EUA Survey Of Master Degrees In Europe - European University ...

Eurydice and the Bologna StocktakingNational calendars of legislation and implementation diverged considerably. As a result, theEuropean Commission’s Eurydice unit decided to map the extent to which HEIs, programmes andstudents were ‘affected’ by the Bologna Process – where ‘affected’ meant subject to the reform ofHE cycles and to the introduction of ECTS and the Diploma Supplement [DS], whether this hadbeen by legislation or not, and whether or not implementation was complete.Table A displays simplified Eurydice data in a country-by-country overview of the three-cycle systemas it stood in 2007. To these data have been added the colour-coded assessments, undertakenby the Stocktaking Working Group, of the extent to which the first and second cycles had beenimplemented and the extent to which the Master was accessible from the Bachelor. The spectrumruns from dark green (positive) to red (negative).Eurydice and Stocktaking seem sometimes not to tally. This is because Eurydice aimed to bedescriptive and Stocktaking evaluative. Together with the absence of rigid criteria of complianceand the lack of congruence between national data sets, this introduces a measure of uncertaintyinto Table A.It should be noted, too, that Eurydice uses International Standard Classification of Education [ISCED]categories. ISCED level 5, however, includes all tertiary education up to and excluding the doctorate.It thus assimilates the Bologna Bachelor and the Master, making disaggregated data retrieval frommost international sources (Eurostudent and OECD, as well as Eurydice) problematic. UNESCO iscurrently reviewing this methodology.ISCED nevertheless distinguishes between levels 5A and 5B as follows:84. The first dimension to be considered is the distinction between the programmes which aretheoretically based/research preparatory (history, philosophy, mathematics, etc.) or givingaccess to professions with high skills requirements (e.g. medicine, dentistry, architecture, etc.)[5A], and those programmes, which are practical/technical/occupationally specific [5B].The distinction is an operational one in some of the binary HE systems to be found in Bolognasignatory countries. Sub-category 5B – in contrast to 5A – does not give access to the doctorate.5B programmes are typically of 2 to 3 full-time years in duration and unlikely, therefore, to figure atMaster level – although this is nowhere explicitly excluded. Table A indicates where 5B completers– who may be Bachelors – have the right to proceed to a Master programme, and to which sort ofMaster programme, and by what bridging mechanism.The Bologna Master in 2009How has the Master developed in the intervening period? This report will show that, in 2009, theBologna Master is emerging as an interactive competence-based learning experience with multipleobjectives: personal fulfilment, a contribution to collective well-being, the satisfaction of the needsof established and future labour markets, and such critical and scientific creativity as will spark newknowledge and innovative enterprise.The Master retains the diversity and dynamism noted by Trends V. But it does not enjoy a clearprofile, commanding spontaneous recognition by external stakeholders and the general public. Itis (in many countries) new, in flux and required to respond to societal needs (demography, climatechange, globalisation, the information revolution, the ever more strident growth imperative), whichare in constant reformulation. The Master has a polymorphous character, which is not yet wellcharted.17