The extent and nature of institutional differentiation is a design choice among many that must be considered by policymakers not only when developing a higher education system but also when introducing policy changes to an existing system. Modifications to the design of Ontario’s higher education system have been suggested over the years in an effort to increase its quality (instruction and research) and accessibility in a cost effective manner. The fiscal climate of restraint has recently intensified the debate for structural changes through increased institutional differentiation in Ontario’s higher education system.
Institutional diversity was examined using a mixed research method in two phases. This study first used hierarchical cluster analysis which suggested that there has been very little change in diversity between 1994 and 2010 as universities were clustered in three groups for both 1994 and 2010.However, by adapting Birnbaum’s (1983) diversity matrix methodology to Ontario’s university sector, there appears to have been a decrease in systemic diversity (differences in the type of institution and size of institution) and climate diversity (differences in campus environment and culture) between 1994 and 2010 and a projected further decrease to 2018.
The second phase of this study used policy analysis and drew on mutually related theoretical perspectives from organizational theory as its primary conceptual framework to interpret and corroborate the decrease in diversity between 1994 and 2010. Interviews were also conducted with university presidents to gain a greater understanding of the key factors or barriers in Ontario’s reticence in proposing design changes in its higher education system. Having been informed by the policy analysis, interviews and projections of the extent of diversity to 2018, the study proposed a diversity policy for Ontario’s university sector.
Diversity can be increased in Ontario’s university sector by providing institutions with competitive incremental funding allocations within each of three clusters that would specifically address government diversity objectives through a revised strategic mandate agreement process. Additional research funding should also be provided by the federal government to a limited number of research-intensive universities to ensure that Canadian institutions remain competitive on the world stage.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/65718 |
| Date | 13 August 2014 |
| Creators | Piche, Pierre Gilles |
| Contributors | Jones, Glen |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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