4 - The Culture of Middle-level Academic Management at a Comprehensive South African University
Corresponding Author(s) : George Mavunga
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 17 No. 1-2 (2019): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Issue on Higher Education Leadership in Africa
Abstract
Using Critical Realism (CR), which emphasises the interplay of structure, culture, and agency, this conceptual article reflects on the culture of middle- level academic management at a comprehensive South African university which was the result of a merger of historically disparate institutions. It is important for the culture of this layer of management to be understood because it is at the nexus of senior management’s strategic initiatives and the concerns of staff members and students. The article thus recommends the implementation of practices which embed the corporatist concerns of senior-level management into those aspects of the culture of middle-level academic management which are a function of the structural contexts in which the middle level academic managers operate as well as the managers’ collective and individual agency. The result, the article envisages, could be an enhanced culture of middle-level academic management which makes for improved institutional governance in response to the multiple challenges being faced by the institution, such as the slow pace of transformation; increased student enrolments; student academic under-preparedness; the ever-present possibility of student protests; the demands of corporatism and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on teaching and learning as well as unanswered questions around the relevance of some academic programmes.
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- Archer, M.S., 2006, Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Archer, M.S., 2003, Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Archer, M.S., 2000, Being Human, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Archer, M.S., 1996, Culture and Agency: The Place of Culture in Social Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Baatjes, I., Baduza, U. & Sibiya, A.T., 2014, ‘Building a transformative pedagogy in vocational Education’, in S. Valley and E. Motala, Education, Economy and Society, Pretoria: UNISA Press, pp. 81-102.
- Baloyi, M.C. & Naidoo, G., 2016, ‘Higher Education in South Africa: A means to an End’, African Journal of Public Affairs, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 19-29.
- Bhaskar, R. & Lawson, T., 1998, ‘General introduction’, in M.S. Archer, R. Bhaskar,A. Collier, T. Lawson and A. Norrie, eds., Critical Realism: Essential Readings, London: Routledge, pp. 1-27.
- Bhaskar, R., 1991., Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom, Oxford: Blackwell.
- Bhaskar, R., 1978, A Realist Theory of Science, Brighton: Harvester.
- Billet, S., 2006, ‘Relational interdependence between social and individual agency in work and working life’, Mind, Culture and Activity, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 53-69.
- Bitzer, E., 2005, ‘First-year students’ perceptions of generic skills competence and academic performance: a case study at one university’, South African Journal of Higher Education, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 172-187.
- Bloch, G., 2009, The Toxic Mix: What’s Wrong with South African Education and How to Fix It, Cape Town: Tafelberg.
- Booysen, S., ed., 2016, Fees Must Fall-student Revolt, Decolonisation and Governance in South Africa, Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
- Boughey, C. & Niven, P., 2012, ‘Common sense fails our students’, Mail & Guardian, August 10 – 16, p. 40.
- Breier, M. & le Roux, P., 2012, ‘Black access to varsity: what’s the full story?’ Mail & Guardian, January 27 - February 2, pp. 34-35.
- Bourdieu, P., 1986, ‘The forms of capital’, in J.G. Richardson, ed., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, New York: Greenwood, pp. 241-258.
- Case, J.M., 2015, ‘A social realist perspective on student learning in higher education: the morphogenesis if agency’, Higher Education Research & Development, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 841-852.
- Chia, R. & King, I., 2001, ‘The language of organisation theory’, in R. Westwood & S. Linstead, eds., The Language of Organisations, London: Sage, pp. 310-328.
- Cobb, P., 1998, ‘Learning from distributed theories of intelligence’, Mind, Culture and Activity, vol. 5, pp.187-204.
- Cole, M., 1998, ‘Can cultural psychology help us think about diversity?’ Mind, Culture and Activity, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 291-304.
- Creamer, T., 2018, ‘Extreme inequality in South Africa is constraining growth and investment,’ http:www.engineeringnews.co.za., Accessed 11 May 2018.
