The Development of Performance Indicators for Higher Education: A Compendium for Eleven Countries. Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education.

Abstract

The report examines the development and implementation of performance indicators at institutions of higher education, through presentation of position statements on 11 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom. General conclusions are summarized in an introductory section and include the following observations: (1) there has been substantial development in the area of performance indicators over the past 2 years; (2) developments clearly reflect the importance of national and cultural settings, and the political agendas of governments figure strongly in performance indicator development; (3) the emerging relationship between performance indicators and funding mechanisms is of importance; (4) institutional self-regulation within well-defined institutional and systemic goals is desirable; (5) some governments are requesting that institutions prepare 3-5 year development plans; (6) there is concern as to the adequacy of the management information systems needed to sustain performance indicators; (7) while there is some satisfaction with progress made on indicators relating to research, much work remains in the domains of teaching, finance, and public service; and (8) of greatest concern is the problem of publication of indicators on a comparative basis across institutions. Appendices include documentation supporting some of the individual country reports.

Cite this document ^(BETA)