Marj Spiller, Head of Professional Development Staffordshire University November 2011

1. Learning to Manage or Managing to Learn : An exploratory case-study of how university managers learn and develop within their roles Marj Spiller, Head of Professional Development Staffordshire University November 2011

2. Introduction Own professional background Own ‘puzzle’ Research questions: What is the process by which university managers learn how to manage? Where and how does this learning occur? What are the factors which assist or inhibit this learning? To what extent does this learning involve sensemaking?

3. Reviewing the literature Different strands: The HE context- setting the scene Management in HE- a) academic and b) professional support Learning – experiential, formal/informal, social learning, workplace and situated learning, how managers are educated, developed and learn Sense-making

4. Reviewing the literature Academics “The key to managing in the learning university is the paradox that it cannot be managed” (Duke 2002) Academics should “be reminded of their academic values, rather than reminding academics of their managerial responsibilities” (Rowland, 2002) Academics “learning to ‘do’ managerialism” (Deem, 2005) Reluctance because there was “still some resistance to being called managers” (Deem, 2006)

5. Reviewing the literature Professional support managers “…university managers - more traditionally called administrators, must live with extraordinarily high levels of role ambiguity” (Duke, 2002) “competing identities”(Whitchurch, 2004) A “state of permanent transition” (Whitchurch, 2006) “Third space” and “Blended professionals” (Whitchurch, 2008)

6. Informal Learning “The bulk of managers’ learning takes place in the workplace, as a result of their work and in-role activities” (Antonacopoulou, 2002, p.3) “Non-formal learning is common, important and lifelong..non-formal learning is likely to be a more significant response than formal learning” (Knight et al., 2006, p. 322)

7. Sense-making “...starts with chaos” (Weick et al, 2005, p. 410) “...the meanings people attach to the situations they encounter.” (Allard-Poesi, 2005, p.176) “...reconceptualising managers as ‘learners’ and their work as learning” (Schwandt, 2005, p.187)

8. Reviewing the literature- finding the gaps Dominant focus on what university managers either do or are expected to do in their roles Very little on how they ‘make sense’ of their roles Very little on how they become managers, their ‘journey’ or development The ‘what’ of management rather than the ‘how’

9. Methodology Case study using qualitative data using the following methods: Purposive sample of 24 senior managers Semi-structured interviews with these managers a) Initial interviews with all 24 managers b) follow-up for 4 newly appointed managers Interview with a member of the Executive Document analysis of strategic plans 1996-2012 Reflective journals completed by 5 managers from the 24

10. Overview of the main outcomes Gradual process Almost imperceptible Getting used to their roles Informal learning Grounded in day-to-day activities Multi-faceted nature Complex process Not simply knowledge acquisition Involved interpretation and construction of meaning Learning to adopt a different perspective Not solitary process Gradual realisation Socially constructed Context specific Ongoing

11. Learning or sensemaking? Sensemaking is part of learning Boundaries of learning and sensemaking are blurring Reconceptualisation: Learning to make sense: How they had become managers Their identity amidst a lack of clarity in roles The managerial culture Through selected others On-going, informal and everyday experiences

13. Implications for practice Managers need to Use learning from other parts of their lives Learn about their changing identity Understand the complexity/ ‘messiness’ of reality Acknowledge the ongoing nature of learning Recognise the workplace as rich in informal learning Learn from others (similar and different roles) Understand the contextual nature of learning

14. Implications for practice Staff developers should: Acknowledge the significance of informal learning for managers Support a multi-layered approach to the development of managers Use formal programmes to help managers to understand their: Changing identities and roles In-role opportunities to learn University culture and expectations on them Opportunities for networking Opportunities for feedback

15. References Allard-Poesi, F. (2005) The Paradox of Sensemaking in Organizational Analysis, Organization, vol.12, no.2, pp.169-196. Antonacopoulou, E. P. (2002) Revisiting the What, How and Why of Managerial Learning: Some New Evidence, Manchester Business School Research Paper series, No.442, University of Manchester. Deem, R. (2005) Management as ideology: the case of ‘new managerialism’ in Higher Education. Oxford Review of Education, vol.31 (2), pp.217-235 Deem, R.(2006) Changing Research Perspectives on the Management of Higher Education: Can Research Permeate the Activities of Manager-Academics? Higher Education Quarterly, vol. 60, No.3 pp. 203-228   Duke, C. (2002) Managing the Learning University, Buckingham: SRHE and OU Press  

16. References Knight, P., Tait, J. and Yorke, M. (2006) The Professional Learning of Teachers in Higher Education, Studies in Higher Education, vol.13. no.3, pp.319-339. Rowland, S. (2002) Overcoming fragmentation in Professional Life: The Challenge for Academic Development, Higher Education Quarterly, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 52-64 Schwandt, (2005) Weick, K.E. (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations, London, Sage

17. References Weick, K.E., Sutcliffe, K.M. and Obstfeld, D. (2005) Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking, Organization Science, vol. 16, no.4, pp.409-421. Wenger, E. (2000) Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, vol. 7, pp. 225-246 Whitchurch, C (2004) Administrative Managers- A critical link, Higher Education Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 280-298 Whitchurch, C (2006) Who do they think they are? The changing identities of professional administrators and managers in UK Higher Education, Journal of HE Policy and Management, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 159-171 Whitchurch, C. (2008) Shifting Identities and Blurring Boundaries: the Emergence of Third Space Professionals in UK higher Education, Higher Education Quarterly, vol. 62, no. 4. pp. 377-396