Lords, squires, and yeomen: Collegiate middle-managers in the U.S.

Abstract

This essay examines (a) the causes of growth, elaboration and differentiation in middle-level collegiate administration; (b) the roles and status of mid-level administrators; and (c) the functions of national occupational associations in the professional lives of these campus officials. It is based on data gathered in an extensive search and analysis of the literature, a survey research questionnaire, and structured interviews with more than two hundred administrators, faculty, and search committee chairpersons at twenty colleges and universities of different sizes and types. The metaphor “lords, squires, and yeomen” represents a conceptual model for understanding the roles and prospects of mid-level collegiate administrators: they are in the center of a status hierarchy that permits only limited mobility. The effects of organizational size and complexity on middle-management functions, the way these functions are organized, and their specialized nature have much to do with the value dilemma of service for others versus control of activities which confronts collegiate administrators in both U.S. and European institutions.