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‘Improving ratings’: audit in the British University system

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  • Strathern, Marilyn

Abstract

This paper gives an anthropological comment on what has been called the ‘audit explosion’, the proliferation of procedures for evaluating performance. In higher education the subject of audit (in this sense) is not so much the education of the students as the institutional provision for their education. British universities, as institutions, are increasingly subject to national scrutiny for teaching, research and administrative competence. In the wake of this scrutiny comes a new cultural apparatus of expectations and technologies. While the metaphor of financial auditing points to the important values of accountability, audit does more than monitor—it has a life of its own that jeopardizes the life it audits. The runaway character of assessment practices is analysed in terms of cultural practice. Higher education is intimately bound up with the origins of such practices, and is not just the latter day target of them. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Strathern, Marilyn, 1997. "‘Improving ratings’: audit in the British University system," European Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 305-321, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:eurrev:v:5:y:1997:i:03:p:305-321_00
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    2. Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Morgan, Jamie, 2023. "Paradox of stationarity? A policy target dilemma for policymakers," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 142-145.
    3. Morgan, John & Tumlinson, Justin & Várdy, Felix, 2022. "The limits of meritocracy," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    4. Crispin H. V. Cooper, 2020. "Quantitative Models of Well-Being to Inform Policy: Problems and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Alonso Rodríguez-Navarro & Ricardo Brito, 2019. "Probability and expected frequency of breakthroughs: basis and use of a robust method of research assessment," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(1), pages 213-235, April.
    6. Pollock, Neil & D'Adderio, Luciana & Williams, Robin & Leforestier, Ludovic, 2018. "Conforming or transforming? How organizations respond to multiple rankings," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 55-68.
    7. Alexander I. Terekhov, 2017. "Bibliometric spectroscopy of Russia’s nanotechnology: 2000–2014," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1217-1242, March.
    8. Matthias Aistleitner & Christian Grimm & Jakob Kapeller, 2018. "Auftragsvergabe, Leistungsqualitaet und Kostenintensitaet im Schienenpersonenverkehr. Eine internationale Perspektive," ICAE Working Papers 86, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    9. Salim Moussa, 2021. "Are FT50 journals really leading? A comment on Fassin," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(12), pages 9613-9622, December.
    10. Taleb, Nassim Nicholas & Bar-Yam, Yaneer & Cirillo, Pasquale, 2022. "On single point forecasts for fat-tailed variables," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 413-422.
    11. Manheim, David, 2018. "Building Less Flawed Metrics," MPRA Paper 90649, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Yaneer Bar-Yam & Pasquale Cirillo, 2020. "On Single Point Forecasts for Fat-Tailed Variables," Papers 2007.16096, arXiv.org.
    13. Mehrpouya, Afshin & Samiolo, Rita, 2016. "Performance measurement in global governance: Ranking and the politics of variability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 12-31.
    14. Andrea Mennicken & Robert Salais, 2022. "The New Politics of Numbers: An Introduction," Post-Print hal-04115712, HAL.
    15. Power, Michael, 2021. "Modelling the microfoundations of the audit society: organizations and the logic of the audit trail," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100243, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Nunn, Jack S & Shafee, Thomas, 2021. "Standardised Data on Initiatives – STARDIT: Beta Version," OSF Preprints w5xj6, Center for Open Science.
    17. Zhiya Zuo & Kang Zhao, 2021. "Understanding and predicting future research impact at different career stages—A social network perspective," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 72(4), pages 454-472, April.
    18. Momin M. Malik, 2020. "A Hierarchy of Limitations in Machine Learning," Papers 2002.05193, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2020.
    19. Nikolic, Marijana & Krajisnik, Milenko, 2019. "Impact Of International Country Rankings On Economic Development Of European Countries In Transition," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 10(2), pages 259-273.
    20. Moizer, Peter, 2009. "Publishing in accounting journals: A fair game?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 285-304, February.

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