How market-oriented is French higher education?

Abstract

This article places developments in French higher education (HE) in the broader context of the literature on HE governance and, in particular, marketization. In order to trace developments over three time frames spanning from the mid-1980s to 2010, the author develops three ideal-type models of governance and empirical indicators to reflect the balance of power between the state, universities and market forces. This framework provides the basis for analyzing the extent to which French universities have moved away from the primarily state-centered HE model and converged on the market-oriented paradigm of HE governance. The article demonstrates how changes in French HE have been driven both by domestic reform pressures and policy instruments as well as transnational forces of competition and harmonization.