Cultural Disintegration and the Decline of the Engaged Intellectual: the transformation of academic work

Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion about the impact of globalization on universities. Globalization theorists seek to explain how neoliberal strategies have transformed the economic infrastructure of countries; in turn globalization has forced universities to become more market oriented while government invests less in tertiary education. By way of 126 interviews with academic staff, administrators, and related personnel, the author investigates the redefinitions of academic work in a globalized economy. The author works from a cultural perspective of organizations to understand the changing nature of academic work. The author first outlines the problems that he found and concludes by suggesting how to resolve the problems. Among other suggestions, the importance of institutional mission and the role of the intellectual in the life of the university are considered.