Autonomy and Control: Danish University Reform in the Context of Modern Governance

Autor/inn/en	Wright, Susan; Orberg, Jakob Williams
Titel	Autonomy and Control: Danish University Reform in the Context of Modern Governance
Quelle	In: Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, 1 (2008) 1, S.27-57 (31 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1755-2273
DOI	10.3167/175522708783113550
Schlagwörter	Freedom; Educational Finance; Public Policy; Governance; Politics of Education; Academic Freedom; Institutional Autonomy; Accountability; Change Strategies; Educational Change; Political Influences; Free Enterprise System; Government Role; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Denmark + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Freiheit; Bildungsfonds; Öffentliche Ordnung; Education; Educational policy; Financing; Steuerung; Bildung; Erziehung; Bildungspolitik; Finanzierung; Akademische Freiheit; Institutionelle Autonomie; Verantwortung; Lösungsstrategie; Bildungsreform; Political influence; Politischer Einfluss; Freie Wirtschaft; Ausland; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Dänemark
Abstract	In 2003 the Danish government reformed universities to "set them free" from the state. Yet ministers are actively trying to shape universities and even set research agendas. How does the government's notion of "freedom" reconcile independence with control? We identify three discourses of freedom: freedom to use academic judgement over what to research, teach, publish and say publicly; a free trade discourse where universities are free to pursue profit; and a modernising state discourse where government steers universities to contribute to the knowledge economy. Danish universities were reformed as part of the modernisation of the welfare state. We explore the assemblage of administrative and funding mechanisms through which the government now steers independent organisations: a chain of contracts for outsourced services, newly appointed managers, output payments and accrual accounting. While responsibility for achieving government policy is passed downwards through the independent organisation, formal lines of accountability run back up to the government. University leaders and academics are set free to manoeuvre within the system, but their economic survival is firmly dependent on responsiveness to centralised steering mechanisms. (Contains 1 figure and 9 notes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10