Problematizing Institutional Effectiveness:A Foucauldian Poststructural Policy Analysis

<p dir="ltr">This inquiry uses Foucauldian poststructural theory and Bacchi’s (2009) “What is the Problem Represented to Be?” approach to poststructural policy analysis to expose the deleterious effects produced by institutional effectiveness policy. Along the way, this inquiry employs genealogical tracing, deconstruction, and Foucault’s (1975/1995) positing on disciplining technologies and subjectification to address three analytical questions: How did institutional effectiveness come to be an apparatus used in the governance of higher education? How do the “problems” represented by accreditation policy justify the governance of higher education? How is institutional effectiveness used as a disciplining apparatus in the governance of higher education? The sequencing of these questions is intentional, as each associated analysis builds upon the previous to expose the layered effects of IE as currently constituted. The inquiry concludes by synthesizing the subjectification effects produced by institutional effectiveness policy and exploring implications for higher education and governance.</p>