Rui Santiago

The Rise of Academic Managerialism in Portugal

Under the convergent effects of financial restrictions resulting partly from the rolling-back of the welfare state, rising expectations and social demand, mandates of the new economy and a weakening of its symbolic capital, higher education has been exposed to the influence of strong outside pressures, only paralleled by those of the Napoleonic and Humboldtian reforms in the 19th century.

European universities as complete organizations? Understanding identity, hierarchy and rationality in public organizations

Abstract This article investigates the form of European universities to determine the extent to which they resemble the characteristics of complete organizations and whether the forms are associated with modernization policy pressure, national institutional frames and organizational characteristics. An original data set of twenty-six universities from eight countries was used. Specialist universities have a stronger identity, whereas the level of hierarchy and rationality is clearly associated with the intensity of modernization policies. At the same time, evidence suggests limitations for universities to become complete, as mechanisms allowing the development of some dimensions seemingly constrain the capability to develop others.

New Public Management and ‘Middle Management’: How Do Deans Influence Institutional Policies?

Changes in governmental policies designed to restructure the Portuguese higher education system and its institutions are defined under the influence of New Public Management. In the Portuguese context, external pressures unduly influence attempts to create a new institutional environment. But the ways in which higher education institutions respond to external pressures are also dependent on internal processes and on actors’ actions. Thus, it is important to identify the main characteristics of the actors’ institutional power, as well as their capacity to participate in and influence institutional strategies. Amongst these actors, deans hold a key position. This chapter analyses the position, power and sphere of action of the Portuguese deans in relation to the strategies they develop to cope with increasing state-sponsored managerial pressures. The chapter is based on a qualitative study involving 26 interviews of deans and heads of departments from four Portuguese public higher education institutions.

Gender Differences on Research: The perceptions and use of academic time

In the last years, the increasing pressure over higher education institutions to promote alternative non-state funding sources has lead to an increasing importance given to research and, more specifically to applied research. The notion that women dedicate less time to research may be seen in the new context, as a prominent threat for women to reach universities top positions. In this article, which draws from an exploratory study case of two public universities in Portugal, we examine whether there are gender differences on perceptions about time dedicated to different academic activities. Findings reveal no significant gender differences in the academics’ perceptions about their work.

New challenges for women seeking an academic career: the hiring process in Portuguese higher education institutions

This paper provides an analysis of the potential impact of changes in recruitment and hiring processes in Portuguese higher education institutions – under the New Public Management framework – on the representation of women in academia. Based on official data from the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, two major conclusions emerge. First, Portuguese higher education institutions reproduce the same inequalities in career structures that are dominant in other occupational spheres, with the same phenomena of horizontal and vertical segregation both in universities and polytechnics careers. Second, recruitment and selection processes have an important influence on women in academia with the use of informal procedures emerging as an obstacle for women entrance into academic careers.

Gender as a “strategic action”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the way gender may be used as an instrument to avoid New Public Management (NPM) potential processes of deprofessionalisation in nursing.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 83 nurses with managerial duties were interviewed in autonomous and corporate public hospitals in Portugal.Findings – Nurses used gender as an argument to legitimate their presence in management, and in this way, to keep their control over the profession. Gender stereotypes were used to legitimate their position in two different ways. Firstly, nurses reproduced and reinforced gendered inequality by supporting their male colleagues careers. Secondly, they valorised their feminine skills sustaining that women were in better position to manage hospitals as an extended role from the private domain.Research limitations/implications – The paper uses a sample from only one country and care must be taken when extrapolating conclusions to the wider population.Practical implications – Acknowl...

Reframing the Non-University Sector in Europe: Convergence or Diversity?

This chapter is part of a book that provides a comprehensive discussion of the non-university higher education sector in Europe. Higher education throughout the world is facing rapid change and the book describes and offers critical comparisons between the systems in 10 European countries. Within this context, and within the framework of the Bologna Process, the authors examine the question of what diversity could emerge in the future. They suggest that under existing circumstances, the future of higher education, and particularly the non-university sub-system, is difficult to predict. They present an overview of structural models of higher education systems and non-university institutional types, and trends facing the non-university sector.

Governance, Public Management and Administration of Higher Education in Portugal

This chapter identifies higher education governance models in Portugal over the past three decades. Public management and public administration perspectives show how governance models have unfolded against the general development of the Portuguese higher education system as a whole.

Portugal: Dimensions of Academic Job Satisfaction

Portugal has a binary system of universities and polytechnics and, within that, public and private institutions. This provides a diverse background against which to examine academic staff job satisfaction, starting with the fact that only universities can award PhDs, and the different legal framework of academic careers between public and private institutions. The analysis of personal characteristics, affiliation, commitment and careers trajectory of the Portuguese academics showed a range of similarities and differences, but many results were consistent with the opinions of academics in other countries.

Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectories and Sense of Identity Among Male and Female Academics in Norway and Portugal

Women’s participation in science and higher education (HE) has been increasing almost all over the world in recent decades (Rees, 2001; OCES, 2004; Leathwood & Read, 2009). However this increase has not translated into equal patterns of participation and the persistent gender differences found across countries are not consistent with the widespread, popular idea of a ‘feminised future’ (Leathwood & Read, 2009).