Abstract
In this paper, we present results from an extensive survey of United Kingdom (UK) university academics investigating satisfaction with senior managers and university governance: the Senior Management Survey (SMS). In total, 5888 academic staff across the United Kingdom Higher Education (HE) sector completed the survey, and results were used to construct a league table of staff satisfaction with management. This table is a stark indictment of the current state of the UK HE sector, showing a mean satisfaction score of 10.54%. The SMS also collected qualitative data, and we extend the league table’s insights using these data. Thematic analysis revealed seven major themes: the dominance and brutality of metrics; excessive workload; governance and accountability; perpetual change; vanity projects; the silenced academic; work and mental health. We conclude with a discussion of how this statactivist research can be used to bring about change in management and governance of UK HE.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-18 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Studies in Higher Education |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Jan 2020 |
Keywords
- Higher education
- higher education management
- academic labour process
- mental health
- statactivism
- staff satisfaction
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Mark Erickson
- School of Applied Social Science - Reader
- University of Brighton - Dir. of Doctoral Studies Res and Sup Dev
- Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics
Person: Academic