The UK experience of research performance assessment: the RAE and its critics

Research Assessment Exercises (RAE), introduced in the UK by the Thatcher's government, are widely regarded as the prototype of all subsequent academic neoliberal reforms which took place in the university sector of European countries in 1980-2000s. Attaining greater research and financial efficiency of the academic sector was declared as the main goal of these reforms. Promotion of market-based instruments and emphasis on the open competition inside the university sector were basic policy principles which influenced the design of rAe. The study of RAE practices and consequences reported in this article has been conducted in the framework of a broader project, focusing on the systems of university management and their influence on academic careers. The basic data source of the study were (1) interviews with UK social scientists, who had significant experience of both academic and administrative work, and (2) official documents, produced in the course of RAE campaigns.