Abstract

World Society Theory and the Development of Irish Higher Education

(1960-2010)

Tom Doyle

This thesis examines the major changes which have occurred in Irish higher education over the last five decades using World Society theory as an analytical framework. In doing so, it provides an alternative perspective to the realist economic or critical discourses which currently dominate the literature on changes in this sector. The premise is that the transformation that has taken place in that sector - its rapid expansion and diversification, its increased centrality in a knowledge based economy and the deep changes in governance arrangements at state and organisational level - are better understood in the context of similar advances that have taken in place in higher education throughout the world over the same time period. World society theory posits that these global changes, and the diffusion of particular policies and organisational forms, is a consequence of emerging global structures and an increasingly rationalised world culture that impacts on all nation-states and social domains such as higher education. International organisations are a key element of these global structures and play a pivotal role in the creation of models that delineate actors, purpose and structure within particular social domains (Meyer, 2010).

The thesis assesses the degree to which Irish higher education has been shaped by that broader world culture and examines the interactions between actors in Irish higher education and two agencies involved in forming global models of higher education, the European Union and the OECD. The study extends over a period of five decades which allows for an analysis of the co-evolution of models promoted by these agencies and the structural changes taking place in Irish higher education. The impact of change is examined at the multiple levels of state, system and individual institute so as to assess the broad cultural effects suggested by World Society theory.

The study finds a strong and increasing convergence between such global models and Irish higher education policies, and the belief systems informing them. It also identifies some persistent differences around structure and organisational practices. From a theoretical perspective, these findings appear to support World Society theory’s assumption of organisations being shaped by global social and cultural forces. The findings also contribute to the discussion concerning societal context and organisational heterogeneity (Hasse & Krücken, 2008) and the need to span the boundaries, that exist within sociological institutionalism, between the macro-perspective of World Society theory and the meso-perspective of inter-organisational or field theory.