The disillusion of calculative practices in academia

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the findings and reflections provided in academic literature on the various types of consequences stemming from the diffusion of the “audit culture” in academia. In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature in education, management and accounting, and other papers included in this special issue of Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management. Findings The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focussing on the hybridization of universities, not only in terms of calculative practices (e.g. performance indicators) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g. academics and managers) who may have divergent values, and thus, act according to multiple logics (business and academic logics). It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide policy and practice developments in universities. Research limitations/implications This paper provides academics, regulators and decision-makers with relevant insights into the critical issues of using calculative practices in academia. Despite the negative effects have been observed in various disciplines, there is an evident perpetuation in the use of those practices. Originality/value This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the disillusion of calculative practices in academia. Yet, positive changes can be achieved within the complex settings of “hybrid” universities when the apparent class division between academics and managers is bridged.

New development: University managers balancing between sense and sensibility

“…Moreover, the globalization and commercialization of research and teaching cannot be ignored, and should be embraced for their positive impacts. But have we gone too far in reshaping universities as enterprises in a competitive setting subjected to an audit culture (Argento et al, 2020)? And have we, as a consequence, given up too many virtues of academic life?…”

“…First, we want the top layer of universities consider a more facilitating role towards faculties and other places of knowledge production, and soften their control repertoire of strategic planning, performance budgeting and auditing. The audit culture of metrics and rankings needs to be changed to use these control mechanisms more sensibly (Argento et al, 2020;Cleaver, 2021). In addition, managers have to be open to faculties operating with different goals.…”

Budgetary practices in a Tanzanian University: Bourdieu's theory

“…In a University setting, Bourdieu's theory is appropriate as there is a historical struggle between resource recipients and administrators (Goodwin and De Gouw, 1997;Moll and Hoque, 2011;Jalali Aliabadi et al, 2019). Moreover, although not explicitly stated, "habitus" was argued to shape practices in Universities (Argento et al, 2020;Guarini et al, 2020;Grossi et al, 2020). Argento et al (2020) argue that actors respond differently to the same set of system requirements, based on their logic, i.e.…”

“…For this reason, understanding the role of actors other than resource recipients is imperative. There is also a recent call to investigate and theorize the role of actors in calculative practices (such as budgeting) in a University setting (Argento et al, 2020;Aleksandrov, 2020;Grossi et al, 2020;Ozdil and Hoque, 2017). The interplay between the greater autonomy afforded to resource recipients of the university and the coordination of institutional goals and activities by administrators is argued to be at the heart of the debate over the implementation of decentralized budgeting (Deering and S a, 2018).…”

Calculative regimes in the making: implementation and consequences in the context of Austrian public universities

“…Within individual universities, internal governance structures are less oriented towards collegial decision-making (McNay, 1995) but tend to become business-like, monocratic, centralized and less academically free despite organizational autonomy, what Kallio et al (2020) call a competitive bureaucracy. For an actual literature-review on the HES-metamorphosis see Argento et al (2020), a broader perspective on knowledge intensive public organizations is provided by Grossi et al (2020).…”