scholarly journals Academic Reform in Fractured Disciplines – On the Interaction of Bologna, New-Public-Management and the Dynamics of Disciplinary Development

Minerva ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathleen Grunert ◽  
Katja Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Educational Science ◽  
Academic Reform ◽  
Higher Education Reforms

AbstractAt the intersection of science studies and higher education research, this contribution looks at the way in which the requirements of universities as organizations release development dynamics in academic disciplines and it analyses the interaction between discipline and organization. We will analyse German educational science, bearing in mind it is an example of disciplines that are fractured and consequently have little consensus in terms of fundamental theories and basic concepts. Firstly, we take on a quantitative approach and analyse the changes in degree courses at the structural level and the symbolic boundaries or conceptual distinctions following the transition to the Bachelor and Master system. Secondly, we take a close look at the negotiating processes and practices, as well as at the disciplinary orientations that determine these boundary shifts, using a qualitative approach that focuses on the actors. In group discussions with representatives of the German educational science at different universities it stood out that actors involved in course design are compelled to find an equilibrium between the demands of the discipline and those of the organization, and do so in very different ways. Finally, we discuss the extent to which close interaction between higher education reforms and academic disciplines can be figured out, particularly for disciplines seen as fractured and which do not have consensual common disciplinary standards.

scholarly journals Academic Autonomy in the Contemporary University

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-29
Author(s):  
Grażyna Prawelska-Skrzypek
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Academic Autonomy ◽  
Higher Education Reforms

AbstractObjective: The purpose of this article is to show changes in the understanding of academic autonomy and the manifestations of its erosion, by appropriating this value to legitimise the increase in managerial autonomy, discrediting the value of community autonomy and increasingly restricting individual academic autonomy.Methodology: The article is based on a critical analysis of the literature dealing with the reality of the functioning of autonomy in higher education institutions and materials related to the implementation of contemporary higher education reforms - mainly in Poland.Findings: Changes in the perception of autonomy, threats to institutional and individual autonomy resulting from the uncritical subordination of transformations of higher education to the new public management concept as well as institutional isomorphism are presented.Value Added: Attention has also been paid to ignoring the critical discourse on the consequences of too-one-sided transformation of higher education institutions, losing key values, whose carrier is community and individual autonomy – both academic teachers, for whom it is a necessary condition for the development of didactic and scientific creativity, as well as students who only in a situation of feeling are able to take responsibility for their own development.Recommendations: Individual autonomy and participatory management, which determine creative activity and academic entrepreneurship, should be a particular concern for university managers. It is necessary to undertake research on the autonomy of students as members of the academic community.

Knowledge, society, higher education and the society of control

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roar Høstaker ◽  
Agnete Vabø
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Academic Quality

Research and higher education are, to a greater extent, being governed and evaluated by other than fellow scholars. These changes are discussed in relation to Gilles Deleuze's notion of a transition from 'societies of discipline' to what he called 'societies of control'. This involves a shift from pyramidshaped organisations, built upon authority, to a set of lateral controls and hybrid power structures. This theory and its logic are compared with other theories that have been used to explain such changes in higher education: New Public Management, new modes of knowledge production, academic capitalism, trust and the role of higher education in social reproduction. The development of lateral controls is analysed in relation to the de-coupling of the state as the guarantor of academic quality, the changing status of the academic disciplines and scientific employees, managerialism, the new modularised study programmes and the changing position of external stakeholders. The article, drawing on empirical studies from higher education in Norway, suggests possible affects of the change to 'societies of control' on research, teaching and learning in higher education.

scholarly journals The Neoliberal University in Ireland: Institutional Bullying by Another Name?

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Margaret Hodgins ◽  
Patricia Mannix McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

New managerialism and the pervasive neoliberalisation of universities is by now a well-established phenomenon. Commentaries explore the political and economic drivers and effects of neoliberal ideology, and critique the impact on higher education and academic work. The impact on the health and well-being of academic staff has had less attention, and it is to that we turn in this paper. Much academic interest in neoliberalism stems from the UK, Australia and the United States. We draw particularly on studies of public Irish universities, where neoliberalism, now well entrenched, but something of a late-comer to the new public management party, is making its presence felt. This conceptual paper explores the concept of neoliberalism in higher education, arguing that the policies and practices of new public management as exercised in universities are a form of bullying; what we term institutional bullying. The authors are researchers of workplace culture, workplace bullying and incivility. Irish universities are increasingly challenged in delivering the International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles of decent work, i.e., dignity, equity, fair income and safe working conditions. They have become exposed in terms of gender imbalance in senior positions, precariat workforce, excessive workload and diminishing levels of control. Irish universities are suffering in terms of both the health and well-being of staff and organisational vibrancy. The authors conclude by cautioning against potential neoliberal intensification as universities grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reviews neoliberalism in higher education and concludes with insight as to how the current pandemic could act as a necessary catalyst to stem the tide and ‘call out’ bullying at the institutional level.

