New organisational structures and the transformation of academic work

Abstract

This research group at the Department of administration and organisation theory has existed under different headings or names. In one period the current name, Knowledge and politics, was a reminder of the relationship to the conferences "Knowledge and politics". From 2003 to 2008 conferences were organised in Bergen; in 2008 "Elitism vs. creativity? The political and economic construction of knowledge hierarchies in times of mass higher education", in 2007 "America-a model for Europe? Comparing regions in the debate on higher education and research", in 2006 "Towards a New Contract Between Universities and Society?", in 2005 "The Bologna Process and the Shaping of the Future Knowledge Societies", in 2004 "Politics and knowledge: Democratizing knowledge in times of the expert" and in 2003 "Knowledge and politics-towards the new knowledge society throughout my doctoral project. Especially in the last stages of the dissertation the motivation and clear comments from my supervisor have been crucial. Thanks to my co-supervisor, Professor Christine Musselin, for commenting on drafts and for creating an opportunity for me to host Centre de Sociologie des Organisations in Paris. Also thanks to the PhD network around higher education research which developed in relation to the project "Steering of Universities" and Euredocs (European research and higher education doctoral studies). In particular the collaboration with Lukas Baschung has been rewarding for the dissertation. Not least I want to thank my colleagues at the Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies and in particular members of the group Culture, Power and Meaning: Ole Brekke, Gry Brandser, Kristin L. Hope and Knut Grove. I also want to thank Ingrid Helgøy for backing me up in the last stages of the PhD project. Thanks to my in-laws for caring and for being inclusive. Thanks to my good friends Line, Sylva and Serine for lots of laughter and getting my mind off my PhD! I want to show my gratitude to my parents, Olga and Kjell. Thanks to my mother for her support and care; she has been the symbol of my yonder*-being in between Norwegian and Colombian culture. Thanks to my father, who passed away a year ago, but during my childhood aroused my curiosity for knowledge and invited in reflection. Lastly I want to thank my husband Atle for unconditional and priceless support throughout the doctoral project. Having been in the same boat with our individual doctoral projects has first and foremost been enrichment. I have the greatest respect for your professional and intellectual feedback. And finally thanks to my two beloved sons Daniel and Alfred who in different periods have been born into your mother's educational pathway. Thanks for being you. Gigliola *Yonder refers to "between here and there" in Siri Hustvedts "A plea for eros." 8 This section draws on ideas from the SUN project as discussed in "University governance. Western European Comparative Perspectives" (Paradeise et al. 2009).

Reframing the university as an emergent organisation: implications for strategic management and leadership in higher education

“…The study of micro-processes of change in higher education is much less extensive but see (Frølich et al, 2013;A. Kezar, 2013b;Nyhagen & Baschung, 2013).…”

The professional lives of expatriate academics

“…The three tenets of academic work are research, teaching and service, although the tasks that are actually encompassed within these three broad categories have naturally changed as the education system and related technology have transformed through time (Nyhagen and Baschung, 2013). However, in some ways, the day-to-day minutia of an academic career, on its own, is less important than the overall lifestyle that academics inhabit.…”

“…Using literature on academia as a profession (e.g. Nyhagen and Baschung, 2013;Blackburn, 1974 discussed in a later section), the term "professional life" as it pertained to academics was defined as "the sum of the actions and behaviours that may lead to positive or negative work outcomes". Based on this definition, the following themes emerged from the literature: the academic's motivation to expatriate (as the expectations that a person has prior to leaving and their reasons for being outside their home country or in their new country (push vs pull factors) have been shown to have a significant impact on the outcomes they produce as an employee (Selmer and Lauring, 2012); the workplace adjustment process of the EA; their attitude towards their new environment; as well as how being an EA had affected their view of themselves and their sense of professional identity.…”

The establishment of formal research groups in higher education institutions

“…Principles for organising departments and faculties, however, have changed considerably over the past few years (Michelsen & Vabø, 2014). Research schools, study programmes, research centres, COEs, and, eventually, education are examples of activities organised across the institutional structure (Nyhagen & Baschung, 2013). Internationally, it is increasingly common to convert the faculty into 'schools' in order to contribute to better integration between research, teaching, and resource allocation across departments (Geschwind, 2010).…”