The 2023 edition of the European University Association's Autonomy Scorecard, the most comprehensive yet, provides a full comparative analysis of the state of play of university autonomy in 35 higher education systems in Europe. For the first time, each profile better contextualises the higher education landscape via a dedicated section, along…

The diffusion of national standardized testing, large-scale survey assessments and the promotion of policies of self-evaluation are making large amounts of data on education systems available and transforming schools into collecting units for a notable range of educational, institutional and socioeconomic indicators. The datafication and related…

This article focuses on the relation between new public management (NPM) reforms and changing patterns of industrial relations (IRs) and social dialogue in the Italian education system. Drawing on data from the research project 'Social dialogue and industrial relations in education: The challenges of multi-level governance and privatisation in…

This book critically examines the ramifications of reforms to higher education institutions. All of the higher education system reforms implemented in western countries over the last three decades have had one fundamentally important aim: namely, that of changing the existing institutional and system governance arrangements. This book argues that…

This article aims to explore the evolution of school leadership in Italy toward a model of leadership for learning. Italy is undergoing radical changes in the governance structures (school autonomy and accountability) affecting schools in general, and school principals in particular, based on the way they promote, manage, and monitor the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of governance and managerial characteristics of schools. More specifically, the aim is to individuate the factors that are associated to higher schools' performances, as measured through student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The research is conducted by means of a survey in…

This paper presents an investigation of management accounting in four major Italian universities, which have been struggling to build their strategy in a context of significant change. Following many OECD countries the Italian government has been changing its higher education system by giving more autonomy to universities. These changes pose a…

School systems aspire to provide equal opportunity for all, irrespective of socio-economic status (SES). Much of the criticism of recent school reforms that introduce accountability, autonomy, and choice emphasizes their potentially negative consequences for equity. This report provides new evidence on how national features of accountability,…

Discusses changes implemented in Italian higher education during the last 10 years to bring it into line with other European systems. Main changes included the introduction of short-cycle courses, changes in the mechanism related to public financing of universities, greater pedagogical self-regulation, and establishment of a system of periodical…

An analysis of the way Italy has responded to the changing demands that society places on higher education begins with the enrollment boom of the early 1960s and traces the public debate to the present. (MSE)