Does a University Have a Culture?

How do academic staff, including innovators in teaching and learning, perceive the reality of a 'culture' in their organisation? The concept of 'organisational culture', commonly used from the 1980s, is discussed in the context of evidence from a research project and other sources, suggesting that the concept has failed to reflect the dual position of academics in their disciplinary and institutional contexts, the former of which is generally the determining factor in most academics' conception of their identities. Although 'culture' and 'subcultures' can be used with disciplines and departments acting as their proxies, 'organisational culture'--that is 'culture' applied to higher education institutions as such--has no basis in the day-to-day operation of most academic staff in most institutions.

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