Abstract:

The 1990s were the years that Europe witnessed very dynamic and also turbulent times. Transition in the Eastern Europe paved the way for reunification of Europe in political, economic and cultural domains. Education, and higher education in particular, has been perceived as one of the most suitable means for creating a common European identity. Cooperation among European universities has long been promoted as a part of the European cultural project to develop the understanding of a European identity among the young generations.  Bologna Process is the outcome of this political will declared in 1999 and aimed at creating a common European Higher Education Area and European Research Area. There have been significant changes in higher education systems of the member countries since then. Yet, after nearly two decades from its launch, the process is being questioned by many and higher education community deeply divided over the philosophy of Bologna. Turkey, as a member of the process since 2001, has also employed Bologna reforms for restructring its higher education system and for accelerating the integration with the Western world. Turkish universities succesfully implemented many of the structural reforms, yet the substance of the regulations and contribution of the process in creating a common European identity among the scholars are questionable. This paper focuses on these issues and reflects the views from the field by presenting findings of a survey carried out with research assitants in a Turkish state university. The survey was carried out in 2017 with the participation of 145 research assitants working in 10 faculties in Suleyman Demirel University. Major findings reveal that research assistants have little information on the process. Most of them think that the primary aim of Bologna process is to create a European identity, yet it is hard to talk about such an identity at the moment. In addition, research assistants do not perceive Turkish higher education and researchers as a part of European higher education area. On the other hand they do not think Bologna process as a threat to national identity. As for the implementation of Bologna process, it is seen as a bureaucratic process increasing the workload of academics which lacks democratic participation. 

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