Similarities and differences in collegiality/managerialism in Irish and Australian Universities

peer-reviewedIn the collegial model the basis for appointment to senior management is nomination by a community of scholars, whereas it is by line management in the managerial one. This article focuses on the basis of appointments in universities and the gendering of such structures. Data is drawn from qualitative interviews with both men and women senior manager-academics (Deem, 2003) at Dean level and above in Ireland and Australia (n=44). In both countries the power of the President/VC was very much as a Chief Executive Officer in the managerialist model, rather than the ‘primus inter pares’ of the collegial model. Moreover Presidents/VCs controlled the appointments of Vice-Presidents/DVCs and Deans and were seen as being able to affect the gender profile of senior management. However, in the Australian system (in contrast to the Irish one) there was no ambivalence about the VC actively rectifying gender inequalities in management. In a context where hybrid forms of management (Deem et al 2008) are emerging, this article questions the relevance of collegial/managerialist models in understanding the gendering of universities