Des chiffres de la politique à la politique du chiffre : le cas des réformes du financement de la recherche dans les universités belges francophones

Abstract

Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour De Boeck Supérieur. © De Boeck Supérieur. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.

Organizing in the Shadow of Academic Entrepreneurship, Excellence and Omnipresence

“…Secondly, because some of the organizational observations made here have been shared at the scale of six European universities involved in the original EU FP7 project "Gendering the Academy and Research: Combating Career Instabilities and Asymmetries" 1 . Moreover, most of the statements made here -especially the identification of the three logics of action -corroborate those made in the Belgian Walloon Region [9], in France [10], in the Netherlands [11], and other quoted colleagues in other European countries.…”

“…Some authors consider that the pursuit of Excellence by universities is based on exclusion mechanisms, and compromises the personal welfare of academics [32]. Belgian scholars have demonstrated that allocating funding on the basis of scientific Excellence criteria contributes to reducing the investment in teaching [9]. In view of these developments, our paper delves into a second sub question: how are the practices of Belgian academics shaping -and being shaped by -Excellence?…”

“…Various authors have demonstrated how, in the last twenty-five years, the decline of budget funding has led to policy reforms based on market discourse [8] in most western countries [12], including in the Belgian higher education system [9]. Universities have "to compete against each other in attracting the 'best' students and scholars as well as funding from the market in order to deliver a high-quality service" [13: 688].…”

“…On the contrary, they end up becoming a sticky floor, as interactions with students, although seen as personally rewarding, are not seen as advantageous for the career [43]. As previously discussed, Belgian scholars have discovered that allocating funding on the basis of scientific excellence criteria contributes to reducing the investment in teaching [9]. Paradoxically, in managerial discourse, repeated calls for teaching innovation -Entrepreneurship -via Moocs, Spocs, and multimedia platforms are made visible and readable/audible.…”