TRANSFORMING UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS: A CASE STUDY OF UKRAINIAN HIGHER EDUCATION A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Educational Administration University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By NATALIIA ZAKHARCHUK © Copyright Nataliia Zakharchuk, June, 2021. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, copyright of the material in this thesis belongs to the author PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis/dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis/dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis/dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis/dissertation. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this thesis/dissertation in whole or part should be addressed to: Head Department of Educational Administration 28 Campus Drive University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X1 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies University of Saskatchewan 116 Thorvaldson Building, 110 Science Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C9 Canada i ABSTRACT Over the last 25 years, Europe’s strategic efforts to retain its significance in higher education have resulted in the Bologna Process – the largest and most influential initiative affecting the higher education systems of 49 countries, including Ukraine. Despite extensive research on Ukrainian educational reforms in the context of the Bologna Process, the university governance transformation has received little attention in the relevant literature and minimal empirical support. This study sought a comprehensive understanding of how the Bologna Process influenced the governance of Ukrainian public universities. Ukrainian universities deserve particular attention to their reorganization efforts because their unique positions are determined by specific historical, political, and socio-economic realities in Ukraine. Using a qualitative case study methodology, I investigated how the Bologna Process had transformed university governance in three Ukrainian universities: National Aviation University, Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, and Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University. I examined challenges to, supports for, and implications of university governance transformation. Through document analysis and individual interviews with senior university administrators, I identified six themes in the collected data: the Bologna Process and its implementation, university autonomy, university collective governance, the increasing role of internationalization, marketization of higher education, and reconceptualizing national identity. The interpretation of these themes allowed me to distinguish decentralizing higher education governance inherited from the Soviet times and responding to European regionalization policies as two directions of university governance reforms. These directions were recognized as attempts to step away from the Soviet inherent governing practices, such as highly centralized educational governance and the Soviet relative isolation from the world, towards more open and democratic policies of the European Higher Education Area. The two contesting influences of Soviet legacies and the Bologna Process caused both the change and inertia of Ukrainian university governance. This study is a timely investigation of Ukrainian university governance transformation, for it advances our understanding of European regionalization and its impact on higher education governance in former socialist countries. The findings from the study are relevant to policy- makers within Ukraine and internationally, as they shed light on Ukrainian public universities’ inner workings, guiding policies, and decision-making processes. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Working on this dissertation has been an enormous endeavor for me, a journey of self- development, personal growth, and continuous inquiring. I may have researched and written this dissertation, but behind the scene, there are many people without whose support, encouragement, and belief this dissertation would not be possible. I want to take this opportunity and express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to these people. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Jing Xiao. Not only she supported me in my explorations, she always encouraged me to find something that I could be passionate about, something that would inspire me as a researcher. She guided me through my academic development and mentored my professional growth. More importantly, she always believed in me, in my academic potential, sometimes even more than I believed in myself. For this, for many hours of patient listening, and for so much more, I will always be most grateful. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the mentors that made up my advisory committee. I thank Dr. Dawn Wallin and Dr. Paul Newton for making me question and wonder, for many stimulating conversations, and their encouragement and guidance at all stages of my doctoral studies. To Dr. Marguerite Koole and Dr. Vicki Squires, I express my deep gratitude for their time, effort, and expertise in supporting my research and for their valuable comments and insights on the research process. I would like to thank my external examiner Dr. Anatoly Oleksiyenko for his academic expertise and constructive feedback on the dissertation. Thank you to the faculty members at the Department of Educational Administration for their constant help and support and for their leading with wisdom. You have built a wonderful community where everyone feels welcome, supported, and inspired by its members’ examples. I want to thank my friends and cohort members. Your persistence and resilience are not only inspiring but contagious. To all graduate students, who I had the privilege to know, I thank you for showing the best example of how to keep going no matter what and how to turn every failure into education. To my dearest friends in and outside the program, even though I do not mention every one of you by name, I deeply value our coffee conversations and the time you so patiently spent listening to all my Ph.D. experiences. I would also like to express my appreciation to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies for financial iii support of my study. Their scholarships and awards were instrumental in many instances and assured me of the significance of my research and my credibility as a researcher. Finally, my sincerest gratitude, appreciation, and love go to my family, especially my husband, Nick Zakharchuk. Without your unconditional love, continual support, patience, and your encouragement, my falls would have been unbearably painful, and my achievements would not have brought half as much joy and delight. Thank you for sharing every moment of this academic journey with me. To my parents, Nadia and Vasyl Makarchuk, thank you for your love, understanding, and patience. Thank you for teaching me how to live with principles; they have guided my research journey and are my beacons in life. Thank you for always being there for me – just a phone call away, for many holidays spent without me, and for your endless love. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE ................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE – Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 Background to the Problem ................................................................................................ 2 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 4 Research Purpose and Research Questions ......................................................................... 6 Delimitations ....................................................................................................................... 6 Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 7 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................