Biography
Julie's research focuses on the impact of education governance, understood as systems of organisation, leadership, decision-making and control. She is a critical education sociologist, drawing on a wide range of social theories but is especially drawn to the work of Pierre Bourdieu. Using qualitative research methodologies Julie's research seeks to understand who benefits from education governance systems, at what cost, and how organisational change might be possible. Julie's work investigating academic governance is recognised internationally and she maintains a strong interest in the translation of research into practice through the provision of practical guidance on how governance can be improved and on the role of universities in producing and promulgating knowledge to facilitate the achievement of more equal and just societies. She is currently Editor of the international journal Critical Studies in Education and a member of its Editorial Board.
As course director for the Master of Education (Leadership and Management),
Dr Julie Rowlands leads the development and teaching of this postgraduate course in education leadership.
Biography summary
Julie Rowlands is an Associate Professor in Education Leadership at Deakin University, where her research focuses on education governance as systems of organisation, leadership, decision-making and control. This work has a particular focus on who benefits from education governance systems, at what cost, and how organisational change might be possible. She is a critical education sociologist and is her research is founded in the qualitative research methodologies. Having completed her PhD in December 2012, Julie has since produced publications including books, book chapters, journal articles and research reports. This track record comprises a mix of high quality sole authored, jointly authored and multi-authored works with prestigious international publishers and journals.
Career highlights
Awards:
Deakin University School of Education Research Award 2019 - International Collaborations
Visiting scholar: University of Aarhus, 2018
Most outstanding paper for the year: 'Academic boards: less intellectual and more academic capital in higher education governance', Studies in Higher Education, 2013
2015 teaching award, School of Education, Deakin University, outstanding student evaluations 2012-2015
2009-2012 Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship
Research interests
Education governance; higher education systems; education leadership; academic work; the governance of academic knowledge production through research; organisational change
Affiliations
Teaching interests
Educational governance and leadership.
Units taught
Unit chair ECM711 Education Governance and Policy; Unit Chair ECM713 Leadership development and capacity building; Unit Chair ECM712: Education leadership in changing times
Knowledge areas
Education governance; higher education systems; education leadership; academic work; the governance of academic knowledge production through research; organisational change
Conferences
Selected recent keynoted addresses:
Rowlands, J 2018, ‘Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice: the relationship between national research assessment frameworks, academic workload models and research practice’ invited presentation to the Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy, at Aarhus University, Aarhus, 18 September 2018.
Rowlands, J 2017, ‘Towards new models of university decision-making’, invited keynote presentation to the 5th annual Higher Education Quality Forum, Western Sydney University, 24 November 2017.
Rowlands, J 2016, ‘From a roar to a whisper: academic voice and governance within the measured university’ invited keynote presentation at the 5th International Academic Identities Conference, The University of Sydney, 29 June – 1 July 2016.
Rowlands, J 2014, ‘Strengthening the relationship between university councils and academic boards’, invited presentation to university leaders and senior managers from across the Australian higher education sector, the LH Martin Institute, The University of Melbourne, 3 July 2014.
Rowlands, J 2014, invited panellist, ‘Future directions for governance within Australian higher education’, Australian University Secretaries Association, RMIT University, Melbourne, 29 October, 2014.
Rowlands J 2013 ‘Academic boards, higher education standards and TEQSA’, invited keynote presentation to the 3rd annual conference of the Australian University Secretaries Association, Brisbane, 28—29 October, 2013.
Rowlands, J 2011, ‘Academic Board Role and Function in Australian Universities’, Invited keynote presentation to the annual conference of the Australian Chairs of Academic Boards and Senates (CABS), Perth, November 2011
Selected recent conference presentations:
Rowlands, J & Boden, R, ‘University executive remuneration as a matter of governance’, European Conference on Education Research, Bolzano, Italy, 3-7 September, 2018
Rowlands, J 2017, 'Deepening understandings of Bourdieu’s academic and intellectual capital through a study of academic voice within academic governance', European Conference on Education Research, University College, Copenhagen, Denmark, 22-25 August, 2017.
Rowlands, J 2016, ‘The domestic labour of academic boards within university governance and the loss of academic voice’, presentation for invited featured symposium ‘Leading the Neoliberal University: Gender, Voice and Inclusion in the Global Academy’, Australian Association for Research in Education, Melbourne, 28 November–1 December 2016.
Rawolle, S & Rowlands, J, ‘Locating public education between privatisation and contractualism’, European Conference on Education Research, University College Dublin, 23-26 August 2016, International symposium on privatisation and public education.
Rowlands, J 2015, ‘The critical absence of academic voice: moving beyond the collegial/managerial dichotomy in contemporary university governance’, European Conference on Education Research, Corvinus University of Budapest, September 7 – 10, 2015.
Rowlands J 2015, ‘Navigating the in-between spaces: beyond the managerial/collegial divide in higher education governance’, Universities in the Knowledge Economy conference, University of Auckland, February 11 – 13, 2015.
Professional activities
Editor and Editorial Board member, Critical Studies in Education
Reviewer for Studies in Higher Education, Journal of Education Policy, Critical Studies in Education, Higher Education, International Journal of Leadership in Education
Member, School of Education Teaching and Learning Committee
Member, School of Education Teaching and Researech Committee
Research groups
Julie is a member of the Education Governance and Policy strand of the Research for Education Impact strategic research centre at Deakin University
Awards
Deakin University School of Education Research Award 2019 - International Collaborations
Visiting scholar: University of Aarhus, 2018
Most outstanding paper for the year: 'Academic boards: less intellectual and more academic capital in higher education governance', Studies in Higher Education, 2013
2015 teaching award, School of Education, Deakin University, outstanding student evaluations 2012-2015
2009-2012 Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship
Projects
Julie's current research projects include:
Gender and the governance of knowledge production in European universities (2019-2023). Norwegian Research Council (6m NOK = $1m AUD). Role: PI
The effects of Danish research assessment on research practice (2018-2019). Lead CI, with Professor Susan Wright, Aarhus University, Denmark.
