Search Results

Drawing on research conducted at National University of Ireland, Galway, this paper explores how senior managers at an Irish university are seeking to measure and facilitate academic performance in the context of national and global competitiveness and a higher education landscape that appears firmly inflected by neoliberal ideas of rankings, benchmarking and productivity. [The author draws] upon Michel Foucault's writings on governmentality and biopolitics, in particular, and [the author utilises] findings from a range of in-depth interviews with central university managers, with a view to critically interrogating the envisioning of what is undoubtedly a new academic subjectivity in the Irish higher education sector - a subjectivity that is being progressively planned for and regulated.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This article examines changing ideas about the relationship between the nation-state and the university in international higher education development discourse through a quantitative content analysis of over 700 academic articles, conference proceedings and research reports published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It finds that since the 1990s, emphasis on the private sector grows, the nation-state's role shifts from one of manpower planning to strategic planning, and higher education is increasingly expected to promote standardized development goals and economic competitiveness in the global arena. However, it also finds that the role of the nation-state does not disappear - although no longer portrayed as the primary funder and provider of higher education, the nation-state is imbued with important regulatory functions.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The new demands of mass systems of higher education and the emerging environment of global academic competition are altering the traditional institutions for assuring academic standards in universities. As a consequence many nations are experimenting with new instruments for academic quality assurance. Contemporary government control of academic quality assumes three primary forms: 'oversight' or direct regulation; 'competition' or steering of market forces; and 'mutuality' or professional self-regulation structured by the state. The challenge confronting all nations is to design a policy framework that effectively balances the forces of the state, the market, and the academic profession to assure academic standards in universities. Based upon the strengths and weaknesses observed in 14 policy analyses of innovative national instruments of professional self-regulation, market-based regulation, and direct state regulation for assuring academic quality in universities, we outline the essential components of a national framework for assuring academic standards.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

There has been a speedy increase in the number of higher education providers, including private higher education institutions in the Philippines. This proliferation of providers and institutional types has given rise to a need to address the issues of skills and relevance in the Philippines. The World Bank (2012) has reported on a significant gap between the skills needs of employers and the levels of skills produced by higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines. How does the Philippines manage the increased demand for higher education to provide skills needed to develop the society and the economy? This article analyses the expansion of higher education globally and in the Philippines, in particular, and its impact on skills production. [The authors] argue the case for the proper regulation of the higher education system, in general, and private higher education, in particular, to deliver the relevant skills needed for the economic development and global competitiveness of the Philippines.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Transformation of the higher education (HE) sector in post-1994 South Africa serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it is a response to the local imperative of democratisation, in the sense of developing citizenship and social redress. Secondly, it is an attempt to reposition South African universities within the global HE terrain, which had changed considerably during the preceding period of South Africa's isolation. The authors argue that this transformation is better understood as a process of bureaucratisation that has imported and imposed an administrative structure which, in turn, has brought academics increasingly under surveillance. This has changed the nature of the job and eroded the autonomy of individual academics.

Edited excerpts from published abstract. Show less

The agencies responsible for tertiary education quality assurance in Australia and New Zealand have established regulatory regimes that increasingly intersect with tertiary institution policy management. An examination of university meta-policies identified good practices guiding university policy and policy management. Most Australian and half of New Zealand universities have developed meta-policy, or policy on policy, with the most comprehensive articulating policy definitions, range and application of policy instruments, categorisation, approval authorities and policy cycle stages. Sound meta-policy provides an essential framework for good policy-making, and is the key to the development of positive policy outcomes. Increasing tertiary sector regulation provides a contemporary imperative to embrace university meta-policy as one mechanism to embed good practice policy process to facilitate these improved policy outcomes.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Higher education in India has recorded impressive growth since independence. Indian higher education is a very large and complex system with 700 universities and more than 35,000 affiliated colleges enrolling more than 20 million students. The main regulating bodies of higher education in India are Department of Higher Education, University Grants Commission, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, and National Board of Accreditation. The growth in terms of number of colleges and enrolment numbers are not sufficient enough to meet the education needs of the increasing population of India. Higher education in India suffers from several systemic deficiencies, its standards are low as compared with higher education of other world universities. In recent years, the Indian higher education system has become fully aware of the need for quality. Organised and focused efforts are needed to achieve this goal. Careful distribution of resources is mandatory to achieve quality and excellence along with access and equality.

Published abstract. Show less

Background: Many countries are responding to the global shortage of midwives by increasing the student intake to their midwifery schools. At the same time, attention must be paid to the quality of education being provided, so that quality of midwifery care can be assured. Methods of assuring quality of education include accreditation schemes, but capacity to implement such schemes is weak in many countries. Objective: This paper describes the process of developing and pilot testing the International Confederation of Midwives' Midwifery Education Accreditation Programme (ICM MEAP), based on global standards for midwifery education, and discusses the potential contribution it can make to building capacity and improving quality of care for mothers and their newborns. Methods: A review of relevant global, regional and national standards and tools informed the development of a set of assessment criteria (which was validated during an international consultation exercise) and a process for applying these criteria to midwifery schools. The process was pilot tested in two countries: Comoros and Trinidad and Tobago.

Results: The assessment criteria and accreditation process were found to be appropriate in both country contexts, but both were refined after the pilot to make them more user-friendly. Conclusion: The ICM MEAP has the potential to contribute to improving health outcomes for women and newborns by building institutional capacity for the provision of high-quality midwifery education and thus improved quality of midwifery care, via improved accountability for the quality of midwifery education.

Published abstract. Show less

The private tertiary education sector has experienced ongoing growth in Australia. Based on current trends, this sector is predicted to grow, contributing to the social and economic development of Australia and many other countries. While the private tertiary education sector is experiencing growth and tough competition from other providers, it is important and timely to revisit the quality assurance framework used in all tertiary education providers to assure internal quality and meeting external requirements. This paper is aimed to encourage debate on the need for private tertiary education institutions to develop internal capacity for quality assurance with the view to using a single framework to meet both internal and external requirements in a highly regulated tertiary education environment. The paper outlines the current dilemmas in some institutions that use a range of different quality frameworks, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the vocational education and training (VET) quality framework monitored by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the higher education quality framework monitored by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and the National [English Language Teaching] ELT Accreditation Scheme (NEAS). [The authors] argue that there is a need for institutions to develop a single framework to meet internal and external needs that are economical, sustainable, and morally responsible in order to improve academic quality and to monitor standards.

Published abstract. Show less

Quality assurance (QA) regimes have become an increasingly dominant regulatory tool in the management of higher education sectors around the world. By one estimate, nearly half the countries in the world now have quality assurance systems or QA regulatory bodies for higher education. This paper explores the emergence and spread of QA regimes, the coalescence of regulatory logics around qualifications frameworks, and the broad confluence of such approaches in terms of their impact on the historically contested relationship between the state and university. By focusing on the interlocking regulatory logics provided by QA, the article explores how such approaches impose quasi-market, competitive based rationalities premised on neo-liberal managerialism using a policy discourse that is often informed by conviction rather than evidence.

Abstract from publisher's website. Show less