The Bologna process and Australia : a study of the attractiveness, diffusion and rejection of a global reform idea

Abstract

This thesis analyses the Australian response to the Bologna Process and the reasons behind this response. It examines how ideas travel and the various perspectives that explain why certain ideas gain prominence over others. The impact of the globalisation and internationalisation of higher education are both key to this study, but a third middle perspective, emphasising the irrationality of actors in a public policy setting and the randomness of the travel of ideas, is also considered. These theoretical perspectives provide the backdrop against which the initiatives contained in the Bologna Process and Australia’s response to these initiatives can be considered. A theoretical framework is then used to analyse the characteristics necessary in an idea for it to be successfully implemented. The Australian Commonwealth government initiated much discussion regarding the Bologna Process within the higher education sector through the release of a discussion paper in April 2006. Both this discussion paper and a cross-section of responses made by university associations, industry groups, students and unions are examined in the thesis. The University of Melbourne, having recently undertaken a series of reforms which invoked and in some respects resembled aspects of the Bologna Process is given additional consideration as a case-study. The responses emphasised the perceived benefit of having a diverse higher education system in Australia, confusion as to why the Australia would choose to follow the Bologna Process reforms, and a sense that Australia would be better served by concentrating on its role within Asia and maintaining competitiveness with North American universities. The thesis concludes that both the Bologna Process and the response to the Bologna Process from Australian governments and institutions can be characterised as the products of a multitude of influences. While the rhetoric surrounding the Bologna Process emphasises cooperative international engagement, the influences of competitive globalisation and of a “muddling through” approach can both be seen to influence the Bologna Process and responses to the Bologna Process made by Australian governments and institutions. The ultimate rejection of the implementation of the Bologna Process in Australia, at least in its current form and in the current climate, is an example of the forces of globalisation and internationalisation not always impacting upon higher education systems in a predictable manner.