Overcoming pseudo-participation: Designing a participation model for student councils

Studies on student participation point to a declining level of involvement in the making of higher education policy, including participation in student councils. However, little research has been done on what institutional or organisational factors on the part of the university may explain the low level of participation (or willingness to participate). Therefore, this paper first identifies potential obstacles to the work of student councils and then develops a participation model for student councils based on the recommendations of the ‘Wissenschaftsrat’ (German Science and Humanities Council) and on the “students-as-partners” framework.