University Leadership : The Role of the Chief Executive

There is a myth that university leaders have been reborn as chief executives. The authors of University Leadership argue that the reality is both more complex and more ambiguous. Although the managerial and political pressures on university leaders have increased (as have expectations of the institutional leadership they can provide) there is substantial evidence of significant continuity - not simply in who vice chancellors are and what they do - but also in how they conceive their roles; and the donnish monopoly of the top jobs in universities remains virtually unchallenged despite the development of mass higher education.This is a balanced empirical and theoretical study of the present state of institutional leadership in higher education. It draws upon the authors' own research and other international studies, contextualizes the roles of university leaders, and is studded with fascinating data and vignettes about their backgrounds, ideas and day-to-day practices. It is essential reading for university leaders and managers, senior academics, policy-makers, and scholars of the policy and practice of higher education.

Catherine Bargh is Research Associate of the School of Education at the University of Leeds.