Ontario Higher Education Research Articles

Differentiation Policy and Access to Higher Education in Northern Ontario, Canada: An Analysis of Unintended Consequences

Differentiation policies have been implemented in Ontario higher education (HE) with the intent of manufacturing a more efficient and higher-quality system. Policy-makers have repeatedly touted their benefits, but the unintended consequences of differentiation policies remain neglected. Through this piece, we present a northern critique of differentiation policies grounded on the distance deterrence effects literature. We propose that differentiation policies threaten to exacerbate existing provincial north-south disparities in HE access, hampering human capital formation and economic development in northern communities. In addition, we specify some strategies to mitigate these detrimental effects and conclude by providing a conceptual framework through which to understand regional “blind spots” in differentiation policy.

Institutional Diversity in Ontario’s University Sector: A Policy Debate Analysis

In order to meet the demands in a cost-effective manner of an emerging knowledge society that is global in scope, structural higher education policy changes have been introduced in many countries with a focus on systemic and programmatic diversity. There has been an ongoing debate about institutional diversity in Ontario higher education, especially within the university sector, for at least five decades. This paper will provide insight into issues of quality, accessibility, and funding through the lens of the current policy debate about institutional diversity by using document and policy analysis, and by drawing on a number of semi-structured interviews with senior university and system-level administrators.

Symbolic resources and marketing strategies in Ontario higher education: a comparative analysis

Existing research on marketing within PSE tends to focus on homogeneous groups of high-status organisations. This study ameliorates this gap in the literature, conducting a comparative analysis of promotional materials produced by public universities and community colleges in Ontario, Canada. We find that these two groups draw on unique strategies to communicate their quality to external constituents. Public universities emphasise faculty and institutional-level accomplishments, such as research grants and rankings. Meanwhile, community colleges, lacking access to these symbolic resources, employ corporate-like strategies, such as taglines and non-traditional logos.

The structure of Ontario's higher education market

Similar to many other institutions in a market economy, colleges and universities operate in their own 'marketplace'. The purpose of this paper is to provide analysis of the structure of Ontario's higher education market that is dominated by publicly funded universities. The theoretical framework for this paper is based on the theories of perfect and imperfect competition market structures. Analysis in this paper shows that Ontario's higher education market has some features of a monopolistic competition market. The paper also shows that other market structures (e.g., perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and monopsony) do not represent Ontario's higher education market. While this market structure might not be consistent with the profit maximisation feature in a monopolistic competition market, analysis shows that it is consistent with other features. The combination of competition (many suppliers or institutions) and monopoly (product differentiation) can be seen in the market of higher education in Ontario.

Modest modifications and structural stability: higher education in Ontario

Policy change in Ontario higher education in the 1960s resulted in a series of structures designed to co-ordinate each of the two sectors in this binary system. Recent government initiatives may be characterized as attempts to initiate or stimulate change within the boundaries and constraints associated with a structure which has been relatively stable for twenty years. There has been some increase in regulation in the university sector through the establishment of targeted funding mechanisms, programme appraisal and approval mechanisms, and the government's legislated monopoly over degree-granting, but these changes have had little impact on the basic operations of the universities. Government initiatives in the community college sector have had some impact in terms of greater institutional differentiation, but little impact on institution stratification. The stability of the Ontario system can be attributed to the relative homogeneity of each of two clearly differentiated sectors, the limited role of the federal government in the policy arena, a structure which has deflected or rejected calls for structural change, and the failure of those who seek change to stimulate a public or political debate on higher education policy.