What is the impact of subject benchmarking?

Abstract

The introduction of subject benchmarking led to fears of increased external intervention in the activities of universities and a more restrictive view of institutional autonomy, accompanied by an undermining of the academic profession, particularly through the perceived threat of the introduction of a national curriculum for higher education. For this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted in one old and one new university with higher education professionals in chemistry, history and quality assurance, who were asked about their perceptions of subject benchmarking and its impact. The investigation did not bear out the fears articulated at the inception of subject benchmarking. Furthermore, the investigation showed that subject benchmarking was not perceived as having the principal characteristic normally associated with a benchmarking system, in that it was not perceived as leading to improvement. The article ends with suggestions for future research.