Efficiency or Effectiveness? Performance indicators in tertiary education

This paper reviews some of the recent developments in higher education from Britain and Australia in performance measurement, and in the development of performance indicators with which to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of tertiary education institutions. It also raises some questions about the problems of performance measurement, and argues that educational ‘managers’ in New Zealand can learn from recent Australian and British experience in recognising the need to focus on questions concerning the evaluation of effectiveness. There is also an implicit assumption underlying the paper that tertiary education managers can learn from the developments that have been occurring more generally in the public sector, especially in view of the fact that many public sector organisations have been to the forefront in meeting the demand for greater public accountability.