The Governance of British Higher Education - The Struggle for Policy Control

How has the system of governance changed? Do British higher education institutions still exercise autonomous control over their development as was widely believed to be the case but a few years ago? These questions are pursued through a three-pronged strategy. Firstly, to examine the institutional changes which have occurred since the 1988 Education Reform and the emergence of the funding council model of governance. In particular, we want to know how the various institutional actors - the higher education institutions, the government departments and the funding councils - interact with one another to shape policy outcomes. Secondly, to explore the political context within which these institutional actors have to work. This means examining the role of the political parties, policy networks and the parliamentary forces all of which have a major stake in influencing the direction of higher education policy. This section of the book incorporates the move towards political devolution in the United Kingdom and examines what is different, and what is similar, about higher education policy-making in Scotland and Wales in comparison to England. Thirdly, the book observes the process of policy-making and change in relation to critical issues: the funding of higher education, the research assessment exercises, the quality assurance regime, and the widening participation agenda. In effect it examines policy-making in action.

List of contents

Understanding Change and Interpreting Modes of Governance.- Setting the Scene.- The State and The Governance of Higher Education: Contextualising The Changing Relationship.- From the UGC and NAB to the Funding Council Model of Governance.- State Power: Convergence and Fragmentation.- Devolution and the Governance of British Higher Education.- Shaping Policy.- The Role of the Political Parties.- Parliament as a Marginal Player?.- The Policy Community and Policy Networks in British Higher Education.- The Politics of Higher Education in Action.- Continuity and Change in the Funding of British Higher Education.- The Politics of Quality Assurance.- The Rae: The Elusive search for Selectivity and Consensus.- The Politics of Access: Higher Education and Social Engineering.- Institutional Autonomy in the Age of Mass Higher Education.- Who Has the Power?.

Summary

How has the system of governance changed? Do British higher education institutions still exercise autonomous control over their development as was widely believed to be the case but a few years ago? These questions are pursued through a three-pronged strategy. Firstly, to examine the institutional changes which have occurred since the 1988 Education Reform and the emergence of the funding council model of governance. In particular, we want to know how the various institutional actors – the higher education institutions, the government departments and the funding councils – interact with one another to shape policy outcomes. Secondly, to explore the political context within which these institutional actors have to work. This means examining the role of the political parties, policy networks and the parliamentary forces all of which have a major stake in influencing the direction of higher education policy. This section of the book incorporates the move towards political devolution in the United Kingdom and examines what is different, and what is similar, about higher education policy-making in Scotland and Wales in comparison to England. Thirdly, the book observes the process of policy-making and change in relation to critical issues: the funding of higher education, the research assessment exercises, the quality assurance regime, and the widening participation agenda. In effect it examines policy-making in action.

Additional text

From the reviews:

"This volume on policy control in UK higher education will interest scholars, higher education executives and policy analysts from many countries. … Thus, this important volume by Ted Tapper adds to a considerable amount of literature on British higher education policy and management by a line of distinguished scholars … . Tapper, a long-time student of British higher education, sets out to place the recent transformation of British higher education within the context of the key issue of governance." (Grant Harman, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Vol. 30 (2), 2008)

"Higher education in Britain … has been subject to rather a lot of policy in the last few decades. Ted Tapper has long been a commentator on this … . This book attempts to update the earlier one ‘by now inevitably dated’ … . But it covers the ground comprehensively, and it is a pleasure to have a text which records evidence in detail … . Tapper divides the book into three parts … . Tapper’s analysis offers some useful insights … ." (John Pratt, Higher Education Review, Vol. 40 (3), 2008)

Report

From the reviews:

"This volume on policy control in UK higher education will interest scholars, higher education executives and policy analysts from many countries. ... Thus, this important volume by Ted Tapper adds to a considerable amount of literature on British higher education policy and management by a line of distinguished scholars ... . Tapper, a long-time student of British higher education, sets out to place the recent transformation of British higher education within the context of the key issue of governance." (Grant Harman, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Vol. 30 (2), 2008)
"Higher education in Britain ... has been subject to rather a lot of policy in the last few decades. Ted Tapper has long been a commentator on this ... . This book attempts to update the earlier one 'by now inevitably dated' ... . But it covers the ground comprehensively, and it is a pleasure to have a text which records evidence in detail ... . Tapper divides the book into three parts ... . Tapper's analysis offers some useful insights ... ." (John Pratt, Higher Education Review, Vol. 40 (3), 2008)

Product details

• Authors: Ted Tapper
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.07.2009
• EAN: 9781402055522
• ISBN: 978-1-4020-5552-2
• No. of pages: 257
• Dimensions: 172 mm x 20 mm x 241 mm
• Weight: 553 g
• Illustrations: VII, 257 p.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Education system; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology; C, Educational Policy, Sociology of Education, Education, Political Science, Political science & theory, higher education, Educational strategies & policy, Social research & statistics, Educational Policy and Politics, Education and state, Educational sociology