Effectiveness in Higher Education: what lessons can be learned after 40 years of neoliberal reform?

Since the 1980s, neoliberal reforms in Higher Education (HE) have been widely adopted by governments around the globe because HE was seen as central to knowledge creation, national prosperity and competitiveness. Although the rate of adoption of these reforms varied due to differences in historical and political contexts, they have had a significant impact on HE systems, especially in the OECD countries. A strong focus on efficiency saw clear patterns emerge including rapid growth, reduced government funding and external accountability mechanisms limiting the independence of universities. While universities have become more efficient, this may have come at the cost of their effectiveness. An argumentative review, from a systems perspective, with particular attention to the impacts on the academic profession, this paper advocates that HE reform should focus on effectiveness, as opposed to efficiency and refers to an action research project to test these ideas, using the Australian HE context as a case study. Early results indicate focussing on effectiveness presents significant challenges for key stakeholder groups: government policymakers, university corporate leaders and the academic profession, but may lead to better a better performing Australian HE system, and offer a model for systemic HE reform applicable to other HE contexts.