(Re)Discovering University Autonomy

This chapter summarises the key findings from the case studies, highlighting two unexpected facets. A number of contributors whose papers promised genuinely new insights subsequently withdrew as a result of management or institutional policy or concerns at the possible repercussions from frank discussion of challenges. The other outcome is the extent to which academic colleagues in a wide-range of disciplines and not directly engaged with research on university autonomy may not perceive or engage with the wider autonomy outcomes of their work and as a result their own case studies may not fully identify the autonomy impact real or potential. Many academic staff take for granted university autonomy without questioning its sometimes contradictory assumptions and impacts.