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- Benner, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Beyond Neoliberalized Research : From Auditing to reflexive Governance
- 2023
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In: Universities under Neoliberalism : Ideologies, Discourses and Management Practices - Ideologies, Discourses and Management Practices. - New York : Routledge. - 9781032159294 - 9781003246367 ; , s. 10-25
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For many years, universities represented the ultimate outpost for professional autonomy in Western democracies. Despite little insight into the professional practices of scholars or administrators, governments provided the academic profession with extensive discretion, including the freedom to regulate qualifications for positions, terms for promotion, quality standards, goals, performance indicators and financial budgets. This freedom has become increasingly conditioned and strained during recent decades. Governments have commissioned universities to act like corporations to compete for funding, questioned established goals and performance indicators and enforced new market-based ideas in new governance models. These ideas, commonly described as “New Public Management,” include reforms to promote “academic excellence”, relevance of research outputs to policy-makers and practitioners, and high numbers of graduated students. In all, this has challenged the professional autonomy that previously was taken for granted and resulted in a changing professional practice at universities, largely inspired by a business ethos. Increasingly, however, governments have started to investigate alternative governance and leadership models, providing increased autonomy to the local levels and building on the intrinsic motivation of publicly employed professionals. This chapter describes and discusses Swedish experiences from a new approach to quality enhancement at universities, aiming to reduce the need for external control and strengthen the academic profession, while at the same time meeting external expectations with regard to transparency and performance. In its ideal form, the approach exemplifies, we argue, a shift from a top-down approach to quality assessment, to a trust-based bottom-up process, building on the judgement of academic professionals themselves.
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- Benner, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Foundations and the new renewal of research
- 2022
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In: Smart Policies for Societies in Transition : The Innovation Challenge of Inclusion, Resilience and Sustainability - The Innovation Challenge of Inclusion, Resilience and Sustainability. ; , s. 213-227
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)
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4. |
- Benner, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Becoming World Class : What It Means and What It Does
- 2020
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In: World Class Universities : A Contested Concept - A Contested Concept. - Singapore : Springer Nature Singapore. - 2570-026X .- 2570-0251. - 9789811575976 - 9789811575983 ; , s. 25-40
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- On the basis of a critical survey of university strategies, it is argued that universities reify and objectify “world class” and turn it into absolute and precisely defined goals (location in ranking hierarchies, publication patterns, number of start-ups and licens-es, etc.) and that this in turn is based on a skewed reading of the ascendancy of some universities (notably leading US higher education institutions) to that level. The notion of a “world class university” may therefore be self-defeating as it entails even closer monitoring, adaptation and adoption of indicators and steering that is outlined accordingly.
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6. |
- Benner, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Are some technical universities better than others?
- 2020
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In: Technical Universities : Past, Present and Future - Past, Present and Future. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 9783030505547 - 9783030505554 ; , s. 27-43
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Technical universities is an omnibus concept, which may conceal variations. This is the fundamental assumption of this chapter, which deals with three technical universities in three European countries: KTH in Sweden, DTU in Denmark, and EPFL in Switzerland. Based on an analysis of scientific impact profiles and their alignment with government steering, funding and internal organisation and leadership, it is concluded that there are marked variations between the three technical universities. It cannot be said that one technical university is better than others; only that they configure tasks and roles differently.
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7. |
- Benner, Mats
(author)
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Are some technical universities better than others?
- 2020
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In: Technical Universities. - Cham : Springer Science and Business Media B.V.. ; , s. 27-43
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Technical universities is an omnibus concept, which may conceal variations. This is the fundamental assumption of this chapter, which deals with three technical universities in three European countries: KTH in Sweden, DTU in Denmark, and EPFL in Switzerland. Based on an analysis of scientific impact profiles and their alignment with government steering, funding and internal organisation and leadership, it is concluded that there are marked variations between the three technical universities. It cannot be said that one technical university is better than others; only that they configure tasks and roles differently.
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8. |
- Benner, Mats
(author)
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Asia’s Rising Research Dominance : Universities and State Building
- 2022
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Book (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Providing an in-depth and cutting-edge investigation into the rise of Asian research practices and paradigms, Mats Benner examines how this rise has been accomplished, what effects it has had, and how it has shaped universities across seven Asian countries.
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