Exploring Higher Education Observatories in a Data-Driven Context

Abstract

Higher education has become increasingly data-driven, with policymakers, institutions, and international organisations relying on evidence to inform governance and decision-making. Among the infrastructures that generate and mobilise such knowledge are Higher Education Observatories (HEOs). Although their number has proliferated in recent decades, research on HEOs remains fragmented, regional, thematic, or case-specific, and lacking a global perspective. This study addresses these gaps by systematically mapping the current landscape of HEOs worldwide and examining their role within a data-driven context. An inventory was created, and an exploratory mixed-methods approach was applied, combining the website content analysis (n=160), survey data (n=25), and semi-structured interviews (n=14). Observatories were characterized based on geographical distribution, institutional affiliation, year of creation, scope, organizational structure, thematic focus, function, funding mechanisms, methodologies, outputs, and challenges. The findings reveal a concentration of HEOs in Europe and Latin America, and an unbalanced distribution within the regions. They represent small to medium-sized organisations and show a strong affiliation with higher education institutions, relying mostly on institutional funding. They operate mostly in a national and institutional scope, with a monitoring and reporting function, focusing particularly on student life and outcomes, teaching and learning, and governance and policy domains. HEOs employ various methods, including observational data, surveys, institutional datasets, government statistics, descriptive analysis, and the development of dashboards and visualisation tools, which generate a wide range of outputs; yet their practices remain heterogeneous. Challenges such as limited funding or financial instability, difficulties in accessing reliable data, information management, and ethical concerns significantly affect the functioning and sustainability of observatories. The study provides the first systematic mapping of Higher Education Observatories worldwide, offering new insights for scholars, policymakers, institutional leaders, and observatory members, and by positioning HEOs as major contributors within the data-driven governance of higher education.