Inequality Seminar: Chad McPherson, “Governance is Not a Thing: Boundaries and Everyday Boundary Work in the Governing of U.S. Colleges & Universities”
Chad McPherson, Ph.D. candidate in the University of Iowa Department of Sociology, will present "Governance is Not a Thing: Boundaries and Everyday Boundary Work in the Governing of U.S. Colleges and Universities" from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7 in W113 Seashore Hall. McPherson's presentation is part of the Inequality Seminar.
Using data from in-depth interviews with members of governing boards (N=44) of U.S. colleges and universities and informed by content and thematic analysis of 70 years of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges’ (AGB) trade magazine publication, McPherson examines trustees’ first-hand accounts and perspectives of what it means to govern in the present day context of higher education. Specifically, he examines board members’ perceptions of their work, perspectives on matters of interest to higher education decision makers generally and their governing boards specifically, how and in what ways boards and individual members make contributions in and through governance, and perceptions of and perspectives on the complexity of higher education authority structures. While boards perform specified tasks, some of which vary across types of institutions and based on specific institutional cultures, interestingly, interviewees consistently describe and situate their work and duties in terms of dominant modes of governing. Rather than the work of governing being defined by a set of variable tasks or things that boards do, McPherson argues that governing is more aptly conceptualized as a performance of multiple everyday modes or orientations toward work. Interviewees suggest that individual members and boards collectively adopt each of four modes of governing at different times and in different contexts. He provides evidence outlining four dimensions on which these modes of governing vary. Observed in how trustees situate their work in talk and experiential accounts, a hallmark of these differentiating dimensions is an ever-present mindfulness of boundaries in governance work. These modes of governing—supporting, overseeing, advising, and directing—reflect varied conceptualizations of relational boundaries between governance and management, governing and managing, and most prominently, in the relationship between governing boards and presidents and their executive administrative teams. McPherson discusses implications of these findings for understanding governance in the current higher educational context and how these insights into governing make contributions to theory at the nexus between organizational and higher education scholarship.
The poster for the event is available here.
The Inequality Seminar is a seminar and speaker series that provides a forum on campus for faculty and graduate students who are interested in inequality broadly defined. It is an opportunity for faculty and graduate students to present their research and to hear about other inequality-related work from researchers on and off-campus.
The Inequality Seminar meets Mondays from 1:30-3 p.m. in W113 Seashore Hall.
If you are interested in hearing about future talks (which well be held each Monday throughout the semester), or if you have any questions about the Inequality Seminar, please contact Sarah Bruch at sarah-bruch@uiowa.edu.