Academic professionalism in the managerialist era: a study of English universities

This article examines the relationship between managerialism and academic professionalism in English universities. Managerialist ideology has introduced to higher education a range of discourses and practices originating in the corporate world. According to much of the existing literature this is leading to feelings of proletarianisation and deprofessionalisation amongst academics. It is argued here that this somewhat depressing portrait may be overly pessimistic. Following a Foucauldian epistemology, this article presents the findings of an empirical study that suggest a willingness to tolerate managerialist modes of governance provided autonomous niches can be protected. The findings indicate constructive interaction and interdependence between managerialism and academic professionalism, in which academics exploit strategies of power to manage and reconstitute their self‐concept within an evolutionary context. As such, they are instrumental in realigning power relations and sustaining managerialism as a mode of university governance.