University-Staff Tensions in Implementing Human Resource Autonomy in Practice: The Example of Moldova

The authors explore the nature of relationships and possible tensions between university management and academic staff in universities from emerging or developing economies. The authors focus on human resources and the difficulty inherent in moving from a higher education system in which research in universities is seen by many stakeholders as of secondary importance to teaching, to one in which academic staff are expected to engage in research and knowledge transfer. Drawing on recent policy research involving a situational analysis of university autonomy in Moldova and a benchmark analysis of institutional university autonomy in Denmark, Lithuania, Romania, Scotland and Sweden the authors illustrate the challenges which government and institutions face in seeking to engage in fundamental reform and change in higher education.