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Key Challenges to the Academic Profession
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... Academics play an active role in the production of the knowledge necessary for society, in the training of the educated workforce of the society (Williams 2008), and the training of future academics (Brennan 2007;Kogan et al. 2007). Enders (1999) defines academics as employees in charge of producing and transferring complex information. ...
... The profession of being an academic is called 'a professional profession' because academics shape and control their work (Teichler et al. 2013). Therefore, academic freedom and autonomy are expressed as important values for the academic profession (Aarrevaara 2010;Balyer 2011;Cavalli & Teichler 2010;Clegg 2008;Kogan et al. 2007;Williams, 2008). These concepts are thought to be at the center of the academic identity (Clegg 2008;Henkel 2005;Smith 2012). ...
In this study, considering all these conditions, interviews were realized with 13 academicians working at different state universities in Turkey, who have 15-30 years of experience in their profession. Interviews were conducted with them that were not structured on their daily work routines, the time they devoted to administrative and academic affairs, and their teaching methods. As a result, I completed the study by presenting various suggestions and ideas about the research. I hope that the research will contribute to both the academic world and professional business life.
... New aspects which were not present previously or which were not considered as scientific or purely academic have started to play a role. One of the most challenging factors is the increasing claim for open access to scientific knowledge production and processes (Kogan, Teichler, 2007), namely open science. This happens for example when researchers feel obliged to incorporate openness in peer judgment to remain credible, for example, by giving priority to the social relevance or impact of research outcomes. ...
... The article aims at investigating some implications that open science has on the academic profession shedding light on the process of "industrialization of academic activities" (Kogan, Teichler, 2007), namely the passage from craft production to (organized) production processes based on specialization of tasks, and standardization. Our study is inspired by Science and Technology Studies and theoretically underpinned by the work of the pragmatist philosopher of science John Dewey (1958) on the knitting between science and the social, political, and economic apparatuses of society. ...
Open science is considered a new science paradigm to make research accessible, accountable, and effective. Open science is already changing the academic profession starting from micro-practices to professional relations with epistemic communities and stakeholders, with implications that we are not yet able to predict. The article delves first into literature and official documentation to unfold the discursive regimes which sustain the spread of open science. A specific focus is then devoted to the professional transition, highlighting the role of funding organizations in setting the new science environment and the subjective experience of academics. The article is completed by a case study in the field of Research Data Management where the misalignment among incumbent/changing processes can be more apparent. Finally, a research agenda that focuses on how academic micro-practices are affecting organizations and science structures is proposed. This article aims at beginning to plow the ground for new research directions to emerge.
... This epistemic imaginary provides the basis for the binary framing of labor in the academy, which is split between the so-called "academic" and "non-academic" domains (Fulton, 2003;Deem et al . , 2007;Kogan and Teichler, 2007;Whitchurch, 2010) . The former is devoted to the production and dissemination of "legitimate" (i . ...
This essay argues that in order for honors to occupy and transform the academy it must begin by transforming itself. Drawing on Homi Bhabha’s notion of “third space,” the author argues that the traditional epistemic paradigms in higher education are inadequate for conceptualizing the praxis-driven work required in honors. Honors should be understood as a form of transdisciplinarity, with the aim of producing what is defined as Mode 2 knowledge. Only from within this nonbinary professional framework is honors capable of disrupting, reimagining, and transforming the university.
... Owing to the socio-economic importance that education and science have for the development of a knowledge-based society, topics concerning the academic profession and the roles of academics have attracted the attention of researchers. Teichler (1996), more than two decades ago, recognized the importance of the relationships between the teaching and research roles of academics, the increase of administrative responsibilities in the academic profession, and the demands to connect research with the wider social environment. Changes in academic roles inevitably lead to changes in how academics perceive and experience their profession and their academic identity. ...
The context of Macedonian higher education has changed dramatically in the last fifteen years. A rapid increase in the number of public and private institutions and a greater diversity of higher education degrees have not been associated with improvements in quality. The research output of academic staff is modest; academics contribute little to the society's development. Academia in North Macedonia is under pressure due to chronic underfinancing of higher education and research, and an underdeveloped system of quality assurance, as well as growing expectations for relevance and internationalisation. This article presents an original empirical study on academic staff. It examines how 388 faculty at higher education institutions in North Macedonia perceived changes in the environment of the academic profession, and how changes in their working conditions potentially influence their academic identity and wellbeing. The results are compared to European data. Findings show that about half of research participants believed that the overall conditions for work and the quality of teaching, learning and research have deteriorated in recent years. This contributes to a perception of the academic profession as stressful and unattractive which results in lower levels of overall academic wellbeing which constitutes a threat to academic identity amongst the staff. Consequently, we expect further decreases in motivation, work ethic and productivity in the academic profession, as well as an increase in the desire of academics to leave Macedonia.
Higher education is in crisis mode, and as organisations we need to find new ways to exist. The traditional entities tasked with change in the sector have had limited impact, however, and it may be time to explore new catalysts for organisational change. This short narrative paper describes one such potential catalyst, the concept of organisational learning design – a new practice domain that harnesses the capabilities and affordances of learning design and evolves them beyond technology into organisational learning and organisational culture practices to create a high-leverage change agent.
Continuing from the previous chapter’s focus on Hungary, this chapter explores the rest of the Visegrad states (i.e. Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic), revealing a similar pattern of the strategic undermining of political science. The highly significant dimension of this chapter for the volume’s broader focus on the present and future of democracy is the manner in which it shows how large sections of the political science communities in these countries were originally critical of the emergence of hybrid regimesHybrid regimes. As a result they have come to be viewed as a threat to political elites. The risk that political science might play a role in de-legitimating the current political regimes has led to alterations to the research funding landscape that are intended to starve the discipline of resources.
