Practices and Discourses of Academics - Local Lessons to Address the Digital Shift in Academic Management

Oct 15, 2026

Since the 1980s, universities have applied accountability, performance measurement, and competitiveness through the New Public Management (NPM) logic, yet contemporary NPM cannot be understood without the rise of digital management devices and platforms (DMDs). This work reports results from 40 interviews with academics on their experiences and engagement with DMDs, identifying three repertoires: device-lover, functional-pragmatic, and oppositionist-rejector. The findings show that academic experience and identity, together with institutional context, are key to successful DMD implementation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

New Public Management and accountability systems

Chilean higher education and management priorities

The digital turn and online accountability

Practices and Discourses of Academics: Local Lessons to Address the Digital Shift in Academic Management Practices and Discourses of Academics: Local Lessons to Address the Digital Shift in Academic Management Carla Fardella [fardellacarla@hotmail.com](fardellacarla@hotmail.com) Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile Centro Núcleo Milenio Autoridad y Asimetrías de Poder Enrique Baleriola [enrique.baleriola@pucv.cl](enrique.baleriola@pucv.cl) Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile Centro de Investigación para la Educación Inclusiva Giazú Enciso [gencisodominguez@jjay.cuny.edu](gencisodominguez@jjay.cuny.edu) City University of New York, United States Critical Interdisciplinary Studies Research Group Abstract Since the 1980s, accountability, performance measurement and competitiveness have been implemented in universities globally. It is the management logic known as New Public Management (NPM) . But the NPM in contemporary academia is not understood without attending to the emergence of digital management devices and platforms (DMDs) . It is the combination of both events that we have called the digital turn in university management. The implementation of DMDs is not a homogeneous and fully satisfactory process but is loaded with attempts, fails, and failures that need the voice of academics to be understood in its extension . This article presents the results of 40 interviews with academics about their experience and engagement with DMDs . The results point to the existence of at least three repertoires: 1) device-lover, 2) functionalpragmatic and 3) oppositionist-rejector . Together, these results point out that, on one hand, both the experience and the identity of the academic; and on the other hand, the relationship with the institutional context; both are the key to the successful implementation of the DMDs . Keywords: Discourse analysis, Higher Education, Academic Management, Accountability, Digital devices . C. Fardella, E. Baleriola & G. Enciso Digital Education Review-Number 37, June 2020-[http://greav.ub.edu/der/](http://greav.ub.edu/der/ 64)[ 64](http://greav.ub.edu/der/ 64) I. Introduction Guided by the New Public Management (NPM) model, universities, on a global and national scale, have developed profound changes in their administration during the last decades (Anderson, 2008; Hall, Gunter, and Serpieri, 2015; Gill, 2009; Slaughter & Leslie, 1997; 2001) . The NPM is a management model for organizations and public services that seeks to transfer the logic of the private world, supported by arguments of efficiency and integrity. Although its implementation is diverse, it coincides in seeking the privatization of public services, promoting competition between organizations that offer the same service, evaluating and monitoring services through accountability systems, and the implementation of a series of incentives and punishments based on the accomplishment of the goals . The reorganization of Chilean higher education is part of this logic, prioritizing management over other institutional processes (Bernasconi, 2015) . Thus, management in higher education today must face a new relationship with the State and address demands such as the diversification of its sources of financing; deal with the market as the main regulatory mechanism and install a culture of accountability among its members . Indeed, the successful adaptation of the university to the new times is associated, among other things, with its main workforce: academics (Brunner, 2008; OECD, 2009) . Thus, the standardized evaluation of teaching work, productivity rankings, performance indicators, bonuses for meeting goals or the competitiveness of different funds to carry out work activities, have spread with surprising naturalness . In this scenario, universities have innovated in increasingly sophisticated management devices to lead, register and monitor the academic workforce, aligning it with the curren

FAQs

What is the central framework discussed in the article?

The article links university management changes to New Public Management (NPM) and explains that contemporary NPM requires attention to the emergence of digital management devices and platforms (DMDs).

How does the article examine academics’ experiences with DMDs?

It presents findings from 40 interviews with academics about their experience and engagement with DMDs.

What repertoires of academic engagement with DMDs does the article identify?

It identifies at least three repertoires: device-lover, functional-pragmatic, and oppositionist-rejector.

Oct 15, 2026

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