Higher Education Policy

In recent years problems have emerged around the American system of accrediting colleges and universities - a peculiar system involving voluntary regional associations of colleges and universities, public and private, which appoint committees of academics to make visits to their member institutions and report first on whether they are reasonably decent institutions of higher education, and secondly, on how they might improve themselves. This paper explores these issues comparatively in the American and European contexts.

The massification of higher education in Ukraine is a fact while financing the system is still an issue. External pressures from the Central government and the market require changes in university governance. Europeanization of educational system and adherence to the principles laid down by the Bologna declaration add to already existing challenges faced by universities. This paper states that there is no one right prescription for changing governance in Ukraine’s universities, because they differ in their history, location, culture, organizational structure, student body, faculty, and educational process and content. It proposes different approaches to the different types of the universities, considering universities as collegiums and bureaucracies, and suggests the political system as a viable form of organizational structure for the task of reforming universities.

Globalization trends and innovations in the instructional technologies are widely believed to be creating new markets and forcing a revolution in higher education. Much of the rhetoric of "globalists" has presented a simplistic analysis of a paradigm shift in higher education markets and the way nations and institutions deliver educational services. This essay provides an analytical framework for understanding global influences on national higher education systems. It then identifies and discusses the "countervailing forces" to globalization that help to illuminate the complexities of the effects of globalization (including the General Agreement on Trade and Services) and new instructional technologies on the delivery and market for teaching and learning services. Globalization does offer substantial and potentially sweeping changes to national systems of higher education, but there is no uniform influence on nation-states or institutions. All globalization is in fact subject to local (or national and regional) influences.

Since the introduction of the Overseas Student Program (OSP) in 1985, courses have been marketed, often quite aggressively, by Australian universities. In most cases, overseas students have responded by coming to Australia. The cultural implications of the OSP are evaluated using a hypothetical case—Hong Kong Registered Nurses undertaking a post-graduate Public Health Nursing program in a higher education institution to prepare them for work with Vietnamese people in Hong Kongs refugee camps. The evaluation is based on an application of Dunns jurisprudential metaphor and transactional model of argument to a consideration of the contextual and cultural issues which arise from an examination of the impact of the course. It was concluded that the course would not be appropriate. Moreover, arguments developed from the hypothetical case were found to be generalisable to the export of other professional courses, and the relevance of many offerings were questioned.

Sustainable development has been defined as development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It has been the subject of increasing discussion and debate during the last two decades.This article presents a brief survey of the overall problems inhibiting sustainable development, and outlines their impact in both developed and developing areas. The different phasing, magnitude and spectrum of problems to be faced in each area are emphasized.The article then discusses relevant policy and generic planning issues, and the need for policies and decision-making tools which can begin to cope with the uncertainties involved. While a range of approaches is needed to cope with the problems concerned, it is argued that universities in both the developed and developing world have a special role and responsibility in contributing to the challenge of sustainable development.

The period 1979–1996 was one of radical change in British higher education. Initially change was mainly financial, expenditure was cut severely. In response the universities sought funds from elsewhere. By the mid-1980s expenditure cuts were supplemented by government initiatives to encourage universities and polytechnics to undertake research and consultancy contracts with industry and to seek private donations. Education Acts in 1988 and 1992 speeded the pace of change. Most large higher education institutions were redesignated as universities with consequential changes to the idea of a university. Public funding mechanisms were established that encouraged expansion at marginal costs much lower than average costs. The results were dramatic. Between 1989 and 1994 enrollments increased by over 50% and expenditure per student fell by 30%. Financial power shifted from providers to consumers and proxy consumers. Universities began to contract out non-core activities. This paper describes these changes and considers their significance for the nature and meaning of higher education in Britain.© 1997 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 10, (1997) 275–289

The key questions this article seeks to address are to establish what policies for open and distance learning for post-secondary education have been developed in the European Union over the last 10 years; how they have come into being; what explicit intentions they embody; what implicit and underlying roles in terms of social process such policies can be identified as playing; and what appropriate frameworks of analysis can be identified. From small beginnings in questions raised by Members of the European Parliament in 1985, open and distance learning begins to appear in policy documents and funding programmes in 1988 and reaches the significant position of being specifically mentioned in 1994 in the Maastricht Treaty of Union. Open and distance learning policy is demonstrated as reinforcing the ideological role that education and training play in the drive for economic success and competitiveness, and a range of frameworks for policy analysis are explored within the unique international regime that is the European Union. Further research is proposed as necessary within the European Union as education and training increase in importance as areas of activity.© 1996 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 9, (1996) 221–238

