PYRAMIDS,PRISONS, AND PICTURESQUE HOUSING: A DISCUSSION ON DIVERSITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Part of what has given higher education its remarkable stability in recent years has been its diversity. From the point of view of policy, there are three kinds of diversity in higher education: systemic, programmatic, and structural. Binary higher education systems, representing a form of systemic diversification, have evolved as a response to the massification of higher education. However, because of a number of factors, the perceived ideal remains the traditional university. The non‐university components of binary systems tend increasingly to resemble universities through processes of academic drift. To prevent these processes which in fact negate many of the intentions of planned diversification, social esteem and prestige must be built into all sectors which will then have an interest in preserving their individual identities.     

On Change and Diversity: The Role of Governmental Policy and Environmental Influences

This article addresses the issue of change in the government‐university relationship. As has become increasingly clear for both analysts of higher education policy and for administrators in higher education institutions, a fundamental shift in the relationship between national governments and higher education institutions is taking place in many western European countries. In some countries, these changes are occurring at greater speed than in others, but the movement to what has been labelled “state supervision” is quite dominant. The first part of the article analyzes the rationale for this change at system level by tracing its historical imperatives; after which it discusses the concept of the supervisory governance model. The second part focuses in particular on one of the key objectives of higher education policy, namely diversity, and addresses the question of the extent to which a supervisory governance strategy can contribute to the attainment of this objective and what doing so implies for the role and function of higher education institutions. By focussing on the specific issue of diversity, the authors intend to demonstrate the dynamic relationship between governments and higher education institutions that is implied in the supervisory model.     

Governance and decision-making in higher education

Concluding Observations From the presentations of the survey outcomes is has become clear that substantial differences exist between both types of institutions as well as between countries. To a large extent, the results for the universities in particular still reflect the dominant notion of professional expertise, especially where the primary processes of teaching and research are concerned. At the same time, it also has become clear that the role of the central institutional administration is a non-negligible factor in higher education, especially for what we can call the ‘non-primary processes’ issues. With respect to differences between countries, the study shows substantial variation between the countries. This alone appears to provide sufficient basis to question the general assumption of the continental model. On the European continent clearly different institutional governance systems exist, and it would appear logical to relate these to the different ways in which national governments in these systems have changed their policies and policy priorities over the years. However, to shed further light on these differences, a more detailed analysis of the data will have to be performed, for example relating the survey out-comes to differences in governmental steering paradigms.     

Recasting the academic workforce: why the attractiveness of the academic profession needs to be increased and eight possible strategies for how to go about this from an Australian perspective

This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds itself, and would provide a very shaky foundation on which to build the future workforce. There is an overarching need for a fresh conceptualisation of academic work that is authentic and feasible and suggestions are offered of what this might look like. A number of strategies are proposed how such a recasting might be implemented. The paper works from Australian research, and make suggestions for other systems.     

Governance and decision‐making in higher education: Comparative aspects

In this paper, I shall put forward a model which highlights key issues to be taken into account in an attempt to improve academic excellence by the means of human resources management and leadership. Practices at the University of Eastern Finland and elsewhere are used as examples. It is maintained that logical and coherent human resources policies and capable leadership can support and contribute to academic performance and excellence. A key issue is not to interfere too much with active academic work, but still give sufficient support and prerequisites for academic basic tasks.     

Worlds apart? Amalgamation and the restructuring of the higher education system in Australia and the Netherlands

Both in Australia and the Netherlands, the higher education system is experiencing profound changes. In this article an attempt is made to analyze these changes and to explore to what extent similarities exist between two countries who are geographically far apart and whose higher education systems are located within different traditions. The article focuses an two main themes. In the first part the change and reforms within higher education policy are explored. After presenting an overview of the Dutch higher education system and the recent policy developments which have taken place, a comparison is made with the recent changes that have occurred in Australia. In this comparison, emphasis is placed on governmental steering, control and institutional autonomy. In the second part of the paper, one of the major instruments adopted in both countries for system change is discussed, namely institutional amalgamation or merger. The objective of the article is to bring forward some broad trends apparent in both countries, not a detailed analysis. A second limitation is that attention is confined to the policy documents and actions of the Australian federal government. State governments’ responses and actions are not taken into account. Although this is a severe limitation, an incorporation of State plans and actions would exceed the scope of this article.     

COMPARING QUALITY IN EUROPE

As higher education begins to operate increasingly in a European framework, consequences for the assurance of quality in higher education are bound to become evident. A pilot study to develop a methodology for the comparison of quality across different higher education systems is described. The project involved comparison of ten study programmes in economics in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. A design derived from general considerations about the concept of quality and about the nature of higher education and different systems incorporated two stages. First was the collection of information and the processing of this information into manageable data sets; second was the assessment of the information by way of peer review. The proceedings and principal findings of both stages followed the overview of the project design. The article concludes by highlighting some implications of this pilot project for the future of quality assurance in higher education on a European scale.     

Diversity in Australian higher education?

This study explores systematic relationships between management attitudes about recent transitions in the funding and structure of higher education in Australia (Meek and Goedegebuure, 1989) and the domains of the taxonomy emerging from ongoing organisational effectiveness research based on these institutions (Lysons, 1990b). The results reinforce the integrity of the previously established 4 group framework and flesh-out more fine-grained issues which may militate against the smooth transition of amalgamated institutions to university status, on the one hand, and the enhancement of diversity on the other.