What's Research Got to Do with It? Middle Leadership in the Modern University

During the latter-half of the twentieth century, researchers argued that the
notion of universities being communities of scholars that were governed by
scholars had been replaced by a mass-market higher education system. The
new system is shaped by competition for students, a need to be budget
conscious and, ultimately, a requirement for university leaders to be able to
approach their work with a certain level of business acumen. This chapter
examines what these pressures mean for those working at the middle level of
university leadership, when they are increasingly appointed on managerial
expertise but make decisions about academics and their work. Using
Bourdieu’s notions of fields to dissect these relationships, the chapter uses
semi-structured interviews with faculty deans to examine how their work is
guided by managerialist targets but impacts on their relationships with
academics. The chapter highlights that, while the sector has acknowledged
that successful leaders do not always need research profiles in the modern
university, this often has a negative impact on leaders’ relationships with
academics.