General customer satisfaction studies link use and reuse of a commodity or service to the extent to which customers are satisfied. There is currently great interest in increasing transport accessibility, which in this context consists of the ease of reaching and using transport, and thus means are being devised to increase both the use and reuse of transport. This thesis investigates the use of customer satisfaction models in relation to the use and reuse of transport services. Much of the transport for people with restricted mobility is provided by the Community Transport sector where the criteria for vehicle selection in relation to a particular person's proposed journey are currently vehicle availability, costs and time constraints, and the matching of passenger disability and vehicle capability. Beyond requirements related to the barriers to access found in the transport system, transport users do have other needs and preferences, such as safety, comfort, convenience, friendly crew, reliability, etc., that can affect their satisfaction with the service provided. Unfortunately, such a multi-criteria decision process makes it difficult for community transport managers and operators to take these preferences into consideration systematically when allocating transport to individuals. This thesis develops a predictive model of transport satisfaction that can be used in such transport provision decision-making. A comprehensive list of travel attributes affecting transport-user satisfaction has been derived from the literature and confirmed through group interviews. For each of these attributes, a predictive model of satisfaction based on the level of service of the attribute, the user's prior transport experience and socio-demographic characteristics, has been derived. An overall transport satisfaction model has been developed from a combination of the individual attribute satisfactions. The model was validated by comparing its output to an independent dataset and a high level of similarity was observed. In addition, a framework for such a decision-making process for a community transport brokerage has been designed.

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This thesis sets out to provide an in-depth analysis of the connectivity between the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Bologna Process. Since 1999, the Bologna Process has been consolidated as a governance structure aimed at advancing a regionalising project of higher education transformation termed "European Higher Education Area" (EHEA). As a member of the Bologna Process, the CoE represents a pan-European international organisation that has promoted regional co-operation in higher education since the early 1950s. Focusing on the period 1999 to 20 10, the thesis examines the following two questions: in what ways does the CoE higher education policy trajectory demonstrate relationships to the Bologna Process? And how do these relationships signal a common positionality with rcspect to the politico-economic direction of higher education transformation in Europe? The investigation of these questions is framed by a critical theory approach and empirically grounded in an extended ethnographic case study conducted between November 2008 and June 2010, during which period integrated in the CoE Higher Education and Research Division as a lrainee!pal1icipant observer. On the basis of this study, the thesis advances the argument that the connectivity between the CoE and the Bologna Process entailed a redefinition of the CoE highcr education policy trajectory: a trajectory that became increasingly characterised by a reinforcement of the objective of furthering the marketization of the European higher education sector - as similarly pursued in the Bologna Process. This shin, however, is misrepresented in the CoE higher education discourse, which is marked by the absence of economic imaginaries. In summary, the thesis seeks to contribute to expanding knowledge on the European level political and policy-making dynamics that underpin the making of the EHEA by counteracting the prevalent tendency to analyse the Bologna Process from the standpoint of the European Union.

Creating a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010 was considered as a priority by the European Commission; the aim being to provide students with greater mobility, choice in their studies and enhanced employability by offering a high quality education system, with comparable qualifications across European universities. This area has been formed through the implementation of the Bologna Declaration, and has meant that European higher education has experienced numerous changes in the past ten years. Geography fieldwork offers many of the generic skills linked to enhanced employability, and this outcome is considered to be one of its outstanding characteristics. It is within this context that this study explores the position, and roles, of geography fieldwork in European higher education institutions. This research provides a thorough analysis and overview of the state of European geography fieldwork, from the perspectives of both academics and students, from universities in 27 European countries. It investigates fieldwork teaching, and the knowledge and skills gained through this; exploring its frequency, scope and the importance placed upon it. A number of constraints on fieldwork's continuation at current levels are highlighted. Academics considered time, funding, student numbers and out-dated equipment as threatening fieldwork provision. Conversely, whilst students listed external commitments, such as working in addition to their studies, family, cost and duration of fieldwork, they conclusively perceived it as being central to their degree studies. The Bologna Declaration focused on improving graduate employability through skill acquisition, and geography fieldwork is a pivotal teaching method in this regard. Despite this, the academics surveyed listed only subject specific skills, such as spatial thinking and understanding process and change, as outcomes of fieldwork. However, students cited numerous employability skills attained through this method of learning including team work, leadership, communication and analytical skills. Attitudes towards fieldwork are changing, and the introduction and increase of tuition fees in some European countries, are fundamental to this. Students are increasingly demanding value for money and universities using exotic fieldwork locations as a means of attracting students. Both of these issues are impacting on the provision of fieldwork within degree courses. Furthermore, it has become apparent that the EHEA has not been conclusively achieved to-date, with confusion still remaining about the length and status of university degree courses. Fieldwork provision varies across Europe, and the reasons for this cannot be separated from the effects of the Bologna Process, which weaves throughout this research and contextualises the state of fieldwork in Europe. Recommendations arising from this study include: the formation of an overarching European geography association, specifically concerned with learning and teaching, that will champion fieldwork; and that benchmark statements for fieldwork should be available to all higher education geography departments within the EHEA. In addition, methods of disseminating the EHEA should be improved, so that decisions and recommendations reach the wider academic community.

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This research studies the development of policies for quality assurance in four European systems of higher education, namely England, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. It compares how these four countries have adopted the policies for quality assurance that can be observed currently and investigates the extent to which cross-national convergence may be taking place. The theoretical approach to the topic is based on policy analysis. Quality assurance is approached as a policy domain within which particUlar public policies are formulated and implemented. These policies correspond to the responses of the different countries to a number of fundamental choices regarding the organisation of the quality assurance policy domain and are composed of ideational (the policy beliefs) and material (the policy instruments) elements. The type of response is influenced, it is argued, by a number of factors. These can be either internal or external to the system of higher education and can originate either from within the national environment or internationally. The comparative method upon which the empirical studies are based makes a distinction between diachronic and synchronic comparisons. First, the analysis focuses on the factors that can influence the emergence of quality assurance as a political issue in each national context. Then, the focus shifts to the factors potentially at play in the construction of the quality assurance policy domain. This distinction permits the assessment of the emergence of quality assurance as a problem and the kind of policies each country has developed to address the fundamental choices in quality assurance in HE. The data consist of documentary sources of different type as well as twenty-three interviews with actors involved in the process of policy formulation in HE in general and quality assurance in particular in the four countries. The comparative analysis of the national quality assurance policy domains reveals that crossnational convergence has been (and still is) taking place. This convergence, however, takes place at the level of the policy beliefs, the paradigm core of the national policies, whereas the policy instruments form~lated in each country tend to reflect, to a substantial degree, the impact of national factors.

This thesis is a comparative study of the 'politics of performativity' in the reform of university systems in England, The Netherlands, and Germany. The thesis examines the social construction of the performativity agenda for the university in these countries since the mid-1970s, and the practices of performativity which have been invented by these States. The main arguments of the thesis are that the politics of performativity redefine the nature of the university, and that the densities and intensities of the social construction of the performativity agendas are dependent on national political patterns. To test these main arguments, the thesis is organised in six Chapters. Chapter One is an introduction to the themes of the thesis. These themes include academic work, definitions of 'good knowledge', the role of the State in reconstructing the university, and the dominance of the current valuation of 'performance'. Chapter Two sets out the theoretical framework of the thesis, giving a detailed conceptualisation of performativity. The main narratives are in Chapter Three (which is on England), Chapter Four (The Netherlands), and Chapter Five (Germany). These Chapters describe the emergence of policy discourses of performativity and the social construction of the performativity agenda for the university in each national context. The Chapters also examine the policy practices which have been created by the States to restructure the university around performativity, and the rules for university performance. Finally, these Chapters explore the emerging consequences for the nature of knowledge and academic work. Chapter Six is the Conclusion, in which a reinterpretation of the politics ofperformativity is offered.

