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“The vision of actual things” Institutional Research Conference SSU

“The vision of actual things” Institutional Research Conference SSU. Professor Sir David Watson 26 June 2008. Centre for Higher Education Studies. Self-study and institutional strategy: six traps. Over-simplification: the seduction of scenarios

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“The vision of actual things” Institutional Research Conference SSU

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  1. “The vision of actual things” Institutional Research Conference SSU Professor Sir David Watson 26 June 2008 Centre for Higher Education Studies

  2. Self-study and institutional strategy: six traps • Over-simplification: the seduction of scenarios • The lure of change: change or change for the better? • Bench-marking for comfort or for challenge: “Inside the whale” • Following the crowd: RAE-fixation • Reputation over quality • Only good news: dealing with the counter-intuitive

  3. “All we can do is to search the world as we find it, extricate the forces that seem to move it, and surround them with criticism and suggestion. Such a vision will inevitably reveal the bias of its author; that is to say it will be a human hypothesis not an oracular revelation. But if the hypothesis is honest and alive it should cast a little light upon our chaos. It should help us to cease revolving in the mere routine of the present or floating in a private utopia. For a vision of latent hope would be woven of vigorous strands; it would be concentrated on the crucial points of contemporary life, on that living zone where the present is passing into the future. It is the region where thought and action count. Too far ahead there is nothing but your dream; just behind there is nothing but your memory. But in the unfolding present, man can be creative if his vision is gathered from the promise of actual things”. (Lippmann, 1914: 18)

  4. 1. Scenarios • The wired/wireless universe • The new cold/hot war • Here come the “Asian tigers”

  5. The seven basic plots (Christopher Booker, 2004) • Overcoming the monster • Rags to riches • The quest • Voyage and return • Comedy • Tragedy • Rebirth

  6. 2. The change fetish • “I tell my people that change and change for the better aren’t necessarily the same thing” • Karen Brady, Businesswoman of the Year, Desert Island Discs

  7. 3. Bench-marking

  8. Inside the whale • “The passive attitude will come back, and it will be more consciously passive than before. Progress and reaction have both turned out to be swindles. Seemingly there is nothing left but quietism – robbing reality of its terrors by simply submitting to it. Get inside the whale – or rather, admit that you are inside the whale (for you are, of course). Give yourself over to the world-process, stop fighting against it or pretending that you control it; simply accept it, endure it, record it.” • (George Orwell 1940, Inside the Whale)

  9. Percentage change in enrolments by subject area, 1996/7 to 2005/06

  10. UK HE student numbers by mode and level, 1979 - 2005

  11. 4. Following the crowd

  12. HEFCE QR Four HEIs receive 29% of HEFCE research funds Ten HEIs receive 50% of HEFCE research funds 23 HEIs receive 75% of HEFCE research funds Research Council funding Three HEIs receive 25% of Research Council funding Eight HEIs receive 50% of Research Council funding 18 HEIs receive 75% of Research Council funding Research concentration

  13. QR winners Decline in dual support The mirage of Full Economic Costing Narrowing of mission Dominance of medicine and science Partnership aversion Gearing reduction The rest Mode 2 opportunities Creative and service economies “Liberal” curriculum “Translational research” “The science of performance” “University-like businesses” Right-sizing QR: life after REF

  14. HEFCE funding: R as a percentage of T+R, 2000-01

  15. University of Brighton: sources of research funding 2003-04 (£8.4m) • Research Councils 19.0% • UK-based charities 1.3% • UK government (including health) 13.4% • UK industry & commerce 7.3% • EU government 7.7% • EU other 1.3% • Other overseas 1.0% • TCS/KTP 9.5% • HEFCE QR 39.5% • Watson & Maddison, Managing Institutional Self-Study (2005), 112

  16. 5. Reputation over quality

  17. Reputation over quality • “Institutions such as my own are outposts of serious and bright students of modest or low-income background taught by dedicated faculty who are often respected researchers as well. These institutions are home to a democratic institutional culture simply not possible at elite institutions…It is time that the national agonizing about the income bias of elite institutions shifts its focus to these institutions.” Lawrence Blum, The New York Review of Books.

