Steering Change – Negotiations of Autonomy and Accountability in the Self-Owning University

Challenging the profanity of management of higher education

“…Firstly, the higher education system in Denmark has over the past decades been reformed continuously, targeting both the governance and management structures of higher education institutions, (seemingly) making them more autonomous and professionalised (Bendixen & Jacobsen, 2020;Degn, 2015). This remodelling of the managerial setup is by no means unique in a global or European perspective (Degn, 2015;Wright & Ørberg, 2008;Ørberg & Wright, 2019), but as several studies have pointed out, the Danish Higher Education reforms have been rather extensive and proactive in comparison to, for example, the rest of the Nordics (Pinheiro & Stensaker, 2014). The reforms have-likely due to this proactive nature and the intensity of the reforms-been met with massive and outspoken resistance from academic staff, most recently materialised as a petition signed by many prominent Danish academics to revise the University Act of 2003, which introduced professionalised management structures and institutional self-ownership.…”

Danish University Governance and Reforms Since the Millennium:

“…Overall, the University Act, often referred to as the '2003 University reform' targeted mainly two areas: 1) the relationship between the state and the institutions, by transforming the legal status of the universities and moving the institutions from state-owned to self-owning and self-governing institutions, and 2) the internal management structures, which were, as mentioned, transformed from collegiate and elected systems to professional management structures (Degn & Sørensen, 2015). As a consequence of the University Act, the universities became formally self-governing institutions decoupled from the ministerial hierarchy and thus independent of direct state interference, and primarily regulated through sector-specific laws and regulations (Brøgger & Madsen, 2022;Ministry of Finance, 2009;Ørberg & Wright, 2019). The '2003 University reform' was heavily influenced by ideas of accountability, but also aimed at responsibilising institutions in terms of finances, and by placing responsibility e.g.…”

“…Since the launch of the Bologna reforms and the implementation of the EU's growth strategy in 2000, the architecture of European higher education and research has been altered. The transformation from collegial governance towards professional and managerial models, along with the implementation of predominantly Anglo-Saxon educational standards is well-documented and contemporaneous with the implementation of New Public Management reforms in the public sector in Denmark as well as across Europe (Brøgger, 2019;Degn & Sørensen, 2015;Lawn & Grek, 2012;Ørberg & Wright, 2019;Rizvi & Lingard, 2010).…”

An affirmative-diffractive re-reading of the policy instrumentation approach through agential realism and the accreditation instrument

“…Scandinavian and Central European states can be broadly characterized by their high levels of trust, low distance of power between hierarchical levels, and decentralized authority distributed across public administrative levels and functions (Loughlin and Peters 1997). In Denmark all higher education institutions, including the universities, are formally self-governing institutions independent of direct state interference, and primarily regulated through sector-specific laws and regulations (Brøgger 2021;Ministry of Finance 2009;Ørberg and Wright 2019). The Ministry of Higher Education and Science defines the overall sector-specific regulations.…”