On university leadership

ACHIEVING quality leadership across organisations of all types is a perennial topic, especially when changes abound due to advancements in technology and differing mindsets across generations. Topical examples include the increasing use of AI which is pervading every sector of the economy, or how members of Generation Z and Generation Alpha entering the workforce have different expectations of work-life balance compared to previous generations.

Recently, I attended a mandatory corporate training programme in which these aspects, alongside a strong focus on human rights and environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks were emphasised to an audience of directors representing diverse industries.

Indeed, as an independent director of public listed companies (spanning manufacturing, insurance and technology) in Malaysia for over a decade, I’ve observed that the ecosystem is quite strong in terms of ensuring that participants and stakeholders are up to date on international best practices.

Of course, despite the best efforts of internal corporate training departments and external regulators, there are sometimes failures. Fortunately, good processes can ensure that incompetent leaders and corrupt practices are identified and rooted out before they cause too much damage.

Even then, on rare occasions, when institutions and processes are captured by coordinated groups of people, companies can become destructive to society and ultimately themselves. These are the stories that today form the case studies of what not to do.

Sadly, there are areas of Malaysian public life where such lessons do not sufficiently permeate.

Recently, we have seen weaknesses of leadership and processes emerge in our higher education institutions. Over the past 15 years I’ve had some involvements in our public universities—from bring a guest on regional youth programmes, the research of Negeri Sembilan history, performing in concerts, collaborating in sports programmes, and more recently in ceremonial roles such as handing out graduation scrolls—and in that time, I’ve had many, many conversations with academics about how to improve their institutions and the higher education landscape in Malaysia.

While there have been many wonderful stories of inspiring leaders who have nurtured outstanding young adults and spurred world-class research through courageous innovations (particularly in our private universities), one consistent complaint has been the interference of politics (especially in our public universities). This means not just the usual internal politicking by people seeking promotions by trying to ingratiate themselves with the board and senior management, but also by individuals who are politically linked.

On the one hand, this is hardly surprising. Any institution in Malaysia which involves appointments from a cabinet minister and access to public money is definitely going to be prone to patronage and corruption.

Vice-chancellors of public universities have huge say in spending research and development budgets and much money can change hands through new policies (such as the acceptance of vast numbers of foreign students where agents collect handsome fees) and special projects (such as the opening of foreign campuses involving physical construction and bestowing more prestigious job titles).

Yet, the extent of this political influence can still be surprising. Entire cartels can form, with universities becoming a mere conduit for personal enrichment and prestige while competing for political favour.

This naturally damages the quality of academic and research work, which increasingly becomes reliant on heroes among the rank and file of the university who still believe in their noble mission—if they haven’t already left with disgust at the corrupt practices they see around them, or in fear for repercussions if they don’t toe the line.

Indeed, one retired academic told me that there is often no need for explicit instructions to be issued to staff as to how to behave—a “spirit of fear” pervades the entire academic community every time there is a change of government, minister or vice-chancellor. Not that vice-chancellors themselves are all-powerful either: one revealed how a prime minister even directed the blatant manipulation of student elections so that a particular faction would win, the university being prized as essentially a wing of the political party.

All of this is thoroughly damaging for the nurturing of the next generation, of course. This is a tragedy at a time when our nation needs to produce young Malaysians who are competitive, dynamic and ethical in the context of ever-changing political and geopolitical currents, economic uncertainty and diverse social concerns.

Sadly, addressing the entrenched corruption needs courageous leadership at the highest levels. It will require the minister and prime minister himself to realise that unless vested interests are removed, our public universities will struggle to produce graduates that our nation deserves.

At this stage, as a minimum start, more transparent processes in appointing vice-chancellors would help remove the notion that they are mere political servants.

* Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is Pro-Chancellor, Fellow or Trustee of several private and public higher educational institutions.