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Higher Education in the Knowledge Society: Miracle or Mirage?

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Multi-Level Governance in Universities

Part of the book series: Higher Education Dynamics ((HEDY,volume 47))

Abstract

This paper provides an assessment of the notion of a knowledge society, with growing expectations of the use and utility of education and research in society and a concomitant rise in the impact and value of academic leadership. It is argued that there are inflated expectations of the social value of education and research and that the realities of education and research seldom live up to policy hyperboles. The rise of academic management, and its tendency to reduce academic activities to external adaptation and mechanic accounts of activity, is criticized. The paper ends with some suggestions to reinvigorate academic values.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Mats Alvesson & Mats Benner

Authors
  1. Mats Alvesson
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  2. Mats Benner
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Correspondence to Mats Alvesson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Organization and Management, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Jetta Frost

  2. Organization and Management, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Fabian Hattke

  3. Strategic Management, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Markus Reihlen

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Alvesson, M., Benner, M. (2016). Higher Education in the Knowledge Society: Miracle or Mirage?. In: Frost, J., Hattke, F., Reihlen, M. (eds) Multi-Level Governance in Universities. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 47. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32678-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32678-8_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32676-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32678-8

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