ERIC Number: EJ990711
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0268-0939
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Available Date: N/A
Higher Education Policy in Post-Devolution UK: More Convergence than Divergence?
Gallacher, Jim; Raffe, David
Journal of Education Policy, v27 n4 p467-490 2012
Many researchers studying the impact of parliamentary devolution conclude that education policies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverging. They attribute this to five factors: the redistribution of formal powers associated with devolution; differences in values, ideologies and policy discourses across the four territories; the different composition, interests and policy styles of their policy communities; the different "situational logics" of policy-making and the mutual independence of policy decisions in the different territories. This article reviews trends in higher education (HE) policy across the UK since parliamentary devolution. It focuses on policies for student fees and student support, for widening participation, for supporting research and for the HE contribution to economic development, skills and employability. On balance, it finds as much evidence of policy convergence, or at least of constraints on divergence, as of policy divergence. It argues that each of the five factors claimed to promote divergence can be associated with corresponding pressures for convergence. (Contains 1 figure and 2 notes.)
Descriptors: Educational Policy, Higher Education, Evidence, Foreign Countries, Ideology, Economic Development, Political Influences, Power Structure, Values, Educational Trends, Trend Analysis, Fees, Access to Education, Policy Formation, Comparative Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England); United Kingdom (Northern Ireland); United Kingdom (Scotland); United Kingdom (Wales)
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