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Even though the increasing amount of waste is one of the biggest environmental challenges we currently face, surprisingly little is known about the psychological factors of waste prevention behaviour. The purpose of the study is to examine whether students’ waste prevention behaviour can be predicted by the Value-Belief-Norm theory. In this paper, we report results from a questionnaire study of 221 students aged from 18 to 26 years. It was found that the Value-Belief-Norm theory could indeed explain students’ waste prevention behaviour. As expected, findings indicate that a high endorsement of biospheric values is associated with a strong ecological worldview, which was related to an increased awareness of environmental consequences. Those beliefs led to stronger personal norms, which were associated with more frequent waste prevention behaviour. Understanding students’ waste prevention behaviour and the factors predicting it is a key step that could help to reduce the amount of waste that is generated. It is particularly relevant among students, because a higher education environment could be an effective place for increasing pro-environmental behaviour among students and connect this behaviour with their values, beliefs and norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the discourse of the right-wing and left-wing politicians and the academic community in 1918–1922 when trying to decide on the type of university needed by the state of Lithuania being built. The novelty of the article is reflected in two aspects. Firstly, the analysis is done at a micro-level, i.e., highlighting the key views and disagreements concerning the university prevailing in the society of the time from the individual perspective. Secondly, the discourse analysis has shown that the attitudes, actions, and initiatives in terms of leadership of politicians and intellectuals were important in decision-making related to university studies. It is that leadership of the academic community in the opening of the first private school of higher education in independent Lithuania, namely the Advanced Courses in 1919–1920, that influenced both the Government and members of the Constituent Assembly to find a consensus on founding the University of Lithuania in Kaunas in 1922. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of the issue of career design for young unemployed people with higher education. The integration of a young individual into the labour market depends on a number of individual, social, and economic factors. Career designing is one of the factors conducive to professional success. Clear goals and specific objectives set for oneself, as well as an optimally planned and flexible system of their implementation, contribute to one’s competitiveness and advantages in the labour market. The paper introduces the results of the survey of young unemployed people with higher education. The survey was carried out, based on the paradigm of positivism and with the application of a quantitative research method, best suited for the investigation of the views of unemployed educated youth on the career design and the identification of the determinants of the phenomenon. As established, young unemployed people were encouraged to design their careers by the constantly changing economic situation, the social status, and the opportunities of lifelong learning. The career designing of educated young people was positively affected by their individual characteristics, such as responsibility, proactiveness, inquisitiveness, etc., as well as the ability to design and manage one’s career. Career designing was impeded by the lack of personal characteristics required by the chosen profession, the overestimation of one’s abilities, the absence of the practical professional knowledge and skills, and the ignorance of the trends of the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today EU including Lithuanian companies faces with the graduates lacking practical knowlege and skills. Improving the organization of internship is one of most important objective of National study programme. This article examines the issues of internship organisation at higher education institutions. Based on the analysis of Lithuanian and other EU higher education institutions, two dominant models of organization of internship were indentified -- „Top-down" and „Bottom-up". The paper presents how to improve internship organisation at higher education institutions by applying „Bottom- up" internship organisation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to indicate the indexes used to evaluate professors activities and suggest one of possible way how incorporate their achievements into the department and faculty effectiveness. It is shown how to calculate these indexes and the rating method of professors achievements is created and methods of evolution of department and faculty is suggested as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to show the importance of quality in the economics and social field and to highlight peculiarities, problems and interferences of education quality assurance at universities and colleges within the context of Bologna and Tuning methodology. Methodology: the paper is prepared using scientific, methodical literature and legal acts, documentation comparative analysis and case study methodology. The conclusions are based on the research as well as the experience of consultancy activities when developing quality management systems at Lithuanian universities and colleges. Particular attention is drawn to general and special competences and qualification requirements of bachelor's and master's degree. Quality of studies depends on such factors: management level of the activities of the universities, financing, up to date study programs, professional lecturers, training institutions, international integration of study programs, academic exchange of students and lecturers, evaluation of study quality, quality culture, clear system of motivation and others. These factors have to be assessed through the quality management system of universities or colleges and improvements need to be made. Most education institutions implementing quality management tools and principles confront with such major problems: complication of description of study quality concept and content; multiplicity of study quality indicators and their measurement and assessment delicacy; lack of skills using TQM concept, its principles, ISO 9001, EFQM, CEEMAN, EPAS, CAF management and accreditation models and quality methods; complication resolving university work into interdependent managed processes and process thinking formation; inertia and sometimes even resistance of a part of employees to fundamental changes. There are areas in higher education organizations that need specific attention in order to make impact to root causes instead of showing and tackling final consequences. The action plan needs to be developed by a top management to improve the system of assessment that could highlight relevant areas of improvement of main and supportive processes. Other proposals and insights for improvement of quality of high education were formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, the procedure for student acceptance to Lithuania's higher schools changed, and the future students, who gave preference to pedagogical subjects, had to take the motivation test. Recently conducted researches on the future teachers' motivation and their selection lead to a conclusion that the motivation of those entering different pedagogical programmes differs. The motivation of the future history teachers has not been researched so far. The article aims to discuss work experience of the motivation assessment commission; it also evaluates and compares first year students' motivation who entered the History programme (Faculty of History) in the years 2009 and 2010. This aim was achieved on the basis of the documents by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Lithuania, documents by the Lithuanian Higher Education Association of Joint Admission (Lith. LAMA BPO), articles in the periodical press and the questionnaire, prepared by the Didactics Centre of the Faculty of History. The conducted research indicated that a motivation test stimulates the applicants to choose a study programme with a greater responsibility and take into consideration not only their knowledge but personal qualities, relevant for a teacher's profession, as well. In 2010, compared to 2009, more motivated students, wishing to become teachers, entered the History programme (VPU). The number of unmotivated students dropped from 35 % (in 2009) to 12 % (in 2010). The motivation test could be evaluated as a positive novelty, ensuring qualitative studies and encouraging the graduates of pedagogical studies to go into a teacher's profession. Taking a motivation test could be treated as some kind of "a rehearsal" before the competition in the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]