Performance measurement in UK universities: bringing in the stakeholders' perspectives using data envelopment analysis

摘要: This thesis is about performance measurement in higher education. It brings in different stakeholders' perspectives on performance measurement, in UK universities using data envelopment analysis. The introduction gives the background of the higher education sector in the UK at present and its history. It introduces the drive for performance measurement in higher education, and the motivation for the dissertation. The method data envelopment analysis is then described. The traditional use of performance indicators and peer assessment is reviewed and the use of DEA, instead of parametric techniques, is justified. The opportunity to use DEA in a somewhat different way than previously is identified. The novel proposed framework integrates in the same analysis the perspectives of three different levels of stakeholders. Firstly, the perspective of the applicant in the process of choosing a university to apply to; secondly, the perspective of the State that funds and evaluates university performance; and finally the institutional perspective. In the applicant's perspective, the use of DEA in university selection is compared to existing methods. The new approach devised recognises the different values of students and is empirically tested in a case study at a comprehensive school. This chapter clearly deals with a choice problem, and the link with MCDM is first approached. Finally, a comprehensive decision support system that includes DEA for university selection is arrived at. Then the relationship between the State and higher education over time is described, the current operational model explained and the future trends outlined. In order to measure …