Abstract
Drawing on the relevant literature and primary data from two large mixed-method research and evaluation projects based at Lancaster University, as well as the author’s other research work (with smaller samples and more qualitative in nature), this chapter (i) identifies new managerialism as fundamentally ideological in nature; (ii) positions the very significant role of discourse in articulating and sustaining ideologies; (iii) asks whether new managerialist ideology and discourse have become hegemonic in UK higher education, exploring the reasons for any dominance they have achieved; and (iv) concludes with the observation that UK higher education has not been ‘captured’ by this ideology despite its apparent prevalence.
At the heart of ideology is the problem of social relations of domination made intelligible through discourse … ideology is understood, perpetuated or challenged through discourse.
(Leonardo, 2003, pp. 204, 207)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ball, S. J. (1997). Policy sociology and critical social research: A personal review of recent education policy and policy research. British Educational Research Journal, 23(3), 257–274.
Bensimon, E. (1995). Total quality management in the academy: A rebellious reading. Harvard Educational Review, 65(4), 593–611.
Bleiklie, I. (2002). Explaining change in higher education policy. In P. Trowler (Ed.), Higher education policy and institutional change (pp. 24–45). Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Clark, B. (1998). Creating entrepreneurial universities: Organizational pathways of transformation. London: Pergamon.
Clarke, J., Gewirtz, S., & McLaughlin, E. (2000). New managerialism, new welfare? London: Sage.
Clarke, J., & Newman, J. (1997). The managerial state: Power, politics and ideology in the remaking of social welfare. London: Sage.
Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP). (1985). Report of the steering committee for efficiency studies in universities (The Jarrett report). London: CVCP.
Deem, R. (1998). ‘New Managerialism’ and higher education: The management of performances and cultures in universities in the United Kingdom. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 8(1), 47–70.
Deem, R. (2003). Managing to exclude? Manager-academic and staff communities in contemporary UK universities. In M. Tight (Ed.), International perspectives on higher education research: Access and inclusion (pp. 103–125). Oxford: Elsevier Science JAI.
Deem, R. (2004). The knowledge worker, the manager-academic and the contemporary UK university: New and old forms of public management? Financial Accountability and Management, 20(2), 107–128.
Deem, R., & Brehony, K. (2005). Management as ideology: The case of ‘New Managerialism’ in higher education. Oxford Review of Education, 31(2), 217–235.
Dunleavy, P., & Hood, C. (1994). From old public administration to new public management. Public Money and Management, 14(3), 9–16.
Elton, L. (2000). The UK research assessment exercise: Unintended consequences. Higher Education Quarterly, 54(3), 274–283.
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.
Fairley, J., & Patterson, L. (1995). Scottish education and the new managerialism. Scottish Educational Review, 27(1), 13–36.
Fielden, J., & Lockwood, G. (1973). Planning and management in universities. London: Chatto and Windus.
Fiske, J. (1993). Power plays, power works. London: Verso.
Foucault, M. (1977). The archaeology of knowledge. London: Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1981). The history of sexuality (Vol. 1). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Fulton, O. (2003). Managerialism in UK universities: Unstable hybridity and the complications of implementation. In A. Amaral, V. L. Meek, & I. M. Larsen (Eds.), The higher education managerial revolution? (pp. 155–178). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Gee, P. J., Hulland, G., & Lankshear, C. (1996). The new work order: Behind the language of new capitalism. London: Allen and Unwin.
Gewirtz, S., Ball, S., & Bowe, R. (1995). Markets, choice and equity in education. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Grant, D., Keenoy, T., & Oswick, C. (1998). Organizational discourse: Of diversity, dichotomy and multidisciplinarity. In D. Grant, T. Keenoy, & C. Oswick (Eds.), Discourse and organization (pp. 1–14). London: Sage.
Hargreaves, A. (1992). Contrived collegiality: The micropolitics of teacher collaboration. In N. Bennett, M. Crawford, & C. Riches (Eds.), Managing change in education: Individual and organizational perspectives (pp. 80–94). London: PCP/Open University Press.
Hartley, D. (1983). Ideology and organizational behaviour. International Studies of Management and Organization, 13(3), 24–36.
Hood, C. (1995). Contemporary public management: A new global paradigm? Public Policy and Administration, 10(2), 104–117.
Hood, C., & Scott, C. (1996). Bureaucratic regulation and new public management in the United Kingdom: Mirror-image developments? Journal of Law and Society, 23(3), 321–345.
Jary, D., & Parker, M. (1998). The new higher education: Issues and directions for the post-Dearing university. Stoke on Trent: Staffordshire University Press.
