Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013
Cluster on Recognition of Degrees and Joint
Degrees – Action 3
Dr. Edith Genser
Head of Sector – Action 3 of Erasmus Mundus and External
Cooperation
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency
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Clusters - Objectives
• disseminate the results
• exploit synergies
• identify good practices & exchange experiences
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5 Cluster Themes
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Sustainability
Employability
Recognition of Degrees and Joint Degrees
Regional Cluster - Asia
Thematic Cluster – Climate Change
Mitigation and Sustainable Solutions
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The Survey
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Online: combined survey with closed and open
Questions
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Closed: Numerical overview
Open: Rich set of write-in comments
supplemented by interviews
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Online 25th October to 6th December 2011
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Follow-up interviews
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Target Groups & Response Rates
Recognition and Sustainability Survey
Contacted
Responded
% Response Rate
Master Course (EMMC) coordinators
123
87
71%
Master Course (EMMC) partners
535
125
23%
Master Course (EMMC) associate members
393
36
9%
Brand Names (EMBN) coordinators
15
3
20%
Brand Names (EMBN) partners
69
5
7%
Brand Names (EMBN) associate members
60
6
10%
Joint Doctorate (EMJD) coordinators
24
19
79%
Joint Doctorate (EMJD) partners
111
30
27%
Joint Doctorate (EMJD) associate members;
Erasmus Mundus Students (212) and Graduates
(526)
186
26
14%
7000
808
12%
National Structures
Action 2 Projects
30
74
24
12
80%
16%
Action 3 Projects
42
13
31%
n.b. The response rates by question for students and graduates, because some respondents chose to skip
certain questions
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Recognition
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EUROPEAN: Activities at the EU and EHEA Levels
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INFORMATION: Support for students and graduates
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LEGAL: Legislative enablers and impediments
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STUDENTS: What are the student experiences?
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INTERNATIONAL: Activities of EM Joint Programmes,
Actions 2 and 3, and National Structures
•
CAREERS: What do employers need?
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Recognition Outcomes: Cross-Cutting
Themes
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Supporting students
• Information from application through to graduation
76.5% satisfied with information provided by the course about degree
type, but only 32.6% satisfied with information about recognition
•
Overcoming challenges of joint degrees
• Collaboration with National Structures, policy influence, Bologna
Process and HE reforms
National Structures report broad legal recognition of EMJCs by countries
(45%), some (27.5%), none (27.5%)
•
All actors raise global visibility of Erasmus Mundus
• From European Commission to Students and Alumni
Building strong alumni networks; promotion and publicity; academic
and professional links; connection to business, research and employer
networks
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Recognition Outcomes - Complexity
•
No single Erasmus Mundus Degree, but instead a ‘cloud’ of degrees are issued
by EMJPs around:
• Double degree; Multiple degree; Joint degree
Graduates: 12% received Multiple Degrees and 22% Joint Degrees signed
by all consortium HEIs. 43% of graduates received a Joint or Double degree
issued only by the Universities where they studied
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Presents significant recognition challenges for EMJPs
• Each cohort of degrees influenced by where students ‘take’ them,
constraints imposed by mobility pathways, accreditation
challenges, national legislation …
• 74% of students and graduates note EM degrees have particular added
value, but National Structures report challenges in the added value being
recognised widely by policy makers and HEIs
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Recognition Outcomes - Students
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•
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Graduate experience about degree recognition
• Graduates: 58% experienced legal recognition in Europe for
further study, and 47% for employment. 40% and 43% for
home country recognition
76% well supported with information during the course
• 53.5% satisfied throughout; 18% had improved information
about employer recognition, 12.5% about legal recognition
Just over half satisfied with information given about ECTS and Diploma
Supplements etc. Range of good practice:
• “I received information about the structure, career prospects,
networking opportunities and the quality of degree I stand to
obtain from the consortium of universities after successful
completion of the course”
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Recognition Outcomes - Students
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•
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Joint and Double Degree awards prevail
Uneven timeliness in the provision of certificates and associated
information to students
• 33% of students received their degrees within 3 months of
graduation, and 17% waiting a year later
“One of my schools from France delivered to the original degree really
late - about a year late. The other two schools from Finland and the
Netherlands awarded the degrees to me on my graduation day”
Priorities for action are:
• Legal recognition in Europe for further study & employment
“Due to its multi-disciplinarity, my degree was not recognised as an
