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    Institutional culture and academic career progression: Perceptions and experiences of academic staff.
    (SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 2021-09-17) du Plessis, Marieta; Frantz, Jose M.; Barnes, Nina
    The culture of higher education has a long and unique history, with the understanding that any attempt to appreciate the processes within the system must have an advanced comprehension of the culture of higher education (Callaghan, 2015). Moreover, higher education institutional cultures have always been regarded as resistant to change (Maguad, 2018). However, a national review, conducted by the South African Council on Higher Education (CHE, 2016), confirmed the world-wide shifts in higher education, which necessitated the assessment and adjustment of institutional cultures. The enormity of the barriers that an institutional culture could represent has been acknowledged since the 1997 White Paper (Republic of South Africa [RSA], Department of Education [DOE], 1997). Consequently, the CHE report appealed to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to apply funding models that would enable a culture, conducive to unlocking South Africa’s research potential, whilst developing and cultivating the academic profession (CHE, 2016). The academic profession, however, similar to all other professions, is subjected to unprecedented challenges outside the scope of traditional continuity threats, such as the global pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated higher education institutions to respond, appropriately and efficiently whilst ensuring delivery during a sustained crisis. Academic staff, therefore, were required to operate in a complex, evolving and dynamic environment, which required an institutional culture that was responsive to an era, characterised by a flux of change (Waller, Lemoine, Mense, Garretson, & Richardson, 2019). Career management and progression are critical during times of complexity, more so whilst engaging and cultivating key talent (Callanan, Perri, & Tomkowicz 2017; Donohue & Tham, 2019; Janse van Rensburg, Rothmann, & Diedericks, 2017a). Currently, the success of a university, more than ever, is dependent on the academic profession, their career progression and satisfaction, as well as their commitment and motivation to achieve the university’s desired level of educational services and quality of scientific research (Szelągowska-Rudzka, 2018). A focus on the career progression of academics, to address the primary concerns regarding the academic staff in the South African context, is further supported by the CHE review (CHE, 2016, p. 208). These concerns include recruitment, retention and equity of academic staff, as well as the expected retirement rates, against the backdrop of a great shortage of academics with suitable qualifications (CHE 2016, p. 290). Statistics confirm that South African universities need more academic staff with doctoral degrees, particularly from historically disadvantaged groups, to fill and increase the academic pipeline (Breier & Herman, 2017). Although academic exit, or turnover, is a global challenge, the capacity and sustainability of South African higher education institutions are threatened by the exodus of academics (Callaghan, 2015; Mashile, Munyeka, & Ndlovu, 2021). Furthermore, whilst it is difficult to appoint and retain academic staff with high standing (Theron, Barkhuizen, & Du Plessis, 2014), the CHE (2016) review acknowledges that academia is in competition with career offers from government, civil service and corporates, who all need to access the pool of highly skilled South African Black and women professionals. Evidently, careers do not develop in isolation. Instead, careers within organisations are shaped by the organisation’s strategy (Schreuder & Coetzee, 2016) and, specifically, the organisation’s culture (Grobler, Rudolph & Bezuidenhout, 2014). An organisation’s culture, therefore, is a powerful source and transmitter of social information, shaping individual career motivations, decisions and behaviours (Hall & Yip, 2016). The impact of culture on careers is not a new concept. Culture is identified by Kanter (1984), as well as Schein (1985) as both a cause and an effect on an employee’s move within and across an organisation. Further studies highlight the need to understand and consider the organisational culture as critical for career management processes (Maher, 2017). Institutional culture is identified as a key reason for academic turnover (Mashile et al., 2021), together with the need for institutional culture to support academic development and progression (Lesenyeho, Barkhuizen, & Schutte, 2018). In a recent study, academic staff identified institutional culture as a challenge for their career management and progression (Barnes, Du Plessis, & Frantz, 2021).With the challenges of higher education and the academic career in mind, a comprehensive and deeper understanding of any higher education institutional culture requires analysis beyond the structural elements and established procedures of the institution. An understanding of how individuals interpret their environment, to support their career progression, is equally vital. The objective history of any given institution, combined with established institutional norms, will result in a limited set of immutable outcomes for any given situation (Tierney & Lanford, 2018). An understanding of institutional culture allows real or potential conflicts to be considered in the broader institutional life, and not in isolation, whilst it allows the identification of structural or operational contradictions that suggest tension in the institution. In addition, it allows the evaluation and implementation of everyday decisions, with a keen awareness of its role in, and influence on institutional culture; provides an understanding of the symbolic dimension of seemingly instrumental decisions and actions; and considers why various groups in the institution hold varying perceptions about institutional performance (Tierney & Lanford, 2018). It is against this context that the study aimed to establish and present, from the academics’ point of view, the values, practices and behaviours that facilitate an institutional culture that supports the career progression of academic staff.