The Impact of External Factors on Academic Governance in Universities

Abstract

In a number of countries, the main issue regarding internal or academic governance in universities is, at least from the standpoint of faculty and faculty unions, collegial governance. In North America and Western Europe in particular, the degree to which the academic governance of universities is carried out in a collegial fashion, that is, through conferring, collaborating, and gaining consensus is the object of an abundant scholarly literature. The author reviews the external factors that have an impact on the internal, academic governance of universities in both Canada and France, asking if those factors have any altering effect on collegial governance in Canadian and French universities.