The research presented in this thesis focuses on a comparative analysis of six master programmes in Physics in three European countries (England, Portugal and Denmark) in the context of the implementation of reforms triggered by the Bologna Agreement. It undertakes the programme comparison with a particular interest in two dimensions: first, conceptions of master degrees, i.e. what people consider a master degree is, referred to as the ontology of the degree; second, teaching and learning practices as experienced by academics and students, referred to as enacted ontology, determined by an interplay between the ontology of the master and by the process of policy implementation. Policy-making and implementation has received special attention, since the loose guidance and „soft. legislative status that characterises Bologna policy (the open method of coordination) has led to different interpretations and a variety of national and institutional responses determined by local or situated circumstances. To capture the transformation of policy and the evolution of actor conceptions at European, national and institutional level, the implementation staircase approach has been used. The research found that similarities and differences both in conceptions and in teaching and learning practices (manifestations of enacted ontology) emerge as consequences of disciplinary features, national tradition and departmental teaching and learning regimes. In particular, country-specific traditions of university degree organisation appear powerful in shaping the degree.s conceptualisation. Differences in conceptualisation between implementation levels (European/national versus institutional) are particularly pertinent in the exemplar discipline of physics. The most notable one refers to the degree.s purpose. Whereas the national (and European) levels view the degree as preparation for employment and further studies, physics academics and students describe it more as a springboard to a PhD. Teaching methods were found to be overall similar, apparently due to disciplinary tradition. A generally low emphasis on transferable skills has been noted, again explained by disciplinary factors. Nonetheless, although physics is a highly-bounded discipline, with relatively strong agreement on its structure, several differences in its „enacted ontology. have emerged. Thus, assessment practices show discontinuity, sometimes explained by national and sometimes by institutional traditions. Use of learning outcomes is variable, apparently determined by national tradition. There are, too, different approaches to incorporating research in the degree. This research suggests that implementation and ontology are mutually sensitive and act together to shape the practices associated with master courses. First, degree conceptualisations (nationally and institutionally determined) exert influence on the interpretation of new education policies and the choices made during implementation. Second, educational policies have the power to shift ontology. New national imperatives can act as catalysts and determinants of new academic practice. Therefore, the expressions of a master degree materialised in recurrent pedagogic practices (the enacted ontology), are produced by a symbiotic intertwining of the two dimensions.

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This thesis explores the process of the Bologna reform in the Ukrainian higher education system. Bologna is one of the most well-known and influential European projects for cooperation in the field of higher education. It aims to create an internationally competitive European Higher Education Area (EHEA) through a range of such objectives as the adoption of a system of credits, cycles of study process, diploma supplement, quality assurance, qualifications frameworks, student-centred education, lifelong learning and the promotion of student and faculty mobility. Through an in-depth examination of higher education actors and policy instruments in the case of the implementation of Bologna in Ukraine, this thesis aims to a) analyse the process of the Bologna reform in Ukraine; and b) examine Bologna as a case of Europeanisation in the post-Soviet context. The study is qualitative and applies two main methods: interviews with key policy actors and text analysis of selected policy documents. These data are analysed through the perspective of policy learning, with a particular reference to the concept of layering. The findings suggest that the Bologna reform in Ukraine has been primarily developing as an interrelationship between policy continuity and change. On the one hand, the study found that most of the key powerful actors and networks in the country, established before the introduction of Bologna, have retained their prior influence. As a result, Bologna has – to a large extent – simply reproduced established relationships and pre-existing higher education policies. The Ministry of Education and Science has been the primary actor pushing for this kind of policy continuity. On the other hand, Bologna has also been partially changing some aspects of the old higher education instruments and the established relations among the actors. These changes have been taking place due to the involvement of civil sector organisations which increasingly became crucial as policy brokers in the process of this reform. The study suggests that the old practices and innovations in Bologna have been interacting in layering – a gradual messy and creative build-up of minor innovations by different higher education actors in Ukraine. The accumulation of these innovations led to more fundamental changes – the beginning of the emergence of a more shared higher education policy-making in the previously centrally governed Ukraine. These findings shed some light on the broader process of Europeanisation in the post-Soviet context. The Ukrainian case thus suggests that at least in the post-Soviet context, Europeanisation is the process in which change and the continuity are not mutually exclusive, but rather closely interconnected.