Changing Academic Work

Higher education has changed enormously in the late 1990s. For instance, in now serves a more diverse range of students and is under closer scrutiny and control. There is consequently a significant number of academics who are uneasy with current values and practices and who work with them reluctantly. Universities may speak publicly of efficiency and effectiveness but they cannot function successfully if their academic staff are disillusioned. This text explores the competing tensions in contemporary higher education: the need to balance individualism with collaboration; accountability with reward; a valuing of the past with preparation for the future. The aim is to help staff build a contemporary university which is as much a learning organization as an organization about learning.