Higher Education and Management: Discourse and Discord. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

This paper examines the relationship between the study of management and the study of higher education (HE) management in the United Kingdom, focusing on the nature of the discourse between academics in the two fields. The paper has three parts. The first part defines the nature of discourse and a context for the discussion, looking at recent changes in HE and its management in the United Kingdom. This is followed by an analogous overview of British research into HE management and a review of the complex issues facing business and management research and the discord that exists in defining its rigor and relevance. The second part of the paper considers the nature of academic discourses; how disciplines, fields, faculties, and cultures are developed; and how they interact or not interact with each other. The third part explores the relationship between theory and practice in HE management and the extent to which management academics engage with the study of management in their own work context. A model is developed to express the inter-relationship between management research, HE management research, and HE management practice. The paper concludes by questioning how far the divisions articulated between the two fields are simply part of an inevitable language game between the disciplines. (Contains 104 references.) (MDM)