The Quest to Re-energise Academic Staff in an Age of Performativity

This article explores how it may be possible to re-energise academic staff
within the current context of expectations of managers within higher education
(HE) in England. Through use of an initial historic timeline the almost pathdependent development of the current status quo of increasing managerialism
is traced which, it is argued, has led to an erosion of the value of the
traditional ethos of HE via its system-immanent drive to adhere to the
demands of a market economy. Here we question the use of learning
outcomes as a determinant of academic success and explore the impact of
the autocratic management style commonly found in the current era. Some
‘pathologies’ are revealed which appear to be intrinsic to the essence of such
an approach and it is argued that a leadership approach would pose a valid
and better alternative. The conclusion is that while such a leadership-forlearning approach puts higher demands on the managers in charge it will yield
better outcomes for the students, for society, for the organisation and for the
people working within such an organisation.