- Danermark, B., 2002, ‘Interdisciplinary research and critical realism: the example of disability’, Journal of Critical Realism, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.56-64.
- Debowski, S., 2017, Developing Academics: The Essential Higher Education Handbook, London: Routledge.
- Dobson, P., 2002, ‘Managerial efficacy and human capital: an application to English Organisations and Learning Facilitators’, in M. Diekers, A.B. Antal, J. Child and Nonaka, eds., Handbook of Organisational Learning and Knowledge, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 303-346.
- Fleetwood, S., 2003, ‘The ontology of organisation and management studies: A critical realist approach’, Organisation, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 197-222.
- Foucault, M., 1980, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and other Writings, 1972-1977, London: Pantheon Books.
- Giroux, H.A., 2014, Neoliberalism’s War on Higher Education, Chicago: Haymarket Books.
- Goodknow, J.J., 1990, ‘The socialization of cognition. What’s involved?’ in J.W. Stigler, R.A. Shweder and G. Herdt, eds., Cultural Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Govender, K.S., Zondo, N.P. and Makgoba, M.W., 2013, ‘A new look at transformation for universities in South Africa’, South African Journal of Science, vol. 109, no. 11/12, pp 1-11.
- Govender, P., 2016, ‘There still aren’t enough black professors, despite university transformation attempts’, Mail & Guardian, 2 July, p. 33.
- Govinder, K.S., Zondo, N.P. and Makgoba, M.W., 2013, ‘A new look at demographic transformation for universities in South Africa’, South African Journal of Science, vol. 109, no. 11/12, pp. 1-11.
- Harrison, R., 2010, The Impact of Gobal Social Engineering: Neoliberal Africa, New York: Zed Books.
- Hess, B.B., 1988, ‘Social structures and human lives a sociological theme’, in M.W. Riley, ed., Social Structures & Human Lives, London: SAGE Publications, pp. 16-23.
- Ismi, A., 2016, ‘South African students’ take on neoliberalism and the ANC’, www.globalresearch.ca, 3 September 2017.
- Jansen, J., 2009, Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past,Cape Town: UCT Press.
- Jarvis, P., 2007, ‘Globalisation, lifelong learning and the learning society’, Sociological Perspectives, volume 2, London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.
- Jarvis, P., 2000, ‘Globalisation, the learning society and comparative education’, Comparative Education, vol. 36, no. 3, p. 343.
- Jarvis, P., 1995, Adult and Continuing Education: Theory and Practice, London: Routledge.
- Jarvis, P., 1985, The Sociology of Adult and Continuing Education, London: CROOM HELM.
- Langa, M., 2017, ‘#Hashtag: an analysis of the #FeesMustFall movement at South African universities’, Cape Town: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
- Layder, D., 1994, Understanding Social Theory, London: Sage.
- Leibowitz, B., ed., 2012, Higher Education for the Public Good: Views from the South, Sterling: Trentham Books.
- Manville, B., 2004, ‘Envisioning a learning culture: history, self-governing citizens, and dancing elephants’, in M.L. Conner and J.G. Clawson, eds., Creating and Learning Culture: Strategy, Technology and Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 245-261.
- Mashabela, N.T., 2011, ‘Is democracy possible in university governance?’ South African Journal of Higher Education, vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 1563-1606.
- Maistry, S.M., 2012, ‘Confronting the neo-liberal brute: reflections of a higher education middle-level manager’, South African Journal of Higher Education, vol 26, no. 3, pp. 515- 528.
- Mingers, J., 2014, Systems Thinking, Critical Realism and Philosophy: A Confluence of Ideas, London: Routledge.
- Nguyen, T.H.L., 2013, ‘Middle-level academic management: a case study on the roles of heads of department at a Vietnamese university’, Tertiary Education Management, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 1-15.
- Nkosi, B., 2019, ‘Shock: seven years at varsity for first degree’, The Star, 17 April, p.1.
