Paper Info
Title
"Systemic Managerial Constraints": How universities influence the information behaviour of HSS early career academics.
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the information behaviour of early career academics (ECAs) within humanities and social sciences (HSS) disciplines who are starting their first continuing academic position. The proposed grounded theory of Systemic Managerial Constraints (SMC) is introduced as a way to understand the influence of neoliberal universities on the information behaviour of ECAs. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research used constructivist grounded theory methodology. Participants were 20 Australian and Canadian ECAs from HSS. Their information practices and information behaviour were examined for a period of five to seven months using two interviews and multiple check-ins. Data were analysed through two rounds of coding, where codes were iteratively compared and contrasted. Findings SMC emerged from the analysis and is proposed as a grounded theory to help better understand the context of higher education and its influence on ECAs' information behaviour. SMC presents university managerialism, resulting from neoliberalism, as pervasive and constraining both the work ECAs do and how they perform that work. SMC helps to explain ECAs' uncertainty and precarity in higher education and changing information needs as a result of altered work role, which, in turn, leads ECAs to seek and share information with their colleagues and use information to wield their personal agency to respond to SMC. Originality/value The findings from this paper provide a lens through which to view universities as information environments and the influence these environments can have on ECAs' information practices and information behaviour.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.1108/JD-07-2017-0111
JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION
Keywords
Field
DocType
Neoliberalism,Higher education,Information behaviour,Social sciences,Transition,Humanities,Early career academics
Grounded theory,Constructivism (philosophy of education),Information needs,Computer science,Public relations,Managerialism,Originality,Qualitative research,Library science,Sense of agency,Higher education
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
74.0
4.0
0022-0418
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
8
Authors
1
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Rebekah Willson1426.08