Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Context for Higher Education Attainment: A Quantitative Assessment

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Globalization and Change in Higher Education

  • 542 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter provides statistical analysis of the Member States of the European Union in the Bologna Process. The objectives for education, employability, and innovation are defined by the European Commission’s Europe 2020 economic growth strategy. The theoretical background of policy diffusion is applied to explain the objectives of higher education attainment and internationalization. The panel regression analysis explains relationships among macroeconomic variables, where the dependent variable is higher education attainment. Assessing opportunities of and challenges to policy reform, the quantitative analysis of data for EU countries, between the years 2000 and 2014, highlights Portugal and Spain. This research method is useful to identify variables in the political economy that may have a relationship with the objectives of the Bologna Process and Europe 2020. Testing the hypothesis that macroeconomic performance influences higher education attainment, the findings show that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has the most significant relationship with higher education attainment.

Higher education is an important part of the solution to our current difficulties. Strong and accountable higher education systems provide the foundations for thriving knowledge societies. Higher education should be at the heart of our efforts to overcome the crisis—now more than ever.

Bucharest Communiqué (excerpt), April 27, 2012, EHEA Ministerial Conference

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Berry, F. S., & Berry, W. D. (2014). Innovation and diffusion models in policy research. In P. Sabatier & C. M. Weible (Eds.), Theories of the policy process (3rd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Börzel, T. A., & Risse, T. (2012). From Europeanisation to diffusion: Introduction. West European Politics, 35(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantwell, B., & Kauppinen, I. (Eds.). (2014). Academic capitalism in the age of globalization. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbett, A. (2005). Universities and the Europe of knowledge: Ideas, institutions and policy entrepreneurship in European Union Higher Education 1955–2005. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cramme, O., & Hobolt, S. B. (Eds.). (2015). Democratic politics in an EU under stress. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dale, R. and Robertson, S. (2009a). Globalisation and Europeanisation in Education. Cambridge: Symposium Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • EHEA Ministerial Conference. (2012a). Bucharest Communiqué: Making the most of our potential: Consolidating the European Higher Education Area. Retrieved from http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/%281%29/Bucharest%20Communique%202012%281%29.pdf.

  • EHEA Ministerial Conference. (2015). Yerevan Communiqué. Retrieved from http://bologna-yerevan2015.ehea.info/files/YerevanCommuniqueFinal.pdf.

  • EHEA Ministerial Conference. (2012b). Mobility for better learning: Mobility strategy 2020 for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Retrieved from http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/(1)/2012%20EHEA%20Mobility%20Strategy.pdf.

  • European Commission. (1997). Towards a Europe of Knowledge. COM(97) 563 final. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. November 12, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2000, January 18). Towards a European research area. COM (2000) 6 final. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2009, September 21). Report on progress in quality assurance in higher education. Brussels, COM (2009) 487 final.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2011). ‘Supporting growth and jobs – an agenda for the modernisation of Europe’s higher education systems.’ Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM 2011 (567) Final. September 20, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2013a, July 11). European Higher Education in the World. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM (2013) 499 final.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2013b). History of European co-operation in education and training, Retrieved February 7, 2013, from http://ec.europa.eu/education/more-information/former-programmes_en.htm.

  • European Commission. (2013c, July 8). Memo: Erasmus programme in 2011–2012: The figures explained.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2015, November 26). European semester thematic fiche: Tertiary education attainment.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2015a). The Bologna Process—towards the European higher education area. Updated July 23, 2015. Retrieved from http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11088_en.htm.

  • European Commission. (2015b). European Semester Thematic Fiche: Tertiary Education Attainment. November 26, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2016). European Commission: Europe 2020. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm.

  • European Union. (1951). Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), Treaty of Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Union: High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education. (2013). Report to the European Commission: Improving the quality of teaching and learning in Europe’s higher education institutions. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Union. (1957). Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), Treaty of Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat. (2012). European Commission statistics historical database.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat. (2016). European Commission statistics historical database

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurydice & Eurostat. (2012). Key data on education in Europe. Brussels: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACA 9) and European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurydice/European Commission/EACEA. (2015). The European Higher Education Area in 2015: Bologna Process Implementation Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann L. (2009, November). Do better schools lead to more growth? Cognitive skills, economic outcomes, and causation (IZA Discussion Papers, No. 4575).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoareau, C. (2012). Deliberative governance in the European Higher Education Area: The Bologna Process as a case of alternative governance architecture in Europe. Journal of European Public Policy, 19(4), 530–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katzenstein, P. J. (2005). World of regions. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keohane, R. O., & J. Nye. (2012). Power and interdependence (4th ed.). Longman Classics in Political Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kölliker, A. (2001). Bringing together or driving apart the union?: Towards a theory of differentiated integration. Preprints aus der Max-Planck-Projektgruppe Recht der Gemeinschaftsgüter. Bonn: Gemeinschaftsgüter: Recht, Politik und Ökonomie, 2001/5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefkofridi, Z., & Schmitter, P. C. (2015). Transcending or descending? European integration in times of crisis. European Political Science Review, 7, 3–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matei, L. (2012, July 18). Chief Operating Officer and Professor of Public Policy, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matei, L. (2012a). Chief Operating Officer and Professor of Public Policy, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. July 18, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matei, L. (2012b). A policy gap financing in the European higher education area. In Curaj, A., Scott, P., Vlasceanu, L., & Wilson, L. (Eds.), European higher education at the crossroad: Between the bologna process and national reforms. Parts 1 and 2. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazza, C., Paolo, Q., & Angelo, R. (Eds.). (2008). European universities in transition: Issues, models, and cases. Northampton: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, K. (2015). The politics of everyday Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravcsik, A. (1998). The choice for Europe: Social purpose and state power from Messina to Maastricht. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moravcsik, A., & Schimmelfennig, F. (2009). Liberal intergovernmentalism. In A. Wiener & T. Diez (Eds.), European integration theory (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neave, G., & Maassen, P. (2007). The Bologna Process: An intergovernmental policy perspective. In P. Maassen & J. P. Olsen (Eds.), University dynamics and European integration. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, J. (2009a). Change and continuity: An institutional approach to institutions of democratic government. European Political Science Review, 1(1), 3–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, Johan. P. 2009b. Democratic Government, Institutional Autonomy and the Dynamics of Change, Working Paper No. 01, January 2009 ARENA Working Paper. Available from: http://www.sv.uio.no/arena/english/research/publications/arena-publications/workingpapers/.

