7th International summer school on higher education research

The 7th International Summer School will focus on theoretical and conceptual perspectives in the study of higher education. As a multi-disciplinary field, higher education research draws on numerous scholarly frameworks and traditions, often synthesizing different disciplinary methods in order to address problems of policy and practice in higher education or explain the relationship between higher education and society. During the Summer School, the faculty and participants will discuss the strengths and limitations of various theoretical approaches and concepts developed in economics, sociology, political science, cultural studies, and multi-disciplinary research perspectives in higher education. They will also consider how these theories and concepts can be applied within different national contexts and reflect on the comparative dimension. As part of the program, emphasis will also be accorded to the approaches used within educational policies, and their foundations and rationales, including the concept of effectiveness of higher education, and approaches to understanding and measuring effectiveness.

Specifically, the Summer School's agenda will span such topics as:

• Major disciplinary developments in theories and concepts that are used in higher education research: how a particular body of ideas accumulated in sociology, economics, political science, cultural studies, etc. helps us understand higher education and what each may fail to cover
• How higher education research as a distinct field is struggling to build its own body of theories and concepts
• Why some theories and concepts have become more popular and whether everyone should use them
• How to design and carry out a cross-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary study in higher education
• Best strategies for choosing theoretical perspectives for a study
• How to challenge existing theoretical models and come up with original ideas.