ABSTRACT
Academic faculty have long claimed special privileges and status as autonomous professionals within their institutions and society in general: “As if it were a birthright, they struggle for self-government, invoking powerful doctrinesacademic freedom, community of scholars, freedom of research-which serve both as guild ideologies and as the justification for unusual personal liberties” (Clark, 1987a: 372). The core values underpinning a tradition of autonomy and selfregulation in the workplace are still invoked by academic faculty in response to ongoing government intervention and institutional reform. Individual autonomy in the workplace is vigorously defended even, in extreme cases, where it runs counter to the strategic goals of institutions or threatens the survival of academic departments. In particular, the loss of academic identity is cited as a self-evident consequence of a higher education managerial environment driven by market competition and the pressure to generate income.