The value of educational research; its aims and most appropriate locations has been questioned in a number of countries. The issue may differ across countries with distinct traditions of worthwhile knowledge and the institutional setting for educational inquiry. With this proviso, the changes in educational research in the last years of the Soviet Union may be of wider interest. It could no longer serve as a branch of total planning in an engineered society. Its practitioners floundered when faced with the educational implications of new forms of political authority and social relations. But they took up new questions of teaching and learning with verve and success. This may suggest perhaps a more realistic definition of the function of educational research in countries beyond Eastern Europe.© 1996 International Association of Universities. Higher Educution Policy Vol. 9, (1996) 125–136

Policy-making in Canadian post-secondary education is rarely the subject of intensive, systematic study. This paper seeks to identify the distinctive ways in which Canadian post-secondary education policy decisions were constructed and implemented, and to posit an analytical framework for interpreting policy-making process in post-secondary education. Our focus is on post-secondary policy initiatives between 1990 and 2000. During this period, the federal government, under Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien undertook some unprecedented initiatives in the post-secondary education field. The paper discusses aspects of the 1993 election campaign, the Income Contingent Repayment (student assistance) proposal in 1994, the federal deficit cuts of 1995, the return to fiscal surplus in 1997, and the introduction of the following federal plans: the Canada Foundation on Innovation, the Canada Research Chairs Program, and the Millennium Foundation Scholarship Program. The paper concludes with the presentation of a conceptual framework designed to enhance understanding of the public policy-making process in post-secondary education and, potentially, other policy fields.

Vouchers, or publicly supported tuition entitlements, are often considered amongst a range of different options in national higher education funding reform efforts, but are seldom adopted. This paper reports on an Australian Government committee of enquiry into higher education funding and policy which, in April 1998, recommended adoption of a voucher or ‘student centred funding’ scheme. While both the Coalition Liberal Party-National Party Government and the Opposition Labor Party have rejected vouchers, at least in the short term, and many other stakeholders oppose vouchers, pressures are likely to continue for modification of the current funding system, especially in view of reductions in government operating grants and rapid increases in staff salaries.© 1999 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 12, (1999) 219–235

This paper examines some aspects of current debates about what constitutes the global university in the 21st century, focusing particularly on concepts and perspectives about how the idea of a university is being produced and reproduced. As well as exploring the theoretical and empirical content of eight different analyses ranging from the relationship between the university and the welfare state to the effects of the financialization of academic publishing, this paper considers the relevance of the arguments presented to universities themselves and the extent to which the contributions analyzed might also appeal to policy makers and university leaders. The eight analyses selected are among those presented at two recent international seminar series on universities, ideas, and globalization processes for which the author was a co-organizer.Higher Education Policy (2008) 21, 439-456. doi:10.1057/hep.2008.18

The changing context of higher education is altering the traditional means by which governments regulate their “research” universities. In a number of countries universities, which are increasigly subject to a global market, have discovered that they require greater management flexibility in order to compete effectively and are therefore seeking relief from traditional government regulations affecting both substantive and procedural matters. At the same time governments wish to assure that the actions of publicly funded universities are consistent with the social values of efficiency, equity, and academic quality. Designing public policies that effectively balance the competitive needs of the university sector with the public interest is a complex issue. The paper presents a general framework for analyzing these regulatory policy issues and illustrates the framework with policies from Europe and the US.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 21–35

This article presents a brief historical overview on the origin and development of institutional autonomy and academic freedom in the United States of America and in Latin America. Such overview allows the reader to contrast two different geographical contexts, as well as different and even opposing opinions concerning the meaning of the concepts involved. The author illustrates how ideology, along with political conditions, explains the variety and heterogeneity of the universities and institutions of higher education. Other issues discussed include accountability and autonomy; the rapid growth of private academic institutions exemplifying the enormous demand for higher education services and how this is linked to the concept of autonomy; the public vs private controversy; the role of the State and the matters of pertinence and quality. Finally, the article discusses and illustrates some of the current debates that have to do with the exercise of institutional and individual autonomy.Higher Education Policy (2007) 20, 275-288. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300160

