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johepal 2025, 6(3): 59-74 |
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Khelifi S. (2025). Meeting at the 'Wiggle Room': Conceptualizing a Fit between Higher Education and Policy Implementation. johepal. 6(3), 59-74. doi:10.61882/johepal.6.3.59
URL: http://johepal.com/article-1-1428-en.html
URL: http://johepal.com/article-1-1428-en.html
Abstract: (653 Views)
This paper deconstructs the uneasy relationship between higher education research and implementation analysis and suggests a possible conceptual fit between them. It invokes the concept of discretion from street-level bureaucracy and insights from the sociology of profession to stress the unique features of the highly professionalised character of academia to argue for a possible match. Use of discretion is a daily routine and a toolkit essential for academics endowed with advanced knowledge to enact informed judgement on situations unanticipated by policymakers. The conceptual analysis is tested against empirical studies gleaned from higher education research and other sectors. Findings confirm academics’ potential to determine the policy outcome through their discretionary behavior. Still, the tide of new public management reforms have constrained such use and levelled academia with less professionalised sectors. The result was bureaucratisation of academics who prioritize sticking to the rules over using value discretion, often distorting intended policy outcomes.
Keywords: Policy Implementation, Higher Education, Discretion, Academic Profession, Street-level Bureaucrats
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2024/11/5 | Accepted: 2025/09/10 | Published: 2025/09/30
Received: 2024/11/5 | Accepted: 2025/09/10 | Published: 2025/09/30
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