Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

States, Markets and Higher Education Reform: The Netherlands and England

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Globalisation, Policy and Comparative Research

Part of the book series: Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research ((GCEP,volume 5))

In many countries pressures of globalisation have led to major changes in relationships between the State, the market and higher education. These changes have conse­quences for the roles and organisation of higher education, and of universities in particular (Butera, 2000; Cowen, 2000; Fulton, 2002, 2003; Zajda, 2005, 2006; Henry et al., 2001; Schugurensky, 1999). This chapter explores aspects of higher education reform in the Netherlands and England, with a particular focus on market regulation. It is clear to everyone that in several OECD countries there has been a shift to market-framing of higher education (Clark, 1998; Jongbloed, 2003). Various governments have taken the view that institutional autonomy should be increased and that higher education institutions would become more effective and efficient, more responsive to economic imperatives, more productive and better managed if institutions are urged to compete more directly within a market (Goedegebuure & Westerheijden, 1991; Williams, 1992; Dill, 1997; Weiler, 2000; King, 2004; Kogan & Hanney, 2000; McNay, 1999; Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004). Market-framing is also expected to lead to particular kinds of innovation and adaptation to ‘customers’, such as students and companies.

However, market-framing not only refers to linking higher education closer to business and industry, but also to organising higher education institutions themselves as a business (Cowen, 1991). It involves large changes in the funding and ­management of higher education. Government initiatives to frame higher education institutions within markets have included deregulation of financial autonomy, the introduction of performance-based models of resource allocation, an urge for institutions to attract external funding and encouragement of competition between (and within) institutions. In a number of countries higher education institutions now operate in several markets: there are markets for students, teaching and research staff, research council grants, funding and company training. Higher education institutions have to compete for external funding, which leads to more market-related activities. Institutions also increasingly have to compete for state funding. The formulae for state funding send a powerful message about what is (and what is not) considered to be important in the higher education system. The markets in which higher education has been framed are not free markets because the Government intervenes in several ways by setting the rules and boundaries of the market (see also Williams, 1997).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bauer, M. & Henkel, M. (1999). Academic Responses to Quality Reforms in Higher Education. In M. Henkel & B. Little (Eds.), Changing Relationships Between Higher Education and the State (pp. 236–262). London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boer, H. de & Huisman, J. (1999). The New Public Management in Dutch Universities. In D. Braun & F.-X. Merrien (Eds.), Towards a New Model of Governance for Universities? A Comparative View (pp. 100–118). London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butera, F. (2000). Adapting the Pattern of University Organisation to the Needs of the Knowledge Economy. European Journal of Education, 35(4, 403–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, B. R. (1998). Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways of Transformation. Oxford: Pergamon Press for International Association of Universities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowen, R. (1991). The Management and Evaluation of the Entrepreneurial University: The Case of England. Higher Education Policy, 4(3), 9–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowen, R. (2000). The Market-Framed University: The New Ethics of the Game. In J. Cairns, R. Gardner, & D. Lawton (Eds.), Values and the Curriculum (pp. 93–105). London: Woburn Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currie, J. (2004). The Neo-Liberal Paradigm and Higher Education: A Critique. In J. K. Odin & P. T. Manicas (Eds.), Globalization and Higher Education (pp. 42–62). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deem, R. (2001). Globalisation, New Managerialism, Academic Capitalism and Entrepreneurialism in Universities: Is the Local Dimension Still Important. Comparative Education, 37(1), 7–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2004). Why Not a Fixed Fee? London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dill, D. (1997). Higher Education Markets and Public Policy. Higher Education Policy, 10(3–4), 167–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fulton, O. (2002). Higher Education Governance in the UK: Change and Continuity. A. Amaral, G. A. Jones, & B. Karseth (Eds.), Governing Higher Education: National Perspectives on Institutional Governance (pp. 187–211). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fulton, O. (2003). Managerialism in UK Universities: Unstable Hybridity and the Complications of Implementation. In A. Amaral, V. L. Meek, & I. M. Larsen (Eds.), The Higher Education Managerial Revolution? (pp. 155–178). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Goedegebuure, L. C. J. & Westerheijden, D. F. (1991). Changing Balances in Dutch Higher Education. Higher Education, 21(4), 495–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, L. & Whitty, G. (1997). Giving the ‘Hidden Hand’ a Helping Hand? The Rhetoric and Reality of Neoliberal Education Reform in England and New Zealand. Comparative Education, 33(3), 453–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Great Britain (2004). Higher Education Act 2004. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. A. & Soskice, D. (2001). Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Henkel, M. & Little, B. (Eds.). (1999). Changing Relationships Between Higher Education and the State. