Politecnico di Milano Positive Achievements and Unwanted Consequences of the Bologna Process Implementation at the Politecnico di Milano Meeting with the Deans of the Engineering Faculties prof. Franco Bernelli, Vice Dean School of Industrial Engineering

TYPICAL STRUCTURE OF THE 3+2 (+3) STUDY COURSE 1 st year 2 nd year Direct access to Master Courses with no missing credits 3 rd year (professional curriculum) Specialisation: a, b, c, … Bachelor (laurea) Master (laurea magistrale) 1 st and 2 nd year Specialisation : A, B, C, … Bachelor (laurea) 3 rd year (master oriented) Ph.D. Access to Master Courses with extra credits required

Apparently engineering studies are more appealing (compared to separate 3 and 5 year curricula) POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENTS

Faster student flow (due to course contents reduction and restructuring) POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENTS

Slight reduction in dropouts (still concentrated in the first year) POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENTS

Smaller classes (theoretical limit is 150 students) and increased laboratory work POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENTS

Wider educational offer, increase in professional profiles Internship compulsory for specific undergraduate curricula Mixed curricula (for the student), with changes between first and second level degrees Possibility to select graduate students (quality) Possibility to anticipate selection (end of second year, after 120 credits) POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENTS SCHOOLNV Freshmen %_dropouts #_NV%_NV Ing I - Civ ,80%12028,00% Ing II - Sis ,90%23523,60% Ing III - Pro ,10%7132,60% Ing IV - Ind ,40%16315,70% Ing V - Inf ,30%17811,80% Ing VI - Eda ,40%3423,10%

Increase in the number of courses NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES

Reduced student performance NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES

Professional Societies in some cases are sceptical Job market not responsive yet Negative perception in the society, due to stiff structure of the reformed system (same for law, medicine, engineering, …). Italian culture remains humanistic Hard impact on University structures, not a zero-cost change (investments in teaching staff and laboratories) NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES LAST BUT NOT LEAST Resistance (doubts) of many professors

Nominal and actual period of study should be as close as possible Two parallel systems (3-years bachelor and 5-years master) are not sustainable Two parallel systems would inevitably drive student’s preferences to the full 5-year course (if no selection is performed on entry requirements) Quality must be guaranteed for all bachelor profiles The number of low-credit courses (less than 5 ECTS) should be as low as possible Communications to industries must be improved, for placement of bachelor students It is now easier to attract foreign students (for master courses), and use English as teaching language GENERAL CONSENSUS ON THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION