Managing academics in a marketized higher education environment. A qualitative account from Britain

Using a mixed methods approach, we analyse the impact of the process of marketization on the British higher education sector. We focus on two pervasive trends: a substantial reliance on mechanisms of institutional accountability, and the progressive erosion of traditional governance based on collegiality. We analyse changes that have occurred in employment relations by adopting an institutional logics approach and comparing two competing paradigms: the ideal type of professional academic logic and the ideal type of corporate academic logic. We highlight how institutional work and resistance has resulted in the current hybrid arrangements, which are based simultaneously on professionalism and rigid control and standardization. Our interviews demonstrate that the impact on morale, stress, engagement, and professional identity has been negative. Our archive data show that this transformation has intensified over the past two decades. Academia appears to take inspiration from a corporate model which most knowledge-intensive firms are now abandoning.