The Governing-Evaluation-Knowledge Nexus: Swedish Higher Education as a Case

This open access book analyses the interplay between governing, evaluation and knowledge with an empirical focus on Swedish higher education. It investigates the origins, logics, and mechanisms of evaluation and quality assurance reforms and their dynamic interactions with institutional, national and European policy contexts. The chapters report findings from extensive empirical studies that offer detailed insight into the work of governing in higher education, by giving voice to actors at various levels and positions including the ministry, national agency and University employees. Central themes include the influence of European policy, changing system designs, media relations and quality assurance enactments in University institutions. The book also explores the ways in which an emerging professional cadre, labelled qualocrats, enacts and mediates evaluation and quality assurance policy and practice. Taken together, the expanding evaluation machinery in Swedish higher education highlights the pivotal role of knowledge as a governing resource, and points to special features of evaluation as a particular form of practice that makes knowledge work for governing.

1. Governing by evaluation, Setting the scene; Christina Segerholm, Linda Rönnberg, Joakim Lindgren and Agneta Hult -- 2. National evaluation systems; Christina Segerholm and Joakim Lindgren -- 3. Europe in Sweden; Christina Segerholm and Agneta Hult -- 4. Navigating higher education institutions in times of quality assurance, The assumptive worlds of vice chancellors; Agneta Hult -- 5. Hayek and the red tape: The politics of evaluation and quality assurance reform, from shortcut governing to policy rerouting; Joakim Lindgren and Linda Rönnberg -- 6. Quality evaluation and the media; Linda Rönnberg -- 7. Enacting a national reform interval in times of uncertainty, ‘evaluation gluttony’ for the willing; Joakim Lindgren, Linda Rönnberg, Agneta Hult and Christina Segerholm -- 8. Re-launching national evaluation and quality assurance, expectations and preparations; Christina Segerholm -- 9. Re-launching national evaluation and quality assurance, governing by piloting; Joakim Lindgren, Linda Rönnberg, Agneta Hult and Christina Segerholm -- 10. Evaluation machinery, qualocrats, and the seemingly inevitable problem of expansion; Joakim Lindgren, Linda Rönnberg, Agneta Hult and Christina Segerholm -- Appendix; Christina Segerholm.