A Qualitative Case Study Exploring the Nature of New Managerialism in UK Higher Education and Its Impact on Individual Academics' Experience of Doing Research

Abstract: New Managerialism (NM) has been used as an analytical framework to help understand the changes within the UK Higher Education Sector. This project sought to extend that work by undertaking a case study of an English university. Using the theory of NM, the study combined organisational description, strategic document review and in-depth interviews to qualitatively explore the extent to which research management practices could be considered New Managerialist and their impact on individuals' experiences of doing research. This project discovered that management practices could be characterised by a hybridised version of NM. Impact on individuals related to key themes: research finding; performance measurement; academic freedom and control; fragmented organisation and mixed messages; research culture. It was found that individuals consciously engaged in 'informal' strategies to pursue their own research agendas within formal' management frameworks. An implementation gap between strategic plans and operational practices created space for individual autonomy, but led to tensions arising from conflicting values at the level of the organisation, department and individual. It was suggested that further investigation could lead to greater insight into how researchers make sense of their role and work environment and, from a management perspective, how best to motivate and support research work.Keywords: research management, new managerialism, research funding, research culture, academic freedom, strategic planning, operational practices, implementation gap, performance measurementIntroductionUK Universities are very different places to work in than they were 30 years ago. The Higher Education Sector within the UK has undergone a major shift in terms of its fundamental role and function within society as well as the mechanisms through which it is delivered. This pace of change continues as the Government increasingly looks to the HE sector to provide innovation, and a skilled workforce, in support of national economic competitiveness (Lambert, 2003; Leitch, 2006; Sainsbury, 2007; DIUS 2008; BIS 2011). What was once a fairly independent sector is now subject to a range of different pressures arising from being situated somewhere in between nationalisation and privatisation (Tight, 2006, p.254). These developments have been analysed through a New Managerial (NM) framework. The concept of NM was originally developed in the context of changes to the way that governments approached the organisation and delivery of public services. NM suggested that the public sector was organised on the basis of neoliberal ideologies associated with economic competitiveness within a global market place, and that greater efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of services was sought through the use of management practices derived from the corporate world (Politt 1990; Clarke & Newman, 2004; Hursh, 2005; Davies et al 2006). Many studies suggested that changing management practices had primarily negative effects on universities and academics (Deem et al, 2000, 2007; Shelley, 2005). This was associated with challenges to the professional position and identity of the academic as well as increased stress, bureaucratisation, marketisation, corporatisation and performance measurement within the academic work environment.However, the concept of NM itself has been problematised with the suggestion that it has changed over time, and that its application within HE in particular has been either hybridised or is incomplete (Deem et al 2007; Clegg, 2008). In addition, given the negative impacts identified, it is unclear why individual researchers appear to continue their research activity with apparent enthusiasm and success. Moreover, it is unclear how universities seemed to adhere to NM ideologies and practices whilst upholding more traditional academic values and customs. This questions the actual nature of NM in universities and, consequently, how this impacts upon individual academics. …