Diversity and organization in universities

By the end of the course, students will have achieved the following outcomes:

Knowledge

• Understand historical and contemporary debates about the purpose of universities and the role of universities in society, in relation to students and staff, the government, industry, and society at large.
• Be able to critically assess different perspectives on how universities should be run, from collegial self-governance to New Public Management and the re-organization of higher education along market lines.
• Understand policy directions with broad impact across the public sector, not only on universities e.g. New Public Management reforms.

Skills

• Be able to work together with peers and independently to critically assess changing university missions and principles of organization.
• Be able to analyze how social areas such as education, inequalities, and the academic profession are impacted by changing perceptions of the university and changing models of governance and organization in higher education.
• Being able to apply models of institutional analyses to critically assess policies and reforms, in higher education but also with applicability for other public sector organisations.

General competencies

• Be able to relate sociological theories to processes and debates about the relationship between universities and society, from social stratification theories to newer institutionalist theories.
• Understand how institutions contribute to the production and reproduction of social structures.
• Be able to critically evaluate research studies in higher education.