Psychometrics as performance indicator: new modes of governance of universities?

Abstract

In Danish universities, like elsewhere, there is an increased concern for students’ mental health and well-being. In 2018 the Danish government implemented a new biannual national student survey that focuses on well-being as a new indicator in the performance-based funding model. In this article we explore the survey, which is similar to surveys from other national contexts, and discuss the possible effects on students and universities. We draw on a Foucauldian post-disciplinary conceptual framework that asks us to consider how the “psy-disciplines” play out in educational institutions and contexts. We show how the survey mobilises psychometrics based on positive psychology and argue that the survey, as a new form of governing at a distance, normalises a figure of the “positive” student, which may counteract the intention of addressing the lack of well-being. Further it responsibilises universities for how students “feel” rather than what they learn, which constitutes a significant change.