Intrinsic and internalized modes of teaching motivation

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uwe Wilkesmann ◽  
Christian J. Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Teaching ◽  
Teaching Motivation ◽  
Selective Incentives

Purpose – The introduction of New Public Management in the German system of higher education raises issues of the academics’ motivation to do research and to teach. The purpose of this paper is to present evidence-based findings about contextual factors which influence intrinsic and related modes of internalized teaching motivation in German higher education institutions. The paper discusses parallels between internalized forms of motivation and public service motivation (PSM). In accordance with self-determination theory (SDT), the paper empirically tests factors which correlate with autonomous motivation to teach. The paper also addresses the issue of the crowding effect of intrinsic motivation by selective incentives. Design/methodology/approach – The analyses are based on the data of two online surveys among German professors (n=2,061) representative for the population of state-governed universities. To test the theory-driven hypotheses the paper used multivariate regression analysis. Findings – The results support the basic claims of the SDT that intrinsic teaching motivation is facilitated by social relatedness, competence, and partly by autonomy for German professors, too. If teaching is managed by objective agreements intrinsic motivation is significantly decreased. Originality/value – The authors translated, reformulated, and applied the SDT framework to academic teaching. The analysis presents evidence that the management of autonomy-supportive work environmental factors is also superior to selective incentives in higher education institutions. The study on academic teaching motivation is a specific contribution to PSM research. Academic teaching in public higher education institutions is a service to the public.

scholarly journals Transformations in Breakthrough Research: The Emergence of Mirnas as a Research Routine in Molecular Biology

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Kawalec
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Social Studies Of Science ◽  
New Public ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Emerging Topics

Abstract Of the three main areas of science studies that emerged after WWII (Kawalec, 2018), namely social studies of science, economics of knowledge and scientometrics, it was the latter that gained particular prominence in science policy around the 1990’s with the advent of New Public Management (Pollitt, Thiel, & Homburg, 2007). One of its focal areas has been identification of emerging topics in science. They are incessantly assumed to be an outcome of a simple cumulative progress of scientific knowledge (Price, 1976; Merton, 1988; Bird, 2007; Fochler, 2016). In my paper I challenge this assumption of simple cumulativity and argue that the emergence of breakthrough topics in science is preceded by a sequence of transformation phases. Using the example of “microRNA&cancer” as an emergent topic identified by a quantitative analysis of a large dataset of publications (Small et al. 2014) I demonstrate that the proposed analysis of transformation phases complements big data quantitative analyses with theoretical understanding of the dynamics mechanism and, in effect, leads to a more adequate characterization of the topic itself as well as a more precise identification of the source publications. While the proposed method uses a more complex (meso-level) unit of analysis (i.e. “research routines”) instead of citations and co-occurrence of single publications (micro-level), it integrates quantitative with qualitative analyses.

Regulating and manipulating the corporeal functions of women academics through political rationality

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurdiana Gaus
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
The Body ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Women Academics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Audit Culture ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of the politicisation of women academics body in higher education as a result of the implementation of audit culture of new public management. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted in Indonesian universities, by conducting interviews to collect data from 20 women academics from two universities in eastern regions of Indonesia. Findings The impacts of audit culture on women academics’ body in this study can be understood from the constraints told by them, reflected on the creation of several types of bodies. Research limitations/implications This paper, though, has some limitations in terms of the inclusion of only women academics, exclusion of male academics and of their limitations of addressing important constructs to elaborate the politicisation of the women body, such as culture, religion, patriarchy, and academic tribes and territories. Practical implications The results of this study are important for the policy maker of Indonesia to take into account “gender perspective” on research productivity and publication policy to effectively obtain the political objectives of the government. For higher education in Indonesia, the result of this study may give an indication of the importance to establish different and distinctive standards of work performance evaluation on research and publication for female and male academics. Originality/value The analysis of this issue is framed within the bipolar diagram of power that seeks to gain political-economic function of the body (bio-power), via a set of control mechanisms of sovereign power to regulate and manipulate the population (bio-politics), developed by Foucault (1984).

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