Juknytė-Petreikienė, Inga

Higher education has traditionally been characterized by slow institutional change and entrenched norms, yet recent developments point to growing collective agency among academic staff, administrative professionals, and students. This study examines how different university actors—students, academic staff, and administrative staff—perceive diversity and their own agency in fostering change within higher education institutions. Drawing on Giddens’ theory of structuration and Bourdieu’s theory of practice, it explores how individual and collective actions both reproduce and transform institutional structures. Based on nine focus groups (𝑁 = 56) across three European universities in Austria, Spain, and Lithuania, the research applies a shared coding framework and a mixed‐methods approach, combining qualitative content analysis with quantitative pattern detection. The findings show that perceptions of diversity and agency are shaped more by professional role than institutional context. Students emphasize lived experiences and grassroots activism but feel structurally underrepresented; academic staff frame diversity as a pedagogical responsibility that is constrained by workload and limited institutional support; while administrative staff interpret agency through procedural discretion and professionalism, yet face bureaucratic inertia. Across all roles, the participants reveal a sense of “diversity fatigue,” reflecting the emotional labor of unsupported efforts towards inclusion. The study concludes that meaningful institutional change arises less from formal policy than from relational alignment, mutual recognition, and collaboration among actors, which enables everyday transformations within existing structures.

This study aims to answer the research question what are the characteristics of existing institutional governance factors within Lithuanian coastal municipalities that lead to the establishment of a common aim of sustainable development across different coastal municipalities. The method employed includes a systematic academic literature review and document analysis. The data collected were coded according to predefined themes and sub-themes, facilitating the determination of extent to which institutional factors influencing the public governance of sustainable development are integrated into the structures and credentials of municipalities. The findings reveal that while some municipalities incorporate sustainability into their vision and strategic plans, there is a general lack of dedicated policies and accountability for sustainable development. The absence of a dedicated unit or responsible employee for sustainable development implementation further fragments the approach to addressing these issues. Communication methods and public engagement vary, impacting the effectiveness of sustainable development initiatives. This study concludes that meta-governance serves as a unifying factor in public governance coordination among municipalities. To foster sustainable development in Lithuanian coastal cities, recommendations for policymakers are provided to increase transparency and civic trust, lead initiatives, and enhance dialogue through regional stakeholder forums or digital platforms for the co-creation of solutions across coastal municipalities.

A study in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, conducted before the COVID-19 outbreak revealed that blended student and teaching staff international mobility based on sharing curriculum resources among different HEIs (higher education institutions) networks was one way to strengthen internationalization due to limited financial resources for live student and teaching staff international mobility. The exploratory research was carried out based on the qualitative research strategy using the expert evaluation method, which engages a group of identified experts in detailed examinations on a particular issue for the purpose of policy investigation, goal setting and forecasting future situations and outcomes (Encyclopedia of Research Design, 2010). The research demonstrated that the internationalization of HEIs was included as the priority of national policies in the examined countries, however, low numbers of international mobility before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 pandemic itself required a significant change in internationalization strategies of HEIs. Lack of funding for short-term international mobility of students and teaching staff was indicated by all countries’ experts as the most important issue of internationalization of South Asian universities before the COVID-19 pandemic. International mobility is expensive and not affordable for every member of academic community. The available funds are not sufficient to finance all willing to study or teach abroad and gain international/intercultural experience. Therefore, experts expressed the need to expand and strengthen the benefits of internationalization to more recipients, and ensure the sustainability of all internationalization efforts, by changing the attitude towards internationalization, strategically investing in and evolving blended international mobility of South Asian universities. Blended mobility through a virtual and short-term physical training abroad is more costeffective and provides more opportunities and addresses the lack of funds. However, the study results also revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic individual HEIs lacked technical equipment, mastery of use of information and communication technologies, and experience of distance studies, both nationally and internationally. Students in many parts of countries lacked access to technical equipment, faced poor WiFi network or power connectivity, non-affordability of mobile data. In some countries, full delivery of degree studies in a distance mode in HE (higher education), which could strengthen its international dimension by enhancing student and teaching staff international mobility, had not even been allowed by law. Distance learning, indeed, could eventually become the new normal in the post-COVID-19 era increasing access to international mobility and making efficient use of limited national and HEIs resources, which are shrinking in the post-COVID-19 period due to the economic recession. Therefore, the national internationalization policies of these countries must put more emphasis on the technological dimension, support for relevant technology acquisition, distance learning and teaching competencies development, and blended international mobility of academic community in global inter-university networks to share the knowledge internationally.

