Higher Education Policies: Historical Overview

Before entering on the analysis of change processes in higher education between 1965 and 2005 we shall describe common features and contrasts in higher education policies and systems in the three countries as they existed at the starting point (T1) of our study. We shall also note the periodisation of each country’s reform as these have been documented in our three national reports. In spite of the complexities and variations that such periodisation may involve we will analyse similarities and differences in the changes in national policies and systems within the time-span of our study and interpret them in terms of sources of change. We shall in particular focus on the extent to which political actors have been able to formulate preferences and impose change or, alternatively, the extent to which policy changes are the product of evolutionary processes of change in social structures.