Managerialism In Higher Education Reforms In The United Kingdom

Managerialism is generally used to refer to the adoption by public sector organizations of organizational forms, technologies, management practices and values more commonly found in the private business sector. By analyzing different definitions of this new concept given by different people in their writings, the paper first summarizes the four components of managerialism, namely, economic efficiency, faith in the tools, class consciousness and goodness for society. Particular attention is paid to the application of managerialism in higher education, the current organizational forms and management strategies in universities in the United Kingdom. Management practices in higher education discussed in this paper are divided into macro-management coming from the government and the micro-management inside the universities. Universities are becoming more efficient with the influence of managerialism and meanwhile managerialism arouses many controversies, however. Through the study of managerialism and its benefits and disadvantages, the paper hopes to offer some ideas for the reform of higher education management in China.