This chapter discusses the European Joint Master’s in Strategic Border Management (EJMSBM), a joint degree coordinated by Frontex and implemented by six European higher education institutions. The joint degree is a unique living example of strategic cooperation in action, in the classroom and in the operational field, as a response to the emerging need to ensure a strategic management approach to EU border security challenges in the context of increasing migration pressure. The research reveals the value of international cooperation and networking via higher education for the development and maintenance of human resources to overcome ever growing challenges to EU border security. The chapter presents exploratory research findings based on the views of representatives of EJMSBM alumni and EU Member States’ and Schengen Associated Countries’ border and coast guard agencies.

Given the complex nature of the system of governance for HE in Azerbaijan, major areas require further development in order to align with European practices. IIn the area of quality assurance in HE, there is slow growing understanding of its importance in terms of external quality assurance. So, even if ESG could be endorsed top-down, the implementation could be performed only bottom-up. In order to have a successful Azerbaijan's HE transition towards European Higher Education Area (hereinafter EHEA) standards for quality assurance, it is crucial to reveal and discuss the state of the art at the Azerbaijan universities against ESG standards and guidelines. Therefore, the following research question is raised in this study: What are the obstacles (weaknesses) in context and management of Azerbaijan universities to establish and maintain internal quality assurance systems based on Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area? The aim of this study was to reveal the experiences of academic and administrative staff of Azerbaijan universities regarding the external and internal current circumstances to establish and maintain internal quality assurance systems based on Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Research involves a heterogeneous set of private and public universities, and a broad range of geographically widely istributed Azerbaijan HEIs with the profile of Social, Natural, Technological, Agriculture sciences and Humanities. 110 participants represented vice-rectors, deans, chairs and heads of Quality assurance centres and its employers of the universities. The data analysis was based on the inductive qualitative content analysis approach. The process included open coding, creating categories and abstraction. Six qualitative categories were revealed after analysis of qualitative data regarding the external and internal current circumstances which determine the establishment and maintenance of internal quality assurance systems based on Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area.

It is acknowledged that transnational joint degree provision is difficult ([24], [23]) and consequently there is a dearth of literature documenting the management of the challenges to develop a true crossborder collaborative joint degree leading to a joint award. Driven by a niche requirement identified by European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to address the needs of the European border guard organisations’ senior management and the Europe Union border security in the face of an immigration crisis, the consortium partners (higher education institutions) from five European countries, supported by a broad range of stakeholders, developed the European Joint Master’s in Strategic Border Management. Balancing the needs and interests of the prospective students and consortium in the context of conflicting and restricting national law and regulations was a formidable task. The European Joint Master’s in Strategic Border Management was developed only by finding ways of resolving the unintended conflicts of internal and external stakeholders, through effective communication structures and enormous good will to change, develop and accommodate external and internal quality assurance policies and procedures of different European countries and higher education institutions. Given the potential value of the European joint degree programmes, this paper examines the challenges and established solutions required to realise the project, resulting in the final agreed programme quality assurance and governance structure, achieved through extensive negotiation processes involving international internal and external stakeholders, where critical success factors such as open communication, professional ethics, a shared ethos and values made this programme and the joint award possible. The challenges are further organised around themes relating to the consortium, academic standards and quality assurance.