Understanding Higher Education Reform: Perspectives From Experts and Policy Makers

• In Event: 67.014 - Higher Education in Its Policy Contexts— Issues for Research Worldwide (WERA@10)

Abstract

In this presentation, we explore the way in which Chile’s higher education reform policies were promoted, prioritized, and executed during the government of Michelle Bachelet. One of the policies proposed by Bachelet’s administration was to make higher education tuition free for all students coming from the bottom 70 percent of the income distribution. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 national and international experts. Preliminary findings are grouped into three main themes: (a) student mobilizations, (b) new political leaders, and (c) types of universities. As Tandberg (2010a) proposed, the decisions made by political actors are influenced by their environment and interest groups. In the Chilean case, the higher education reforms were directly influenced by the student protests and several interest groups. One interest group was the student leaders who were able to gain enough support from the society which finally gave them the political support needed to push toward the policy that promoted free education. Another interest group that influenced the higher education agenda were groups of universities, the most prestigious, who relied on their position to have a voice in policy decision making. This research is relevant since it brings a new perspective on the way the educational reform was developed in Chile, from the lenses of national and international experts and not just from political actors. Lastly, it provides a deeper and critical discussion of why “free education” was the main policy that the government pushed over other measures.

Author

• Daniela Véliz Calderón, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile