Trust, markets and accountability in higher education: a comparative perspective*

Abstract

In recent years problems have emerged around the American system of accrediting colleges and universities − a peculiar system involving voluntary regional associations of colleges and universities, public and private, which appoint committees of academics to make visits to their member institutions and report first on whether they are reasonably decent institutions of higher education, and secondly, on how they might improve themselves. This paper explores these issues comparatively in the American and European contexts.

Translating Governance Ideas in Danish Higher Education

“…This makes the universities antiquated and weak joint partners, and the institutional autonomy has been constrained along the way by rigid, central economic control. (Folketinget, 1993) This problem definition resembles the trend highlighted by several higher education scholars (e.g., Neave and Van Vught, 1991;Trow, 1996) -a development characterized by moving from governing through trust, or professional accountability, to governing through (political) accountability. In the present translation, we see that the problem definition of the 1980s remains visible in the construction of Lise Degn Governance Ideas in Danish Higher Education 304 HEIs as 'antiquated and weak cooperation partners' due to their outdated governance and management structures (Folketinget, 1993).…”

Quality Evaluation of Teaching in Higher Education

“…According to Trow (1996), self-evaluation reports sometimes resemble the reports that the authorities of a defeated country are forced to present to the occupying forces! The objective is no longer one of producing an honest analysis of institutional functioning nor of establishing an institutional critique; rather, the task has become one of producing a public relations document for those who have requested the evaluation, particularly when the evaluation is linked to funding.…”

The move to mass higher education in the UK: many questions and some answers

“…As the UK achieves the sort of participation levels it has today, the needs of students are bound to be extremely various-both in terms of the cognitive abilities they possess and in terms of the labour market challenges and opportunities they face. It is far from clear that, in the past, officialdom fully faced up to this in its thinking on incentive structures (Trow, 1996). Possible future changes in this area are discussed in Section 5.…”