The effectiveness of school governance and the relationship with school leadership (2018-2019). Lead CI, with Dr Shaun Rawolle (Deakin); Dr Steve Courtney (Manchester); Dr Ruth McGinty (UCL)
The governance of university executive salaries in the UK and Australia (2018-2019). With Professor Rebecca Boden, Tampere University.
Recent projects include:
A longitudinal evaluation of the impact of Australian Rural Leadership Foundation programs (2016-2017). Australian Rural Leadership Foundation ($116,000 Cat 2). CI
Publications
Towards new models of decision making within university governance in anglophone nations
Julie Rowlands
(2020), pp. 246-267, Convergence and diversity in the governance of higher education, Cambridge, Eng., B1
J Rowlands, J Blackmore, A Gallant
(2020), Vol. 27, pp. 1269-1284, Gender, work and organization, Chichester, Eng., C1
J Rowlands, S Wright
(2020), pp. 1-17, Critical Studies in Education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Paying the piper: the governance of vice-chancellors' remuneration in Australian and UK universities
Rebecca Boden, Julie Rowlands
(2020), pp. 1-15, Higher Education Research & Development, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Julianne Lynch, Julie Rowlands, Trevor Gale, Stephen Parker
(2019), pp. 1-26, Practice methodologies in education research, London, Eng., B1
Julie Rowlands, Shaun Rawolle
(2019), pp. 124-144, Practice methodologies in education research, London, Eng., B1
The domestic labour of academic governance and the loss of academic voice
J Rowlands
(2019), Vol. 31, pp. 793-810, Gender and education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
J Rowlands, Trevor Gale
(2019), Vol. 1, pp. 138-161, Beijing international review of education, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Hunting for points: the effects of research assessment on research practice
Julie Rowlands, Susan Wright
(2019), pp. 1-15, Studies in Higher Education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Practice methodologies in education research
J Lynch, J Rowlands, T Gale, S Parker
(2019), pp. 1-250, Practice Methodologies in Education Research, A7
J Rowlands
(2018), Vol. 43, pp. 1823-1836, Studies in higher education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
The north and the south of it: academic governance in the US, England and Australia
J Rowlands, Mai Ngo
(2018), Vol. 37, pp. 1501-1514, Higher education research and development, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Academic governance in the contemporary university: perspectives from Anglophone nations
J Rowlands
(2017), Singapore, A1
Shaping and being shaped: extending the relationship between habitus and practice
J Rowlands, T Gale
(2017), pp. 91-107, Practice theory and education: diffractive readings in professional practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Introduction: diffractive readings in practice theory
J Lynch, J Rowlands, T Gale, A Skourdoumbis
(2017), pp. 1-20, Practice theory and education: diffractive readings in professional practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
The implications of contractualism for the responsibilisation of higher education
S Rawolle, J Rowlands, J Blackmore
(2017), Vol. 38, pp. 109-122, Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation: a leadership impact study and evaluation framework
J Blackmore, A Gallant, J Rowlands, M Rahimi, S Spiteri, K Senior
(2017), Geelong, Vic., A6
Practice theory and education: Diffractive readings in professional practice
J Lynch, J Rowlands, T Gale, A Skourdoumbis
(2016), A7
Turning collegial governance on its head : symbolic violence, hegemony and the academic board
J Rowlands
(2015), Vol. 36, pp. 1017-1035, British journal of sociology of education, Oxford, Eng., C1
J Rowlands
(2015), Vol. 18, pp. 263-278, International journal of leadership in education: theory and practice, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Academic boards: less intellectual and more academic capital in higher education governance?
J Rowlands
(2013), Vol. 38, pp. 1274-1289, Studies in higher education, Oxon, Eng., C1
The symbolic role of academic boards in university academic quality assurance
J Rowlands
(2013), Vol. 19, pp. 142-157, Quality in higher education, London, England, C1
The effectiveness of academic boards in university governance
J Rowlands
(2013), Vol. 19, pp. 338-352, Tertiary education and management, London, Eng., C1
J Rowlands, S Rawolle
(2013), Vol. 54, pp. 260-272, Critical studies in education, London, Eng., C1
Accountability, quality assurance and performativity : the changing role of the academic board
J Rowlands
(2012), Vol. 18, pp. 97-110, Quality in higher education, London, England, C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Other Public Sector Funding
Evaluation of Teacher Financial Incentives Program
A/Prof Julie Rowlands, Prof Jillian Blackmore, A/Prof Linda Hobbs
- 2021: $46,608
- 2020: $6,950
Industry and Other Funding
Evaluation of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation's education programs.
Prof Jillian Blackmore, A/Prof Andrea Gallant, A/Prof Julie Rowlands, Dr Mark Rahimi
- 2017: $91,991
- 2016: $22,997
Leadership and management of Vietnamese Women Leaders.
Prof Ly Tran, Prof Jillian Blackmore, A/Prof Julie Rowlands
- 2019: $35,052
Supervisions
Christine Ellen Harris
Thesis entitled: What Influences Parents To Engage In Their Children's Schooling?
Doctor of Philosophy (Education), School of Education
Catherine Smith
Thesis entitled: Care practices in different Australian school contexts
Doctor of Philosophy (Education), School of Education
Claire Barnaby Phipps
Thesis entitled: The lived experiences of university tutors in an age of massification
Doctor of Philosophy (Education), School of Education
Evelyn Noy
Thesis entitled: Aid in Post-Conflict States: The Relief-Development Relationship
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences