Everyday Tension between Collegiality and Managerialism: Administrators at a Canadian Research University

• Main Author: Nuttall, Chad
• Other Authors: Jones, Glen A.
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: managerialism; collegiality; administrators; corporatisation; higher education; Canadian higher education; higher education management; 0745; 0514
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/32451

This thesis is an exploratory study focusing on the tension between managerialism and collegiality experience by mid-level academic administrators in Canadian higher education. The study is a constructivist analysis of the every day, lived experiences of the participants working in a single, large university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 academic administrators that report directly to a Vice-President Academic. The analysis of these detailed interviews suggests that collegiality appears to be alive and well at the university included in this study. Administrators described consultative, collegial processes with shared decision making. However, the activity of developing and managing budgets was described by participants as the responsibility of the dean and these processes were neither collegial nor consultative. There is a need for further research on the experience and work of academic administrators in Canadian higher education.