A systematic review of the conceptualization, interpretation, and implementation of shared governance in post-secondary contexts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Shared governance has emerged as an incrementally inclusive modification to common Western forms of governance, which are often top-down, bureaucratic, and individualistic in nature. Anti-oppressive movements call for structural changes which necessarily involve examining where and how decisions are made in post-secondary institutions. This systematic literature review synthesizes scholarship on shared governance in post-secondary settings. This research is guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines for conducting systematic reviews, a priori protocol to steer the research process, and the PRISMA guidelines for reporting systematic reviews. A review of 48 empirical papers published in peer-reviewed journals resulted in five main themes for shared governance in higher education: potentially interested parties; characteristics of governing leaders; principles and values of shared governance; processes of shared governance; and models of shared governance. We also identified gaps in the shared governance literature: underrepresentation of community (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) as well as Indigenous and diverse ways of knowing, and lack of attention to the diverse identities within the interested parties. We proceed to propose inclusive governance as a more appropriate term than shared governance.