Managerialism In South Australian Universities

This paper explores the extent to which a managerialist discourse evident in Australian Higher Education federal policy directives has cascaded down the line. Analysis of university documentation and interviews conducted at three South Australian universities suggests that a preoccupation with managerialist thinking and techniques has been taken up by university administrations and departments; further, that financial stringency coupled with the decentralisation of budgets has impacted on human resource management practices. It is argued that managerialism in the universities is resulting in the casualisation of the academic labour market as jobs are increasingly offered on a temporary or casual hourly paid basis. The paper investigates differences between university administrations and departmental heads, as well as variations in staffing practices between departments and justifications for casualisation.