The Euro-Mediterranean region and its universities : an overview of trends, challenges and prospects

Abstract

This paper argues that despite the very real differences between the various sub-regions of the Mediterranean, a shared political history and a common state of peripheralisation to the global economy make the comparison of the university systems of the region possible. The paper first outlines the context in some detail, in order to then generate a set of testable propositions that throw light on trends that have marked the region over the past years. These include (a) the prioritisation of the University sector, (b) a broadening of access, (c) a diaspora of Mediterranean students, (d) privatisation (e) the increasing legitimisation of the entrepreneurial university, (f) a greater degree of autonomous management, (g) secularisation, (h) an 'innovative accommodation' in resolving the issue of choice of language of instruction, and (i) the use of interactive pedagogies. It is argued that this set of propositions, while grounded in data, could constitute an initial agenda for further qualitative and quantitative research in order to put comparative Mediterranean higher education studies on a firmer footing.