Higher education reforms informed by the managerial paradigm aim at increasing the capability of the university leadership to steer research activity, with no substantial variation across the disciplines. However, literature points out the limitations of universities to act as strategic actors, as well as the differences between the disciplines that may influence the efficacy of steering. Evidence from the Dutch and Italian systems shows that reforms improve the steering potential. Overall, steering is more effective in new sciences, while other disciplines remain hardly steerable; thus, the discipline mix appears to influence steering strategy and practice. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)