Session Information
22 SES 02 D, University Governance: Rankings & Profiles
Paper Session
Contribution
Abstract: The paper applies a novel theoretical framework and methodology to a research domain that has significant policy and strategic relevance internationally. The study examines the ways global university rankings are mediating higher education policy discourse in the UK context, how they are appropriated by different ‘interest’ groups and how this discourse connects to particular policy orientations. Empirically the study examined policy-oriented texts produced by the (then) four UK higher education ‘mission groups’ and subsequent government policy texts during the period 2010-2013. The primary study is extended and updated by reference to the policy-oriented texts produced by UK Higher Education mission groups in the period surrounding the general election in 2015. The analysis illustrates how rankings discourse is connected with policy strategies advocating separation from broader sectoral interests and low levels of alignment with domestic policy goals. Perspectives on the analysis provided by a practitioner panel suggest that rankings discourse is having significant effects in the higher education context in England, influencing practices and having material effects in parts of the sector. However, the study draws attention to the ways groups who are disadvantaged by the rankings discourse are creating alternative narratives of value in order to reclaim space in the policy sphere.
Background: Since their appearance a decade ago, global university rankings have become a prominent fixture in the landscape of higher education internationally. There is a frequent assertion among the academic, research and policy communities that ‘rankings are here to stay’ which implies a passive acceptance of this new form of third-party evaluation and obscures the active practices within the higher education community which sustain this interest in rankings. There are two contrasting views in the research community on the effects of rankings. A prevailing view is that rankings promote isomorphism in the higher education sector (Little & Locke, 2011) as universities seek to emulate the characteristics of those in the top ranking positions. However, a smaller vein of research highlights counter-forces to this anticipated homogenisation and suggests that there is greater distinctiveness and mission differentiation in the period contemporaneous with rankings (De Jager, 2011). The present study supports this latter perspective.
Conceptual framework: The concept of object in activity theory is used to problematize the analysis of the effect of rankings in a specific national context. Activity theory provided a valuable theoretical research perspective given the global reach of this new form of HE benchmarking and evaluation; helping to conceptualise the interplay between global rankings in the contexts in which they are used; and illuminating how this new tool mediates surrounding practices. Critical discourse analysis was used as a theoretical perspective and methodological orientation and offered fine-grain analytical tools to examine how rankings were used discursively to represent and mediate activity and support particular strategies of social change.
Relevance to conference theme: The paper relates to the conference theme of ‘transition’. Global rankings are perceived to be influencing the configuration of higher education at sectoral, institutional and discipline level and impacting negatively on mission diversity (Rauhvargers, 2013; Hazelkorn, 2015; Little & Locke, 2011). The study provides a close up analysis of the dynamics at play. The dialogical perspective of this study encourages consideration of the effectiveness of the discourse associated with rankings, its material effects and the surrounding contextual factors which can be seen as shaping practices in the national HE context. The analytical orientation of the study illuminates language practices associated with rankings and draws attention to the ways groups who are disadvantaged by the rankings discourse create alternative narratives of value in order to reclaim space in the policy sphere.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
De Jager, G. (2011). Missions on the move: university systems in England, New York State and California. Higher Education Management and Policy 23 (1), 1-23. Fairclough, N. (2009). Critical Discourse Analysis and Change in Management Discourse and Ideology: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Strategic Critique. In F. Ramallo, A. Lorenzo Suarez, & X. Rodriguez-Yanez, New Approaches to Discourse and Business Communication (pp. 1-030). Chippenham: Palgrave Macmillan. Hazelkorn, E. (2011). Rankings and the reshaping of higher education. The battle for world class excellence. London.: Palgrave MacMillan. Hazelkorn, E (2015) Making an impact: New directions for arts and humanities research Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 14 (1) 25-44 Little, B., & Locke, W. (2011). Conceptions of excellence in teaching and learning and implications for policy and practice. In M. Rostan, & M. Vaira, Questioning excellence in higher education: Policies, experiences and challenges in national and comparative perspective (pp. 119-137). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. O'Connell, C. (2013). Research discourses surrounding global university university rankings: exploring the relationship with policy and practice recommendations. Higher Education 65 (6), 709-723. O'Connell, C., & Saunders, M. (2013). Mediating the use of global university rankings: perspectives from education facilitators in an international context. Journal of Studies in International Education 17 (4), 354-376. O'Connell, C (2015) An examination of global university rankings as a new mechanism influencing mission differentiation in the HE sector: the UK context. Tertiary Education and Management, 21 (2) Rauhvargers, A (2013) Global University Rankings and their Impact. Report 2. European Universities Association. http://www.eua.be/Libraries/Publications_homepage_list/EUA_Global_University_Rankings_and_Their_Impact_-_Report_II.sflb.ashx
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