University teachers' conceptions of what university is - implications for the future of higher education

Abstract

This chapter presents the perception of university teachers about the university, the most recent changes and how they have influenced their activity. The phenomenographic study was conducted with 10 university teachers, nine females and one male with more than 15 years of professional activity. The perception of the university emerges, in the teachers’ voice, focused on the description of its mission, namely as a context for the production and diffusion of knowledge to society, as a space for creative and critical thinking about the world, as an interdisciplinary space and as a system focused on teaching and research. It also includes characteristics related to its structure and functioning, such as the level of hierarchization, bureaucratization, competitiveness, dehumanization and bibliometrics overvaluation. Regarding the perceived changes, they are related to the structural reforms resulting from the Bologna Process, diverse student populations, research and internationalization, new technologies, institutional cooperation, bureaucratization and relationship with the community. Teachers also revealed some dissatisfaction in the way they are experiencing university life due to the overwork resulting from the multiple tasks required in the four activity strands (teaching, research, management and extension) with an impact on quality and innovation, but in line with what the institution demands.