The past decade in the field of higher education has been marked by initiatives of historical significance. These strategic endeavours were the Bologna process on higher education, the Lisbon strategy of the European Union and the related eEurope, e-learning and lifelong learning initiatives and programmes.
Over the past few years, the world of higher education has been the subject of intensive challenges. In an accelerated, globalised environment, the pressure to perform placed on institutions and graduates by employers and the corporate sector has increased. This pressure has resulted in an increase in efficiency, restructuring and innovation, but it has also contributed to strengthening flexibility.
There is increasingly intensive competition in the professional and social space, which is now occupied by higher education, both from the corporate education and training side and from the side of other educational sectors. The internationalisation element has also strengthened and reinforced global competition among universities.