Appreciative inquiry is a strength-based organisational transformation approach developed in 1987 by David Cooperrider at Case Western Reserve. It is based on the idea that organisational change is more effective when the approach focuses on the positive attributes and experiences within an organisation instead of the challenges. Several studies…

This study explored the notion of feminine leadership among women in middle leadership positions in Kuwait's private universities. Using semi-structured interviews as the main source of data, 12 female leaders who currently occupy middle leadership positions and those who have held similar positions in the past were interviewed. The findings…

There has been a gradual shift towards vocational type courses in tertiary education, and subsequently an increasing trend in the employment of those experienced in their profession into academic positions. This paper will focus on the case study of allied health professionals employed under the assumption that people with clinical skills and…

We explore how digital communication relates to worker health and wellbeing within Australian universities prior to COVID-19. To investigate effects of digital communication we sought perspectives of senior Human Resource and wellbeing personnel for semi-structured interviews. Analyses revealed that digital communication creates both negative and…

While satisfaction, engagement and retention of academics has been widely discussed, there is less acknowledgement that a university must first convince high-quality academic talent of the benefits of joining their institution. This paper sought to identify the key factors that influence early-career and aspiring academics to choose employment…

This article provides evidence and insight on the demand-side of graduate employment and selection through an investigation of employers' conceptions of what constitutes hireable and employable graduates. Drawing on evidence from a qualitative study with a diverse range of employers in the UK, the article shows that employers understand graduates'…

Committees are ubiquitous throughout institutions of higher education. Identifying conduct that is conducive to committee work is a precursor to exploring why some individuals engage in committees and others do not. Using qualitative methods, this study explores organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB) exhibited and observed by university…

The absence of women academics in the most senior ranks and leadership roles in higher education is both an international phenomenon and an enduring social justice issue. This article provides an original insight into the 'policy' response to the underrepresentation of women academics as senior leaders in three case-study universities in Hong…

In roughly a decade, university rankings gained the foreground in the policy arena for higher education and their influence is not going to decrease. However, several methodological shortcomings and warnings about the unintended consequences for national higher education systems have been raised. Against this background, this paper stresses that…

This article summarises the results of a study of the effects of quality audit at an institution over time. The findings from four academic audit reports, prepared for one New Zealand university between 1996 and 2009, yielded a large dataset. Once grouped thematically for analysis, the data were analysed in terms of how well the institution…

While the ascendancy of market behaviours in public research universities is well documented, the extent to which universities have transformed themselves into industry-like organisations has been called into question. So to what extent are universities displaying transformation in their core values? The concept of institutional logics, with its…

This study examines the predictive value of job demands and resources on the meaning of work and organisational commitment across three age groups; young workers (<30 years), a middle age group of workers (30-49 years) and older workers (>50 years). Data were collected from a survey conducted among university employees (N = 3,066).…

Managerial changes to Australian universities have had considerable impact on employees. In this article, we consider some of these changes and apply a theory known as the democratic deficit to them. This theory was developed from the democratic critique of managerialism, as it has been applied in the public sector in countries with…

We analyse data from the largest survey of university staff in Australia to determine whether bullying and harassment are more common in regional than metropolitan and Go8 universities, and to what extent any differences could be attributed to other factors. While professional staff showed no difference in harassment rates between regional and…

This study examined the perceptions of professional staff on their contribution to student outcomes. An online Delphi survey method was used to collect data from two expert panels: professional staff based in faculties and professional staff based in central university departments. The aim of this method is for the panels to reach consensus. The…