Management and Leadership in UK Universities: Exploring the Possibilities of Change

Abstract

The many challenges currently facing the HE sector have been subject to considerable scrutiny, research and analysis. A significant body of research now exists exploring concerns about the current nature of the HE sector, offering a variety of alternative ways of doing HE . But still the underlying problems persist and academics throughout the sector continue to be frustrated and demoralised by an increasingly corporate approach that poses an ongoing challenge to their identities. Drawing on the author’s previous fieldwork exploring academics’ experience of Performance Management, as well as the experience gained over several years as a UCU union branch officer, this paper considers ways of addressing the challenges of corporate managerialism and will argue that reform of line management structures and a re- purposing of the role of the line manager offers the best means of transforming management structures from within.