Systematic Historical Analysis Within Post-qualitative Inquiry: The Case of Mongolia’s Higher Education

Scholars greatly criticize ontological and epistemological issues in educational administration and leadership scholarship and call for more in-depth analyses with historical and philosophical examination, in order to challenge taken-for-granted knowledge and create relational dialogues. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how systematic (macro–micro level) historical analysis can provide thorough investigations within post-qualitative inquiry, using Mongolia’s higher education sector as an example. Socialism and its different types of transitions were examined as the macro analysis, while semi-structured interviews with six Mongolian educational leaders were conducted as the micro analysis. This study revealed that a hybrid transition occurred in Mongolian higher education, with the persistence of a socialist bureaucracy into the market economic era. Thus, participants in this study resisted bureaucracy and advocated for liberalization for both public and private universities, but with human capital development. The study contributes to ontologically, epistemologically, and methodologically deepening educational administration and leadership research.