Academic globalisation and the internationalisation of scientific knowledge currently place higher education between two forces: global competitiveness and innovation on the one hand, local attractiveness and diversity on the other. In view of this double requirement, this paper aims to examine language policy and analyse its impact on language…

This study examines factors that deter students in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands from studying abroad. Using an adaptation of the Rubicon model of action phases, the path to gaining study abroad experience is conceptualised as a process involving two thresholds: the decision threshold and the realisation threshold. Theoretical…

This article considers the modularisation of initial vocational training (including apprenticeships) as a modernisation strategy in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Training systems are similarly structured in these three countries with the apprenticeship system at their heart, and the three national philosophies of education and training are…

Despite a political climate demanding evidence-informed decision making in education both within individual countries and at the international level, empirically grounded European research in this field is scarce. This paper reports on a European Commission-funded study that sought to identify and analyze different initiatives across Europe aimed…

Both the experiential two-chair approach (TCA) and the cognitive decision-cube technique (DCT) have been used for the treatment of ambivalence in counselling. The aims of this study were (a) to show that partnership ambivalence is reduced after a brief stand-alone intervention using either TCA or DCT, and (b) to test the hypothesized mechanisms of…

A small proportion of deaths result from the use of drugs with the intention to hasten death without an explicit request of the patient. Additional insight into its characteristics is needed for evaluating this practice. In the Netherlands in 2001, questionnaires were mailed to physicians that addressed the decision making that preceded their…

This article presents a summary of results from a Swiss nationwide empirical study of the determinants of grade retention, its effects on learning, and its social and emotional consequences. Results show that the decision for grade retention does not rest only on the pupil's actual academic performance but also on the teacher's attitudes and…

Organizational differences among universities in Switzerland were identified through study of budgeting, professor appointment, and planning. University or state authorities intervening in the decisionmaking process are classified in four groups corresponding to four levels of organizational authority. Universities are subdivided into three groups…