Abstract
Academic and professional recognition of engineering degrees is an important problem in higher education and human resources mobility. The chapter presents a review of academic and professional recognition systems features in Cyprus and Russia. Both Russia (non-EU-member country) and Cyprus (EU-member country) are Bologna countries, use similar education curricula, and will potentially follow the qualification framework in the European Higher Education Area. However, national qualification frameworks are different. The chapter discusses the academic and professional recognition systems features in Cyprus. Then the Russian system of engineering degrees is explained and the academic and professional recognition approach is clarified. Case studies for both countries are outlined. A comparison of the academic and professional recognition systems features in Cyprus and Russia is given.
TopIntroduction
The subject of academic and professional recognition of engineering degrees is an important issue not only in the European Higher Education Area (Rauhvargers, 2008; Bologna, 2014) but also in the whole engineering academic community (Marginson, 2009; Allen, & Van der Velden, 2011; Chung, 2011; Teichler, 2013). In some countries like US (Froyd, Wankat, & Smith, 2012) this problem is solved and controlled at a satisfactory level. Unfortunately in the Bologna Area the problem of recognition is still under an interesting but long discussion and a general policy applied to all Bologna countries is not established yet while the legal framework for the recognition was elaborated by the Council of Europe and UNESCO. This obstacle directly affects negatively the international student mobility and employability of graduates in the Bologna community (Kassinopoulos, 2004).
This paper deals with the academic and professional recognition of engineering degrees in two European-Bologna countries Cyprus and Russia with different national qualification frameworks. Cyprus is a very small country E.U. member, with a high number of engineering degree holders, most of which have received their degrees abroad in foreign universities. Russia is the largest country in the world, non E.U. member with many high ranking universities offering high quality engineering courses. The great majority of engineering degree holders are graduates of Russian or Soviet Union Universities. Cyprus shows extremely high shares of outgoing mobile students (over 50%) as well as high levels of incoming mobile students (over 30%). It should be noted that Greece is the main country destination in the student mobility. In opposite, Russian higher educational system demonstrates low shares of incoming mobile students (in average, 5%) and outgoing mobile students (in average, 1%). Table 1 illustrates our case studies countries indicators. Therefore, it seems to be interesting to compare recognition systems in the two countries.
Table 1. The case study countries indicators
| Indicator | Cyprus | Russia |
| Area | 9 251 km2 | 17 098 242 km2 |
| EU member | Yes | No |
| Bologna country | Yes | Yes |
| Human population | 1,100,000 | 146,500,000 |
| Human population density | 120, 8/km2 | 8, 4/km2 (max 4626/km2, min 0.07/km2) |
| Student population | 31,000 | 4,766,000 |
| Official languages | Greek
Turkish | Russian |
| Number of Universities in the TOP 300 Universities list | N/a | 2 |
| BSc duration | 4 years | 4 years |
Key Terms in this Chapter
Academic Recognition: A recognition of periods of study or qualifications issued by an educational institution.
Bologna Country: A signatory of the Bologna Accord.
Curriculum Design: Design includes consideration of aims, intended learning outcomes, syllabus, learning and teaching methods, and assessment.
Engineering Degree: Academic degree in engineering.
Curriculum: A curriculum is a planned sequence of learning experiences.
Professional Recognition: A recognition of an individual’s professional status.
Bologna Process: A voluntary higher education reform process with the aim of making higher education systems compliant and enhancing their international visibility.