  18. Higher education and lifelong learning: a framework of change Source: Schuetze and Slowey 2000

  19. “World-classness” Times League Table “Research Intensity” International recruitment Graduate employability National Student Survey Degree results Social mobility Financial security Gay friendliness Ten top tens

  20. Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (2007) • 1. Cambridge (4) • 2. Oxford (10) • 3. Imperial (23) • 4. UCL (25) • 5. Manchester (48) • 6. Edinburgh (53) • 7. Bristol (62) • 8. Sheffield (72) • 9. Nottingham (81) • 10. KCL (83) • (Institute of Higher Education. Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2007)

  21. Times League Table (2007) • 1. Oxford • 2. Cambridge • 3. Imperial College • 4. LSE • 5. St Andrews • 6. UCL • 7. Warwick • 8. Bristol • 9. Durham • 10. KCL • (Timesonline 17.11.07)

  22. Research as a proportion of total FC grant (2005-06) • 1. Imperial (29%) • 2. UCL • 3. School of Pharmacy • 4. St. Andrews • 5. Southampton • 6. Oxford • 7. Sussex • 8. Institute of Cancer Research • 9. Sheffield • 10. Bristol • (UUK Patterns 7)

  23. Number of international (non-EU) students (2005-06)1. Warwick (5,602)2. Manchester3. Nottingham4. London Metropolitan5. UCL6. Oxford7. Birmingham8. LSE9. Middlesex10. Leeds(UUK Patterns 7)

  24. First destination survey in employment (2005-06) • 1. Buckingham (100%) • 2. Courthauld Institute of Art • 3. Cranfield • 4. Royal Academy of Music • 5. Royal College of Music • 6. Royal Veterinary College • 7. St George’s Hospital Medical School • 8. The School of Pharmacy • 9. Trinity Laban • 10. Dundee • (UUK Patterns 7)

  25. National Student Survey (2007) • 1. Buckingham • 2. Oxford • 3. Open • 4. Loughborough • 5. Leicester • 6. Exeter • 7. Institute of Education • 8. St. Andrews • 9. East Anglia • 10. Birkbeck • (THES 14.9.07)

  26. Proportion of Firsts and Upper Seconds (2005-06) • 1. Oxford (90%) • 2. Courthauld Institute of Art • 3. Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama • 4. Cambridge • 5. Royal Academy of Music • 6. Bristol • 7. St Andrews • 8. Royal Veterinary College • 9. University College Falmouth • 10. University of London (Institutes) • (UUK Patterns 7)

  27. Percentage of students from social groups 4-7 (2005-06) • 1. Harper Adams College (59%) • 2. UHI Millennium Institute • 3. Wolverhampton • 4. NEWI • 5. East London • 6. Greenwich • 7. Trinity College, Camarthen • 8. Ulster • 9. Bell College • 10. Teesside • (UUK Patterns 7 – note that the definition of lower class includes [absurdly] self-employed parents; hence the agricultural tendency).

  28. Gay Friendly Universities (according to Diva 2005) • 1. Manchester Metropolitan • 2. Brighton • 3. University of London (!) • 4. Birmingham • 5. Lancaster • 6. Leeds • 7. Hull • 8. Bradford • 9. Durham • 10. Edinburgh • (Guardian Online 10.8.05)

  29. World-classness • Statistics • Politics • Journalism

  30. What makes a university world-class? • The objective score board • The subjective beauty contest

  31. Shanghai Jiao Tong: 2004 and 2005 • Alumni prizes 10% • Staff prizes 20% • Highly cited researchers 20% • Science citations 20% • Soc. Sci./Humanities citations 20% • Adjustment for size 10%

  32. THES 2005 • Peer review 40% • Employer ratings 10% • Citations per FTE staff 20% • SSR 20% • International staff 5% • International students 5%

  33. What counts Research Media interest Graduate destinations Infrastructure International “executive” recruitment What doesn’t count Teaching quality Social mobility Services to business and the community Rural interests Other public services Collaboration The public interest World-classness

  34. 6. Dealing with the counter-intuitive • Debt and liquidity • “Course not appropriate” as dominant reason for withdrawal • Elder care out-weighs child care needs • Part-time work not related to financial circumstances • Part-time students prioritise staff contact over services • No growth in % Firsts and Upper Seconds • No correlation between widening participation and retention at School level

  35. Conclusion: know your history • “What would George do?”

  36. Discussion Institute of Education University of London 20 Bedford Way London WC1H 0AL Tel +44 (0)20 7612 6000 Fax +44 (0)20 7612 6126 Email info@ioe.ac.uk Web www.ioe.ac.uk

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