News and Announcements
We are happy to inform you that we will be organizing in the context of the European Higher Education Sector Observatory two webinars on the European Higher Education Sector Scoreboard (EHESS). The EHESS provides a rich number of country-level indicators on different dimensions of higher education, from a wide range of available sources.
The sessions will take place online on 21 and 25 February 2025 from 1 to 2 PM and will provide with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate and interact with EHESS, as well as information on methodologies and underlying data.
For more information and registration, please visit: https://lnkd.in/dACm2J46
It is with profound sadness that the CHER Board of Governors informs about the death of our colleague Mary Henkel.
Bellow you can find a tribute to her, written by our members Alberto Amaral and Pedro Teixeira, to whom we thank the sensible and thoughtful words.
Dear Colleagues and Friends of CHER,
We have been deeply saddened by the passing of our dear colleague and friend Mary Henkel. She was not only a great scholar, but also a wonderful colleague and friend to many of us that had the pleasure to interact and work with her over the many years that she has devoted to higher education research in general, and to CHER in particular. Mary Henkel was part of the generation of colleagues that established the field of higher education studies in Europe and one of the first female academics to become a University Professor specialized in our field. She was also a founding member of CHER and a very important contributor to the intellectual development of our community, having been an active member until recently and a member of the Board.
Mary Henkel grew up in Blackheath with her parents and a brother. After school she entered Oxford in the late 1950s and studied classics. She did not only distinguish herself academically but also played on the college hockey team and was an excellent tennis player. After graduating she was a teacher at a comprehensive school. She then became a social worker and taught social work at London School of Economics. In the 1970s, when Mary Henkel was studying for a master’s degree at Brunel University she met Maurice Kogan, which started a long-lasting working relationship and a close friendship with him and his wife, Ulla. After finishing her degree, Mary Henkel got a position at Brunel as a Lecturer and she was later promoted to Reader and then to full Professor.
For the last quarter century Mary Henkel has distinguished herself as a leading higher education scholar. She has authored or edited thirteen books. Her contributions to the field span several topics such as: academic work, governance, higher education and preparation for work, or the use of performance indicators. In addition to those topics, she has written on learning and teaching in social work and on evaluation and research policy. An overarching interest throughout her research has been the values and identities of academics and professionals and how they are affected by policies, reforms and managerial tools.
On the occasion of Mary Henkel’s seventieth birthday a group of her colleagues have come together to write a fine volume of articles as a tribute to her work and a token of gratitude for contributions to higher education research – From Governance to Identity (Springer, 2008). The volume was organized by Alberto Amaral, Ivar Bleiklie, and Christine Musselin, and included contributions from other colleagues such as Ronald Barnett, John Brennan, Kavita Pattel, Elaine El-Khawas, Svein Michelsen, Peter Maassen, Jürgen Enders, Harry De Boer, Liudvika Leisyte, Roberto Moscati, and Jussi Valimaa. In this festschrift, they have explored the topics in which she has made a major contribution such as identities, academic work, policy and governance, and methods of research in higher education. This tribute to Mary Henkel’s work and contributions to higher education research was a fully deserved contribution to someone characterizing by an unassuming personality and intellectual modesty.
Mary Henkel was a gifted scholar and through her excellent work, intellectual openness and kindness she has earned a well-deserved scholarly reputation and the gratitude of numerous friends that will deeply miss her.
Alberto Amaral and Pedro Teixeira
Books by Mary Henkel
1. Government and Research: Thirty Years of Evolution (2nd ed.) - Maurice Kogan, Mary Henkel, and Steve Hanney, 2006
2. Transforming Higher Education. A Comparative Study (2nd ed.) - Maurice Kogan, Marianne Bauer, Ivar Bleiklie and Mary Henkel, 2006
3. Governing Knowledge: a Study of Continuity and Change in Higher Education – A Festschrift in Honour of Maurice Kogan - Bleiklie, Ivar, and Mary Henkel, eds. 2006.
