The impact of growing managerialism amongst professionals in Australia: a comparative study of university academics and hospital nurses

This paper reports on the impact of growing managerialism on the work practices of two groups of professionals (nurses and academics) within Australian public hospitals and universities. The findings suggest that one factor that may affect how employees respond to such policies and programs is whether managers implementing them come from the same professional values and beliefs. The evidence suggests that when those from the same profession undertake the tasks of management, there is a significant trend towards mediating any proposed changes in work practices for colleagues according to the long established beliefs and values of the profession. In effect, this bottom-up force appears to have the effect of “cushioning” the top-down push somewhat for colleagues. However, the opposite was evident where the profession was relatively newly established (as in the case of nurses) and where senior management was more likely to come from outside the profession.