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The Managerial University: A Failed Experiment?
- hanief 11y agoFrom skimming the article it seems that I can't find the definition of 'managerial' that this article is based on. Can someone enlighten me?
- nerdponx 11y agoThis is the problem with a lot of longform essay writing. It takes so long to get to the point that unless you wholeheartedly agree from the start you end up skimming. This is why the abstract was invented. I didn't read this article because there is no abstract, and the introduction is obtuse. I have better things to do with my time and brainpower
- EliRivers 11y agoI upvoted purely because you used the term "abstract", like an adult. Rare form around here.
- drjesusphd 11y agoI don't see that term being abused very much. Is there an endemic of people using the term "abstract" like a child that I'm unaware of?
- cokernel 11y agoI suspect that there is a tendency for people to use the term "tl;dr" when what they're looking for is "abstract". But I don't know if that's what EliRivers had in mind.
- drjesusphd 11y agoI agree. This is very frustrating and shows a lack of respect for the reader (not picking on this article, there are many worse examples). I'm not sure it's a necessary part of "longform" medium. One just needs to put their damn point in the first paragraph.
- egjerlow 11y agoI think it might be one of those cases where you're either a) supposed to know what the author has in mind or b) supposed to get a sense of what he has in mind from the article itself. Being a former university employee, I think I know what he means, though without a definition it is of course impossible to know for certain.
- stevetrewick 11y agoI didn't read further than the second paragraph but from the offhand dismissal of economics and public choice theory I imagine it's this one. https://www.opendemocracy.net/kathleen-lynch/'new-managerialism'-in-education-organisational-form-of-neoliberalism https://www.opendemocracy.net/kathleen-lynch/'new-managerial...
- iorrus 11y agoIf you actually read the article instead of skimming it would be clear.
- egjerlow 11y agoThe problem of a given leader or manager having to carry through some kind of reform in order to put his or her stamp on their reign is frustrating. A model where there are multiple top managers (a board or similar) is better in this respect - you can still have changes but they might be more thought through and not so obviously proposed as a reform just for the sake of reforms. Some sort of model where this drive for empty reform is eliminated by keeping it a secret who actually does manage the institution (all administrative employees are given the same title or whatever) was what I thought of as a solution, but I suppose much of the incentive for being a manager is lost then. Someone would have to be paid more than the others, which would make it traceable who actually does the managing.
- drjesusphd 11y agoWhy does the manager have to be paid more?
- egjerlow 11y agoWell, for the thought model I mentioned the manager would not get the benefit of increased exposure and fame, so an increased pay seemed an easy replacement incentive. If a good manager is somehow 'rare' (I have no idea) then I suppose that they should be compensated somehow for their relatively rare skill.
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- PaulHoule 11y agoThe group of people that really gets purged by the managerial university are non-faculty who have roles that are not so well defined. For instance, many universities have declared outright war on IT and library staff.