mala singh centre for higher education research and information, the open university, uk...

Mala SinghCentre for Higher Education Research and

Information, The Open University, [email protected]

Simple Story LineContemporary higher education is

enveloped in accountability-increased reporting to range of external stakeholders

Evaluation is a policy instrument of accountability-demonstrating compliance

Quality is a code for performance, responsiveness and success in competition

MSingh NYU 07May2009

Feel-good or public good proposal?If accountability demands/evaluation

is here to stay, should Social Justice be included in evaluation systems?

USA and South Africa as examples of systems where this approach has been tried

Extending the scope of evaluation to include SJ-opportunities, limits and dangers


Contested Issues:What is at stake?What is the measure of excellence in higher education

Who is entitled to define it and judge its achievement-by what means

Who is able to compel its demonstrability


Social Justice in HE Evaluation Including the historically excluded-

disjunctures between legislation, policies, institutional cultures and practices

Social justice-politics of Recognition? Distribution? Transformation?

Premise-that higher education can contribute to addressing social injustice both directly and indirectly


Setting the Scene Far-reaching changes to higher education

as learning, research and work settingImpressive massification -globally 51 m

students in PSE in 1980 to 140 m in 2006 (Teichler)

Continuing inequality and exclusion-globally 80% participation rates in HICs and 7% in LICs; nationally US 41% white, 32% black and 24% Hispanic(Altbach); SA 61 % white, 16 % black, black completion rates after 5 yrs 30 % with 56 % dropping out(Scott)


Three Takes on EvaluationEvaluation as central part of HE-key to

‘guild authority’, credentialling, reputational hierarchies, resource allocation and rewards (Henkel)-peer review

Evaluation for social reform and monitoring social progress-US in 1960s

Evaluation as a policy instrument of the ‘evaluative state’ to ensure social accountability and stakeholder responsiveness of HE


Evaluation and Social ReformEvaluation as a professional field in service of

social reform in the Johnson era (USA 1960s)Great Society programmes aimed at racial

injustice and poverty-evaluations of interventions in education(school curricula, health, welfare)

Approaches in evaluation studies about social justice, participatory evaluations, potential for deliberative democracy-House, Howe, Patton.


The ‘Evaluative State’ Trends in UK/European HE in mid

eighties-shift from state control to state steering

State use of intermediary agencies to monitor performance and provide consumer information; self-regulation

Increase in private and privatised provision

Policy isomorphism in reform discourse

200 members of INQAAHE worldwideMSingh NYU 07May2009

Key Issues The rise of the ‘evaluative state’-

juridification and contractualism(Neave) Shifting power balances in the Clark

triangle of state, market and academeSystems theory-from inputs and

processes to outputs in judging HEHeightened accountability, increased

power of evaluation, continuing inequalities, social justice underserved by states and markets.


USA and SA Evaluation Systems USA-institutional and subject

accreditation –somewhat voluntary system owned by HEIs, used for improvement and to demonstrate quality levels to be eligible for federal funds. Inclusion of diversity considerations in some systems

SA –institutional audit and programme accreditation-mandatory national system used for improvement and eligibility for programme funding. Inclusion of social justice/social transformation


Diversity in US EvaluationMost evaluation systems look at

institutional mission but not in a directive way iro SJ

WASC Statement on Diversity and Criteria-response to changing demography of the state and its reflection in HE(1980s)

Demographic diversity-students, faculty, governing boards-from affirmative action to diversity

Curriculum, pedagogy, campus culture and experience


Diversity in US EvaluationDiversity is a measure of quality

education-cosmopolitanism, tolerance, engagement with other cultural perspectives, preparation for world of work and civic participation-tapping human potential of all citizens

Accusations of punitiveness and social re-engineering; diversity focus about neither education nor quality


Diversity in US Evaluation Proposition 209(1996)-no direct focus on race, ethnicity and gender in public HE

Shift from access to retention and graduation rates


Social Justice in SA EvaluationPost 1994 reconstruction of SA society

and HE-social justice and transformationReflected in evaluation system(2004) –

criteria for institutional and programme evaluation

Demographic representivity(race, class, gender, disability) as well as social transformation-institutional culture, curriculum change, new pedagogies, new research themes and new community partnerships


USA and SA Evaluation SystemsDifferent systems-different languages to designate a similar social concern about education, quality and inclusion

Diversity/SJ focus in criteria, training of evaluators, in the panel engagement with staff and students, in self-review and agency report and recommendations


USA and SA Evaluation SystemsEasier to look at input measures

and measurable achievementsHow to measure SJ competencies-

no standards and indicators set for them-may help to avoid SJ fundamentalism in evaluation

SJ defined in relation to dominant contextual imperatives-no Platonic absolutes-part of democratic debate and engagement


In search of conclusionsOpportunities-exploring the interface of excellence and inequality in HE

Inserting dialogic engagement on social justice/transformation issues pertinent to context into evaluation

Counterposing search for market competencies with broader social competencies and impact


In search of conclusionsLimits-what educational outcomes can be measured in evaluation

Easier iro numbers-demographic diversity in governance/ student body/faculty and administrators, curriculum change

More difficult to measure iro value and worldview outcomes


In search of conclusionsDangers-bringing state/party political agendas back into academe with no guarantees as to how evaluation findings will be used

Increasing onerousness of evaluation and burden of evidence on academics

Using SJ to withhold accreditation


Unresolved IssuesIs SJ a constitutive component of

quality and excellence or only a framing condition?

Who can best organise HE and make it work in the public interest-states, markets or academe?

Evaluation as positivist science or hermeneutics? Will strong accountability demands be satisfied with interpretative rather than quantitative findings?


Unresolved IssuesSJ in transnational contexts-whose SJ?

Expecting too much of HE?Populist proposal-save the world outside of evaluation and HE(Fish)?

Bringing together the three takes on evaluation-guild authority, social reform and excellence in the public interest


mala singh centre for higher education research and information, the open university, uk...

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social accountability

social injustice

social reformevaluation

service of social reform

higher education research

social progressus

state control

higher educationwho