The Advisory Roles of Political Scientists in Europe, 2022
The chapter investigates the position of academic policy advice in Norway with an emphasis on pol... more The chapter investigates the position of academic policy advice in Norway with an emphasis on political science, based on notions of politico-administrative systems and Scandinavian administrative traditions. We ask: What are the main access points for certified academics to bring their expertise to policymaking? What trends can be discerned? What is the position of Norwegian political scientists in emerging structures and processes of policy advice? The chapter identifies structures and processes in the provision of political science expert advice in Norway. Norwegian political scientists are heavily engaged in the provision of policy advice, at various levels of government as well as in public debate on relevant issues. There is also evidence which indicates strong involvement in policy advice in two areas: the Norwegian Research council and participation in ad hoc advisory bodies. Trends point towards a change in the forms of policy advice as well as a strengthening of the positi...
The main research question of this book is the question of what has happened to European universi... more The main research question of this book is the question of what has happened to European universities as organizations after several decades of university reform. To what extent are European public universities still decentralized, loosely coupled organizations as opposed to the centrally managed organizations controlled by a powerful central leadership that reformers have aimed to develop? What are the effects of higher education policies on individual university institutions? This chapter develops the conceptual approach for the book by discussing how leadership control of universities as professional organizations has changed, suggesting the concept of penetrated hierarchies as a new conceptual understanding of current universities as organizations. It also suggests how public European universities are shaped by national political administrative regimes as well as sectoral higher education policy regimes. The last part of this chapter outlines the content of the individual chapters of the book.
The chapter focuses on the HE sector itself, and the way in which it shapes HE policies in the li... more The chapter focuses on the HE sector itself, and the way in which it shapes HE policies in the light of two different perspectives: The first emphasizes the importance of organizational arrangements of the HE sectors for the shaping of HE policies. Then a comparative analysis of three countries-England, Italy and Norway is developed. The second perspective focuses on the HE sectors as areas in which organized actors pursue certain goals and values, and is used to provide a detailed analysis of policy processes. The empirical analysis is limited to the same three cases mentioned above. The chapter concludes by suggesting a possible way of conceptualizing the relationship between the organizational setup of the HE sector, its policy processes, and HE policy.
The chapter develops a conceptual framework for a comparative analysis of HE policies that enable... more The chapter develops a conceptual framework for a comparative analysis of HE policies that enables us to investigate the explanatory power of structural characteristics of political-administrative systems. It compares HE political-administrative structures and university policies in eight countries. The chapter focuses on policy trends in the eight countries, and discusses how the literature on comparative political and administrative systems can help formulate assumptions about public policy-making and policy change. The ideas that are developed are then applied on public reform policies in general and in the area of higher education (HE) in particular. A test of the assumptions on data on reform outcomes indicates that the framework is a useful contribution to understanding cross-national variation in HE reform policies in Europe.
List of Contributors. Books by Mary Henkel. Preface I. BLEIKLIE. Introduction I. BLEIKLIE et al. ... more List of Contributors. Books by Mary Henkel. Preface I. BLEIKLIE. Introduction I. BLEIKLIE et al. PART I - IDENTITIES. Being an Academic in a Time-Impoverished Age R.BARNETT. Student Identities in Mass Higher Education J. BRENNAN, K. PATEL. Emerging Academic Identities: A New Research and Policy Agenda E. EL-KHAWAS. PART II - ACADEMIC WORK. Towards a Sociology of Academic Work C. MUSSELIN. The University as Enterprise and Academic Co-determination I.BLEIKLIE, S. MICHELSON. PART III - POLICY AND GOVERNANCE. Transforming Higher Education A. AMARAL. The Modernisation of European Higher Education. National Policy Dynamics P. MAASSEN. On Striking the Right Notes: Shifts in Governance and the Organisational Transformation of Universities J. ENDERS et al. Transforming a Centralised Higher Education System: Reform and Academic Resistance in Italy R. MOSCATI. PART IV - METHODS. On the Comparative Research in Higher Education J. VALIMAA. Index.
In April 2015 the Norwegian government launched a large-scale re-organisation of the Norwegian hi... more In April 2015 the Norwegian government launched a large-scale re-organisation of the Norwegian higher education landscape. The Structural Reform is not a standalone policy process, but has clear connections to previous policy initiatives such as the so-called SAK and SAKS initiatives, the 2008 report of the Stjernø committee, the 2003 Quality Reform which opened up the possibility for university colleges to apply for university status, as well as the 1994 large-scale mergers of non-university higher education institutions. As result, the Structural Reform can be described as a maturing of mergers as policy solution.
