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On Comparative Research In Higher Education

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From Governance to Identity

Part of the book series: Higher Education Dynamics ((HEDY,volume 24))

Comparative studies and comparative research settings have contributed significantly to the theoretical development of higher education research. Burton Clark developed his influential theoretical device after having studied systems other than US higher education (Clark 1983). ‘Clark's triangle’ is, however, only one of the intellectual devices developed in comparative research. Equally interesting is the concept ‘fields of social action’ as introduced by Bleiklie, Hostaker and Vabo (2000), which was developed, again, in a comparative research setting. Comparative studies have also challenged us to define different categories of higher education traditions and systems, thus providing useful intellectual devices for placing one's national higher education system in a larger context (Gellert 1993; Teichler 1988). Historical comparative studies have, in turn, increased our understanding of various traditions and origins of Western universities (e.g. Rashdall 1895; Cobban 1988).

Comparative studies have been especially popular as a research strategy in European Higher education studies. According to Ulrich Teichler (1996), one of the reasons for this is that the number of higher education researchers is quite small in most individual European states. This has created a need for a broader basis of thought. In addition, new political (and academic) interests in monitoring European developments in a comparative research setting have emerged, because of the pressures to harmonise and standardise the European higher education area through the Bologna process over the last years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jyväskylä, Netherlands

    Jussi VÄlimaa

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  1. Jussi VÄlimaa
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade do Porto CIPES, Rua 1 de Dezembro 399, Matosinhos, 4450, Portugal

    Alberto Amaral

  2. Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Christiesgate, Bergen, 5007, Norway

    Ivar Bleiklie

  3. Centre de Sociologie des Organisations Sciences Po et CNRS, 19 rue Amélie, Paris, 75007, France

    Christine Musselin

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VÄlimaa, J. (2008). On Comparative Research In Higher Education. In: Amaral, A., Bleiklie, I., Musselin, C. (eds) From Governance to Identity. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8994-7_11

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