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My PhD

My PhD thesis explored how today's understanding of the Western university's possible futures is constrained by four contested ideas of the university - tacit cultural constructs that shape beliefs about the university's purpose and social legitimacy.

Maree Conway

Jan 1, 2022

My PhD thesis explored how today's understanding of the Western university's possible futures is constrained by four contested ideas of the university - tacit cultural constructs that shape beliefs about the university's purpose and social legitimacy. The four ideas - Traditional, Managerial, Reframed and Dismissive - were applied to a range of possible future scenarios to identify ways in which current interpretations of the university's futures can expand and deepen. A new conceptual interpretation of 'the idea' and a 'conversations framework' to enable more open and collaborative explorations of the university's futures as an organisation were primary outcomes of the research.

I’ve written four papers based on this research. I was also Guest Editor for a special issue of Imagining Possible Futures for the University in World Futures Review.

Thesis

Contested Ideas of the University: Enabling or Constraining University Futures?, Swinburne University of Technology, 2021. Available on Swinburne Research Bank.