This paper explores issues to do with the organisation of academic work in higher education in the U.K. When universities were well resourced elite institutions much internal university organisation involved little more than the limp administration of dull, steady state, routines. Tighter times in the 1980s encouraged the call for more efficient university management and in the 1990s the issue of good university governance has pushed to the fore. Efficient management and good governance are important but the nature of academic work and the professional sentiments of academic workers mean that management, bureaucracy and governance can only take universities so far in the organisation of teaching and research in turbulent times that call for change and entrepreneurship. “A refusal in the universities to give rational discussion of their administration a high priority must result either in tyranny mitigated by muddle or in time-wasting reduplication of effort.” (Lord Franks, University of Oxford: Report of Commission of Inquiry, 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966, vol. 1, para. 491.)© 1998 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 11, (1998) 59–79

Setting the strategic direction in academic institutions cannot be fully likened to the same challenge in corporations, due to their essential “product” of value creation. Further, the role of the dean is inherently different from that of the CEO; he does not have the same power. Though a business school and a company are not run in the same way, there is no less of a need for the school to make the strategic choices necessary to achieve an internal balance and to create the kind of value the customer expects. In this article, four approaches to strategy in business schools are proposed in order to ensure that the main missions — research, teaching, and citizenship — of the school are operationally carried out.© 2000 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 13, (2000) 399–413

We test the hypothesis that academic entrepreneurship, resisted in the past by some as being in conflict with the long-standing Mertonian norms of open science and free enquiry, has now become widely accepted within the academy, or `taken for granted', as an institutional shift. Using responses to a series of attitudinal questions about academic entrepreneurship and commercialization of the university from a National Survey of Technology Transfer Office directors and faculty in the United States, we explain the variation in attitudes among faculty by academic discipline, by type of university and by previous experience as an entrepreneur. We compare the attitudes of faculty to the attitudes of technology transfer office directors to gauge the width of the gap between these two groups of stakeholders. The empirical results provide strong evidence that the commercialization of the university is by no means yet `taken for granted'.

Grade inflation, particularly but not exclusively in higher education, is a serious concern of educators, educational policy-makers and researchers. It has been suggested that student evaluations of faculty are among its principal causes because students tend to give favorable evaluations to professors who give high grades, and that these evaluations are used by university administrators as part of the criteria for promotions, salary increases and similar faculty benefits. This explanation suggests that faculty members compete for favorable student evaluations. It can be generalized to state that faculty members cooperate and compete not only for favorable evaluations, but also for the enrollment of students in the courses they teach. The relevance of faculty cooperation and competition suggests that the Theory of Games could be a useful instrument to analyze the interactions among university professors. The object of this paper is to present a model based on these assumptions and to analyze the consequences that can be derived from it that are relevant for university policy decisions.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 175–182

One of the major characteristics of globalization is the large influx of immigrant groups moving largely from underdeveloped regions to developed economies. California offers one of the most robust examples of a large-scale, postmodern demographic transition that includes a great racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of immigrant groups, many of which place a high value on education. As a window into a larger global phenomenon, this study looks at immigrant student participation in the University of California (UC) — one of the largest research universities systems in the world, chartered and subsidized by a state with the largest immigrant population in the US. We provide an initial exploration of the dynamics of race and ethnicity, major, and the differing socioeconomic backgrounds of immigrant students, and in comparison to `native' students. Utilizing data from the Student Experience in the Research University Survey of the UC's students, we show that more than half the undergraduate students in the UC system have at least one parent that is an immigrant. The ratio is even higher at UC Berkeley. Among the major conclusions offered in this study: there are a complex set of differences between various `generations' of immigrant students that fit earlier historical waves of immigrant groups to the United States; the startling number and range of students from different ethnic, racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds points to the need for an expanded notion of diversity beyond older racial and ethnic paradigms; and while there are growing numbers of immigrant students at Berkeley from different parts of the world, and often from lower-income families, there is a high correlation with their socioeconomic capital, described as a variety of factors, but most prominently the education level of their parents and family.

