1. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Successful measures for inclusive education

2. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 The European Students Union (ESU) 11 million students 47 national unions of students 38 countries

3. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 A long story short  17 oct 1982: WESIB was founded by seven national unions of students (NUS): NSU Norway, NUS United Kingdom, SFS Sweden, SHÍ Iceland, UNEF-ID France, DSF Denmark and ÖH Austria  1989: The Wall fell and WESIB changed to ESIB, while expanding to Eastern Europe and thus doubling the number of its members (from 16 to 31)  1999: The Bologna Process starts and ESIB creates specific structures to cope with the new demands for student representation  ESIB turns into ESIB – The National Unions of Students in Europe  2007: ESIB is renamed into ESU – 25 th anniversary

4. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Why HE inclusiveness? Bologna beyond 2010 report (2009):  In a knowledge-society higher education is important to the development of successful economies by providing opportunities for all individuals to participate in and benefit from a successful economy;  Equity and social justice define higher education, which becomes a driver for social cohesion and active citizenship;  Social mobility

5. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Fears about increasing participation Chris Brink – Vice-chancellor Newcastle University (2008): What do those people think who, actively or passively, are against efforts at widening participation? “Standards will drop” “Our reputation will suffer” “It’s not our problem” “It’s unfair” “It’s a waste of time”: - Weak formulation: “The costs outweigh the benefits” - Strong formulation: “It ‟ s inherently impossible, because widening participation and maintaining standards are inherently contradictory concepts”. (I.e. “Excellence and Equality are mutually exclusive”)

6. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 BP+Social Dimension= In the Bologna Process, already in Prague in 2001, the ministers stated that they “reaffirmed the need, recalled by students, to take account of the social dimension in the Bologna process.” By Bergen (2005), so four years later, the ministers managed to define social dimension: “the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education at all levels should reflect the diversity of our populations”. After the Bergen ministerial meeting, a Working Group on Social Dimension and Mobility of Staff and Students was set up. London (2007) was more specific: “We share the societal aspiration that the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education at all levels should reflect the diversity of our populations. We reaffirm the importance of students being able to complete their studies without obstacles related to their social and economic background. We therefore continue our efforts to provide adequate student services, create more flexible learning pathways into and within higher education, and to widen participation at all levels on the basis of equal opportunity.”

7. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 BP+SD= And then came... The Leuven/ Louvain la Neuve communique: “Social dimension: equitable access and completion 9. The student body within higher education should reflect the diversity of Europe’s populations. We therefore emphasize the social characteristics of higher education and aim to provide equal opportunities to quality education. Access into higher education should be widened by fostering the potential of students from underrepresented groups and by providing adequate conditions for the completion of their studies. This involves improving the learning environment, removing all barriers to study, and creating the appropriate economic conditions for students to be able to benefit from the study opportunities at all levels. Each participating country will set measurable targets for widening overall participation and increasing participation of underrepresented groups in higher education, to be reached by the end of the next decade. Efforts to achieve equity in higher education should be complemented by actions in other parts of the educational system.” + European level monitoring for achieving the hidden target.

8. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 But who are we talking about? Analysis of the National Strategies on the Social Dimension of the Bologna Process (2009): “ Apart from a few countries claiming that there are no under-represented groups in their higher education system, there is considerable agreement among the reporting countries that several or all of the following groups are under-represented: Groups with lower socio-economic background, (Less educated) immigrants and cultural minorities, Students with a disability, Non-traditional students (mature students, students with foreign qualifications), Female - male students (gender balance).”

9. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Promises, promises… Key issues for the European Higher Education Area – Social Dimension and Mobility (Report from the Bologna Process Working Group on Social Dimension and Data on Mobility of Staff and Students in Participating Countries): Measures at national and institutional level  “By 2009 the countries should report to the BFUG on their national strategies for the social dimension, including action plans and measures to show their impact. All stakeholders should actively participate in and support this work at the national level. The WG suggests an approach to the work on national strategies in Annex 2 to this report.  Student survey data should be collected with the aim of providing comparable and reliable data concerning the social dimension.”

10. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Promises, promises… Result: mostly a free essay writing exercise! Analysis of the National Strategies on the Social Dimension of the Bologna Process (2009): When reading the national reports, it quickly becomes clear that there is a great variety in the detail, quality and focus of these reports. Some reports contain a careful description of the present situation, a clear explanation and motivation of the various policy measures, and a convincing strategic plan for the future. At the same time, it must also be acknowledged that some reports do not contain sufficient information to allow any further analysis. Some countries even stated that there are no specific under-represented groups in their higher education systems. Consequently, they submitted reports which are rather uninformative for the purpose of this analysis. Moreover, for some countries, there was a striking discrepancy between the rather optimistic description and the data on overall participation in HE provided by Eurostat and Eurostudent in their report on Social Dimension and Mobility in the Bologna Process [3].

11. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Where do we stand? Data collection report – Eurostat and Eurostudent (2009): Typical enrolment age in HE – 18-20years (less than 2% of the people aged 25 and over enroll in HE) Between 2002-2006 – the demographic structure of the student body did not suffer major changes Share of students from non-academic routes entering HE is around 12% at European level In some countries, less than 10 % of those whose parents have a low educational level graduated from tertiary education

12. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Interest in Social Dimension Bologna With Student Eyes Survey (BWSE 2009)

13. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Policy measures needed Analysis of the National Strategies on the Social Dimension of the Bologna Process (2009): General measures to widen access to HE: –Student participation in the governance of HEI –Provision of information and of guidance, counselling and tutoring services –Provision of social support services to students (accommodation, transport etc.) Specific measures for under-represented groups: –A. Measures affecting all under-represented groups: Anti-discrimination legislation Regulating and monitoring agencies (“surprisingly”: UK, Ireland, Scotland and Sweden). Government financial support Statistical and research evidence –B. Measures intended for specific under-represented groups Ex. For students coming from minorities or immigrant families – government financial support, free language training, affirmative action, higher education provision in the respective minority’s language.

14. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Good practice  Ireland – National Access Plan 2008-2013  Finland – the ESOK project (started in 2005)  Belgium Flanders – financial incentives for universities for widening access of under-represented groups  Romania – special financial incetives for students coming from rural areas to access HE (less than 5% of them access HE, while half of the total high-school graduates come from rural areas)  Provision of information for students in secondary education: –Austria – “student checker” - Students in the last two years of their secondary school are educated about the added value of a HE qualification to one’s career opportunities, and receive counseling to make sure that they make an informed choice before enrolling in a HE programme. –UK – Aimhigher programme  Funding according to the number of credits achieved or no of graduates (UK, Belgium, Finland)  Anti-discrimination legislation (France, Montenegro, Sweden, Croatia)  Statistical and research evidence gathering (Scotland – annual reports)  Positive discrimination for students with disabilities (Sweden, Norway)

15. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 How to improve SD at the institutional level? (1) Improving diversity of both the student, but also the academic staff body Improving student support services and counseling/ tutoring activities Affirmative action? Soft side: outreach programmes, hard side: quotas and positive discrimination Removing access barriers -> contextualised access policy that takes into account the individual background of the candidate Care for students with disabilities -> tackling physical barriers and social integration Good information available for both students and parents ESU Policy Paper on Social Dimension

16. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 How to improve SD at the institutional level? (2) Tackling the ‘textbook biases’ – touching the academic content + culture of classroom democracy and inclusiveness Tackling the after-graduation discrimination – improved communication with employers and career orientation Clear policy for achieving a diversified student body Complementing the financial support offered by the state Comprehensive range of student services: transportation, health care, accommodation, library, ICT, care facilities for students with children etc. LO, ECTS, RPL, DS – essential for an equitable progression and completion through educational cycles Student centered learning ESU Policy Paper on Social Dimension

17. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Relevant seminars "Equality in a knowledge based society - How to widen opportunities?", Bologna Seminar organised by Hungary, Budapest, 10-11 November 2008"Equality in a knowledge based society - How to widen opportunities?" "The social dimension of the European higher education area and world-wide competition", Bologna Seminar organised by France, Paris, 27-28 January 2005"The social dimension of the European higher education area and world-wide competition" "Students' Participation in Governance in Higher Education", Bologna Seminar organised by Norway, 12-14 June 2003"Students' Participation in Governance in Higher Education" "Exploring the Social Dimensions of the European Higher Education Area", Bologna Seminar organised by Greece, Athens, 19-20 February 2003"Exploring the Social Dimensions of the European Higher Education Area" Europen Students’ Union Seminar “Equity in Higher Education” Now for Real!” (May 2008) in Brusno, Slovakia

18. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 References (1) Bologna beyond 2010 report (2009): http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/conference/documents/Beyond_ 2010_report_FINAL.pdf Chris Brink - “Standards will drop” - and other fears about widening participation (Keynote Address at the closing session of the OECD IMHE General Conference, Paris, 8-10 September 2008) http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/46/41320221.pdf Analysis of the National Strategies on the Social Dimension of the Bologna Process (2009) http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/bfug/bfugmeetings/documents/P rague_March/BFUG_CZ_16_5.1b_Socdim_report_BFUG.pdf Bologna Process ministerial communiques: Prague (2001), Bergen (2005), London (2007), Leuven/ Louvain la Neuve (2009) http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/documents/declarations_commu niques.htm

19. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 References (2) Key issues for the European Higher Education Area – Social Dimension and Mobility (Report from the Bologna Process Working Group on Social Dimension and Data on Mobility of Staff and Students in Participating Countries) http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/londonbologna/uploads/documents/BFUG11_6aReportfromSoci alDimensionandMobilityofDatadraftWG.pdf Data collection (2009) - The Bologna Process in Higher Education in Europe - Key indicators on the social dimension and mobility http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/conference/documents/2009_Eu rostat_Eurostudent_social_dimension_and_mobility_indicators.pdf European Students’ Union - Bologna With Student Eyes Survey (2009) http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/conference/documents/Bologna WithStudentEyes2009.pdf European Students’ Union – Policy Paper on the Social Dimension (2006) http://www.esu-online.org/index.php/documents/policy-papers/296-pp-soc-dim

20. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009 Thank you! European Students’ Unions 20, Rue de la Sablonnière 1000 Brussels, Belgium Web: www.esu-online.orgwww.esu-online.org E-mail: ligia@esu-online.orgligia@esu-online.org

21. Ligia Deca, European Students Union (ESU) „Interaction of Universities and Society“, Corfu Summer School 2009, 18 th of June 2009