  • Pierson, P. (2004). Politics in time: History, analysis, and social analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, P. (1996). The path to European integration: A historical institutionalist analysis. Comparative Political Studies, 29(2), 123–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, P. (2000). Increasing returns, path dependence and the study of politics. American Political Science Review, 94, 2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regini, M. (2011). European universities and the challenge of the market: A comparative analysis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Risse, T. (2007). Social constructivism meets globalization. In H. Anthony & M. David (Eds.). Globalization theory: Approaches and controversies (pp. 126–147). Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrik, D. (2016, June 9). Innovation is not enough. Project Syndicate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosa, M. J., Sarrico, C. S., Tavares, O., & Amaral, A. (2016). Cross-border higher education and quality assurance: Commerce, the service directive and governing higher education. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, V. A. (2009). The EU and its member states: From bottom up to top down. In D. Phinnemore & A. Warleigh-Lack (Eds.), Reflections on European integration: 50 years of the Treaty of Rome (pp. 194–211). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, V. A., & Thatcher, M. (Eds.). (2013). Resilient liberalism in Europe’s political economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simmons, B. A., Dobbin, F., & Garrett, G. (2006). The institutional diffusion of liberalism. International Organization, 60(4), 781–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sørensen, M. P., Carter B., & Mitchell Y. (2016). Excellence in the knowledge-based economy: From scientific to research excellence. European Journal of Higher Education, 6:3, 217–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trow, M. (1974). Policies for higher education general report; 26–29 June 1973. Conference on Future Structures of Post-Secondary Education. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyson, A. (2012, 2016). Acting Director for Strategy and Evaluation, Former Head of UnitC1, Higher Education and Erasmus, Directorate-General Education and Culture, European Commission; April 25, 2012; September 6, 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veiga, A., & Amaral, A. (2006). The open method of coordination and the implementation of the Bologna Process. Tertiary Education and Management, 12, 283–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank Group. (2016). The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project. Retrieved from http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Beverly Barrett

Authors
  1. Beverly Barrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beverly Barrett .

Data Sources

Data Sources

Tertiary Education Attainment

Eurostat. 2016. Tertiary educational attainment by sex, age group 30–34; Tertiary educational attainment—total. Available from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=0&language=en&pcode=t2020_41 Short Description: “The share of the population aged 30–34 years who have successfully completed university or university-like (tertiary-level) education with an education level ISCED 1997 (International Standard Classification of Education) of 5–6. This indicator measures the Europe 2020 strategy’s headline target to increase the share of the 30–34-year-olds having completed tertiary or equivalent education to at least 40% in 2020”.

For Austria years 2000–2003, OECD. Education: Key tables from OECD—ISSN 2075-5120—© OECD. 2010. Tertiary education graduation rates; Percentage of graduates to the population at the typical age of graduation.

Educational Spending as percentage of GDP

Eurostat. 2012. Expenditure on education as % of GDP or public expenditure [educ_figdp]. INDIC_ED. Total public expenditure on education as % of GDP, for all levels of education combined. Available from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Educational_expenditure_statistics.

Missing data note: All countries for 2010 and 2011 take the previous value for 2009 and 2010. Belgium and Slovenia 2000 take next value for 2001. Malta 2000 and 2001 take the next value for 2002. Romania 2006 takes the value for 2005, and 2008 takes the value for 2007.

R&D as percentage of GDP

Eurostat. 2016. The indicator provided is GERD (Gross domestic expenditure on R&D) as a percentage of GDP. “Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications” (Frascati Manual, 2002 edition, § 63). Available from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=0&language=en&pcode=t2020_20.

Missing data note: Greece 2000 takes the value for 2001; Greece 2002 takes the average value for 2001 and 2003. Sweden 2000 takes the value for 2001; Sweden 2002 takes the average value for 2001 and 2003.

Trade as percentage of GDP

World Bank. 2016. Trade is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services measured as a share of gross domestic product. Code: NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS. Source: World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS.

Missing data note: For Malta missing the years 2012, 2013, and 2014 take 2011 value.

Employment as percentage of population

World Bank. 2016. Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate). International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database. Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS.

GDP per capita

World Bank. 2016. GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2011 international $).

GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). PPP GDP is gross domestic product converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GDP as the U.S. dollar has in the United States. GDP at purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Code: NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD.

Missing data note: Malta has the same values for 2013, 2014, and 2015 (2013 value for missing 2014 and 2015).

Source: World Bank, International Comparison Program database.

Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD. GDPpercapita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). PPP GDP is gross domestic product converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GDP as the U.S. dollar has in the United States. GDP at purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross.

Population

World Bank. 2016. Population, total refers to the total population.

(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database. Catalog Sources World Development Indicators. Available from: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL.

See Table 5.1.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Barrett, B. (2017). The Context for Higher Education Attainment: A Quantitative Assessment. In: Globalization and Change in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52368-2_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52368-2_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52367-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52368-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation