Leading in a managerialist paradigm : a survey of perceptions within a faculty of education

• Main Author: McGrath, James Joseph
• Published: University of Birmingham 2003
• Subjects: 378.101019
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.404127

The extent to which managerialism, in its many forms, has influenced the organisational culture and management practices of universities in recent years is contested. Using a broadly phenomenological approach this thesis examines the lived experiences of twenty members of staff who work in a Faculty of Education within a statutory university. The twin regimes of funding and inspection are identified as decisive factors in the university's adoption of managerialism. The research indicates that Faculty management and staff have been able to integrate the demands of a relatively 'hard form of managerialism' with their own traditional, but tacitly held, educational values. In responding to the exigencies of managerialism the Faculty's organisational culture has evolved into a 'reactive bureaucracy' within which a form of 'stratified collegiality' appears to be emerging. These changes have contributed to the situation where management and staff hold contrasting views as to the style of leadership exercised within the Faculty. Managers believe that they operate in an open, collegiate and supportive manner but their approach is interpreted by staff as managerialist, typified by a concern with directing, monitoring and controlling staff. The result, as examined here, is a complex, multifaceted situation that is characterised by ambiguity and tension between conflicting interpretations of the same phenomena.