Failing the challenge of institutional evaluation: How and why managerialism flourishes

Cuthbert, Rob

Abstract

Governments spending billions and individuals spending thousands of pounds on higher education (HE) rightly expect accountability for how the money is used. But pressure for accountability has accelerated the spread of managerialism, jeopardising rather than improving quality and posing dilemmas for managers trying to reconcile internal and external pressures. In the managerialist dialectic, unthinking resistance meets unthinking control, an unwinnable battle between the stereotypes of ‘academic populism’ and ‘new managerialism’ (Watson 200, 2009:77). Managers and staff could respond more effectively to the challenge of evaluation by thinking differently about managing, to find social practices embodying the values needed to transcend managerialist pressures. In this chapter I use the case of league tables and draw on theory and practice (including my own experience as Pro and Deputy Vice-Chancellor in a large ‘mid-table’ university) to sketch an alternative approach.

Citation

Cuthbert, R. (2011). Failing the challenge of institutional evaluation: How and why managerialism flourishes. In V. Bamber, P. Trowler, & M. Saunders (Eds.), Reconceptualising Evaluative Practice in Higher Education. Buckingham: Open University Press

• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Jan 13, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Reconceptualising Evaluative Practice in Higher Education
• ISBN: 9780335241613
• Keywords: league table, university rankings, managerialism, institutional evaluation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/961834
• Publisher URL: http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335241611.html
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This material is reproduced with the kind permission of the Open University Press.