Higher education as a system: The English experience

With particular, although not exclusive, reference to England, this article explores the appropriateness of describing higher education as a system. It has two main purposes: to explore the grounds for labelling English higher education as a system and to argue that, because this is no longer an appropriate label, a different conceptualisation is required. The central argument is that the structure of higher education is formed through the interaction of the state, market and higher education institutions and is, therefore, a shifting political construct. Furthermore, it will be hypothesised that the English (indeed, the British) model of higher education is better described as an increasingly internally differentiated network of sectors rather than as a system. © 2011 The Authors. Higher Education Quarterly © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Análisis sincrónico de la gobernanza universitaria: una mirada teórica a los años sesenta y setenta

Resumen Estudiar las perspectivas en el campo del gobierno de las universidades tiene cada día mayor preeminencia, especialmente si se toma en cuenta la incuestionable necesidad de avanzar hacía organizaciones más eficientes, conectadas con las expectativas que sobre ellas tiene la sociedad. Considerando este escenario, el trabajo se ha planteado como propósito central realizar un análisis de carácter sincrónico del concepto de gobernanza y la constitución de los gobiernos universitarios. Desde el punto de vista metodológico se utilizaron fuentes secundarias: una revisión de papers publicados esencialmente en revistas de habla inglesa. El estudio comprende las décadas del sesenta y el setenta. Se centra en las raíces del concepto de gobernanza universitaria, en la delineación de los actores que participan en sus gobiernos y en las relaciones de poder que fluyen entre ellos.Entre las principales conclusiones, se pueden destacar como el estamento académico desde el principio de las universidades ha ocupado el rol casi plenipotenciario en su respectivo gobierno, producto de esto, en el correr del desarrollo y mientras la complejidad organizacional se incrementaba, es que fue necesario incorporar nuevos actores a los sistemas de gestión; todo lo anterior, teniendo en cuenta que dos elementos han sido fundamentales para la sobrevivencia de este tipo de instituciones, la legitimidad otorgada por la sociedad y los principios de estrategias del ámbito de la gestión

The idea of quality in higher education: a conceptual approach

The paper suggests that the idea of quality in higher education is ideologically constructed and conducted. In a spiral of mutual reinforcements, quality regimes naturalise experience, while the theories of that practice legitimise the naturalness of 'quality'. I shall suggest that quality regimes provide too narrow readings of higher education. The central concepts, which I propose to use - discourse and power - emphasise the connectedness of ideology and quality in higher education. In particular, I suggest that the ideological character of the idea of quality in higher education is evident in discourses - which themselves are interlinked in networks. These discourses and networks are backed up by power and this helps to sustain their ideological character. Thus, this paper attempts two things: to outline a conceptual framework concerning the ideological character of the idea of quality in higher education and to draw attention to the organisation of that ideological formation. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

The legitimation of quality in higher education

Quality in relation to higher education is anything but an innocent project: it is ideologically constructed and conducted. Quality has been set up as its own enterprise and systematically disseminates the meaning of higher education, explicitly and implicitly, stabilizing an ideological formation and establishing a social consensus. In a spiral of mutual reinforcements, quality naturalizes particular practices and, also, legitimizes this naturalness. The systematic critics of quality, however, call that ideological synthesis into increasing question. Quality in higher education is faced with a legitimation problem. It is therefore an appropriate moment to ask: can quality in higher education ever be legitimate? This study comes at these issues by being essentially conceptual in character, although there are also some empirical elements in it. In developing a theoretical understanding, quality in higher education is here advanced as a network of discourses. I further contend that these discourses and networks are backed up by power and that this helps to sustain their ideological character. The theoretical resources for the thesis have mainly been drawn by writers working in philosophy arid sociology and from social and educational theory, as well as in the field of higher education. The empirical location of the research is that of England and Greece. By drawing on examples of quality practices from these two countries, I am trying to illustrate my argument. The argument though is independent of England and Greece. The thesis has more than a purely theoretical interest. I try to show, in the face of a legitimation problem, that a legitimate quality system in higher education is still possible. I suggest that epistemologically a legitimate system can only be enhancement led, as it is the only place where creative spgces are possible. The major task is to imagine the characteristics of a theory which can account for these creative spaces in enhancementled environments of higher education. Accordingly, I go on to offer a set of principles for a legitimate quality system in the twenty-first century.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Higher education and UK elite formation in the twentieth century

This study examines the proposition that mass higher education is, in practice, less a network of more or less homogeneous activities than a series of concentric circles in which elite institutions remain at the centre, but are surrounded by increasingly wide bands of universities and colleges, that are less and less likely to set graduates on the road to elite status the further they are from the centre. After a brief review of the classical and subsequent literature on elites and elite formation, the empirical study uses data from the very long established annual publication Who's Who to make a quantitative analysis of the higher education background of all 120,000 Who's Who entries born in the twentieth century. It finds that Oxford and Cambridge remained the dominant route to elite status throughout the century, though their share fell from about a third to about a quarter of the total. There were big rises in the contribution of other leading universities that have come to be known as the 'Russell Group'. An analysis by main occupational categories shows that the political elite broadened its educational catchment area more than other groups. The so-called 'public' (i. e. independent) secondary schools also continued to make contributions much larger than their numbers warrant. The main conclusions are that Bourdieu's notion of 'symbolic capital' offers a useful contribution to the interpretation of the continued dominance of well-known high status universities, and that while there was considerable change throughout the century, in general it followed the British tradition of being evolutionary and slow. In policy terms it concluded that the present government is justified in seeking both to widen participation generally and simultaneously to increase the number of people from modest economic and social backgrounds who attend the high prestige universities. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Compliance, resistance and seduction: reflections on 20 years of the funding council model of governance

Formally the new public management model of governance was introduced into British higher education with the passage of the 1988 Education Reform Act, which abolished the existing University Grants Committee (UGC) and instigated the funding councils. This article explores the relationship between the state, the funding councils and the universities with respect to the contemporary development of the English system of higher education. The analysis is based on an exploration of four key policy issues: the quality assurance regime, the research assessment exercises, the widening participation agenda and the introduction of student fees. The goal is to explore how the quasi-state organisations-in particular the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)-have mediated the relationship between the state and the universities. The evidence suggests that the coupling of the state to the universities follows one of three tracks: compliance, resistance and seduction. The article explores what factors determine why one relationship (or combination of relationships) prevails, and explains patterns of change over time. The overall conclusion is that institutional interaction is very complex, and it is inaccurate-as is sometimes claimed-to view the funding council as little more than a compliant channel of government policy. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

The troubling concept of class: reflecting on our 'failure' to encourage sociology students to re-cognise their classed locations using autobiographical methods The troubling concept of class: reflecting on our 'failure' to encourage sociology students to

Biographies Celia Jenkins is a principal lecturer in sociology and women"s studies at the University of Westminster and specialises in the sociology of education. Her research interests include higher education pedagogic practice and the experience of teaching and studying sociology in changing times. Most recently, she has been addressing the relationship between religion and higher education and is about to start an anti-discriminatory action research project with London"s Turkish-Kurdish community, focusing on disaffection and identity issues for their young people. Joyce Canaan is a professor of sociology at Birmingham City University. Her research centres on higher education learning and teaching in the increasingly precarious and disciplining university system. As an academic activist, Joyce views critical pedagogy as enabling the prefiguring of a higher education system that prioritises people over profits, the collective over the individual. Joyce is currently researching the possibilities of the new student movement, as well as strategies for implementing and reflecting on progressive alternatives to the current university system. Katie Strudwick is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Lincoln. Her research interests focus on core issues in the ever-changing agenda of higher education, particularly the role of employability and skills in the social sciences. Her current research interests address pre-entry students, parent perceptions, and the motivations of higher education. The troubling concept of class: reflecting on our 'failure' to encourage sociology students to re-cognise their classed locations using autobiographical methods Abstract This paper provides a narrative of the four authors" commitment to auto/biographical methods as teachers and researchers in "new" universities. As they went about their work, they observed that, whereas students engage with the gendered, sexualised and racialised processes when negotiating their identities, they are reluctant or unable to conceptualise "class-ifying" processes as key determinants of their life chances. This general inability puzzled the authors, given the students" predominantly working-class backgrounds. Through application of their own stories, the authors explore the sociological significance of this pedagogical "failure" to account for the troubling concept of class not only in the classroom but also in contemporary society