Reforming University Governance

University governance reforms have been spreading across Europe since the early 1980s. The introduction of management concepts into the university sector brought about a major reorganization of state-university relationships as well as intra-institutional decision-making. The focus of this book is to systematically identify reform objectives and reforms achieved in individual European countries. Four country studies trace the implementation of managerial governance regimes for universities in the two countries which were the first in Europe to embark on such reforms (the ‘forerunners’ England and the Netherlands) and in two countries which had a relatively recent start in implementing change (the ‘latecomers’ Austria and Germany).

The book concludes with a comprehensive comparison of reforms and of their results in the countries studied and provides an outlook on their possible consequences for research.
The book constitutes a first outcome of a project entitled ‘Comparing management and self-governance models of universities – An international comparison of university decision-making processes and their consequences for research in practice’. This project forms part of an interdisciplinary research group which receives funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). The overall focus of the research group is on identifying the consequences of a new model of university governance for the international competitiveness and innovative capacity of university research, primarily in Germany but also in internationally comparative perspective.

Contents:

• Introduction: Research Context and Approach 
(Barbara M. Kehm and Ute Lanzendorf)
•  I. Two Decades of Refining New Governance Regimes for Universities – the Forerunners in Europe

  England – the Prototype of the ‚Evaluative State‘ 
(Liudvika Leišytė, Harry de Boer and Jürgen Enders)

  The Netherlands – ‚Steering from a Distance‘ 
(Harry de Boer, Liudvika Leišytė and Jürgen Enders)
•  II. Consensus Culture and Federalism Delaying Reforms – European Latecomers

  Austria – from Hesitation to Rapid Breakthrough (Ute Lanzendorf)

  Germany – 16 Länder Approaches to Reform 
(Barbara M. Kehm and Ute Lanzendorf)

  Comparison – Changing Conditions for Research Through New Governance (Barbara M. Kehm and Ute Lanzendorf)