Paul R. Trowler (ed.) 2002. Higher Education Policy and Institutional Change: Intentions and Outcomes in Turbulent Environments

The Danish UNIK Initiative: An NPM-Inspired Mechanism to Steer Higher Education

“…Higher education institutions are autonomous institutions rather than hierarchically subordinate bureaucrats, and as the result policies may not meet their initial objectives, as a number of studies convincingly show (e.g. Kogan et al 2006;Kohoutek and Westerheijden, 2014;Westerheijden et al, 2007;Trowler, 2002). In short, the particular nature of higher education institutions, generally known for their fragmented, bottom-heavy decisionmaking authority and loosely coupled structures, as well as the nature of the goods and services they are supposed to deliver, is likely to affect the implementation of structural policy reform.…”

International Academic Affiliations: Destination or Journey? An Oman-Based Study of Policy, Practice and Potential

“…A significant aspect of participants' positioning in relation to policy compliance, however, was the shared perception that the nature of academic affiliations with foreign universities needs to change over timeand by implication, that policy requirements need to support this. This positioning reflects the acknowledged situated character of policy reception, whereby policy is received differently in different contexts (Trowler & Trowler, 2002) and, as indicated above, received differently over time as the context changes.…”

“…The study was situated in the understanding that a simple "rational-purposive" account of policy making, reception and implementation is inadequate and that policy processes in HE are complex and somewhat messy social affairs. The concept of a policy "implementation staircase" through which "policy refraction" takes place and policy "implementation gaps" result, helps to explain the loosely coupled relationships between high level policy initiatives and outcomes on the ground that typically exist in reality (Trowler & Trowler, 2002). Consequently, the study aimed to access an understanding of the reception and potential of the academic affiliation policy through interpreting the experiences of the participant colleges and individuals using theoretical tools which embrace the interrelatedness and interdependency of individuals, organisations and the wider environment.…”

“…Interpretive responses to policy are to be expected as a result of creative social action (Trowler & Trowler, 2002). In the case of the academic affiliation policy, the data suggests that the apparent elusiveness of formal policy text and looseness of policy requirements allow considerable scope for agency and diversity of interpretation.…”

“…The data revealed a strong desire for most colleges and individuals to continue to move towards the active end of the continuum; this appears to reflect engagement with the national academic affiliation policy through affiliate relationships being perceived by local agents as a journey rather than a destination, suggesting that practice is better conceived in terms of positioning on a staticdynamic and evolving continuum, albeit with all but one participant college positioned (through practice and/or stated intent) towards the dynamic-and-evolving end. Positioning at this end reflects a strong determining role of local actors in the policy processas theorised by Trowler and Trowler (2002). By way of example, one college highlighted its move from an initial franchise agreement to a validation model whereby programmes were developed locally with a much greater engagement of local academic staff, with the award still being made by the foreign affiliate.…”