Ghost Students, Street-Level Bureaucrats and the Problem of Engagement-as-Accountability in UK HE Policy

Abstract Despite attracting significant research interest, student engagement resists straightforward definition. Although generally viewed as a ‘good thing’, it has taken on a distinct, narrow framing equating to transactional indebtedness in UK HE policy. Emerging in parallel to this conception of the engaged student is its corollary, the severely disengaged ‘ghost’ who enrols on a degree programme but barely attends or submits assignments. The ghost came to the attention of policy makers via a Parliamentary inquiry into potential fraud in the student loans system with concerns arising over students who received government-backed loans but without the transactionally reciprocal engagement in their studies. This poses a dilemma for university staff who determine whether a student is sufficiently engaged for enrolment and access to loans. This paper uses the analytic device of the street-level bureaucrat (SLB) to examine this issue from the perspective of university staff, detailing how market and accountability mechanisms combine to exert significant pressure to allow students with minimal engagement to remain enrolled. A policy response which attempts to compel attendance may have unintended consequences as it promotes a performative version of engagement-as-accountability and leads to the absurd interpretation of meaningful engagement to be anything more than ghosting.