Military Research in Managerial Universities: The Legacies of Systems Analysis in Higher Education Governance

The influence of the RAND Corporation’s systems analysis framework extends beyond its documented use in military, urban, and welfare policies in the U.S. In the 1960s, the Johnson administration embraced it to build brainpower and skilled manpower for Cold War efforts. As is argued, this postwar global context is a key starting point for embarking on historical research on neoliberalism in educational governance because it represents the early development of notions such as the efficiency and the performance of educational institutions. Building on existing scholarship, this article discusses how military networks have influenced the early development of new public management governance, shaping notions of efficiency and performance which currently dominate university and research sectors globally. By analysing the similarities and differences between the RAND’s PPBS systems analysis framework and the development of managerial logics in universities, I show how military research was assimilated and re-articulated across the national and international levels by specific networks in the US and international contexts, inviting for a historical reconsideration of the development of new public management in higher education.