决策是如何做出的?--关于英国米德尔塞斯大学关闭哲学系的案例研究

摘要

在高等教育市场化环境下，学系时时面对绩效压力，一些英国大学采取关闭学系的方式予以应对。本文以米德尔塞斯大学关闭哲学系为案例，分析该决策是如何做出的以及各方利益相关者的博弈过程。关闭哲学系这样的文科学系使人文学科受到冲击，也反映出大学内部管理中的绩效文化大行其道，并促使升格大学对注重科研的学术文化再定位。关闭学系受到了高等教育拨款政策和政府重新划分大学职能的双重因素影响。%Under the pressure of higher education marketization,some England Universities choose to close certain departments to meet performance requirements.This article explored the process of de-cision making for department closure,by analyzing the case of Philosophy department closure at Mid-dlesex University.The decision to close the Philosophy department dealt a blow to human sciences and reflected the prevalent administrative culture which emphasizes performance.Meanwhile,such a deci-sion impelled universities to reconsider the position of research.The study revealed two important deci-sion-making factors in the department closure,namely the funding policy and the authority of the gov-ernment to reclassify universities.