The End of the Ivory Tower

This chapter offers a brief history of what universities were once like and how they might be perceived by the public today to assist in determining how strong the contrast is between memories and the fiction of the entertainment industry. This is not simply for the purpose of pointing out the differences, this is because of the damage these memories and perceptions have caused, and continue to cause, as the global higher education sector faces funding cuts and less-favourable changes to funding models. The chapter outlines how the reality of what happens in a university today rarely reflects people’s perceptions, even if the buildings and titles remain the same. This discussion thus outlines why political and funding pressures have changed the characteristics of the sector as a precursor to the following chapters which discuss the institution from the field of senior executives, middle leaders, and academics.