How Australian Vice-Chancellors Do Their Jobs: A Role-Theory Analysis

Abstract

Despite universities occupying an important role in Australian society since 1851, very little research has been devoted to the key role of Vice-Chancellor. Significant research activity has been undertaken in other national higher education systems, particularly in the United States of America and recently with groundbreaking studies in the United Kingdom. The existing literature on higher education leadership in Australia is both scarce and dominated by normative designs. The literature tends to focus on governance and leadership from traditional normative paradigms and perspectives. In effect, the extant literature has been able to encapsulate "what" Vice-Chancellors do in their roles and "why" they do it. The current research seeks to extend the understanding of the Vice-Chancellor role by examining the "how" of roleperformance. This is a critical area that has been largely neglected in the managerial role literature, not the least in the research on higher education management. This research examines two Vice-Chancellors in the context of their daily activities. Viewed within the context of a changing higher education system, characterised by shifts in policy, funding, and international landscapes, the role of the Vice-Chancellors is examined through the lens of the role-theory model of Katz and Kahn. This model seeks to provide a framework by which role-sending and role-enactment can be explained along the lines of three critical dimensions.