Online Participation in Higher Education Decision-making

Abstract

This article considers online participation in higher education decision-making using the MyUniversity EU project as a case study. MyUniversity was a pilot designed to provide European universities with a web-based system to empower and involve students and other members of the academic community in the Bologna Process. Thirteen universities in Spain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Lithuania participated in trials. The study uses data collection methods from across the quantitative and qualitative spectrum: web analytics, online surveys, key performance indicators, interviews, focus groups, participant observation, document studies, and usability evaluations. The results are represented by 10 themes: project design, participation, functionality and usability, impact on decision-making, privacy and trust, institutional resistance, motivational factors, the political, economic, and sociocultural context, language barriers, and moderation and framing. The article ends with a discussion based on the results, including recommendations for future research.