Academics loss of control in universities

Higher education systems have been developing according to the role attributed to them by society. The development of the capitalistic economy forced universities to answer the needs of the ‘knowledge economy’. The increasing importance of applied knowledge in solving social and economic problems has produced for the universities an accumulation of new and traditional external requests making difficult the coexistence of different operating logics. In general, the policy of the universities has to take into account the needs and interests of the external world, reducing their traditional autonomy. As for the academic profession, the changing roles attributed to higher education represent a passing from professional to organizational rules, resulting in reduction of academic self-regulation and increase of external control due - in particular - to the growing relevance of stakeholders in university governance. At the same time, increasing demands for accountability and reduced individual autonomy are affecting professional ethics and academic identities.