Table Of ContentHow Organisational Change
Influences Academic Work
Higher education institutions around the globe are facing complex issues that disrupt the
usual roles and purposes of centres of learning and research. Forces such as globalisation,
burgeoning knowledge-based economies, rapid adoption of new technology, and global
competition are changing the work and lived experiences of academics across the globe.
This book addresses the unprecedented effects of these global pressures, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, on university work and the resulting opportunity for innovative
disruption. It presents the voices of 16 Australian university academics, framed by
standpoint theory, which provide a unique perspective and insights into the rapid shifts
impacting universities and how these affect academics’ work lives. The stories uncover
cases of disappointment and frustration, bullying and morale loss, alongside positive
change and the awareness of the need to change expectations. This work informs the
development of the Academic Predicament Model (APM), which points to the erosion of
academic professionalism and identifies how such change in university work consequently
de-professionalises academia in Australia. The long-term effect is to challenge the place and
function of higher education institutions.
The need for transformation, and potential for its outcomes, has never been greater,
nor has the risk that the elements of the Academic Predicament Model will be amplified,
causing the de-professionalising of academia to be further accelerated. This book will be
of interest to researchers in higher education exploring neoliberalism and its impact on
education and academics’ work.
Sureetha De Silva has taught Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary students and has worked in
Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka. She has been a librarian at the British
Council Library and has worked as a research librarian within the Australian university
sector. She is a freelance writer and a translator in English and Sinhalese.
Donna Pendergast is Dean and Head of the School of Education and Professional Studies,
Griffith University. Beginning as a secondary teacher and working in universities for over
two decades, Donna received the Vice-Chancellor’s 2016 Research Supervision Award
for Excellence and the ACEL 2018 Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in
Education.
Christopher Klopper is Dean, Australian College of the Professions, Australia. His career,
spanning over 25 years, has afforded him 10 years of experience as a music teacher and
curriculum leader in South Africa, and 15 years as a teacher educator and leader of learning
and teaching in Australian higher education.
Routledge Research in Higher Education
Queerness as Being in Higher Education
Narrating the Insider/Outsider Paradox as LGBTQ+ Scholars and Practitioners
Antonio Duran, Ryan A. Miller, T.J. Jourian and Jesus Cisneros
Queerness as Doing in Higher Education
Narrating the Insider/Outsider Paradox as LGBTQ+ Scholars and Practitioners
Jesus Cisneros, T.J. Jourian, Ryan A. Miller and Antonio Duran
Supporting Student and Faculty Wellbeing in Graduate Education
Teaching, Learning, Policy, and Praxis
Snežana Obradović-Ratković, Mirjana Bajovic, Ayse Pinar Sen, Vera Woloshyn,
Michael Savage
Optimising the Third Space in Higher Education
Case Studies of Intercultural and Cross-Boundary Collaboration
Natalia Veles
How Organisational Change Influences Academic Work
The Academic Predicament Model for a Conducive Work Environment
Sureetha De Silva, Donna Pendergast and Christopher Klopper
University Autonomy Decline
Causes, Responses, and Implications for Academic Freedom
Kirsten Roberts Lyer, Ilyas Saliba and Janika Spannagel
The Experience of Examining the PhD
An International Comparative Study of Processes and Standards of Doctoral
Examination
Edited by Michael Byram and Maria Stoicheva
Internationalising Higher Education and the Role of Virtual Exchange
Robert O’Dowd
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-
Research-in-Higher-Education/book-series/RRHE
How Organisational Change
Influences Academic Work
The Academic Predicament Model for a
Conducive Work Environment
Sureetha De Silva, Donna Pendergast
and Christopher Klopper
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Sureetha De Silva, Donna Pendergast and
Christopher Klopper
The right of Sureetha De Silva, Donna Pendergast and
Christopher Klopper to be identified as authors of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 9781032158273 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032158280 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003245834 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003245834
Typeset in Galliard
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To all Australian university academics who contributed
valuable data to this research study, and were willing
to have their voices heard, sharing their precious
time, thoughts, and lived experiences, thank you. We
dedicate this book to you.
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
Introduction 1
1 The Changing University Work Environment 3
2 The Academic Predicament Model 43
3 The Impact of Political and Economic Ideologies 55
4 Massification of Higher Education 76
5 Conflicting Forces Impacting Upon Academics 91
6 Casualisation of Academic Staff 113
7 Managerial Culture Within Academia 126
8 Accountability Management Mechanisms 138
9 Erosion of Academic Professionalism 149
10 Achieving a Conducive University Work Environment 162
Index 172
Figures
1.1 Conceptualisation of the Standpoint Theory Used in the Study 7
2.1 Academic Predicament Model (APM) 45
2.2 Categories and Themes 47
5.1 Conflicting Forces Impacting Upon Academics 92
Tables
1.1 Participant Criteria 12
1.2 Summary of Participants 18
4.1 An Analysis of Promoting Massification in Australia 77
4.2 Massification of Higher Education: Elite, Mass, and Universal 77
7.1 Academics’ Predicaments 126
10.1 Academics’ Goals and Objectives 166
