Talent management in academia: the effect of discipline and context on recruitment

Paisey, C. and Paisey, N. J. (2018) Talent management in academia: the effect of discipline and context on recruitment. Studies in Higher Education, 43(7), pp. 1196-1214. (doi: 10.1080/03075079.2016.1239251)

Abstract

Although talent management is widely discussed in large for –profit organisations and multinationals, it has been little discussed in relation to higher education. This paper examines one aspect of talent management, recruitment, in academia in accounting, in two different countries, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. It frames the study around three dilemmas - transparency versus autonomy, the power of human resources versus the power of academics, and equality versus homogeneity. It considers the recruitment context and drivers, what this tells us about how talent is defined, and the insights that can be gained from comparing recruitment across different disciplines and geographical contexts. By examining recruitment in one discipline across different contexts we show that recruitment is influenced by a complex interplay between subfield and context which can be linked to the strategic priorities of universities in the three contexts, resulting in different definitions of talent.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Paisey, Professor Catriona
• Authors: Paisey, C., and Paisey, N. J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
• Journal Name: Studies in Higher Education
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0307-5079
• ISSN (Online): 1470-174X
• Published Online: 24 October 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Society for Research into Higher Education
• First Published: First published in Studies in Higher Education 43(7): 1196-1214
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher