Transparency and Recognition
Transparency between education systems and recognition of foreign credits, degrees and qualifications are conditions without which the international mobility of students, staff and highly skilled professionals would remain a marginal activity.
In Europe, the comparability of education systems and degree structures has increased considerably thanks to the Bologna Process. At the same time, this increased comparability and transparency has exposed many remaining national differences. These differences and the instruments used to bridge them constitute the prime focus of this dossier.
In Europe, and even more so globally, differences in education systems and cultures still form a major obstacle to further mobility, exchange and cooperation. Many talents and skills continue to go unutilized, in part because the competencies and prior education of immigrants and international students are not recognized.
Even though most European countries have ratified the Lisbon Recognition Convention, it has become apparent that there are still many obstacles to the recognition of degrees and qualifications in practice. As long as those obstacles exist, the mobility of students, staff and other highly skilled professionals will continue to be hindered by recognition issues.
International cooperation and exchange is further hampered by knowledge deficiencies. Many students, faculty administrators and others are insufficiently informed about higher education systems and higher education institutions in other countries. Various transparency initiatives have been set up to fill the gaps: rankings and league tables on the quality of institutions, classifications of different profiles of institutions and cross-national assessments of learning outcomes. All these and similar initiatives attempt to compare countries and their institutions.
Current developments in the area of accreditation might also prove to be beneficial for increasing international transparency in higher education. Further cooperation in accreditation and mutual recognition of accreditation decisions can boost transparency and further improve recognition. The current development of national qualification frameworks might prove to be valuable as a transparency tool to enable better comparison of degrees and qualifications.
Expressing education in the form of learning outcomes might also enhance this comparability. The differences between national systems and approaches and the way in which international higher education deals with these differences are addressed in this dossier.