When Corruption Gets in the Way
This article investigates the encounter of EU-unionization with a domesticated practice of corruption in Bosnian higher education. Relying on primary data collected in Bosnia's public higher education system, the study finds that the country's corrupt higher education is in conflict with the Bologna-themed reforms that would arguably help harmonize Bosnia's fragmented higher education. As it delineates factors that perpetuate corruption, the study, somewhat surprisingly, finds that the Bologna process—despite its partly failed adaptation in Bosnia—is still perceived as potentially transformative for the country's corruption-prone higher education system. The study further looks into why that may be the case and explores a possibility of leveraging Bosnia's intelligentsia abroad to lessen corruption in higher education.