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7 - Convergence through Research Performance Measurement?

Comparing Talk and Practices in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom

from Part II - Systems, Processes, and Dynamics of Governance in Higher Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2020

By
Jenny M. Lewis
Edited by
Giliberto Capano  and
Darryl S. L. Jarvis
Giliberto Capano
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi, Bologna, Italy
Darryl S. L. Jarvis
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
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Summary

This chapter address the rise of research performance measurement as an instrument of governance designed to steer the higher education sector in a specific direction. Performance measurement is always a political decision and it is about both accountability and control. Performance measurement is directed at many different entities, it serves multiple purposes, and it represents a variety of goals and values. In order to focus on the level of convergence between nations in the use of performance measurement of research in higher education institutions, this chapter examines the range of stated purposes behind the decision to measure performance. The chapter address research performance measurement in Australia, Canada, and the UK, and focuses on assessing convergence in ‘talk’ about performance measurement by senior administrators. It seeks to uncover how performance measurement is labelled and represented in these countries, and to examine the level of similarity across these nations. Hence, performance measurement is an example of a governance instrument which is utilized to shed light on how the higher education sector is being steered in various locations.

Keywords

researchperformance measurementAustraliaCanadaUnited Kingdomgovernancehigher educationpolicy instrumentspolicy tools
Type
Chapter
Information
Convergence and Diversity in the Governance of Higher Education
Comparative Perspectives
 , pp. 184 - 207
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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