Locke, William David; (2017) The Changing Dynamics of UK Higher Education Institutions in an Increasingly Marketised Environment - Academic Work and Rankings. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text William Locke, The Changing Dynamics of UK Higher Education Institutions in an Increasingly Marketised Environment - Academic Work and Rankings (Edited version).pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The integrative summary for this PhD by Publication, and the five publications on which it is based, address two related strands of the study of higher education. These are (i) the shifting patterns of academic work and careers in the UK, and (ii) the influence of rankings on higher education institutions (HEIs). These strands are understood in a common context: the increasingly competitive and globalised HE environment in which HEIs are responding to external pressures and internal anxieties in dynamic and highly differentiated ways, according to their ranking positions, missions, reputation and resources. The three research publications on the academic profession, work and careers focus on the diversification and stratification of higher education institutions and those who work in them. In particular, they explore the relationships between research and teaching and the increasing predominance of the former over the latter in the reputations of HEIs and the career opportunities for individual academics in various roles and at different career stages. The new, hierarchical, divisions of labour, I argue, are reducing opportunities and threatening the sustainability of the profession itself, such that it is in need of reinvigoration and renewal. The two research publications on the influence of rankings on HEIs explore the ways in which the rationales and processes – the logic – of ranking systems are being internalised and, ultimately, institutionalised by individual universities in different ranking positions and at different stages of accommodation. They investigate how this logic becomes embedded in organisational structures and procedures and established as the norm, and shed light on the variable responses of different types of institution and the different parts within an institution. Finally, they show how these responses unfold over time, for example, from initial scepticism and resistance, to reluctant acceptance and, ultimately, active engagement with rankings systems.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item