Fuelling discovery or monitoring productivity: Research scientists' changing perceptions of management

Public sector research institutes are finding themselves in an increasingly competitive, market-driven environment. This study seeks to examine the wa ys in which scientists make sense of this increasingly 'managerial' orienta tion, and how it is reconciled (or not) with their notions of science and t heir professional interests and aspirations. A central theme emerging from interviews with scientists was that of increasing management control, and a perception that, whereas previously their work had been driven by scientif ic interests, such interests were now being circumscribed by the needs and demands of management. This study shows the ways in which individuals, whil e recognizing the constraints imposed upon them by their structural circums tances, negotiate with these structures in the pursuit of their own persona l and professional interests. The article concludes that the relationship b etween the (polysemic) discourses of science and management must be seen as a dynamic and complex interplay.