| Abstract [eng] |
The dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of university mergers in Lithuania, focusing on the neoliberal transformation of higher education from 1990 to 2024. University mergers are seen as strategic policy tools that, along with various governance and funding reforms, aim to restructure the higher education system in response to a globally competitive environment. The primary objective of this dissertation is to examine how neoliberal ideas and practices have evolved within the Lithuanian higher education system through the policy of university mergers. The research employs Michel Foucault's theory of governmentality and Jamie Peck's conceptualization of the stages of neoliberalisation. This approach allows for an exploration of how neoliberal rationality has been integrated into the Lithuanian higher education system. The study outlines a specific developmental trajectory for Lithuanian higher education: from de-Sovietization and the establishment of an autonomous higher education system to the "universitetiation" phase, culminating in a period of profound neoliberalisation following the 2009 higher education reform. The author argues that initial unlimited autonomy enabled academic elites to accumulate substantial political capital, which later became a point of resistance to state-initiated university mergers. By analysing international higher education policy discourses and their recontextualization in the national policy space, the study reveals that, in Lithuania, the quality, efficiency, and autonomy discourses were subordinated to the competitiveness discourse. Consequently, the higher education system has been restructured to operate on market principles. Utilizing a discourse-historical approach, the dissertation examines the reasons behind the partial implementation of ambitious university merger plans. The research highlights a dynamic and complex interplay between an organizational rationality of „survival“, characterized by institutional mistrust and strategic power dynamics, and neoliberal rationality. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that university mergers in Lithuania reinforce the dominance of the strongest market players, while relegating weaker institutions to the margins. This work enhances understanding of the development of higher education in Lithuania and contributes to broader discussions of neoliberal trends in academic governance. |
