Engaging the Six Cultures of the Academy

In The Four Cultures of the Academy, William H. Bergquist identified four different, yet interrelated, cultures found in North American higher education: collegial, managerial, developmental, and advocacy. In this new and expanded edition of that classic work, Bergquist and coauthor Kenneth Pawlak propose that there are additional external influences in our global culture that are pressing upon the academic institution, forcing it to alter the way it goes about its business. Two new cultures are now emerging in the academic institution as a result of these global, external forces: the "virtual culture," prompted by the technological and social forces that have emerged over the past twenty years, and the "tangible culture," which values its roots, community, and physical location. These two cultures interact with the previous four, creating new dynamics.

Bergquist and Pawlak look at culture's impact on postsecondary education, where it plays a major role in defining patterns of perceiving, thinking, and feeling about the nature and scope of education. The authors propose that each of the six key cultures operating within higher educational institutions has much to say about educational mission, vision, values, and purposes and about roles to be played by instructors, students, administrators, trustees, and even the general public. They offer a framework that can guide leaders and inspire new courses of action for the further improvement of functioning within these complicated institutions. Specifically, they describe ways in which to use (or not use) the concepts of organizational culture so that those who work in academic institutions can improve their daily lives as leaders, administrators, faculty members, trustees, and concerned stakeholders.

In the case of each culture, they examine its distinctive history, perspectives, and values, and offer specific suggestions concerning ways to engage the six cultures so that each culture can contribute to the learning of educators--rather than reinforcing limiting and inflexible assumptions about the nature and direction of the higher education enterprise.