Drawing on our experiences of interviewing elites, this article suggests that methodological reflexivity yields insights into the construction of symbolic and social hierarchies in contextualised interactions. The paper focuses on "academic culture" as the "locus" through which power relations were experienced in interview…

Parents are widely acknowledged as prominent actors in schools' success; consequently, school-parent interactions are heavily investigated from sociological, psychological, political, and cultural perspectives. By applying the "open system" perspective to schools as an eco-system, this study addresses parents as integrative stakeholders…

One pressing issue in libraries today is the censorship of information. This study applies Kurt Lewin's gatekeeping theory to examine the decision-makers as well as the different pressures and constraints that are at issue in decisions regarding challenges and censorship attempts that occur in public libraries. Through an in-depth case study of…

Institutional accreditation in higher education presents a dual reality: Accreditation is intended to hold colleges and universities accountable through external evaluation and, at the same time, accreditation constitutes an opportunity for higher education leaders to assess, improve, and communicate the quality of their undertakings. In an…

This research identifies and explores the factors that influence team learning in the context of an SME management team. It examines the difficulties the team members face in attempting to share and combine their experiences to co-construct knowledge and understanding of their environment and future opportunities. The paper reveals a connection…

National policy discourses imply rational and positive pathways to greater equality and inclusion for public sector workers, including those in education. However, radical feminist and critical race theory suggests that whatever measures are undertaken to disassemble systems which impact negatively on those who are minority or excluded, systems…

Examines the utilization of staff conferences within the large industrial organization. Data are analyzed and presented for 680 supervisors and managers. The variable hierarchy of authority is found to be strongly related to staff-conference utilization. Contingency exposure is found to be only weakly related to holding staff conferences.…

Analyzes gender and power in British universities, exploring the position of women in higher education over a 40-year span. Presents two case studies, one at a small technologically oriented university and one at a large mainstream university, of the implications of senior administrative work for the professional lives of academic women. (SLD)

Studied charter schools in California, using case studies and more than 450 interviews with teachers, administrators, parents, and community members. Focused on four assumptions usually made about charter schools to show that these schools are not, for the most part, the highly autonomous, accountable, and efficient schools of choice promised by…

The way that affirmative action fits into the faculty appointment process at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley was studied, based on 50 faculty interviews and supporting documentation. Traditions of governance at the universities determined the responses to faculty affirmative action. At Stanford University,…

The case study of the relationship between the researcher and the subject described in "Locked in Uneasy Sisterhood" illustrates the importance of making explicit the understandings both parties hold of the conceptions of power and position in feminist research and practice. Feminist research will be strengthened by a self-conscious…

The utilization of program evaluation is addressed and illustrated through the case study of a family reunification program at a New England child welfare agency. It is argued that evaluation is an exercise in power in an organization. Evaluators who understand power can work with the realities they find. (SLD)

Because public school districts have highly permeable organizational boundaries, analyses of their structures and processes should include consideration of external as well as internal factors. Such analyses have become feasible with the application of general systems theory, which views organizations as functioning units that have continuous…

Issues concerning administrator evaluation at the University of Toledo, including internal political realities and the need to incorporate qualitative dimensions, were evaluated. The overall framework for the analysis of administrator evaluation at Toledo was based on the political model of J. Victor Baldridge (1971), complemented by Bacharach and…

Argues that a strong case can be made for supporting outreach as a value-added function in a university. Specific strategies for positioning outreach within the university by developing a power base are outlined. The case of the University of Michigan-Flint is offered as an example of this approach. Seven lessons learned in the process are noted.…