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The growing accountability agenda: Progress or mixed blessing?

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  • Jamil Salmi

Abstract

In the past decade, accountability has become a major concern in most parts of the world. Governments, parliaments and the public are increasingly asking universities to justify the use of public resources and account more thoroughly for their teaching and research results. Is this a favourable development for tertiary education? Or is there too much accountability, at the risk of stifling initiative among university leaders? This article analyses the main dimensions of the growing accountability agenda, examines some of the negative and positive consequences of this evolution, and proposes a few guiding principles for achieving a balanced approach to accountability in tertiary education. It observes that the universal push for increased accountability has made the role of university leaders much more demanding, transforming the competencies expected of them and the ensuing capacity building needs of university management teams. It concludes by observing that accountability is meaningful only to the extent that tertiary education institutions are actually empowered to operate in an autonomous and responsible way. By Jamil Salmi, Tertiary Education Coordinator, The World Bank The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, the members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent. This paper is derived from a short think piece published in October 2007 in International Higher Education. The author wishes to thank all the colleagues who kindly reviewed earlier drafts and generously offered invaluable suggestions, in particular Michael Adams, Svava Bjarnason, Marguerite Clarke, Graeme Davies, Elaine El-Khawas, Ariel Fiszbein, Richard Hopper, Geri Malandra, Sam Mikhail, Benoît Millot and Alenoush Saroyan. Full responsibility for errors and misinterpretations remains, however, with the author. Les universités face aux exigences accrues de transparence et de responsabilité : Une évolution bénéfique ou dangereuse ? Ces dix dernières années, les notions couplées de transparence et de responsabilité sont devenues incontournables dans la plupart des régions du monde. Les gouvernements, les parlements et le public attendent désormais des universités qu’elles justifient leur utilisation des ressources publiques et rendent davantage de comptes au sujet de leurs activités d’enseignement et de recherche. S’agit-il d’une évolution bénéfique pour l’enseignement supérieur ? Ou cette exigence accrue de transparence et de responsabilité risque-t-elle au contraire de tuer dans l’œuf les initiatives des dirigeants d’universités ? Cet article analyse les grandes problématiques qui sous-tendent cette évolution, étudie certaines des conséquences négatives et positives et propose un certain nombre de principes directeurs permettant aux établissements d’enseignement supérieur de répondre de façon réfléchie et mesurée à cette exigence nouvelle. L’auteur constate que la demande universelle de responsabilité et de transparence dans l’enseignement supérieur s’accompagne de contraintes nouvelles pour les dirigeants d’universités, en modifiant les compétences que l’on attendait d’eux jusqu’à présent et en obligeant, par voie de conséquence, les équipes de direction des établissements à renforcer leurs capacités. L’auteur termine en faisant remarquer que cette obligation redditionnelle ne fait sens que si les établissements d’enseignement supérieur ont effectivement la possibilité de mener leurs activités de façon autonome et responsable. Par Jamil Salmi, Coordinateur des programmes d’enseignement supérieur, La Banque mondiale.Les observations, interprétations et conclusions exprimées dans ce rapport sont exclusivement celles de l’auteur et ne sauraient en aucune manière être attribuées à la Banque mondiale, aux membres de son Conseil des Administrateurs ni aux pays qu’ils représentent. Le présent rapport est extrait d’un bref article de fond publié en octobre 2007 dans la revue International Higher Education. L’auteur tient à remercier l’ensemble des collègues qui ont eu la gentillesse de réviser les versions précédentes de ce rapport et de l’enrichir de leurs précieuses remarques et suggestions. Il tient à remercier particulièrement Michael Adams, Svava Bjarnason, Marguerite Clarke, Graeme Davies, Elaine El-Khawas, Ariel Fiszbein, Richard Hopper, Geri Malandra, Sam Mikhail, Benoît Millot et Alenoush Saroyan. L’auteur est toutefois seul responsable des erreurs et interprétations erronées que pourrait contenir ce rapport.

Suggested Citation

  • Jamil Salmi, 2009. "The growing accountability agenda: Progress or mixed blessing?," Higher Education Management and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:edukaa:5ksmdsz5vbzt
    DOI: 10.1787/hemp-v21-art7-en
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    Cited by:

    1. José Joaquín Brunner, 2013. "The Rationale for Higher Education Investment in Ibero-America," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 319, OECD Publishing.

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