Morley, Louise (2005) The micropolitics of quality. Critical Quarterly, 47 (1-2). pp. 83-95. ISSN 0011-1562

Preview

PDF Download (111kB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper discusses how the audit culture has impacted on UK academics in terms of professional identities, priorities and social relations. Micropolitics, performativity, psychic economy and the changing political economy of higher education are some of the theoretical tools used to offer some explanatory power for the range of engagements with quality assurance. Questions are raised about the polysemic discourse of quality and how it has been subjected to multiple interpretations. For example, there are those members of the academy who see it as a major form of modernisation and student empowerment, while others see it as a form of symbolic violence. Specific attention is paid to peer review, impact studies, gendered power relations, productivity measures and whether quality intersects with equality in the academy. The paper concludes with calls to consider what the gestalt is of higher education.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Higher education, Quality assurance
Schools and Departments:	School of Education and Social Work > Education
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General)
Depositing User:	Louise Morley
Date Deposited:	16 Aug 2006
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2019 15:30
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/189
Google Scholar:	13 Citations

View download statistics for this item

📧 Request an update