The Idea of a University: Enabling or Constraining Possible University Futures?

The thesis explored how today's understanding of the Western university's possible futures is constrained by four contested ideas of the university - tacit cultural constructs that shape beliefs about the university's purpose and social legitimacy. The four ideas - Traditional, Managerial, Reframed and Dismissive - were applied to a range of possible future scenarios to identify ways in which current interpretations of the university's futures can expand and deepen. A new conceptual interpretation of 'the idea' and a 'conversations framework' to enable more open and collaborative explorations of the university's futures as an organisation were primary outcomes of the research.