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Changing Concepts of ‘The University’ and Oxford’s Governance Debates, 1850s–2000s

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Sciences in the Universities of Europe, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science ((BSPS,volume 309))

Abstract

Many authors lament what they see as the decline of higher education traditions of collegial self-governance and institutional autonomy. Some histories on university governance and management suggest that universities are in a state of fundamental disrepair. However, what appears to be decline may simply be transformation. From the mid-nineteenth to the early twenty-first century British higher education has faced dramatic upheaval and demand for reform. These changes include the massification of higher education, the rebirth of the global higher education market, and the rise of new managerialism. Oxford University is an institution that has faced and responded to these pressures with changes to its governance structures. This paper considers Oxford’s governance reviews over the period 1850–2006 as a tool to understand global higher education reform and considers the impact of reform on how Oxford is institutionally governed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    While Chancellor of Oxford (1629–1641), Archbishop William Laud led a revision of Oxford’s Statutes in their entirety, completed in 1636.

  2. 2.

    It should be noted that two of the Commissioners focusing on Oxford were vice chancellors of the civic universities, Manchester and Sheffield, although Oxford graduates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies, Oxford, UK

    Andrew M. Boggs MA

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  1. Andrew M. Boggs MA
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Correspondence to Andrew M. Boggs MA .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), Faculty of Sciences/University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal

    Ana Simões

  2. Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), New University of Lisbon (FCT/NOVA), Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria Paula Diogo

  3. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Kostas Gavroglu

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Boggs, A. (2015). Changing Concepts of ‘The University’ and Oxford’s Governance Debates, 1850s–2000s. In: Simões, A., Diogo, M., Gavroglu, K. (eds) Sciences in the Universities of Europe, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 309. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9636-1_4

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