K 6.2
Session: K
Parallel Session: 6.2
Research Domain: Higher Education Policy; Management, Leadership and governance
Ted Tapper
Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies, Oxford, United Kingdom
Oxbridge: Sustaining The International Reputation
In recent years there have been three main global trends impacting upon the development of
national systems of higher education. Firstly, there has been the expansion of student numbers to
the point that it is appropriate to describe higher education almost universally as mass in size
(Trow, 1973). Secondly, in financial terms the state has become in many countries a minority
shareholder as far as the funding of higher education is concerned. Thirdly, higher education is
increasingly perceived as a global commodity manifested in various ways including the expansion
of international institutional organisations, and – of course – the creation of the so-called world
class league tables.
Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine three interrelated goals. How can the
national and international reputations of Oxbridge be explained? Will there be broad-based
political support within the United Kingdom for sustaining Oxbridge as a world-class brand name?
Thirdly, what does the struggle to sustain an international reputation imply for our understanding of
the idea of collegiality?
A broad historical overview of the changing basis of institutional reputations will be presented. It
will be organised around the idea that the status of Oxbridge has been dependent upon its ability to
respond effectively to dominant external interests, which were once national in scope but are
increasingly international. The evidence consists of an interpretation of published secondary
sources, institutional documentation (produced by the universities as well as by state and quasistate agencies), and an interpretation of a range of national and international ‘league tables’.
The main outcome of the study will be a very focussed perspective on what sustains institutional
reputation. This is not a descriptive overview that attempts to incorporate every empirical
observation that could be relevant to the argument. Secondly, it presents a clear response to the
debate (Brown, 2002; Watson, 2007) as to whether we are moving towards a more diverse or more
hierarchical structure of higher education in England.
References:
Brown, R. (2002) ‘New Labour and Higher Education: Diversity or Hierarchy? Professorial lecture
delivered at the University of East London
Trow. M. (1973) ‘Problems in the Transition from Elite to Mass Higher Education’, Carnegie
Commission on Higher Education, Berkeley
Watson, D. (2007) ‘Review of Sheldon Rothblatt’s ‘Education’s Abiding Moral Dilemma’ ‘, Higher
Education Quarterly, Volume 61, No.3, 409-12