Students’ Perspective on Romanian Higher Education Quality: A Statistical Approach
Abstract A recent survey (made by Universitas 21), which took into account 50 countries worldwide, has ranked Romania 42nd in the world, in a ranking of the best university systems, managing to exceed only 3 countries from the European Union. By comparing with previous years, the rank has slightly lowered. The present study attempts to conduct an overview on the state of the higher education national system with the purpose of making improvements to it. Firstly, the paper consists of presenting the general data of the context in which the Romanian higher education is situated. The SWOT analysis conducted in various universities from Romania, are summarized, following with the broad shaping of the elements that define the quality of higher education. Secondly, the study aims to conduct a statistical survey among Romanian students for the assessment of general trends in their opinion upon the discussed topic.As the actual beneficiaries of the services offered by the Romanian universities, the students have a significant importance and thus, based on the answers, we prepare from their perspective a SWOT analysis of the Romanian higher education quality.The results establish in an easy and precise manner the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the educational system, after which measures can be taken in order to improve, or better said, to optimize the processes of universities in the country.
Academic achievement and professional aspirations: between the impacts of family, self-efficacy and school counselling
ABSTRACT In this paper, we study several determinants of academic achievement and professional aspirations on a sample of 397 Romanian high schoolers. Our aim is to shed light on the family, individual and school related factors that contribute to the students’ academic achievement and professional aspirations. We focus on Romania, an ex-transition, Central Eastern European country, overlooked in the scholarly literature. We carry out the first empirical, causal analysis on the impact of school counselling on academic success and professional aspirations in Romania. We rely on Pierre Bourdieu's cultural capital theory [Bourdieu, 1986. The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education. Greenwood Press; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977. Reproduction in education, society and culture. Sage] and Albert Bandura's self-efficacy theoretical framework [1989. Social cognitive theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Annals of child development (Vol. 6, pp. 1–60). JAI Press., 1995. Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge University Press]. Our results confirm our expectations that academic achievement is positively influenced by family income and the time parents spend with their children during the weekends. Professional aspirations are positively influenced by students’ perceived self-efficacy, parental moral support and parental career guidance. We further discuss the implications of our results for Romanian teenagers, their families and Romanian educational policies.
Quality assurance in Europe and the U.S.: Professional and political economic framing of higher education policy
In this article we study globalization in termsof the diffusion of quality assurance modelsand practices between two ``core'' regions, theU.S. and Europe, as well as within Europe,concentrating particularly on Germany andAustria. We examine the timing of theemergence and diffusion of quality assuranceand relatedly of strategic managementpractices. We then consider the prominence ofU.S. models and voices in Europe, addressingthe professional and political economic framingof higher education policies. Finally, weexplore local variations in the meanings andpractices of quality assurance and strategicmanagement. We emphasize the ways in which inthese ``core'' settings, professionals areimplicated in the diffusion and adaptation ofpolicies and practices in higher education,even as their activities are shaped by largerstructures of global professional and politicaleconomies.