Patterns of recruitment of academic leaders to Australian universities and implications for the future of higher education

Abstract

This paper reports on research conducted to understand key factors impacting the recruitment and selection of senior academic leaders in Australian universities. A key finding emerging from this research was an increasing reliance on executive search firms when recruiting senior academic leaders. This reliance is driven by a range of factors including an ageing and contracting pool of potential academic leaders, growing competition domestically and internationally and the declining attractiveness of academia as a sustainable career in the context of increased casualisation of the academic workforce. Concurrently, workforce planning and succession planning have not been a high priority for many universities. As a result, Australian universities are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit senior academic leaders without the use of executive search firms. These findings have significant implications for the higher education sector in Australia and warrant further research.

Framing research into university governance and leadership: Formative insights from a case study of Australian higher education

“…Yet, while the work and development of senior leaders at Australian universities have been studied (e.g. Loomes, Owens and McCarthy, 2018;Scott, Coates and Anderson, 2008;Scott, et al, 2010), very little is known about the nature and characteristics of these leaders. Indeed, while confidential commercial investigations may exist, scholarly research on this topic would appear to be beyond the scope of not just government policy reviews but also national platforms for leadership research and development.…”

“…There could be value in studying the links made in Australia between the governance by councils and the executive leadership. Building on Loomes, Owens and McCarthy (2018) and Deem (2018), there would be value in learning more about the Australian approach to progressing people from academic into leadership roles. Cultivating values which encourage the inclusion of diverse stakeholders is likely to become more important.…”

Predicting the Impact of COVID-19 on Australian Universities

“…The declining nature of federal funding to Australian universities accentuates the dependence on overseas students with the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS), the main source of government funding for universities, being capped at 2017 levels (Universities Australia 2020a). Universities have therefore been more pragmatic and acted like corporate entities by prioritising international markets as their key source of growth (Loomes et al 2019). With COVID-19 compromising the ability of international students to resume their studies in Australia, there are serious implications for the financial resilience of Australian universities.…”

The Perfect Strategy of the Leader’s Character of College Education Teams

“…Active leadership is outgoing and likes to interact with people. In team building, it is often able to drive the atmosphere, increase communication between teams, increase communication opportunities between team members, and effectively increase the rationality of decision-making and the efficiency of work between teams [3]. The frequency of communication and the atmosphere of communication and the way in which it communicates have a fundamental impact on the decision-making performance of the organization.…”