This thesis explores learning outcomes (LOs) as a prominent policy and feature of European higher... more This thesis explores learning outcomes (LOs) as a prominent policy and feature of European higher education (HE) reforms. Widely used to describe the learning expected at different levels of education, LO's emerging role in degree-level practices is explored via interviews with teachers, leaders, and students, from eight degree-programme cases at English and Norwegian universities. These evidence LOs being interpreted and used in planning, teaching, learning and management. The four publications included in this thesis provide detailed accounts of LO practices on various levels, in applications spanning course development, teaching reform and quality assurance. LOs are shown to influence practice, disputing views of them as a purely symbolic or formal policy. However, their application and influence are complex and ambiguous. They can support clear, constructive approaches to planning and teaching, but are also perceived as a problematic, potentially counter-productive way to communicate about learning. Their role in management is still emerging, but they appear to create new opportunities for oversight and steering of teaching, and their growing role in quality assurance seems to create pressure for the development of more specific, measurable LOs developed for teaching with concrete, measurement-focused 'product' LOs needed for oversight or comparison applications. The enactment process presented here is incompatible with simple 'top down' or 'bottom up' perspectives on policy formation, evidencing local adaptation and variety, and examples of highly standardised or rule-based practices. An argument is developed that explaining these findings requires a deliberate engagement with the mess and multiplicity which characterise LOs. A set of metaphors are developed to offer an alternative view of LOs as policy nets, knots and tangles. These convey multiplicity and complexity, while offering new ways to look at relationships between divergent LO forms and practices, explanations for the enactment processes identified, and a way to highlight the key choices HE actors and policy makers confront as they continue to enact LOs in universities.
This article presents two different perspectives on the relation between university governance an... more This article presents two different perspectives on the relation between university governance and creativity. It argues that although perceptions of the relation between European university governance and creativity differ and vary over time, the space for creativity also seems to have been shaped by some common factors: fragmented authority structures, support and protection by centres of economic and political power, and values emphasizing openness and tolerance for new ideas. The importance and interplay between these factors have varied over time. This is illustrated by contrasting two examples of the development of the European university: Perkin’s historical perspective on universities in Medieval Europe and the modern university – as it has developed from about 1800 until today.
... set of ideas that, under labels like "The New Public Management," &... more ... set of ideas that, under labels like "The New Public Management," "Management by Objectives ... reforms of the 1980s and 1990s emphasizes the importance of higher education for national ... notions tend to imply that the administrative element in university governance should be ...
The Advisory Roles of Political Scientists in Europe, 2022
The chapter investigates the position of academic policy advice in Norway with an emphasis on pol... more The chapter investigates the position of academic policy advice in Norway with an emphasis on political science, based on notions of politico-administrative systems and Scandinavian administrative traditions. We ask: What are the main access points for certified academics to bring their expertise to policymaking? What trends can be discerned? What is the position of Norwegian political scientists in emerging structures and processes of policy advice? The chapter identifies structures and processes in the provision of political science expert advice in Norway. Norwegian political scientists are heavily engaged in the provision of policy advice, at various levels of government as well as in public debate on relevant issues. There is also evidence which indicates strong involvement in policy advice in two areas: the Norwegian Research council and participation in ad hoc advisory bodies. Trends point towards a change in the forms of policy advice as well as a strengthening of the positi...
The main research question of this book is the question of what has happened to European universi... more The main research question of this book is the question of what has happened to European universities as organizations after several decades of university reform. To what extent are European public universities still decentralized, loosely coupled organizations as opposed to the centrally managed organizations controlled by a powerful central leadership that reformers have aimed to develop? What are the effects of higher education policies on individual university institutions? This chapter develops the conceptual approach for the book by discussing how leadership control of universities as professional organizations has changed, suggesting the concept of penetrated hierarchies as a new conceptual understanding of current universities as organizations. It also suggests how public European universities are shaped by national political administrative regimes as well as sectoral higher education policy regimes. The last part of this chapter outlines the content of the individual chapters of the book.
The chapter focuses on the HE sector itself, and the way in which it shapes HE policies in the li... more The chapter focuses on the HE sector itself, and the way in which it shapes HE policies in the light of two different perspectives: The first emphasizes the importance of organizational arrangements of the HE sectors for the shaping of HE policies. Then a comparative analysis of three countries-England, Italy and Norway is developed. The second perspective focuses on the HE sectors as areas in which organized actors pursue certain goals and values, and is used to provide a detailed analysis of policy processes. The empirical analysis is limited to the same three cases mentioned above. The chapter concludes by suggesting a possible way of conceptualizing the relationship between the organizational setup of the HE sector, its policy processes, and HE policy.