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, M., Lingard, B., Rizvi, F., & Taylor, S. (2001). The OECD, Globalisation and Education Policy. Oxford: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2001). Funding Higher Education in England: How the HEFCE Allocates Its Funds, No. 01/14. Bristol: HEFCE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2002). Funding Higher Education in England: How the HEFCE Allocates Its Funds, No. 02/18. Bristol: HEFCE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) (2003). Resources of Higher Education Institutions 2001–02. Reference Volume. Cheltenham: HESA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huisman, J., Verhoeven, J., & de Wit, K. (2004). Change in Study Programmes: The Low Countries. Higher Education Policy, 17(3), 269–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jongbloed, B. (2003). Marketisation in Higher Education, Clark’s Triangle and the Essential Ingredients of Markets. Higher Education Quarterly, 57(2), 110–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, R. (2004). The University in the Global Age. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kogan, M. & Hanney, S. (2000). Reforming Higher Education. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P. (2002). Organisational Strategies and Governance Structures in Dutch Universities. In A. Amaral, G. A. Jones, & B. Karseth (Eds.), Governing Higher Education: National Perspectives on Institutional Governance (pp. 23–41). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Maassen, P. A. M., Goedegebuure, L. C. J., & Westerheijden, D. F. (1993). Social and Political Conditions for the Changing Higher Education Structures in the Netherlands. In C. Gellert(Ed.), Higher Education in Europe (pp. 135–151). London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNay, I. (1999). Changing Cultures in UK Higher Education: The State as Corporate Market Bureaucracy and the Emergent Academic Enterprise. In D. Braun, & F.-X. Merrien (Eds.), Towards a New Model of Governance for Universities? A Comparative View (pp. 34–58). London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen (OECW) (1999). Financiële Schema’s 2000–2004 [Financial Schemes 2000–2004]. Den Haag: Sdu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neave, G. (1998). The Evaluative State Reconsidered. European Journal of Education, 33(3), 265–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, C. (2004). Rapid Expansion and Extensive Deregulation: The Development of Markets for Higher Education in the Netherlands. In P. Teixeira, B. Jongbloed, D. Dill, & A. Amaral (Eds.), Markets in Higher Education: Rhetoric or Reality? (pp. 271–290). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schugurensky, D. (1999). Higher Education Restructuring in the Era of Globalisation; Toward a Heteronomous Model?. In R. F. Arnove & C. A. Torres (Eds.), Comparative Education: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local (pp. 283–304). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slaughter, S. & Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Markets, State, and Higher Education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vossensteyn, J. J. (2002). Shared Interests, Shared Costs: Student Contributions in Dutch Higher Education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 24(2), 145–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vught, F. A. van (1993). Quality Management and Quality Assurance in European Higher Education: Methods and Mechanisms. Luxembourg: Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vught, F. A. van (1997). Combining Planning and the Market: An Analysis of the Government Strategy Towards Higher Education in the Netherlands. Higher Education Policy, 10(3–4), 211–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weert, E. de (2001a). Pressures and Prospects Facing the Academic Profession in the Netherlands. Higher Education, 41(1–2), 77–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weert, E. de (2001b). The End of Public Employment in Dutch Higher Education?. In J. Enders (Ed.), Academic Staff in Europe: Changing Contexts and Conditions (pp. 195–216). London: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiler, H. (2000). States, Markets and University Funding: New Paradigms for the Reforms of Higher Education in Europe. Compare, 30(3), 333–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. (1992). Changing Patterns of Finance in Higher Education. Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. (1997). The Market Route to Mass Higher Education: British Experience 1979–1996. Higher Education Policy, 10(3–4), 275–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. (2004). The higher education market in the United Kingdom. In P. Teixeira, B. Jongbloed, D. Dill, & A. Amaral (Eds.), Markets in Higher Education: Rhetoric or Reality?(pp. 241–269). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Willmott, H. (2003). Commercialising Higher Education in the UK: The State, Industry and Peer Review. Studies in Higher Education, 28(2), 129–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2005). International Handbook of Globalisation and Education Policy Research. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2006). Decentralisation and Privatisation in Education: The Role of the State. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. Majhanovich, S., & Rust, V. (Eds.). (2006). Education and Social Justice. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. Biraimah, B., & Gaudelli, W. (Eds.). (2008). Education and Social Inequality in the Global Culture. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Rosamunde F.J. Becker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus, Australia

    Joseph Zajda

  2. University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Val Rust

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Becker, R.F. (2009). States, Markets and Higher Education Reform: The Netherlands and England. In: Zajda, J., Rust, V. (eds) Globalisation, Policy and Comparative Research. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9547-4_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation