This paper considers the impact of managerialism and the reactions it has engendered in university life. It examines the degree to which institutions of higher education in the UK have in recent years been subjected to what some commentators have seen as a managerial assault, alongside economic pressures to restructure and reform, and explores the reactions of academic and administrative staff in middle and junior levels through a case study of two universities. Consideration is given to attempts to introduce managerial controls, including the setting of targets, appraisals and peer review, as well as to the resistances which followed. It is argued that the notion of resistance to domination and control has been underplayed in the literature of organization and management. In exploring its various manifestations it is shown that managerialism is not fully embedded in university life and that matters are far from settled. It is contended that those engaged in academe in middle and junior levels of the organizational hierarchy are actively seeking to keep alive the craft of scholarship by mediating and moderating the harsher effects of the changes through supportive or transformational styles of working.

In recent years academic commentators have born witness to the emergence of what has been called a New Public Management, or NPM, evident in a number of countries around the world. While the literature has sought to document its appearance and attempt to assess its impact, this article considers an aspect of the NPM which has been little explored: the human cost associated with its introduction. In examining higher education in England, one of the countries where the NPM is thought to have been embraced at least relatively enthusiastically, the article explores research on the experiences and reactions of those working in academe to recent attempts to change working practices through an analysis of the stresses and strains experienced by those subjected to the processes of managerialism. In drawing on published sources and the authors’ own empirical work it is argued that the NPM, not least in intensifying the labour of academics as intellectual workers, has provoked a range of responses which include collusion, resentment and resistance. The consequences of the NPM, it is argued, include blaming of the victim and diverting attention away from processes of control and the action of human agents who initiate stressful conditions of work by implementing the NPM in particularly harsh ways. It is further contended that attempts to encroach on professional autonomy, and operationalize the NPM in English universities in harsh ways, are being mediated by those subjected to the changes who are seeking to preserve elements of collegiality.

This article considers gender and managerial identities in organizational life, taking the recent change in higher education in Sweden and England with the coming of the new public management as the context in which to explore these issues. In reviewing the literature on gender identity and organization/management, which has moved from a pre-occupation with difference to an examination of the complex inter-relationship between gender and organization, an attempt is made to operationalize the concept of positionality, using insights from the work of Alcoff and Melucci. It is argued that Academic Shape Shifting is developed by academics during their time in academia, as well as in defensive and proactive response to the recent managerial reforms. A number of indicative responses to the recent changes are identified. These are: the Stressed Professor, the Managerial Advocate, the Administrative Patrician, the Accidental Female, the Academic Chameleon and the Resolute Researcher. As Academic Shape Shifting is used by social individuals in interaction with others, at particular moments in time and in different circumstances, it is concluded that the implications suggest complexity in the changing character of university life, with female academics in middle range positions facing more difficult compromises than their male counterparts. Key words. academic positioning; gender; higher education; identity; new public management; Sweden and England Volume 13(2): 275-298

This paper considers some of the ways in which neoliberalism, through the processes of managerialism, has impacted on the occupation of social work in Sweden and the UK. It is argued that there are similar implications in both countries, through the managerial drive for increased performance in economy, efficiency and effectiveness, but also in the development of evidence based practice. Whilst the key focus of the paper is on similarities between these two countries, differences are also noted. There is also recognition of the way in which resistance to the reconfiguration of social work is taking shape.