Challenges Facing University Leadership

Abstract

This chapter reports and discusses challenges facing university organisational leadership and management in the immediate and longer-term future that were identified by interviewees in response to three sets of questions. Like the other interview questions, a number of characteristics of each interviewee were expected to influence their focus, and consequently, the breadth and detail of answers about challenges as both strategic and operational influences on leadership. The interviewees included experienced senior university leaders, public/civil servants from government agencies with responsibilities for university administration, professors without formal leadership or management positions, middle and junior university management and leadership holders, members of university boards, management consultants, and university administrative staff. This diversity of position and experience in the interview pool gave rise to responses that covered a wide range of challenges, both general to universities and peculiar to a single university and universities within one legislative jurisdiction. The findings are discussed using the broad headings in the core research questions.