The European Universities initiative: between status hierarchies and inclusion.

ABSTRACT: Using a dataset of higher education institutional alliances within the framework of the European University initiative (EUi), we test empirically whether the policy-defined goal of a relative balance between excellence and inclusiveness within the scheme has been achieved. Specifically, we provide a descriptive and analytical account of the diversity of the higher education institutions (HEIs) participating in the EUi, the composition of-as well as the mechanisms behind-the formation of individual alliances. We observe that alliance formation activated the deep sociological mechanisms of hierarchisation, with the alliances largely reproducing the existing hierarchy of European HEIs. Specifically, we argue that the global-level stratification hierarchy cast by rankings

SUBMITTER: Lambrechts AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11461708 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature