MODELS OF GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM*

The author traces recent aspects of the movement of higher education in the United Kingdom from emphasis upon a largely autonomous set of institutions operating in the internal academic market through a phase of strong central management and only subsequently onto the external market. The professional values of academics and of professional, market‐oriented managers are not necessarily incompatible, for academe has always been highly competitive. Thus, it should be possible to retain and build upon a vibrant academic core.

     

The DES and Whitehall

This article outlines conflicting views of the place of the DES in the making of education policy at large and higher education in particular. It demonstrates how it changes over time and in different policy contexts. It documents different views of the status of the Department within Whitehall and seeks to account for its alleged separateness from the rest of government. An analysis of the relationships with the Treasury and the PESC system is offered. The connections with policy communities and the role of DES ministers are noted. The competence of the DES is appraised, against the status accorded to non-economic departments generally. The ability of the DES to generate stronger support for higher education is discussed in the context of the weakness of higher education as a political issue.     

Assessment and Productive Research

This paper discusses the ways in which institutions and academics might creatively determine their plans for research, in the light of the assessment exercises.
It is difficult to know how to be systematic and optimistic about generating and completing research; most of the best efforts come from individuals' own initiatives rather than from the proddings of an assessment machine or a quality industry. That does not mean, however, that we should not try to think about research in a systematic fashion but the system does little to help us do so.
The second problem is that the policies underlying the assessment exercises are largely wrong, and designed to be purgative rather than developmental, reductionist rather than a contribution to creating a larger and more useful scientific base in this country.
The paper spends some time on these uncertainties, because they inevitably affect what academic groups just coming to terms with the research mission can and should do. It then discusses ways in which academics can build up their own academic mandates.