New Public Management, science policy and the orchestration of university research – academic science the loser

Abstract

In many countries - during the past three decades - there has been increasing alignment of public administration with neoliberal modes of governance driven by processes of globalization and privatization. Key is New Public Management (NPM) as an instrument for applying private sector or market-based techniques to public services. The paper concerns the implications and impact of these developments as they relate to the university sector where we are seeing an influx of bibliometrics to assess performativity with measures that are frequently far from adequate. These changes are related to the broader context of a globalized privatization doctrine of science policy that has gained currency in many countries. The analysis presented here probes and discusses a nexus between NPM, bibliometric performance audits, and a new paradigm in science policy. As such the paper seeks to fill an important gap in science policy studies and the literature on New Public Management more generally. It summarizes various characteristics associated with NPM, and expl icates the connection with methods of research evaluation now being introduced in academic ins titutions . It also takes up varying responses evoked within academe by the use of bibliometrics and current methods of ranking of tertiary educational institutions. Apart from gaining a better understanding of significant changes in the higher educational and research landscapes or disciplines and the interplay of these with broader economic and political trends in society at large, the aim of the paper is also to stimulate discussion and debate on current priorities, perceptions and policies governing knowledge production.Keywords: New Public management; research policy; transdisciplinarity; postnormal science; Audit Society Agencification; Accountingization; peer review evaluationDisciplines:Public Management and Governance; Management Studies and Research Management. Science Policy; Science Studies; Political Science

Dinámicas de la investigación en las universidades europeas: cambios, tensiones y posibilidades

“…Ahora bien, estas consideraciones relativas a los impactos y beneficios esperados -sean de un tipo u otro -, encierran un debate sobre los criterios de calidad y los valores en relación con la ciencia, muy unido a los propósitos que rigen y prescriben la profesión académica (Elzinga, 2010), que oscila entre una concepción de la universidad cuyo principal énfasis está en la independencia de la investigación académica con el objetivo de "generación de conocimiento por su propio bien", y otra que asocia el rol de la universidad a ser una fuente de conocimiento para el desarrollo económico y social. A ello se une que, los valores del investigador en relación con la ciencia, que están afectados por el uso generalizado de los indicadores métricos y la diversificación de los resultados esperados, difieren de la perspectiva sociológica clásica, según el cual, "el objetivo institucional de la ciencia es la extensión del conocimiento certificado" (Merton, 1973(Merton, [1942: 270).…”

R&D policy instruments – a critical review of what we do and don’t know

“…EU), and global (Shapira et al, 2001;Perry & May, 2007;Laranja et al, 2008;Langfeldt et al, 2012);  the rise of 'new public management' with its demands for public accountability, e.g. in the form of performance indicators (Elzinga, 2010(Elzinga, & 2012Doern & Stoney, 2009a);  efforts to raise the level of public engagement -there have been growing demands for greater public involvement in issues relating to science and technology, in particular where there are historical sensitivities or an element of 'risk' is perceived to be involved (Jacob, 2005);  initiatives responding to 'Grand Challenges' -since these are global in nature and also cross-cut other traditional boundaries (e.g. those of government ministries), R&D policy needs to be integrated within a much broader array of policies (Cagnin et al, 2012).…”

University-Business-Government Interaction: the case of the Brazil-Singapore Educational Program for Knowledge Transfer

“…Within this context, it was observed that some of the NPM principles could be extended to the domain of scientific policy in some countries along with market logic related to efficiency, results-based management, entrepreneurship and partnerships, and this began to be incorporated in the academic discourse in terms of science and technology policies (ELZINGA, 2010). In other words, the global transformations associated with manifestations of NPM extended to the institutional context of the production of knowledge, which became capitalized (ETZKOWITZ and LEYDESDORFF, 2000) or merchandized -as other authors preferred to define it (ARMBRUSTER, 2008;ELZINGA, 2010), creating a debate full of antagonistic positions in the scientific realm.…”