Higher Education Mobility in the Bologna Process

Since the Bologna Process was launched in 1999 the internationalization of higher education has driven higher education mobility as part of policy reform at the national level.  The 47 countries that have become members of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) have the ultimate goal for recognition of academic degrees across countries.  This is attained by assimilating degree structure and national quality assurance.  Ultimately the countries in the EHEA will recognize academic degrees from countries within this higher education space.  A specific goal for higher education mobility is that twenty percent of students will spend at least three months abroad.  This is supported by the European Commission’s flagship academic exchange program since 1986, Erasmus.

Theoretical perspectives of institutions and ideas frame higher education mobility.  Historical institutionalism bridges the rational and sociological explanations for policy reform at the national level (Hall 2010, Pierson 2004).  Social constructivism presents the shared values and co-constituted knowledge among actors in the Bologna Process (Börzel and Risse 2012, Nokkola 2012, Risse 2010). The case studies are the Visegrád group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovak Republic), among which Hungary has relatively high levels of migration and higher education mobility.  Across countries this research assesses national governance backgrounds, the international political economy context, and higher education governance.  Recent national attitudes on migration policy, given the historic immigration of 2015, provide a current context to consider the objectives for higher education mobility since the launch of the Bologna Process.