Bologna through Whose Eyes?

A Meta-Analysis of Six Generations of Bologna With Students’ Eyes

The European Students’ Union (ESU, formerly ESIB) has played an important role in shaping the European Higher Education Area. The student representatives based their views and their knowledge on a biennial survey, called ‘Bologna With Student Eyes’. This article tracks the evolution of the survey, presenting a critical analysis of its conceptualisation and methodology. I aim to show how the students replicated the previously existing stocktaking instruments, while coming to quite different conclusions. Based on this analysis, I argue that the survey primarily served a political purpose, aiming to develop a more consistent message of the student unions towards ‘Bologna’. However, as this purpose was reached some time ago, it may be time to rethink the survey’s conceptualisation and methodology. The article therefore concludes with a number of recommendations to the students, realising that these may also be relevant for other surveys in the European Higher Education Area.