We invite researchers, policy makers and stakeholders in higher education to submit proposals, making the conference a discursive forum and a fruitful basis for prosperous future developments for the social dimension. We call for contributions which reflect any of the three levels of Research & Action & Policy - empirical research, reports on actions undertaken to foster the social situation of students and policy papers. All contributors should particularly emphasise the added value/ transferability of the findings to other countries and contexts and outline what lessons may be learnt by others.

Research: Scientific Papers

EUROSTUDENT is a major data provider for the European Higher Education Area and provides a comprehensive analysis of students’ life and socio-economic situation on the basis of student survey data in nearly 30 countries. Therefore, as one of the foci at this conference, contributions of empirical research dealing with the social dimension of HE in Europe are highly welcome. Analyses of national situations (with reference to a broader context) as well as international comparisons or views from a transnational perspective can be submitted. Following the approach of the conference, papers with attempts to embed empirical evidence in a broader context of policy and/or action are explicitly welcome.

Action: Measures/ initiatives/ practice for the Social Dimension

All Bologna Signatory Countries undertake steering activities in the higher education sector. Some of them have the explicit goal of enhancing students’ social situation in higher education. Several of those have already been reported to the PL4SD database on www.pl4sd.eu. The conference strives to make these measures visible especially in terms of what lessons can be learned from them, what worked well or had a positive impact and what did not. We encourage all stakeholders initiating or hosting measures and initiatives for students’ social situation (rectors’ conferences, student unions, HEIs, (N)GOs, (N)POs and ministries) to present their measure to a wide audience of interested delegates. Reflections on and evaluations of measures in place are especially welcome. Sharing experiences with different measures to overcome the challenges of the social dimension in HE will provide significant information for the development for further initiatives in the field. Transferrable to other systems or not, different examples of measures can stimulate new ideas and approaches for others and lead to an overall improvement of the social dimension in HE in all Bologna countries.

Policy: Papers on national action plans/ strategies for the social dimension

Besides the database, PL4SD has implemented three Country Reviews, looking how the social dimension is tackled on a national level from a structural point of view. Many countries not only undertake steering measures, but formulate strategic goals for the higher education sector in steering documents (e.g. in HE financing, quality assurance, equity in higher education, support of underrepresented groups, facing the challenges of demographic change etc.). Some countries in turn follow a coherent approach in tackling the challenges within the social dimension and have developed national strategies. We invite policy-makers to present national approaches to the social dimension of HE in order to explicate the impact of political steering instruments on the practical level for the single student or institution. Thus, the conference equally welcomes contributions about targeted strategies in certain fields of the HE sector and action plans/ strategies as holistic approaches to challenges in the social dimension in order to illuminate the opportunities of governing structures for improvement of student’s situation and for a better goal achievement.

Topic tags for contributions on Research & Action & Policy

The conference will comprise a wide range of topics that are all crucial for the social dimension. Designing the conference programme in order to bring together researchers, policy-makers and stakeholders, we ask you to assign your contribution to one or more of the following topics. These topics below will be used to organise parallel tracks, which will provide the structure for the whole conference. The thematic sessions will be supplemented by input speeches that mark the cornerstones of this conference: experiences will be presented from practice and current work, insights from research and shaping policy approaches.

Submission

Please submit an abstract of around 500 words to info@pl4sd.eu until October 1, 2014 presenting your contribution and the relevance of the topic to the conference. The selection of papers and final confirmation of participation of the contributors will be undertaken by the project consortia of PL4SD and EUROSTUDENT and will be decided upon until October 15, 2014. Selected contributors will be kindly asked to confirm their participation and contribution to the conference until November 1, 2014. Abstracts and presentations will be made available to the public on the conference website after the conference.

Selected contributors will be kindly asked to confirm their participation and contribution to the conference until November 1, 2014 - a reduced fee applies.

Important dates for contributors

Submission of intended contribution (2014-10-01)
Please submit an abstract of around 500 words to info@pl4sd.eu until October 1, 2014 presenting your contribution and the relevance of the topic to the conference. Abstracts and presentations will be made available to the public on the conference website after the conference.

Selection and confirmation of contributors (2014-10-15)
The selection of papers and final confirmation of participation of the contributors will be undertaken by the project consortia of PL4SD and EUROSTUDENT and will be decided upon until October 15, 2014.

Confirmation of participation and contribution (2014-11-01)
Selected contributors will be kindly asked to confirm their participation and contribution to the conference until November 1, 2014.