This article explores the important role played by higher education in broader skills and economic development policies in England and Scotland. It places the often divergent policy experiments and structural developments in these two countries' higher education systems within an international policy context and explains why England and…

This paper examines changes and developments in institutions' internal governance during the last decade, identifying points of continuity in the policy and political environment in the United Kingdom as well as points of difference. External drivers are discussed as part of the increasingly dynamic and volatile operating conditions for…

The last decade has seen an acceleration of change in the way British universities have been governed, led and managed. This has substantially been driven by the instability of the external environment, which has encouraged a greater centralisation of decision-making leading to less governance and more management, but it is also a consequence of…

The implementation of the governance reform of Portuguese higher education has been developed under the influence of "new public management" resulting in the loss of collegial governance. Additionally, the need for meta-governance of the higher education system and institutions to monitor institutional performance against policy…

Shared governance has been a key historical characteristic of higher education although this form of governance has come under increased pressure in recent decades. It is often argued that shared governance is less relevant for tackling the challenges related to a more dynamic environment of the sector. This paper discusses underlying premises for…

Higher education managers are under increasing pressure from governments to reduce costs by adopting more flexible staffing practices and tensions can arise as institutions seek to sustain motivation and morale across a diversifying workforce. This paper considers how institutional management and governance practices facilitate innovative…

The governance of higher education in colleges and college sectors that offer other types of education and training is distinctive in four main respects. First, governance structures are frequently separate and different for higher education and for other segments of tertiary education. Second, the size and scope of the higher-level education…

There has been a tendency in the literature to see changes in quality assurance as part of a process of increased state control. This article suggests a more nuanced approach that also takes account of the different trajectories of the pre- and post-1992 sectors. It finds that whilst there have been increases in both state oversight and market…

A governance model is developed in which university governance is shared between the academic and governing bodies and is coordinated by the university executive. Viewing the university as a professional service organisation, and noting the importance of developing a flexible culture within a shifting, marketised external environment, it is argued…

One impact of globalisation has been the expansion of higher education to meet changing current socio-economic and political requirements. This expansion places considerable stress on the public purse and many states have turned to alternative solutions. In China, a new phenomenon has emerged: independent higher education institutions that…

This paper concentrates on the expansion of Finnish higher education between the 1960s and 1970s, exposes its background in the light of the policy decisions that were made, compares the unique features of this expansion with those of certain other countries, discusses the impact of the controlled "top down" governance of higher education policy,…

This article examines various commonalities and divergences between the English further education system and its nearest US equivalent, the community college system. In terms of commonalities, the article discusses the reliance on sub-university institutions to provide access to higher education, persistent dilemmas attendant to that reliance and…

This article argues that in moving from being self governed to being state governed the policy drivers for higher education are no longer those of the system itself but are derived from a set of policies designed for the reform and modernisation of the public sector of the economy. The formation of higher education policy therefore needs to be…

Twentieth century governance models used in public universities are subject to increasing doubt across the English-speaking world. Governments question if public universities are being efficiently governed; if their boards of trustees are adequately fulfilling their trust obligations towards multiple stakeholders; and if collegial models of…

On the empirical basis of six national studies (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Denmark, Russia and South Africa), this paper examines the phenomenon of segmentation, defined as the solidification of deep hierarchies with little crossover between categories of institutions or individuals. The massification of higher education has brought about a great…