The chapter develops a conceptual framework for a comparative analysis of HE policies that enable... more The chapter develops a conceptual framework for a comparative analysis of HE policies that enables us to investigate the explanatory power of structural characteristics of political-administrative systems. It compares HE political-administrative structures and university policies in eight countries. The chapter focuses on policy trends in the eight countries, and discusses how the literature on comparative political and administrative systems can help formulate assumptions about public policy-making and policy change. The ideas that are developed are then applied on public reform policies in general and in the area of higher education (HE) in particular. A test of the assumptions on data on reform outcomes indicates that the framework is a useful contribution to understanding cross-national variation in HE reform policies in Europe.
List of Contributors. Books by Mary Henkel. Preface I. BLEIKLIE. Introduction I. BLEIKLIE et al. ... more List of Contributors. Books by Mary Henkel. Preface I. BLEIKLIE. Introduction I. BLEIKLIE et al. PART I - IDENTITIES. Being an Academic in a Time-Impoverished Age R.BARNETT. Student Identities in Mass Higher Education J. BRENNAN, K. PATEL. Emerging Academic Identities: A New Research and Policy Agenda E. EL-KHAWAS. PART II - ACADEMIC WORK. Towards a Sociology of Academic Work C. MUSSELIN. The University as Enterprise and Academic Co-determination I.BLEIKLIE, S. MICHELSON. PART III - POLICY AND GOVERNANCE. Transforming Higher Education A. AMARAL. The Modernisation of European Higher Education. National Policy Dynamics P. MAASSEN. On Striking the Right Notes: Shifts in Governance and the Organisational Transformation of Universities J. ENDERS et al. Transforming a Centralised Higher Education System: Reform and Academic Resistance in Italy R. MOSCATI. PART IV - METHODS. On the Comparative Research in Higher Education J. VALIMAA. Index.
In April 2015 the Norwegian government launched a large-scale re-organisation of the Norwegian hi... more In April 2015 the Norwegian government launched a large-scale re-organisation of the Norwegian higher education landscape. The Structural Reform is not a standalone policy process, but has clear connections to previous policy initiatives such as the so-called SAK and SAKS initiatives, the 2008 report of the Stjernø committee, the 2003 Quality Reform which opened up the possibility for university colleges to apply for university status, as well as the 1994 large-scale mergers of non-university higher education institutions. As result, the Structural Reform can be described as a maturing of mergers as policy solution.
This thesis explores learning outcomes (LOs) as a prominent policy and feature of European higher... more This thesis explores learning outcomes (LOs) as a prominent policy and feature of European higher education (HE) reforms. Widely used to describe the learning expected at different levels of education, LO's emerging role in degree-level practices is explored via interviews with teachers, leaders, and students, from eight degree-programme cases at English and Norwegian universities. These evidence LOs being interpreted and used in planning, teaching, learning and management. The four publications included in this thesis provide detailed accounts of LO practices on various levels, in applications spanning course development, teaching reform and quality assurance. LOs are shown to influence practice, disputing views of them as a purely symbolic or formal policy. However, their application and influence are complex and ambiguous. They can support clear, constructive approaches to planning and teaching, but are also perceived as a problematic, potentially counter-productive way to communicate about learning. Their role in management is still emerging, but they appear to create new opportunities for oversight and steering of teaching, and their growing role in quality assurance seems to create pressure for the development of more specific, measurable LOs developed for teaching with concrete, measurement-focused 'product' LOs needed for oversight or comparison applications. The enactment process presented here is incompatible with simple 'top down' or 'bottom up' perspectives on policy formation, evidencing local adaptation and variety, and examples of highly standardised or rule-based practices. An argument is developed that explaining these findings requires a deliberate engagement with the mess and multiplicity which characterise LOs. A set of metaphors are developed to offer an alternative view of LOs as policy nets, knots and tangles. These convey multiplicity and complexity, while offering new ways to look at relationships between divergent LO forms and practices, explanations for the enactment processes identified, and a way to highlight the key choices HE actors and policy makers confront as they continue to enact LOs in universities.
This article presents two different perspectives on the relation between university governance an... more This article presents two different perspectives on the relation between university governance and creativity. It argues that although perceptions of the relation between European university governance and creativity differ and vary over time, the space for creativity also seems to have been shaped by some common factors: fragmented authority structures, support and protection by centres of economic and political power, and values emphasizing openness and tolerance for new ideas. The importance and interplay between these factors have varied over time. This is illustrated by contrasting two examples of the development of the European university: Perkin’s historical perspective on universities in Medieval Europe and the modern university – as it has developed from about 1800 until today.
... set of ideas that, under labels like "The New Public Management," &... more ... set of ideas that, under labels like "The New Public Management," "Management by Objectives ... reforms of the 1980s and 1990s emphasizes the importance of higher education for national ... notions tend to imply that the administrative element in university governance should be ...
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Papers by Ivar Bleiklie