Pursuing Neoliberal Performativity? Performance-Based Funding and Accountability in Higher Education in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The this chapter offers a critical analysis of Performance-Based Funding in Ontario’s higher education. Drawing on theories of critical policy analysis and neoliberal accountability, this chapter focuses on the Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA) and the Performance-Based Funding (PBF) model for universities and colleges in Ontario. The chapter explores the rise of the market- driven neoliberal accountability that focuses on business model of organizational efficiency and concludes that these recent policies are fundamentally transforming Ontario’s higher education at the expense of a more egalitarian system promoting social equity and critical citizenship.KeywordsAcademic standardsAccountabilityGovernanceGlobalisationHigher educationHigher education policyIdeologyInternationalizationNeoliberal ideologyNeo-liberal higher education Performance-Based Funding policyQuality