Similarities and differences are explored between academic staff in four different types of Australian universities. Despite an overall high degree of homogeneity amongst academics, those in pre-1987 universities, especially Go8 universities, are better qualified, have appreciably better publication records, spend more time on research and writing, and show more interest in research than academics in post-1987 universities. Pre-1987 universities are more likely than others to have academic organisational units headed by professors and associate professors. Academics in pre-1987 universities have distinctively different views with regard to research funding and the place of research, as well as about academic standards and recent expansion in student enrolments. While post-1987 universities have pockets of research strength, these are small and relatively small proportions of academics produce the bulk of research output. The views of academics generally coincide with those of their institutions on key differentiation issues.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 325–342

In an attempt to raise China's international competitiveness, the government instituted a series of sweeping reforms to expand rapidly the number of higher education places. Rapid growth, however, gave rise to a new set of problems, namely, a scarcity of resources, poor educational quality and underemployment of Chinese university graduates. In order to tackle the problems caused by rapid expansion in higher education, a number of measures were introduced, all influencing the work of academics. Based on the observations of our study, we can see a clear trend of deprofessionalization due to increasing state supervision. Because of the widespread scarcity of resources, academics found themselves taking on the additional role of academic capitalist, in order to increase their incomes and accumulate academic capital. However, in the specific context of China, guanxi still served as a significant factor for academics in retaining their academic status. New measures should be introduced in order to alleviate the great impact of guanxi.Higher Education Policy (2007) 20, 145-167. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300148

The paper points out quantitative, institutional and substantive changes both in higher education and secondary education and shifts in the interrelationship between these two levels of education that have taken place during last five years in the Czech Republic. These changes resulted from the influence of general political and economic transformation since 1989 in the system of education on the one hand, and limitation of state regulation of it on the other. New mechanisms of funding were introduced as a part of systemic changes of education. This paper shows how these changes have influenced access to higher education, beginning with the characteristics of access to higher education in the Czech Republic prior to the political changes.© 1996 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 9, (1996) 113–124

I explore the question of men's participation in higher education (HE) in relation to shifting, discursive and intersecting masculine subjectivities by drawing on qualitative interviews with men participating in HE. The paper contributes to a sociological understanding of the impact of masculine subjectivities on higher educational participation and aspiration. The in-depth interviews focused on the men's memories, aspirations and experiences, taking a life history approach to mapping continuity and change in relation to educational participation. The context for the research is the wider UK policy of widening educational participation and notions of a `crisis of masculinity', which I critique drawing on feminist perspectives. In deconstructing the discursive production of the ideal student-subject produced through widening participation (WP) policy, I argue that an analysis of men's participation in HE must take into account the differences between boys and men in terms of complex power relations, inequalities and misrecognitions. The paper explores the theme of continuity and change in terms of the men's subjectivities, their memories of education and their shifting aspirations. More specifically, it examines the men's accounts in relation to the themes of respectability, bullying and laziness, which emerged from the data. I argue that the men take up the neoliberal discourses that underpin WP policy, placing emphasis on individual attitudes and deficit, and demanding forms of self-regulation. The men's accounts illuminate the fragility of their projects to be recognized as worthy of HE participation both through and against self-regulating practices and through the distancing of `Other' (contaminating) identities.Higher Education Policy (2009) 22, 81-100. doi:10.1057/hep.2008.24

Evaluation and accountability are two of the most popular catchwords employed by higher education reformers in the Western world over the last 25 years. For 25 years governments throughout Western countries have been using evaluation and institutional accountability as policy tools to steer their university systems at a distance. From a comparative perspective, this has not been a homogeneous process; nor has it displayed any clearly `convergent' trend when observed from the substantial, rather than from just the formal, point of view. In this general context the Italian case is presented here through a detailed analysis by which it is shown how evaluation has been implemented in the Italian university system and how the institutional accountability conceded to the universities has been managed and to what effects. The results are frustrating: each university activity is evaluated but without any effects regarding their performance; institutional accountability has proved to be very weak, whereas universities have continued to behave in an irresponsible way from the financial and managerial point of view. What emerges seems to be an enormous collective effort not able to concretely pursue significant results without a radical change in the governance arrangements both at the institutional and the systemic levels. The causes of this waste of collective sources depend both on the low degree of legitimization of the evaluation process, and on the malfunctioning of the mechanisms of institutional and systemic governance.

In recent years, Swedish higher education institutions have experienced reduced regulation while at the same time more authority has been given to the boards of the institutions. Paradoxically, this situation has neither been experienced as an increase in autonomy nor as increased — or maintained — academic freedom. On the contrary, dependency on new external factors, such as increased external economic support, has reduced independence both at the institutional and the individual level. In order to counterbalance these external forces clear and distinct academic leadership is required, along with increased goal orientation in the internal decision-making of higher education institutions.

This article reports on field research conducted in 1999–2000 in three of the larger cities in China (Wuhan, Xiamen and Shantou). It explores the workings of the educational service of the self-taught higher education examination (STE) that emerged in China in the early 1980s. Findings from questionnaires, in-depth interviews, observations and analysis of documents led to the conclusion that the educational goal of the STE, although implicit, is frustrated and diluted because of the following reasons: (i) inefficiency due to an absence of controls through regulations and legislation specifically applicable to state, province and county levels of administration. (ii) Inadequate and inconsistent communication between high-level administration and the local operation of educational services. Lack of communication results in the STE as a system declining in national examinations. It emphasizes note memorization rather than creative thinking implicit in the purpose of educational service institutions.Higher Education Policy (2003) 16, 463–477. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300034

Although comparatively young, state universities in sub-Saharan Africa have accomplished alot. They have almost replaced expatriate faculty with indigenous staff and help foster intellectual communities. Some have developed relevant curricula and have produced the skilled human resources required to staff and manage public and private institutes. However, universities in the sub-region face formidable problems, viz: increased enrollments; fiscal challenges; quality issues and rising graduate unemployment. To help solve some of these problems, private universities are increasingly been seen as alternative routes to higher education achievement. Based on empirical data, this paper examines some of the challenges/opportunities that private universities face in sub-Saharan Africa.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 161–174

The paper has a twofold structure and focus. The first part is an examination of the funding challenges facing African universities resulting mainly from public finance difficulties, and the second part is a case study of how some Kenyan and South African public universities have attempted to mitigate resource dependence difficulties through multiple exchange relationships. The study identifies economic and policy contexts, and institutional capacity, both scientific and management capacity, as key determinants of the success of public universities' attempts at economic self-determination. The study concludes that although revenue diversification presents an opportunity for universities to mitigate resource dependence difficulties, a combination of factors, especially small domestic markets and capacity related challenges, constrain possibilities for meaningful revenue diversification for many African universities.

Since the mid-1980s most African universities have been struggling with massive decreases in available resources. Support from external donors, after decreasing through the early- and mid-1980s, has stabilized and may even be rising. However, given the loss of government resources for core activities, donor support has assumed a greater overall significance and is increasingly needed for core activities such as teaching, staff development and infrastructure. External support is often planned in relation to policies developed by each donor agency, rather than integrated into university institutional development initiatives, with the danger that it erodes capacity-building. This paper, reporting on comprehensive research undertaken in two African universities with high levels of donor support, seeks to illustrate the seriousness of the problem, and to analyse why it has grown. The paper suggests that it is possible, given better understanding of the issues, to improve the situation, but only if donor support is flexibly coordinated in function of university needs and plans. It further argues that successful coordination calls for a changed relationship with universities. Finally, the paper attempts to draw out issues of general significance for higher education policy in Africa and suggests that the crisis of African universities manifests itself in complex and highly specific situations that are not amenable to simple universal policy prescriptions.© 1997 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 10, (1997) 41–54

This article focuses on the redefinition of South Africa's Colleges for Advanced Technical Education into research organizations in higher learning. It reports results of the first phase of a project into the impact of national policies intended ‘to cultivate the culture of the much-needed applied research’ in higher education and to fill a gap left by universities. National policies were analysed and representatives from national policy-making bodies interviewed. Inconsistencies between the different policy documents, practical problems emerging at the implementation stage and views of the Technikon umbrella organization, on the progress so far made are discussed.Higher Education Policy (2003) 16, 283–299. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300022

From the first time that humans drew together in learned groups of scholars and disciples, questions have been raised about the purpose, sustainability and values of such gatherings. The development of information technologies together with mass participation in Higher Education has sharpened disputes between innovation and tradition like never before. Each party produces its own measures of dogma, which often trail institutional anxiety in their wake. The University is in a quandary. Whether the University as a manifestation of scholarly inquiry and scientific research is gaining from this dialectical tension is by no means clear, and its future is infused with volatility. Transformation of the University into an innovative entrepreneurial institution is proceeding, almost alchemically it seems. The primary question now is not whether this should occur but what checks and balances are necessary at a policy level to make it successful. How far down the corporate policy track must the University go?Higher Education Policy (2006) 19, 135-151. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300116