Jenkins, A. (1995). The impact of the research assessment exercises on teaching in selected geography departments in England and Wales. Geography, 84(4), 367–374.
Johnson, R. (2001). Resources in the management of change in higher education. In P. Trowler (Ed.), Higher education policy and institutional change: Intentions and outcomes in turbulent environments (pp. 79–107). Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Johnson, R., & Deem, R. (2003). Talking of students: Tensions and contradictions for the manager-academic and the university in contemporary higher education. Higher Education, 46(3), 289–314.
Kirkpatrick, I., & Lucio, M. (1995). The politics of quality in the public sector: The management of change. London: Routledge.
Le Grand, J., & Bartlett, W. (Eds.). (1993). Quasi-markets and social policy. London: Macmillan.
Leonardo, Z. (2003). Discourse and critique: Outlines of a post-structural theory of ideology. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 203–214.
McNay, I. (1997). The impact of the 1992 research assessment exercise on individual and institutional behaviour in English higher education. London: HEFCE.
Merton, R. (1968). Social structure and anomie. In R. Merton (Ed.), Social theory and social structure (pp. 185–214). New York: New York Free Press.
Middlehurst, R. (Ed.). (1993). Leading academics. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Miller, H., with Meyenn, R. (1998). Academic managers: Bosses or colleagues? Paper presented at the International Sociology Of Education Conference, Sheffield, UK, 2–4 January, 1998.
Moodie, G. C., & Eustace, R. (1974). Power and authority in British universities. London: Allen and Unwin.
Parker, M., & Jary, D. (1995). The McUniversity: Organization, management and academic subjectivity. Organization, 2(2), 319–338.
Parkin, F. (1972). Class inequality and political order. St Albans: Paladin.
Parry, G. (2001). Reform of higher education in the United Kingdom. In B. Nolan (Ed.), Public sector reform: An international perspective (pp. 117–132). Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Pollitt, C. (1993). Managerialism and the public services: Cuts or cultural change in the 1990s? Oxford: Blackwell.
Pollitt, C. (1999). Performance or compliance? Performance audit and public management in five countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2000). Public management reform: A comparative analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Power, M. (1997). The audit society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Prichard, C. (2000). Making managers in universities and colleges. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Randle, K., & Brady, N. (1997). Managerialism and professionalism in the ‘Cinderella Service’. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 49(1), 121–139.
Ritzer, G. (1993). The McDonaldization of society. Newbury Park, CA: Pine Forge.
Rourke, F. E. (1966). The managerial revolution in higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Slaughter, S., & Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic capitalism: Politics, policies and the entrepreneurial university. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Slaughter, S., & Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state and higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Smith, A., & Webster, F. (Eds.). (1997). The Postmodern University? Contested visions of higher education in society. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Startup, R. (1976). The role of the departmental head. Studies in Higher Education, 1(2), 233–243.
Taylor, F. W. 1967 (1911). The principles of scientific management. New York: Norton Library and Harper & Row, 1967. Retrieved 13 February, 2007, from http://www.eldritchpress.org/fwt/ti.html
Trow, M. (1993). Managerialism and the academic profession: The case of England. Berkeley, CA: University of California.
Trowler, P. (1998). Academics responding to change: New higher education frameworks and academic cultures. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Trowler, P. (2001). Captured by the discourse? The socially constitutive power of new higher education discourse in the UK. Organization, 8(2), 183–201.
Trowler, P., & Knight, P. (2001). Exploring the implementation gap: Theory and practices in change interventions. In P. Trowler (Ed.), Higher education policy and institutional change (pp. 142–163). Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Trowler, P., Saunders, M., & Knight, P. (2003). Change thinking, change practices: A guide to change for heads of department, programme leaders and other change agents in higher education. York: Learning and Teaching Support Network, Generic Centre.
Willmott, H. (1993). Strength is ignorance; slavery is freedom: Managing culture in modern organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 30(4), 515–552.
Willmott, H. (1995). Managing the academics: Commodification and control in the development of university education in the UK. Human Relations, 48(9), 993–1027.
Yokoyama, K. (2006). The effect of the research assessment exercise on organizational culture in English universities: Collegiality versus managerialism. Tertiary Education Management, 12(4), 311–322.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Trowler, P. (2010). UK Higher Education: Captured by New Managerialist Ideology?. In: Meek, V., Goedegebuure, L., Santiago, R., Carvalho, T. (eds) The Changing Dynamics of Higher Education Middle Management. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 33. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9163-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9163-5_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9162-8
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9163-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)