Responses of academe to quality reforms in higher education: A comparative study of england and Sweden

Abstract

Background The study to be presented is part of a research programme, InternationaI Stu~ of Higber Education Refirms, being conducted through collaboration between an Eniglish, a Swedish and a Norwegian research team. The aim of the total research programme is to study the changing role of government in the three countries in the creation and execution of higher education policy from the 1970s to the present time; to examine how higher education reforms have been received and implemented or counteracted by academic faculty and academic leaders; and to analyze how reform policies and structural changes have affected the working lives, values, identities and productivity of academics in higher education institutions. An overarching aim is to compare the three countries in these dimensions. An attempt will be made to construct a general comparative framework, using common organizing themes and enlisting salient theories in the descriptive analysis and comparison ofkey political and academic phenomena (Kogan 1995). There exist both similarities in the recent higher education reforms in England and Sweden and important differences. Among the former are demands for increased effectiveness, imposition of systems for quality assurance and assessment and market orientation. The most conspicuous difference is the movement to devolve power to the higher education institutions in Sweden, while British universities have been subjected to more centralized control.