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Rationalization of Higher Education

Title

Rationalization of Higher Education

Author

Cottom, Tressie McMillan
Tuchman, Gaye

Research Area

Social Institutions

Topic

Educational Institutions

Abstract

Since roughly 1980, the rationalization of higher education has been escalating. That is, means‐end schema and bureaucratic organization have become ever more dominant as the authority over academic matters has been shifting from the professoriate to managers who in the mid‐twentieth century had been mainly responsible for economic affairs and “making things run.” At many research universities today, the administrative sector has grown so large that the budget devoted to administrative salaries and benefits exceeds the monies reserved for faculty.