The introduction provides a first overview of the themes covered in the book, explains some basic definitions and presents the geographical spread of the higher education systems studied in the book. The empirical basis of the book, the APIKS survey, will be briefly described with a focus on the questions on governance and management, academic productivity, and professional autonomy. The key variables and questions from the APIKS survey pertaining to our themes will be introduced. These will include the perceptions of managerialism, external funding arrangements and the sense of agency of academics in decision-making bodies as well as the variables pertaining to the essential parts of academic work, such as academic activities of teaching, research and external engagement, as well as productivity and professional autonomy.