Professional support staff in higher education: networks and associations as sense givers

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the functions that professional networks could have as sense givers during the process in which professional support staff at higher education institutions make sense of their roles. The empirical data comprise interviews with three categories of support staff at three technical universities in Sweden and a review of home pages and other written sources from ten, both Swedish and international, professional networks. One conclusion is that the networks can serve as sense givers for the professional support staff related either to the professional task or to the relational characteristics. However, these functions are not straightforward. The support staff in focus comprise a new category, with no ready-made scripts for their roles. Given that membership in these networks is voluntary, the networks may face challenges in their functions as sense givers. The networks thus opt for other ways of attracting members. This voluntariness in combination with a plasticity in the roles of the support staff suggests that the functions of professional networks not only will vary, but might also be limited as sense givers in the sense making process of professional support staff at higher education institutions (HEIs).

Burocracia y Universidad. El personal no académico en Chile, 1993-2016

“…La literatura ha comenzado a identificar a los funcionarios como un "stakeholder" interno, al igual que los estudiantes, profesores y autoridades (Aarrevaara & Dobson, 2013, pp. 161-163;Adler & Lalonde, 2019, p. 75;Leiber, 2016, p. 18;Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2019, p. 1065; es decir, como un grupo de interés con influencia en la definición de objetivos organizacionales (Freeman, 1984). Producto de ello, algunos autores han empezado a conceptualizar la universidad como una organización "multiprofesional" (Schneijderberg, 2017, p. 2), otros a llamarla "All-Administrative University" (Ginsberg, 2013).…”

“…Una vez que ciertas estructuras y rutinas administrativas son establecidas, éstas son adoptadas en la red de funcionarios universitarios (Gornitzka et al, 1998, p. 38). Estos conforman asociaciones de alcance internacional, en las que intercambian experiencias y construyen elementos identitarios (Graham, 2009, p. 179;Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2019). La modificación de las misiones institucionales, como emulación de universidades percibidas como exitosas, probablemente ha desatado procesos de isomorfismo mimético, aumentando a su vez las funciones administrativas (Baltaru, 2019, p. 643).…”

A Novel Definition of Professional Staff

“…This is a concept used when exploring groups of staff at HEIs who do not fit the conventional binary descriptors of "academics" or "non-academics" […]' (Ryttberg, 2020) • 'Their functions typically require highly educated specialists and experts in specific areas of administration […]. Furthermore, they do not identify themselves with the term administrator […], which refers to functions that are more clerical or secretarial […]' (Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2019) • Not explicitly defined or described in reviewed document (Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2017) Third space professional…”

The Influence of RMA Associations on Identity and Policymaking Internationally

“…Identity and policymaking related issues are absent in these works so it is important to expand the scope of investigation. Ryttberg and Geschwind (2019) aim to understand the role of support staff's networks as sense givers. They found that associations providing trainings, courses, or even certificates can contribute in the long run to 'creating common understanding of specific roles, supporting the delineation of the specificities or scripts of the role of the professional staff' (Ryttberg & Geschwind, 2019, p. 14).…”