The civil service careers of university support staff and new public management: A qualitative study from Chile

Abstract

New public management policies have been in effect in Chile since the 1980s, influencing the development of human resources policies and procedures, particularly within higher education institutions. While the impact of these policies on academic staff is evident, their implications for non-academic personnel who operate under the same regime as public servants remain unclear. This research aims to investigate the relationship between new public management principles and the career beliefs of non-academic personnel in Chile. Utilizing focus groups, this study analyzes the perceptions of career trajectories among the collaboration staff at the country's most prominent public university. Finally, the results are discussed.

Points for practitioners

Our study calls on public sector professionals to recognize the distance between legal frameworks and policies that manage public servants’ careers and organizational cultures that have funded a traditional civil service career model. Thus, those who work in the public sector need to strengthen the agency capacity of civil servants by expanding their professionalization. Likewise, career flexibility and merit ideas must be critically addressed, especially in developing countries, as in the case analyzed.