This article examines the essential urban and architectural support as a base and reflection of the link between University and Society. When the phenomenon of the proliferation of Universities and campi continues to grow, this issue assumes a new centrality.At the start of the twenty first century, it is useful to review the role that Architecture has played within the University.Whilst some recent trends seem to predict a dissolution of the magnitude of the academic buildings in view of modern communication technologies (virtual campus), it is necessary to defend the functional, cultural and symbolic potentialities that Architecture has to offer in relation to the transcendental mission of Education.The Architecture of knowledge has through history been the embodiment of the University's ideals. The bottom line of this article is the principle that good Architecture is necessary for achieving excellence in education.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 183–196

This article explores the question of why liberal arts and sciences education has been (re-)emerging in Europe over roughly the last two decades. A period, which is also characterized by the Bologna Process, that is the introduction of distinct undergraduate — graduate degree cycles, and the explicit framing of higher education policies within the concept of the knowledge economy (the Lisbon Strategy). It will do so by taking a historical and comparative approach, looking at the histories of liberal arts and sciences education as they evolved in Europe and the USA. The article aims to analyse why liberal arts and science education seems to be a relevant response to the needs for higher education reform in Europe. In particular to the need to differentiate the massified European systems, in terms of broader and more flexible approaches to bachelor education in order to overcome the disadvantages of too early and over-specialization, by re-establishing the balance between breadth and depth of the curriculum, and in terms of redefining elite education in overly egalitarian systems. The focus on Europe will highlight developments in the Netherlands, where the progress of liberal arts and sciences education is particularly substantial and where the model has already obtained a special status within the higher education system. This will be further illustrated using Amsterdam University College as an institutional case study on the new European version of the liberal arts model, with an emphasis on its meaning in the globalized higher education context of the 21st century.

The article compares national quality assessment systems of higher education in Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The intention is to study whether there is a balance between internal institutional and external societal needs in the design and organisation of quality assessment systems. The study shows that the systems are highly adjusted to each country's specific governing strategy for higher education, and that these procedures so far have resulted in very incremental changes in the existing power structures of higher education.© 1999 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 12, (1999) 3–14

Many developing countries are in the process of restructuring their higher education system to meet their nation's socio-economic development. As their educational budget is not unlimited, working with international educational institutions has become one of the attractive solutions to improve the quality of their education and to make it relevant to meet their nation's educational demand for economic development. This paper identifies some key issues which have prevented the Vietnamese higher education system from serving effectively its country's open-door policy and provide necessary recommendations to help Vietnam overcome its shortcomings and weaknesses. The issues identified together with recommendations, on the other hand, may help some educational policy makers from developed countries select their fields of assistance or cooperation as well as to establish their long term educational strategies to deal with developing countries such as Vietnam.© 1997 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 10, (1997) 137–143

This article focuses on widening participation in higher education by “non-traditional”, and currently under-represented, social and cultural groups in the UK. Although the barriers to access are complex and dynamic, this paper categorises the impediments to participation in post-compulsory education, and discusses the role of certain kinds of assumptions in developing policy solutions of limited effectiveness. In particular, it is concerned that dominant discourses display a propensity to make a series of untested assumptions, and reduce problems to a small number of issues, and to provide a “one-size-fits-all” solution. The UK government's proposals contained in the Excellence Challenge are examined, and underlying assumptions are identified: it assumes that the targeting and selection of pupils will be effective, and that all pupils will benefit equally from participating in the same activity. The limitations of these assumptions are illustrated by examining empirical research conducted by the author.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 361–376

This article examines parallel developments in the fields of quality assurance in higher education and in environmental policy. Starting from empirically grounded analytical frameworks for the two fields separately, Fischer's framework of policy argumentation is overlaid on both to gain deeper understanding of underlying similarities and contrasts. We argue that quality management in the field of higher education faces choices already addressed in environmental quality assurance. In the light of these practical and theoretical lessons, the relative success with higher education quality assurance may be less of a reason for optimism.© 2002 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 15, (2002) 197–215

This article focuses on methods of funding allocation and quality assurance as prominent levers of change in higher education reform today. It is their interplay which forms the main components of coordination frameworks. The arguments for more market or new forms of state intervention can only be understood in the context of such a framework. Developments in the higher education system of the Czech Republic, which has seen interesting changes within the last 15 years from an extreme institutional autonomy to a more balanced relationship between state and universities, will be drawn upon to illustrate these arguments.Higher Education Policy (2005) 18, 31–50. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300071

