Book Reviews

摘要

Five years ago I was sure that Denmark would never legislate on smoking. Now the sensible or strict policy depending on perspective is a fact. Six years ago I was sure that research assessment exercises as we know it from UK would never have a chance to be introduced in Scandinavia. At the moment, all Scandinavian countries are working with similar schemes. The culture of assessment becomes more and more widespread. Some of the main points in the culture of assessment are, of course, concepts such as quality, user orientation, free choices and responsive public institutions. The approach to quality - whatever it is - has changed greatly in most sectors of society and it is now connected more to perceptions and satisfactions than it is to the values and norms of the profession. This culture of assessment has also permeated educational institutions and this is what the book under review is about. Many academics feel rather uneasy in this situation because professional standards are perceived to be undermined by management's emphasis on recruitment, retention of students and number of output. This uneasiness is strengthened by the observation that the influence of academics in matters traditionally considered pure research and teaching tend to decrease. This development was the main reason I looked forward to reviewing this book.