‘education' master degree by a Swedish university when applying for
PhD studies”
• Recognition back in graduates’ home countries
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Recognition Outcomes - Degrees
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•
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51% of Coordinators expect to award Multiple or Joint degrees signed
across the consortium
• 61% of coordinators note provision of Joint Diploma
Supplement relevant to the overall course; 19% Individual
Diploma Supplement from all hosting HEIs
Students and graduates are active ‘recognition players’
• Actively seek information from home HEIs, colleagues and
friends, agencies (NARIC, QAAs, National Organisations)
• But graduates note the often long time to undergo recognition
processes once they have their degrees
Formal legal and professional recognition vital
• But employers more understanding about the EM degree where
legal recognition is not present
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Recognition Outcomes - Doctorates
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Recognition challenges less concern than for EMMCs
• “The experience of the EMJD in Law and Economics (EMJD) - which
started as a joint doctorate programme in 2005 already - learns that all of
the doctorate graduates have no problem at all to find a suitable job,
most of the time at a university or as a consultant”
•
Integrating examination practices in partner countries can be bigger challenge than
external recognition
• “The main challenge is the credit equivalencies for the Joint Doctoral
Programmes. This is especially so for proposed joint degrees between a
European and a Southeast Asian university” .. “will this PhD be
recognised by employers”
•
Graduates yet to ‘test’ recognition in the labour market
• “The doubt on the need to have two PhDs is still strong in our country, so
it is important for the potential students to realise how and why having
two or more PhD is useful for their future”
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Summary - Recognition Outcomes
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Some issues are beyond direct Coordinator control
• Legal issues and regulations (Institutional to National)
• Complexity of the overall recognition process
• Time taken to formally award degrees
• Slow delivery of certificates & formal documentation
• “I think the main challenge is the diversity of institutional
regulations and practices and relative rigidity. This may also
linked to funding systems. But as joint degrees become more
common I suspect that problems are ironed out”
Overall degrees from EMJPs have added value, but that value is delivered
through innovative complexity which introduces recognition challenges
• “Helpful if the consortium in coordination with resident EU
delegation supports dissemination about the program, degree,
and content of the course and how it is linked to contemporary
economic and political development in countries”
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Summary - Recognition Outcomes
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Considerable work by coordinators and course teams
Institutional imperative to maximise recognition
National Structures have pivotal roles in bridging national and international
recognition processes
• Supporting excellence: “What we need is a shared European
methodology to assess the quality of joint programmes”
Actions 2&3 help to increase EM Global visibility
• Action 3 projects provide a bottom-up support for HE reform and
capacity building
“We produced a good practice booklet on the recognition of Asian
degrees for acceptance into European HEIs”
In terms of its volume activity compared to overall global Master and
Doctoral programme activity, the Erasmus Mundus Programme has an
impact beyond its scale
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Common methodology and outputs
Status
Oct 2012
Sustainability
Employability
Recognition
Asia
Climate
change
Survey
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Workshop
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Publish
guidelines
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Dec 2012
Publish
survey report
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Autumn
2012
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Recognition – Documents and Info
• Clusters / Studies Action 3 within Erasmus
Mundus:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/clusters/
index_en.php
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Recognition – Documents and Info
Action 3 Project of Erasmus Mundus:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/results_compendia/s
elected_projects_action_3_achievements_activities_en.php
• BRIDGE NARIC: EMNS project to share best recognition
practice
• JOQAR: knowledge base and guidelines on degree recognition
• ADDE SALEM: specific focus on joint EU-LA degrees in
engineering
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Action 3 Projects on Recognition
• LEANES: best practice model on assessment of Asian
qualifications
• EM-IDEA: tools and services available to coordinators of
joint programmes, with a focus on recognition issues
• INTER-HED: on-line training course for the management on
joint programmes (Module 3: Recognition process)
• EAR – European Area of Recognition Manual (LLP, 2012):
Practical guidelines for fair recognition and assessment of
qualifications awarded by joint programmes
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KEYWORDS RECOGNITION
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Collaboration, Dialogue, Communication
Quality, learning outcomes
Flexibility, Creativity
Transparency
Networking
Reference actors: NS, NARIC-Centres, Bologna
Experts, EU-Delegations, Accreditation Agencies,
Network of EM-Coordinators, EMA
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RECOGNITION - OUTCOMES
Contact:
EACEA
Edith GENSER
Edith.Genser@ec.europa.eu
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