We explore the significance of the `affective turn' in respect to higher education policy in the UK. This turn centres on creating new subjects of attention for the `employable' student and the `non-traditional' student, the latter defined as students from backgrounds with no earlier history of higher education (working class or black students for example). The `affective turn' has been associated with intellectual debates creating a form of knowledge claiming that there has been a permeation of the social and the psychic in contemporary social relations. This new intellectual move focusing on desire/affects and emotion can be seen as relevant for thinking about policy sociology and we argue for the potential of using a psycho-social methodology to tease out how the affective of policy, and its translation into the academy, works. This stance provides an alternative reading of contemporary social orders, from the one adopted in an influential anti-emotion, anti-psychoanalysis discourse (see Furedi, 2003; Ecclestone and Hayes, 2008). On the contrary, we wish to describe and document affects as one of the most important of the `disqualified discourses' (Morley and David, 2007) of policy sociology so as to rejuvenate the academy's role in working towards rather than against social justice.Higher Education Policy (2009) 22, 101-118. doi:10.1057/hep.2008.34

In examining the concept of the “market” in relation to public higher education it is important to consider both its financial and ideological dimensions. In relation to the first dimension, an ongoing challenge faced by governments everywhere is how best to meet the costs of a mass system of higher education. A common policy response has been to pressure the higher education institutions themselves into seeking a greater proportion of their revenue from non-government sources through diversifying their funding base. To reinforce this shift in policy, governments have also sought to develop and implement mechanisms which can be used to differentially reward institutions on the basis of the amount of non-government funding secured. The second dimension of the “market” as it applies to higher education, is, however, far more complex, involving a re-definition of the basic ideological principles under-pinning the relationship between higher education and the state, on the one hand, and higher education and society in general, on the other. The resulting interplay between these financial and ideological dimensions are examined in the context of Australian higher education.© 1997 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 10, (1997) 253–274

Significant change to Australian higher education occurred between March, 1987 and March, 1996, under the direction of a Federal Labor Government. At one level, the period witnessed an increase in the provision of higher education and variation in the criteria used to grant student entry. Such change represented a crisis in higher education's traditional or ‘qualified-entry’ settlement which led to its resettling around a more ‘diversified-entry’ arrangement. The organising logic of this diversified-entry was characterised by the discourses of ‘contest’ (fairness in competition) rather than ‘sponsorship’ (selection by association), although the latter appears to have been just better ‘hidden’.© 1999 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 12, (1999) 69–91

In the past three decades, Austrian universities have faced a series of organisational reforms. In this paper we will distinguish a first reform cycle with the focus on democratisation of academic decision making bodies and co-determination of new actors. It may be summarized under the label ‘opening’ (Öffnung) universities. The second reform cycle focuses on the issues of quality and efficiency and may be summarized under the label ‘managerialism’. We will deal mainly with the policy context, the goals, the success and the failure of this second reform cycle. Finally we will use some general ideas from organisational theory and discuss why the success of managerial reform has been moderate and many important steps still need to be taken.© 1998 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 11, (1998) 141–151

Universities in Hong Kong are publicly funded and have been under close scrutiny by the Funding Council. Due to Hong Kong's colonial status, its purpose for higher education has been fulfiling the demand of labour force in order to ensure smooth economic growth in the territory. As 1997 is approaching, the shift of sovereignty to China will inevitably cause changes in terms of the direction or even possibly the philosophy of higher education in Hong Kong. The UGC (previously called UPGC) in their most recent Interim Report of Higher Education 1991–2001 advocates the missions for its funded institutions and encourages them to have self-initiation in determining their strategic positioning and planning in order to develop their own areas of excellence. The funding council endows this autonomy to institutions by means of their funding mechanism. This article will examine Hong Kong situation from a historical context into the future prospect.© 1996 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 9, (1996) 325–328

The relationship between governments and higher education institutions has been changing in Europe over the last few decades. The mechanisms of steering and regulation have moved away from the model of centralised control by allowing more institutional autonomy. Even if the government has been using an increasing array of market and market-like mechanisms instead of more traditional regulation mechanisms, the state has not really stepped back in favour of the market, and this has led to a hybrid situation where increased institutional autonomy is still facing significant government regulation — the Janus Head effect. It is our opinion that the regulation of higher education cannot be left in the sole hands of the market, and for this reason hybridism can play a very important role.© 2001 International Association of Universities. Higher Education Policy Vol. 14, (2001) 7–20