ERIC Number: EJ850598
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Oct
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-1560
EISSN: N/A
Perceptions of the Bologna Process: What Do Students' Choices Reveal?
Portela, Miguel; Sa, Carla; Alexandre, Fernando; Cardoso, Ana Rute
Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, v58 n4 p465-474 Oct 2009
A major element in the creation of the European area of higher education is the adoption of a common structure of degrees, implying in several countries the reduction of the duration of the first degree to 3 years, which is a controversial change. Cardoso et al. (CESifo Econ Stud 54(2): 229-247, 2008) have analyzed student confidence in the curricula change, quantifying its impact on students' first choices of academic programs. This paper goes two steps further. First, it concentrates on a variable that better translates total demand for an academic program, namely the total number of students who place the program among their six revealed preferences, instead of just the first option; and, second, an econometric model that better fits the data is estimated. Results confirm a positive impact of the Bologna process on the demand for programs, which varies with program size and across fields of study. Our results complement those in Cardoso et al. (2008), as they uncover that being a program leader, i.e. the only institution in the country that restructured a given program, was associated with higher demand by prospective students, which nevertheless stemmed from their "second best" options and not from their first choices.
Descriptors: Higher Education, Student Attitudes, Alignment (Education), Educational Change, Educational Demand, College Choice, Foreign Countries
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2189
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A