The commercial university?

This paper reflects on the changes which have occurred in the public sector over the last two decades, and how they have affected Australian universities. The paper suggests that there are multiple stakeholders and multiple purposes for universities, not all of which can be accommodated in the managerialist reforms which have swept the public sector. It is suggested that the language of products, customers, and the marketplace are not fully consistent with notions of knowledge creation, scholarship, critical enquiry and cultural tradition. Managerialism results in the disenfranchisement of some stakeholders.