In December 2010, a comprehensive reform (Law 240/2010, or 'Gelmini reform') changed the institutional governance and internal organization of Italian state universities. This paper investigates the redefinition of the state role in the light of public management reform narratives, linking them to the Governance Equalizer Model to evaluate how the on-going reform process has affected the power sharing arrangement and coordination mechanisms in the Italian higher education system thus far. Rhetoric of reform was influenced by the New Public Management narrative; Law 240 was presented as a fundamental change to the traditional Italian governance regime, based on detailed state regulation and academic self-governance. In practice, contradictions between the rhetoric of the reform and the effectiveness of implementation are evident: Italian reform complies more with the Neo-Weberian narrative and it did not have any substantial impact on power distribution. Higher Education Policy (2015) 28, 215-234.

The entrepreneurial university is emerging as a new archetype of higher education institution that fosters knowledge generation and transfer, contributes to local development and empowers individuals in fastchanging markets. Many institutional, strategic and organizational factors have been discussed as components or contingencies of the process that makes universities more entrepreneurial. Yet we miss an understanding of the contribution that internationalization, crucial strategy for university competitiveness, can provide to such process. Our study addresses this gap, by looking at the effect of university internationalization on students' progressive engagement in entrepreneurship. We do so by studying internationalization along each of the three university institutional missions (teaching, research and third mission). Based on multilevel analysis on a sample of 25,855 university students across 130 European universities, our findings indicate that university internationalization matters, and with different mechanisms along the three missions; in fact, the effect of internationalization is both direct and indirect as it increases students' human capital but also enhances the impact of traditional university support and training mechanisms in favor of students' entrepreneurship.

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This paper questions what role should universities have in the twenty-first century society. Historically the development of higher education is closely related to the growth of economy and society and university's mission evolved during the centuries to respond to the changing societal needs. They survived by turning organisational confusion and crisis into opportunities for re-examination, innovation and rejuvenation. The current crisis and the changes we are undergoing can be an opportunity for a new start. However, imagining a new role for universities requires to conceive what kind of society we want to live in, and what are the conditions that will make it possible. In a 'new society', aiming at equity and sustainability, universities will be the cultural reference points for their communities, will have an essential role as a social institution, and will contribute to establishing local social dynamics. Universities will be key organizations and supporters in regional and national innovation system, with a primary role in developing the competitiveness of Europe's economies. Moreover they will have social responsibility and public engagement, linking generations as well as today and tomorrow's workforce, being the educative reference for students, lecturers, and the whole community.