Do professional managers have a profession?

Abstract

An emerging literature is beginning to create a theoretical framework for analysing the role of professional managers – that is, those without an ongoing academic background – in the context of UK higher education. Here I argue, drawing on my own experience in a range of higher education institutions, that this literature misses a crucial distinction amongst professional managers, namely that between generic HE professionals, and specialists from professions which exist outside the world of higher education (for example, human resources professionals, lawyers, marketing professionals). Building on this distinction to analyse the professional identities of higher education professional services staff, I recommend ways in which institutions can reduce the professional- academic divide in university management.