1. Whose Truth Are We Looking For?
From the purity of academic quality to the ‘dirty
world’ of research
NOMA Summer School 2013
From Principles to Practice: HE Policy and Research Project Management
Monday 21 January, 2013; University of Western Cape
Peter Maassen
University of Oslo

2. Reformulate:
From the (relative) purity of Master and PhD
work to muddy, multi-arena and multi-layered
world of research

3. Diverse research-arenas and -realities
Context (national, institutional, disciplinary) determines
nature of diversity
Essential general distinction:
Basic (fundamental, curiosity-driven, etc.) research, incl.:
•Review
•Supervision
•Editorial work
versus
Work which is research-based or –related, for example:
•Contract research work
•Advisory work
•Evaluative work
•Expert work

4. Specific nature of Social Science/Humanities Research
Lack of conceptual/theoretical agreement
Large, diverse set of methodological choices
Context determined relevance of research problems
Growing complexity of social phenomena
Lack of funding for basic research
Lack of (tenured) academic positions
Challenging relationship with governmental policy making practices
Relatively low status

5. Specificity of Research in the area of Higher Education
“Paradoxically, many politicians and administrators in this field as
well as the academic profession itself, while trying to persuade
society that systematic scholarship is superior to practitioners’
experience and anecdotes, are most skeptical about the value of
scholarship and research if it comes to their practical turf, i.e.
higher education.”
(Teichler, 2000, p. 4)

6. Tendency in HE research: double-isolatedness
1. Study HE as an isolated sector
2. Build HE studies on previous HE research, isolated
from general social sciences and humanities

7. How about HE Policy Studies?

8. Otto von Bismarck
Policies and laws, like sausages, cease to
inspire respect in proportion as we know how
they are made
„Politics concerns the understanding of the possible“

9. Challenges for HE Policy Research
Legitimacy
Relevance
Continuity
Connectedness/embededness

10. Relevant Literature; examples, focusing on change
dynamics (structural and cultural) in universities and
higher education systems:
Ramirez and Christensen (2012)
The formalization of the university: rules, roots, and routes
Christensen, Gornitzka and Maassen (2013)
Global Pressures and National Cultures: A Nordic University Template?

11. Possible career options for HE Policy PhD holders, incl.
1.Academic career (inside HE institutions)
2.Academic career (outside HE institutions)
3.Administrative career (inside HE institutions)
4.Administrative career (outside HE institutions)
5.Bureaucracy (Policy related)
6.Private sector, incl. consultancy (Quick and dirty
research?)
7.Advocacy work

12. Of relevance:
What are the main factors that influence your choice of
research problem/research questions?
Where do you want to position yourself in the field: as
far away as possible from policy (and other) practices,
or as close to these practices as possible?
What does the growing expectation with respect to the
impact of academic research mean for your research
career?