- O’Mahoney, J., and Vincent, S., 2014, ‘Critical realism as an empirical project: a beginner’s guide’, in Edwards, P.K., O’Mahoney, J. and Vincent, S., eds., Studying Organisations Using Critical Realism: A Practical Guide, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 231-257.
- Pea, R.D., 1997, ‘Practices of distributed intelligence and designs for education’, in G. Salomon, ed., Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 47-87.
- Quinn, L., 2012, ed., Re-imagining Academic Staff Development: Spaces for Disruption, Stellenbosch: Sun Press.
- Sayer, A., 2000, Realism and Social Change, London: Sage Publications.
- Seale, O. and Cross, M., 2015, ‘Reading and managing complexity: the case of South African deans’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 1514-1532.
- Shandler, M., 2009, ‘How students perceive the contribution that alternate access programmes make to their academic success’, Unpublished M.Ed dissertation, University of Johannesburg.
- Singh, M., 2012, ‘Re-inserting the public good into higher education transformation’, in B. Leibowitz, ed., Higher Education for the Public Good: Views from the South, Cape Town: Sun Press, pp. 1-15.
- Spasser, M.A., 2000, ‘Realist activity theory for digital library evaluation: conceptual framework and case study’, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Vol. 11, pp. 81-110.
- Vally, S. and Motala, E., eds., 2014, Education, Economy & Society, Pretoria: UNISA Press.
- Valsiner, J., 2000, Culture and Human Development, London: SAGE.
- Von Holdt, K., 2012, ‘Conversation 1 Sociology as a Combat Sport: Bourdieu in South Africa’ in M. Burawoy and K. Von Holdt, eds., Conversations with Bourdieu: The Johannesburg Moment, Johannesburg: Wits University Press, pp. 25-30.
- Westhood, R. and Clegg, S., 2003, ‘The discourse of organisation studies: dissensus, politics and paradigms’, http://citeseerx.psu.edu/viewdoc, Accessed 10 September 2018.
- Wilmott, H., 2005, ‘Theorising contemporary control: Some post-structuralist responses to some critical realist questions’, Organisation, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 63-77.
- Witgren, M., 2004, ‘Critical realism as a philosophy and social theory in information science’, Journal of Documentation, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 11-22.
- Wright, C., 1999, ‘They shoot dead horses, don’t they? Locating agency in the agency-structure problematique’, European Journal of International Relations, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 109-142.
- Zacharaiadis, M., Scott, S. and Barret, M., 2010, ‘Exploring critical realism as the theoretical foundation of mixed-method: evidence from the economics of innovations’, Cambridge Judge Business School Working Paper Series, 3/20, pp. 1-26.
References
Archer, M.S., 2006, Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Archer, M.S., 2003, Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Archer, M.S., 2000, Being Human, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Archer, M.S., 1996, Culture and Agency: The Place of Culture in Social Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baatjes, I., Baduza, U. & Sibiya, A.T., 2014, ‘Building a transformative pedagogy in vocational Education’, in S. Valley and E. Motala, Education, Economy and Society, Pretoria: UNISA Press, pp. 81-102.
Baloyi, M.C. & Naidoo, G., 2016, ‘Higher Education in South Africa: A means to an End’, African Journal of Public Affairs, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 19-29.
Bhaskar, R. & Lawson, T., 1998, ‘General introduction’, in M.S. Archer, R. Bhaskar,A. Collier, T. Lawson and A. Norrie, eds., Critical Realism: Essential Readings, London: Routledge, pp. 1-27.
Bhaskar, R., 1991., Philosophy and the Idea of Freedom, Oxford: Blackwell.
Bhaskar, R., 1978, A Realist Theory of Science, Brighton: Harvester.
Billet, S., 2006, ‘Relational interdependence between social and individual agency in work and working life’, Mind, Culture and Activity, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 53-69.
Bitzer, E., 2005, ‘First-year students’ perceptions of generic skills competence and academic performance: a case study at one university’, South African Journal of Higher Education, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 172-187.
