenty-five articles are examined using the public sector strategic research framework. The review provides a fragmented and multidimensional picture of the strategic management and leadership of universities. It can be viewed from several different perspectives, and therefore, the emphases are also different. Additionally, this is a challenge for strategic leadership when considering strategic choices in the higher education sector. This literature review suggests that the changing environment of the higher education sector highlights the need for new processes and frameworks for universities. Despite comprehensive strategy work, higher education institutions have been unable to meet the challenges related to change. A more comprehensive understanding of strategic management theories, frameworks, and tools would give universities a stronger understanding of strategic leadership and its implications for future success.

Functions of digital learning within the international mobility programme – perspectives of university students and staff from Europe

This paper is based on research studies conducted in the academic community of students and staff members (teachers, researchers and administrative staff) from 16 European universities that focus on digital learning in international mobility. The context of our qualitative study is digital learning during an international mobility scheme when university staff and students do not go abroad for their mobility programme but take courses offered by a partner university from home. By taking the perspectives of both of these academic groups, we aimed to arrive at a clearer understanding of how the digital environment supports digital learning within mobility, ascertain the functions of digital learning and describe the opportunities and challenges that are presented to students engaged in international mobility. Empirical data was gathered using questionnaires and focus group interviews. This study puts forward the assertion that distinctive features of learning in a digital environment within international mobility are systems thinking, self-directed learning and focus on course content. Digital learning environments support motivation to learn, and independence in gaining knowledge. In international digital learning, the online courses of which are characterized by their innovative pedagogical and assessment practices, students and staff become more autonomous in their learning, and more willing to open up to meeting the challenges encountered in various educational settings. Digital learning in the context of mobility means giving meaning to one’s own activity in a digital environment and extension of the course content, meaning oral expression such as discussing and interacting with teachers and peers.

Fundamental Science, Technological Innovation, and Business. A Brief History of Their Interrelation

The paper considers the major theoretical concepts of the interrelation between higher education systems, science, technological system, and business in creating and disseminating innovations. The purpose of the paper is to consider motivations of the main actors of these systems and problems of interaction between them. Each of such systems creates its own institutions and types of organizations based on their missions. Initially, science had minor effect on creating and disseminating innovations, while higher education and scientific activities were closely linked to each other in European universities. Along with the spread ofhigher education, the links between science and the development of technology are becoming closer because of wider opportunities for information dissemination and appearance of new relevant institutions. It was the state who played a special role in the formation of our modern innovation system that brought new problems to the development of science and business. However, it is business who would play a main role in the creation of an effective innovation system. The development of science requires new subject areas, staff rotation, and discussions, as well as to enlighten the public.

Economies of Scope between Research and Teaching in European Universities

The estimation of economies of scope between research and teaching has been the object of a large literature in economics of education and efficiency analysis, with parametric and non-parametric specifications. The paper contributes to the literature by building a pan-European dataset that integrates official statistics on higher education at country level with bibliometric indicators. The dataset allows a breakdown by scientific and educational field, accounting for the heterogeneity among disciplines. We applied a technique which has not been used for the efficiency estimation of economies of scope in higher education, namely seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) applied to separate input–output equations describing the production of education and research. We found confirmation for economies of scope in some fields and with some specifications, or no relation between the equations. In no case did we find diseconomies of scope between teaching and research.

Reporting the Social Value Generated by European Universities for Stakeholders: Applicability of the Global Reporting Initiative Model

Universities are increasingly being asked to contribute to addressing the significant local and global challenges, such as those identified in the 2030 Agenda. Set in this framework, universities need to account for the social value they generate through their activities, particularly from the perspective of their contribution to different stakeholders. This approach requires, first of all, that the main stakeholders are identified. Relationship and dialogue mechanisms then need to be established which can help guide universities to choose activities which can better meet the needs of their stakeholders. The current paper analyses the potential of integrated reports, and triple bottom line reports, as an instrument for reporting on aspects that go beyond the financial sphere, including economic, social and environmental aspects. Specifically, the paper focuses on studying the viability of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for reporting the value that European universities generate for their stakeholders. The results show, firstly, that the universities in the sample do not sufficiently address these questions in their reports. Internal stakeholders are prominent in their reports, with the interaction between them and the universities being generally unidirectional. References to value generated are limited, and usually refer to the economic value. However, some examples of good practices are identified that could be used to improve standards of reporting, especially in universities committed to integrated reporting initiatives, in order to better reflect the social value.

Social Well-Being at School: Development and Validation of a Scale for Primary Education Students

This study presents the development and validation of a scale for Primary Education students that measures social well-being. A seven-factor structure was defined, with the factors being: achievement, cooperation, cohesion, coexistence, attitude towards school, attitude towards diversity and solidarity. 14 experts from independent European universities participated in the validation process of the scale. The 38-item scale showed considerable reliability (Cronbach’s alpha =0.91). The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original seven-factor structure with consistent goodness and badness of fit indexes. The promising results in this study suggest that this scale may be suitable for an international audience.