The University between Theory and Practice. How Romanian Aspiring University Leaders Understand the University

Abstract

The debate regarding the essence of the university has been going on for centuries. Certain elements of its definition may be age (or century) -specific, illustrating the university’s adaptation to the contemporary needs of the society, while others are invariable throughout the centuries. Therefore, it is always a challenge to define the common elements defining the university, applicable at the time of investigation. Our article focuses on the question: How do individuals running for leadership positions in Romanian higher education see/understand the university?. We consider them to be highly informed actors in this field, and their views are a well-informed source of primary information. Firstly, the article reviews existing approaches and definitions of a university, trying both to identify is specifically as a higher education institution and to distinguish it from potentially similar institutions. Then, through qualitative analysis of selected electoral manifestos, it identifies a number of characteristics of the institution. Based on the characteristics identified, the article discusses possible implications of the findings for the Romanian higher education field

Keywords

• university
• higher education
• leadership
• discourse analysis