LIST OF WORKSHOPS

This workshop will analyze the relationship between governance of higher education (HE) and systemic performance in Latin America. After four decades of reforms, higher education systems (HES) present a diversified landscape of outcomes in terms of enrollment rates, policies of quality assurance and funding mechanisms. Studies traditionally focused on HES indicators explain systemic performance as a byproduct of a linear process of privatization where variation among countries reflect different moments of the dismantling/retreatment/self-limitation of the state. As a consequence, government and governance appear like extremes of a single continuum that goes from a centralized decision-making to an arrangement of networked coordination among different actors. Against this idea evidence shows that, despite the degree of privatization in a given HES, regional governments have actively structured governance by increasing or reducing actors’ freedom through the deployment of different policy instruments aimed to achieve systemic goals (enrollment, quality, funding). However, exploring the empirical relationship between governance and systemic performance is a challenging task. Governmental action takes place in contexts characterized by: (1) mixes of instruments and layers of policies; (2) the politically contingent character that prevails in regional decision-making, and (3) information gaps and “unreadable” market environments. Thus, some research questions that arise are:

1) What relevant old and new actors in higher education systems do exist and what interests are they pursuing? 
2) What is their degree of power, authority and freedom to intervene in the decision-making processes based on the available    policy instruments?
3) What are the most relevant instruments and how does their juxtaposition produce specific configurations?
4) To what extent these configurations shape enhance performance or generate problematic outcomes?

This  workshop aim to make sense on this problematic issues in order to draw some lessons that would help Latin American researchers and practitioners to take advantage of the cumulate experience on HE policy-making. We are looking for contributions aimed to unveil conditions, mechanisms and practices behind good and bad performance of HES rooted on the analysis of: a) national governance arrangements b) policy instrument; c) role of actors and d) the alignment between policies and outcomes.

After four decades of reforms, Latin American HES offer a highly diverse landscape in terms of enrollment, quality assurance and funding mechanisms. Making sense of this uneven panorama is crucial to enhance our understanding of the relationship between governance and performance in higher education. The workshop is looking for contributions aimed to unveil conditions, mechanisms and practices behind good and bad performance of HES rooted on the analysis of:

     (1) national governance arrangements [González-Ledesma & Álvarez-Mendiola, 2019],

     (2) policy instrument [Bemelmans-Videc et al., 1998; Hannaway & Woodroffe, 2003];

     (3) the role of actors [Brunner & Ganga, 2016] and

     (4) the alignment between policies and outcomes [Mella-Polanco, 2018].

We particularly encourage empirical and comparative contributions that tackle this puzzle from a systemic perspective as well as papers exploring new methodological perspectives to deal with these issues.
 
Each paper proposal should feature a title, a 400-word abstract, a short 100 word biographical sketch for each contributor and contact information.

This workshop will analyze the relationship between governance of higher education (HE) and systemic performance in Latin America, aiming to unveil conditions, mechanisms and practices behind good and bad performance of HES trough the analysis of: a) national governance arrangements b) policy instrument; c) role of actors and d) the alignment between policies and outcomes.

Miguel Alejandro González-Ledesma holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Scuola Normale Superior de Pisa, Italy. Since 2017 he held a postdoctoral position at the Department of Educational Research of the Centre for Research and Advanced Studies  (DIE-CINVESTAV). He is also lecturer on Political Theory at the School of Philosophy and Literature of the National Autonomous University in Mexico (UNAM) (FFyL-UNAM). His research interests lie in the area of Higher Education studies, particularly governance, funding, quality assurance, and student movements. His latest publications are:

Vera, Hector; González-Ledesma, M. A. (2019). "Calidad y Evaluación: Matrimonio del Cielo y el Infierno", in: Perfiles Educativos, 40(Especial), 53-97. 

Álvarez Mendiola; González Ledesma, M. A.  (2018). "Marketing Context and Branding Content of Private Universities in Chile and Mexico", in Papadimitriou (Ed.), Competition in Higher Education Branding and Marketing, Palgrave Mcmillan.

González-Ledesma, M. A.  (2017). "Movimientos estudiantiles y reforma a la educación superior. México (1999) y Chile (2011)", in Renate Marsiske (Coord.) Movimientos estudiantiles en la historia de América Latina V, IISUE-UNAM, pp. 371-434. México. 

Germán Álvarez-Mendiola holds a Doctoral Degree in Educational Research from the Centre for Advanced Research and Studies (CINVESTAV) in Mexico. From 2002 to 2004 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia. Since 1993, he works at the Department of Educational Research (DIE) of the CINVESTAV, where he is currently the Head. He has extensive experience as a teacher in secondary and high school levels, as well as a Professor at undergraduate and graduate level. His research interests focus on public policies and organizational change in higher education; private higher education; lifelong learning policies and institutions; and adult learners in higher education. He coordinates the book series "Higher Education Library" of the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES). He is a member of the International Committee of the International Conference on Higher Education annual series, as well as editorial committees of several specialized journals. His latest publications are:

“Policies for Adult Students in Mexican Higher Education and Motives for Returning to Study”, in Archer W. y Hans Schuetze, Preparing Students for life and work (Leiden & Boston, 2019, Brill Sense, pp. 122-14, con la colaboración de Brenda Pérez

“México: Cátedra UNESCO en aseguramiento de la calidad en educación superior. Las Conferencias Regionales de Educación Superior (CRES) de la UNESCO en América Latina y el Caribe: ¿Un eje orientador para las políticas de internacionalización?” (Educación Superior en América Latina y el Caribe, Estudios retrospectivos y proyecciones, UNESCO-IESALC, UNC, 2018, pp. 337-368, en coautoría con Sylvie Didou Aupetit, Inés Dussel y Rosalba Genoveva Ramírez García).

“Marketing Context and Branding Content of Private Universities in Chile and Mexico”. in: in Papadimitriou (Ed.), Competition in Higher Education Branding and Marketing. National and Global Perspectives. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, pp. 37-62, en coautoría con Alejandro González Ledesma).

Marcelo Mella-Polanco holds a Doctoral degree in Political Science,  from the University of Santiago (USACH), Chile. He is Dean of the Department of History at the USACH. His main lines of research are: comparative democratization, higher education policies and coalition presidentialism in Latin America. His latest publications are:
"Programmatic and strategic changes of the right in Chile (1989-2013)". Colombia Internacional 100 (OCT 2019): 91-120. DOI: http:// 10.7440/colombiaint100.2019.05        
 
"Chile’s Political Party System". in: Farazmand A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer,  Cham, 2019. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5.
 
"Consensus and confrontation in Latin American higher education systems", in the Ibero-American Journal of Higher Education (RIES), Mexico, UNAM-IISUE / Universia, vol. IX, No. 26, 2018. pp. 3-21, DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.22201/iisue.20072872e.2018.26.288
He currently serves as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Santiago, Chile.