This chapter presents a comparative analysis of the impact of managerialism, driven by New Public Management (NPM) reforms, on the academic profession in four European countries: Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovenia. Starting with an overview of NPM-inspired reforms since the early 1990s, this study explores their role in the transformation of the higher education sector from a collegial to a managerial model and the impact of this transition on professional autonomy. Thus, we ask the following research questions: How has managerialism developed in the case study countries? How does managerialism impact the control and autonomy of academic work across the case study countries? Based on APIKS survey data, this study examines the relationships between the academics’ perception of the 1) degree of managerialism, 2) control over academic activities such as teaching and research, 3) and the degree of professional autonomy. The findings of this study highlight the significant role of administrators in shaping academic work, which indicates a shift towards more centralised decision-making processes. Moreover, the results show notable differences in the perception of managerialism between the Baltic and the Balkan countries. Specifically, the data suggest that respondents in the Baltic countries generally experience a higher level of managerial practices than academics in the Balkan countries. These differences can be attributed to the historical legacies of the post-Socialist era, the influence of path dependency and other country-specific contexts.