The effect of government policy on universities: a review of recent higher education research

The impact of government policies on universities is an important contemporary question, but one where the existing research base has not been systematically mapped. To understand how recent higher education scholarship has tackled this topic – and in order to lay foundations for future research into policy impact – this article employs a search of papers published in four higher education journals over a decade, along with a complementary database search, to arrive systematically at a sample of 100 studies which investigate the relationship between national-level policies and organisation-level behaviour of higher education institutions. Analysis of these identified studies shows that qualitative methods prevail, particularly interviews with senior university staff, and that the most prevalent conclusion is that the policy impact is ambiguous, often involving unintended consequences or complicated by other factors. Multiple examinations of the same policy’s effects are rare, with consequences for the richness of the conclusions that can be drawn. Only a minority of identified studies are found to engage deeply with the consequences for policymaking, and there is also clear scope for further critical examination of the processes by which policies are interpreted within higher education institutions, and how responses to policy come to be formulated.