Australian higher education will only thrive if it weeds out the ¡°egomaniacs¡± who abide ¡°toxic high performers¡± and celebrate ¡°arrogance and hubris¡± rather than honesty and humility, a new essay argues.

A??on discussion platform The Higher Good (THG) lists symptoms of ¡°weak leadership¡± including ¡°jobs for mates¡±, ¡°continued failing upwards¡±, ¡°secrecy around the worst behaviours¡±, no ¡°accountability measures¡± and enterprise agreements that discourage bosses from tackling poor performance.

Refusal to acknowledge bad appointments is among the ¡°most egregious¡± failings, the article says. ¡°Sometimes the emperor is literally walking around starkers and that needs to be said out loud.¡±

THG is the brainchild of strategist-turned-lobbyist Ant Bagshaw, analyst Angel Calderon, equity consultant Nadine Zacharias and researchers Hamish Coates and Gwilym Croucher. Describing itself as ¡°critical commentary with purpose¡±, THG aims to provoke ¡°debate and dissent¡± ¨C often by exploring the ¡°unsaid¡±.

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Professor Coates said the leadership shortcomings listed in the article were a subset of a ¡°uniquely Australian phenomenon¡± that had emerged over the past decade. ¡°We basically have education institutions run by corporate interests,¡± he said.

¡°You can¡¯t make a higher education system through a succession of short-term corporate plays. It is ultimately an academic business.¡±

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But in the ¡°quest¡­to become huge¡±, Australian universities had ¡°run away¡± with a corporatisation narrative and ¡°forgotten that it¡¯s the academic side that keeps their feet on the ground. In and amongst all that, you get all sorts of executive-type largesse and behaviours that come with people that basically aren¡¯t in it to serve one particular institution.¡±

He cited?massive consultancy spending?and the routine use of?non-disclosure agreements. ¡°If the leaders are so wonderful, why do they need to constantly outsource? It didn¡¯t used to be like that. It¡¯s an Australian special.¡±

The article lists other issues borne of universities¡¯ growth mindset. ¡°What if there were incentives to provide students with only the minimum amount of education to serve their needs?¡± it asks. ¡°What if we were serious about targeting research efforts? We should talk about whether there¡¯s a need for every institution to pursue doing everything.¡±

Professor Coates said academic leadership had been supplanted by a ¡°revolving door¡± of career chief executives. ¡°They¡¯ve often had very little contact with the institution. They often don¡¯t stay there for very long. They might not have any teaching experience whatsoever. They might have come from other sectors.

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¡°It¡¯s assumed that if you can run one, you can run them all.¡±

Course audits used to involve people ¡°sitting around the table having academic arguments about truth¡±, he said. ¡°Now we get a bunch of lawyers sitting around the table making sure that we¡¯re compliant with standards. That¡¯s not intellectual leadership.¡±

He said that in the corporate world, failing executives and boards could be replaced, but there were no ¡°performance metrics¡± to do likewise in higher education, which was better served by ¡°collegial¡± structures.

¡°If you have a collegium, you don¡¯t need all that corporate stuff [and] the problems that [come] with it. It doesn¡¯t work [in] an academic environment. It¡¯s oil on water.¡±

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Professor Coates said active teaching should be the ¡°litmus question¡± for university leaders. ¡°If you¡¯ve removed yourself from that and you¡¯re basically running a¡­large tech firm that issues credentials, you are in a different space than the people doing the core business.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com ?