Transformation of University Governance in Central and Eastern Europe

This keynote focuses on the change in governance and management of universities in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries from a multi-level perspective, discussing the impact of changing institutional logics on university management capacities and university structures. Prof. Leišytė draws on the typology of governance mechanisms in higher education: academic self-regulation, competition for resources, managerial self-guidance, stakeholder guidance and state control, arguing that quasi-market logic has permeated to a larger degree the systems with a more Napoleonic and Soviet-type tradition of centralized leadership and management, and that universities across CEE have acquired more self-management capacities coupled with stronger stakeholder guidance. However, the decentralization within higher education institutions, and the power of academic oligarchy are still present, especially in the systems following the Humboldtian higher education tradition.