At a time when higher education institutions are increasingly expected to demonstrate societal relevance, it is pertinent to examine why specific structural configurations are chosen to carry out that task. Based on a comparative case study of three merged higher education institutions in Norway, this article examines the three new HEIs'…

This paper discusses Finnish-Russian relations from the perspective of cooperation in higher education, and particularly Finnish-Russian double degree programmes prior to 2022. It asks how internal stakeholders, in double degree programmes perceived the role of their cooperation from the point of view of interstate relations, and how cooperation…

Drawing on theoretical discussions on identity construction, the article studies the interrelation between academic mobility and the creation of a common (supranational) identity in the post-Soviet space, which is fragmented by cooperation projects and state-level educational policies. Based on the concept of educational regionalism, the article…

This study aims to contribute to the knowledge about international student mobility to semi-peripheral states. The theoretical framework combines the world- systems analysis and the push--pull model grounded on international migration theories. Data emanate from the semi-structured interviews with 50 international students from five leading…

In this article, we analyse reforms of academic quality assurance in light of organizational theory using the case example of Finnish higher education. Our purpose is to shed light on the processes behind repeated reforms and the motivation to continuously modify quality models that have only been in use for a relatively short period of time. In…

During the past two decades, a shared set of norms and ideas on doctoral education and its purposes has emerged. As the EU strives to transform itself into a knowledge society, countries are expected to have more doctorate holders and orient doctoral education towards the non-academic labour market. However, the interaction between the changes on…

While research on universities is well elaborated within the field of higher education, less effort has been made to study other institutions of tertiary education. Complementary to the need of hybrid (specific and general) human capital for German Mittelstand firms, the system of tertiary dual education in Germany has succeeded in hitting two…

After 2014 student mobility between the EU and Russia has remained high. International academic mobility (IAM) is an important part of the internationalisation of higher education, and the EU and Russia have multiple rationales for it--academic, economic, political and social, among others. This article analyses the rationales of stakeholders at…

At the heart of Western Europe and culturally embedded in the 'Greater Region,' Luxembourg for centuries sent its youth abroad for tertiary education, without its own national university. Evolving provisions of postsecondary education after 1945 followed construction of several teaching and research institutes that did not offer full-fledged…

This paper contributes to the theoretical debate over a global upsurge in higher education (HE) regionalisms which pursue different region-building processes and create policy spaces beyond national boundaries. Focusing on the Nordic countries, the paper studies parallel processes of intra-Nordic and European HE and research cooperation. Although…

Universities in Canada have been highly engaged with internationalisation -- concurrent with the Bologna Process in Europe -- yet appear only marginally influenced by the 'external' Europeanisation of higher education. This paper examines the intersection of these processes: Has the Europeanisation of higher education influenced the…

Studies of regionalism -- intra and comparative regionalism -- have often used the European experience to explain the emergence and evolution of regionalisms in other parts of the world. This tendency in approaching the European experience as explanatory has permeated sector-specific developments. In this article, we consider the developments in…

As the Bologna Process reaches its twenty-year mark, reflecting on its global influence is of particular value. This special issue aims to take stock of the Bologna Process' international function by critically examining the motivations and interests behind its 'global strategy' as well as scrutinising how the reform has been perceived and applied…

The Bologna Process and the ensuing establishment of the European Higher Education Area has had an impact on the ways in which higher education in Europe operates, and the ways it is perceived and related to in countries and regions outside Europe. The Bologna Process has come to symbolize a form of international cooperation in higher education…

This special issue focuses on the reforms and collaborations in Europe--China doctoral education. The articles in this special issue provide an insightful picture of the recent reforms in doctoral education in China and EU countries. Next to the structural reforms in Europe and China, the special issue papers have also specifically focused on…