Carving out time and space in the managerial university

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the ways in which recent “managerial” changes in Australian universities affect academics' experiences of their working lives; and the significance of time and space in academics' resistance to managerialism. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on interviews with 27 academics from eight Australian universities, in which they explored their experiences of managerialism. The analysis reported here focuses on academics' experiences of time and space in the managerial university. A Foucauldian approach to power and resistance underpins the overall research approach employed in this study. Findings The paper finds that academics in this study argued that managerial practices in their universities imposed significant time‐burdens in already full workloads. However, many of them also employed time and space – often in highly creative way – in resisting these same practices. Much of this resistance involves academics “fiddling” time and space from themselves in order to fulfil their obligations as teachers and research. Such resistance has implications for further academic demoralisation and burnout. Originality/value While other studies have acknowledged academics' opposition to managerialism in their universities, this study focus specifically on the ways in which this opposition is enacted in resistance.

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