4. Transforming Higher Education. A Comparative Study - Maurice Kogan, Marianne Bauer, Ivar Bleiklie and Mary Henkel, 2000
5. Academic Identities and Policy Change in Higher Education - Mary Henkel, 2000
6. Changing Relationships Between Higher Education and the State - Edited by Mary Henkel and Brenda Little, 1998
7. Graduate Education in Britain - Tony Becher, Mary Henkel and Maurice Kogan, 1994
8. The Use of Performance Indicators in Higher Education. The Challenge of the Quality Movement - Martin Cave, Stephen Hanney, Mary Henkel and Maurice Kogan, 1996; 3rd edition
9. Learning and Teaching in Social Work. Towards Reflective Practice - Edited by Margaret Yelloly and Mary Henkel, 1994
10. Government, Evaluation and Change - Mary Henkel, 1991
11. Higher Education and the Preparation for Work - Chris J Boys, John Brennan, Mary Henkel, John Kirkland, Maurice Kogan and Penny Youll, 1989
12. The Health Advisory Service: an Evaluation - Mary Henkel, Maurice Kogan, Tim Packwood, and Tim Whitaker, 1989
13. Government and Research: The Rothschild Experiment in a Government Department - Maurice Kogan and Mary Henkel, 1983
We are excited to announce that registration is now open for the 29th edition of the Summer School in Social Sciences Methods, to be held on campus Lugano between the 7th and 22nd of August 2025. This year's School offers a diverse range of 29 engaging workshops designed to enhance your research skills and professional development. You can find a full list of the workshops offered, along with detailed descriptions, dates, and times, and registration information on the Summer School website: https://www.usi.ch/en/education/lifelong-learning/summer-winter-school/sLocarno01sm/workshops
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We are pleased to announce the Call for Abstracts for the symposium "European Universities Initiative 5 Years On: A Research and Practice Symposium" at USI Lugano, June 2nd-3rd, 2025. This symposium will critically evaluate the EUI's impact and explore its achievements and challenges. Submit your 300-word abstract by February 28th, 2025, for a chance to contribute to this important discussion. The call is open to both academic and practitioner-researchers. See the full call for details.
Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions regarding the call.
We would like to invite you to the upcoming public lecture organized by the Institute for Higher Education Management.
Title: Dissolving Certainties and Emerging Identities: The Role of Science Management in Shaping the ‘Authentic University’
Date: Monday, March 3, 2025 at 3pm CET
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele, Executive Director, CHE Centre for Higher Education
Location: online via MS Teams livestream.
Please express your interest by registering with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract:
The higher education landscape is undergoing profound transformations and established certainties are dissolving. These dynamics, however, provide the unique opportunity for universities to refine and strengthen their institutional identity. The presentation explores how universities can actively shape their profile instead of passively reacting to external pressures. By examining a spectrum of possible future university models, it showcases strategic pathways for differentiation. A key focus is on the role of science management in this transformation. How can it facilitate authentic institutional profiling? What governance structures, leadership approaches, and change management strategies are required? The presentation will outline practical approaches to navigating uncertainty and strengthening universities’ identities in a rapidly evolving academic landscape.
About the speaker
Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele is executive director of the CHE Centre for Higher Education, Gütersloh, as well as professor for higher education and research management at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück. As an expert for higher education, he is active as a consultant, researcher, trainer and speaker all over the world. He holds a master’s in business administration from University of Hohenheim and a Ph.D. from Ruhr-University Bochum. He is responsible for large-scale applied research projects (e.g. the European U-Multirank project), but also for the practical implementation of reforms in the higher education sector (e.g. as Worldbank consultant). In more than 20 years he has contributed with more than 150 publications and more than 100 national and international projects to the field of higher education. He is or was a member in numerous boards, such as editorial boards, the advisory board of the German Network for Research and Transfer Management (FORTRAMA) and the board of the German Society for Higher Education Research.
Title: Dissolving Certainties and Emerging Identities: The Role of Science Management in Shaping the ‘Authentic University’
Date: Monday, March 3, 2025 at 3pm CET
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele, Executive Director, CHE Centre for Higher Education
Location: online via MS Teams livestream.
Please express your interest by registering with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract:
The higher education landscape is undergoing profound transformations and established certainties are dissolving. These dynamics, however, provide the unique opportunity for universities to refine and strengthen their institutional identity. The presentation explores how universities can actively shape their profile instead of passively reacting to external pressures. By examining a spectrum of possible future university models, it showcases strategic pathways for differentiation. A key focus is on the role of science management in this transformation. How can it facilitate authentic institutional profiling? What governance structures, leadership approaches, and change management strategies are required? The presentation will outline practical approaches to navigating uncertainty and strengthening universities’ identities in a rapidly evolving academic landscape.
About the speaker
Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele is executive director of the CHE Centre for Higher Education, Gütersloh, as well as professor for higher education and research management at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück. As an expert for higher education, he is active as a consultant, researcher, trainer and speaker all over the world. He holds a master’s in business administration from University of Hohenheim and a Ph.D. from Ruhr-University Bochum. He is responsible for large-scale applied research projects (e.g. the European U-Multirank project), but also for the practical implementation of reforms in the higher education sector (e.g. as Worldbank consultant). In more than 20 years he has contributed with more than 150 publications and more than 100 national and international projects to the field of higher education. He is or was a member in numerous boards, such as editorial boards, the advisory board of the German Network for Research and Transfer Management (FORTRAMA) and the board of the German Society for Higher Education Research.