Bloch, G., 2009, The Toxic Mix: What’s Wrong with South African Education and How to Fix It, Cape Town: Tafelberg.
Booysen, S., ed., 2016, Fees Must Fall-student Revolt, Decolonisation and Governance in South Africa, Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
Boughey, C. & Niven, P., 2012, ‘Common sense fails our students’, Mail & Guardian, August 10 – 16, p. 40.
Breier, M. & le Roux, P., 2012, ‘Black access to varsity: what’s the full story?’ Mail & Guardian, January 27 - February 2, pp. 34-35.
Bourdieu, P., 1986, ‘The forms of capital’, in J.G. Richardson, ed., Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, New York: Greenwood, pp. 241-258.
Case, J.M., 2015, ‘A social realist perspective on student learning in higher education: the morphogenesis if agency’, Higher Education Research & Development, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 841-852.
Chia, R. & King, I., 2001, ‘The language of organisation theory’, in R. Westwood & S. Linstead, eds., The Language of Organisations, London: Sage, pp. 310-328.
Cobb, P., 1998, ‘Learning from distributed theories of intelligence’, Mind, Culture and Activity, vol. 5, pp.187-204.
Cole, M., 1998, ‘Can cultural psychology help us think about diversity?’ Mind, Culture and Activity, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 291-304.
Creamer, T., 2018, ‘Extreme inequality in South Africa is constraining growth and investment,’ http:www.engineeringnews.co.za., Accessed 11 May 2018.
Danermark, B., 2002, ‘Interdisciplinary research and critical realism: the example of disability’, Journal of Critical Realism, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.56-64.
Debowski, S., 2017, Developing Academics: The Essential Higher Education Handbook, London: Routledge.
Dobson, P., 2002, ‘Managerial efficacy and human capital: an application to English Organisations and Learning Facilitators’, in M. Diekers, A.B. Antal, J. Child and Nonaka, eds., Handbook of Organisational Learning and Knowledge, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 303-346.
Fleetwood, S., 2003, ‘The ontology of organisation and management studies: A critical realist approach’, Organisation, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 197-222.
Foucault, M., 1980, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and other Writings, 1972-1977, London: Pantheon Books.
Giroux, H.A., 2014, Neoliberalism’s War on Higher Education, Chicago: Haymarket Books.
Goodknow, J.J., 1990, ‘The socialization of cognition. What’s involved?’ in J.W. Stigler, R.A. Shweder and G. Herdt, eds., Cultural Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Govender, K.S., Zondo, N.P. and Makgoba, M.W., 2013, ‘A new look at transformation for universities in South Africa’, South African Journal of Science, vol. 109, no. 11/12, pp 1-11.
Govender, P., 2016, ‘There still aren’t enough black professors, despite university transformation attempts’, Mail & Guardian, 2 July, p. 33.
Govinder, K.S., Zondo, N.P. and Makgoba, M.W., 2013, ‘A new look at demographic transformation for universities in South Africa’, South African Journal of Science, vol. 109, no. 11/12, pp. 1-11.
Harrison, R., 2010, The Impact of Gobal Social Engineering: Neoliberal Africa, New York: Zed Books.
Hess, B.B., 1988, ‘Social structures and human lives a sociological theme’, in M.W. Riley, ed., Social Structures & Human Lives, London: SAGE Publications, pp. 16-23.
Ismi, A., 2016, ‘South African students’ take on neoliberalism and the ANC’, www.globalresearch.ca, 3 September 2017.
Jansen, J., 2009, Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past,Cape Town: UCT Press.
Jarvis, P., 2007, ‘Globalisation, lifelong learning and the learning society’, Sociological Perspectives, volume 2, London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.
Jarvis, P., 2000, ‘Globalisation, the learning society and comparative education’, Comparative Education, vol. 36, no. 3, p. 343.
Jarvis, P., 1995, Adult and Continuing Education: Theory and Practice, London: Routledge.
Jarvis, P., 1985, The Sociology of Adult and Continuing Education, London: CROOM HELM.
