Presentation of the PERFA project at Ministry of Education and Research

The 25th January, Monica Lindgren and Johann Packendorff from INDEK presented their research in the PERFA-project (PERFormance-based governance in Academia) at the Swedish Ministry of Education and Research. They pointed at two parallel developments in performance-based governance at department level; one instrumental and one supporting the development of ’academic citizenship’. Many of current performance appraisal models operate in an instrumental fashion; they support and reinforce tendencies towards individualism, careerism and shortsightedness, and imply that actors at all levels base their action in what is effective for them individually. This is not always entirely a negative development, but it can easily get out of hand and lead to unforseen and unwanted consequences.