Trends in the practices of academic developers: trajectories of higher education?

Amidst the rapidly evolving Higher Education (HE) landscape, this paper provides a systematic review of Academic Development (AD) work, the roles and responsibilities of Academic Developers (ADs) in HE. Beginning from the perspective that HE institutions, as publicly funded organisations, have responsibility to contribute to the public good, more than 100 peer-reviewed papers (1995-2015) are interrogated under five themes. These are: a review of reviews, technology and AD work, their status and identity, assessment of AD work and impact, and the leadership roles of ADs and their impact on institutional leadership. Critical to the evolution of their work has been a more mainstream and public contribution. Their emerging responsibilities in collaboration with institutional leaders, as 'brokers' and 'bridge-builders' position them more strategically within institutions - with potential to be compromised in terms of their espoused values and dispositions while potentially more influential in shaping the futures of their organisations.