Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) skills are receiving increased attention in the current workforce and in lifelong learning. In learning and labor contexts, successful teamwork is however not always guaranteed, due to several reasons, such as an unequal level of individual participation. Training in CPS for all groups is therefore needed.…

We explore organisational mechanisms underlying social exclusion in higher education, the latter defined as the underrepresentation of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We focus on "decoupling," which is a central concept in organisational institutionalism referring to the construction of gaps between public commitment and…

Universities are currently under considerable pressure to reach their stakeholders' expectations. Management tools that use strategic plans, key performance indicators and quality assurance methods are increasingly deployed. This paper aims to demonstrate how resource allocation can be aligned with institutional strategic plans with a very simple…

This article builds on research on teacher adaptations to students by exploring how Belgian and English national contexts influence teachers' definitions of educational success, their explanations of educational failure, and their allocation of scarce educational resources to disadvantaged students. Ethnographic data from one Flemish (Belgian) and…

Direct provision of public services can alter the balance of resources across income groups. We focus on the issues arising when taking account of the impact of publicly provided education services across the income distribution. We combine OECD information on spending per student in particular levels of the education system with micro data from…

Efforts at cooperation in higher education among Flanders, the Netherlands, and three regions of Germany are discussed, including various initiatives to support cooperation among institutions, research comparing the offerings of the five regions, and government policy in each country to allocate funds for cooperative programs that meet government…

A recent compilation of educational indicators from 20 industrialized countries in North America, the Pacific, Europe, and Scandinavia shows rates and trends in college enrollment and graduation, education-related earning power for men and women, and public spending on education. Educational attainment rates are charted for the 20 nations. (MSE)