Langa, M., 2017, ‘#Hashtag: an analysis of the #FeesMustFall movement at South African universities’, Cape Town: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Layder, D., 1994, Understanding Social Theory, London: Sage.
Leibowitz, B., ed., 2012, Higher Education for the Public Good: Views from the South, Sterling: Trentham Books.
Manville, B., 2004, ‘Envisioning a learning culture: history, self-governing citizens, and dancing elephants’, in M.L. Conner and J.G. Clawson, eds., Creating and Learning Culture: Strategy, Technology and Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 245-261.
Mashabela, N.T., 2011, ‘Is democracy possible in university governance?’ South African Journal of Higher Education, vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 1563-1606.
Maistry, S.M., 2012, ‘Confronting the neo-liberal brute: reflections of a higher education middle-level manager’, South African Journal of Higher Education, vol 26, no. 3, pp. 515- 528.
Mingers, J., 2014, Systems Thinking, Critical Realism and Philosophy: A Confluence of Ideas, London: Routledge.
Nguyen, T.H.L., 2013, ‘Middle-level academic management: a case study on the roles of heads of department at a Vietnamese university’, Tertiary Education Management, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 1-15.
Nkosi, B., 2019, ‘Shock: seven years at varsity for first degree’, The Star, 17 April, p.1.
O’Mahoney, J., and Vincent, S., 2014, ‘Critical realism as an empirical project: a beginner’s guide’, in Edwards, P.K., O’Mahoney, J. and Vincent, S., eds., Studying Organisations Using Critical Realism: A Practical Guide, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 231-257.
Pea, R.D., 1997, ‘Practices of distributed intelligence and designs for education’, in G. Salomon, ed., Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 47-87.
Quinn, L., 2012, ed., Re-imagining Academic Staff Development: Spaces for Disruption, Stellenbosch: Sun Press.
Sayer, A., 2000, Realism and Social Change, London: Sage Publications.
Seale, O. and Cross, M., 2015, ‘Reading and managing complexity: the case of South African deans’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 1514-1532.
Shandler, M., 2009, ‘How students perceive the contribution that alternate access programmes make to their academic success’, Unpublished M.Ed dissertation, University of Johannesburg.
Singh, M., 2012, ‘Re-inserting the public good into higher education transformation’, in B. Leibowitz, ed., Higher Education for the Public Good: Views from the South, Cape Town: Sun Press, pp. 1-15.
Spasser, M.A., 2000, ‘Realist activity theory for digital library evaluation: conceptual framework and case study’, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Vol. 11, pp. 81-110.
Vally, S. and Motala, E., eds., 2014, Education, Economy & Society, Pretoria: UNISA Press.
Valsiner, J., 2000, Culture and Human Development, London: SAGE.
Von Holdt, K., 2012, ‘Conversation 1 Sociology as a Combat Sport: Bourdieu in South Africa’ in M. Burawoy and K. Von Holdt, eds., Conversations with Bourdieu: The Johannesburg Moment, Johannesburg: Wits University Press, pp. 25-30.
Westhood, R. and Clegg, S., 2003, ‘The discourse of organisation studies: dissensus, politics and paradigms’, http://citeseerx.psu.edu/viewdoc, Accessed 10 September 2018.
Wilmott, H., 2005, ‘Theorising contemporary control: Some post-structuralist responses to some critical realist questions’, Organisation, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 63-77.
Witgren, M., 2004, ‘Critical realism as a philosophy and social theory in information science’, Journal of Documentation, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 11-22.
Wright, C., 1999, ‘They shoot dead horses, don’t they? Locating agency in the agency-structure problematique’, European Journal of International Relations, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 109-142.
Zacharaiadis, M., Scott, S. and Barret, M., 2010, ‘Exploring critical realism as the theoretical foundation of mixed-method: evidence from the economics of innovations’, Cambridge Judge Business School Working Paper Series, 3/20, pp. 1-26.