This paper evaluates the design of current contractual incentive mechanisms in Russian universities after recent significant contractual reforms in the national academic sector. We employ the theoretical framework of incentive contracts in order to identify and assess performance measures of university faculty determining the total income received from teaching, research and administrative duties. We show that for the entire sample, faculty salary is positively associated with publication activity. Teaching is significant only for the entire sample, but not significant for research-oriented universities and HEIs with no special status. Administrative duties (expressed in the position held) are positively related to faculty pay: the largest effect is for rectors and vice-rectors, but for deans and heads of departments or laboratories the effect is also strong. Heads of universities and structural units receive a significant bonus for their administrative position. For research-oriented universities the largest effect in publication activity is for the number of papers in high ranking journals. In universities with no research status we discovered a significant gender gap: the male faculty earn more than their female colleagues. There is a positive linear relationship between salary and seniority for the entire sample and in universities with no special status.
en This study analyses the challenges facing Asia's academy based on major findings from the international survey which was implemented in seven selected Asian systems in 2012–2013. The study argues that the academics in these participating teams were concerned with demographic issues, academics' deteriorating working conditions, building both capacity and excellence in their academics, unsatisfactory governance and management arrangements in some systems, and more importantly imbalance development in the academics at a regional level, as well as the importance of undertaking connections with foreign colleagues and internationalising the Asian academics. The study also offers implications for policy and research.
摘要
de 本研究根据组织理论有关学说, 在分析2012‐13年在七个亚洲国家和地区实施的国际问卷调查数据基础上, 讨论了亚洲这些国家和地区大学教师面临的挑战。本研究认为,这些挑战主要包括部分国家和地区大学教师人口老龄化、工作环境逐渐恶劣、大学教师质量有待于提高、大学教师对所在院校的治理方式以及与行政人员的关系不满、在区域层面上各国大学教师在数量和质量等方面存在发展不平衡、整体国际化水平较低等问题。本研究在讨论造成这些挑战的相关动因基础上, 对研究和相关政策制定提出了建议。
The study focuses on the issue of gender discrimination in pay among university faculty in Russia, a country with an exceptionally high share of female faculty in higher education. Using a comprehensive and nationally representative survey of university faculty, we found that although women in academia earn considerably less than men, gender inequality among university faculty is lower than in the non‐academic sector. The study shows that gender differences in pay can be mainly explained by vertical gender segregation: women are less likely to achieve senior positions in the university hierarchy, which brings a high wage premium. Another explanation is horizontal segregation, when there is a prevalence of male faculty in Moscow‐based universities, which provide a considerable wage premium compared to regional ones. A decomposition of the gender wage gap shows that slightly more than half of it can be explained by observable factors, while the rest can be attributed to discrimination and unobservable characteristics. Within the unexplained part the major part can be attributed to favoritism towards men and the minor part to discrimination against women. We found some evidence that faculty in research universities, which actively implement performance‐related pay, experience less gender inequality.
Zusammenfassung
Im Mittelpunkt des Artikels steht die Rekonstruktion zweier kontrastierender Formen akademischer Lehre. Grundlage bilden Interaktionsaufzeichnungen, die in den Nullerjahren an einer deutschsprachigen Universität angefertigt wurden. Für die vorliegende Untersuchung wurden vergleichsweise kurze Passagen sequenzanalytisch ausgewertet. In dem einen Fall ist die Interaktionsstruktur der Lehre durch die Orientierung an organisatorischen Vorgaben geprägt, in dem anderen durch die Bindung an eine Disziplin, die es in Forschung und Lehre zu vertreten gilt. Mit der vorgelegten Analyse wird in mehrfacher Hinsicht ein Beitrag zur Erforschung akademischer Lehre geleistet: Wie lässt sich akademische Lehre auf der Ebene der Interaktionsstruktur bestimmen? Mit welchen Differenzen ist in diesem Zusammenhang zu rechnen? Welche sozialisatorischen Implikationen haben die rekonstruierten Interaktionsformen? Inwiefern könnten die festgestellten Differenzen Ausdruck einer Reformdynamik an den Universitäten sein?
Transition from state socialism to post-communist capitalism has created many tensions in Eastern European societies. This article looks at the stratification of the Estonian academic community since the early 1990s, arguing that only a limited part of the academic community has been able to carry its relatively secure position through the 'transition', whereas most of those who remain in academia have been subjected to proletarianization. After describing recent structural reforms in Estonian higher education and research sectors, the article discusses the strategy of the Estonian science 'aristocracy' - natural scientists and engineers - to construct a new discourse which, instead of serving the needs of the Soviet war machine, relates to the 'mega-machine' of the global capitalist economy. The latter is symbolized by the Finnish mobile telephone company Nokia, which, following a recent request by the former President of Estonia, should be replicated in Estonia to catch up first with Finland and then with other 'knowledge societies' Here the competence of the scientific elite falls short, and instead of 'knowledge production', it resorts to a political battle for guaranteed public funding.
The realms of science and technology in the life sciences are converging through the commercialization of university research. Major changes in the mandate of research universities were facilitated by both federal legislation that has promoted technology transfer, and the increased reliance of business firms on university research and development (R&D). This article discusses the primary factors that are blurring the division of labor between industry and academia in the life sciences, and analyzes the consequences for universities of treating knowledge as intellectual property. Universities' efforts to enhance the commercial value of life sciences research is causing increased politicization of government research funding, a growing winner-take-all contest between the "have" and "have-not" universities, and subtle but potentially profound changes in the culture of academic research. INTRODUaiON Over the past decade there has been a remarkable shift in the division of labor between universities, industi^, and the federal government. In our view, this transformation is most pronounced in the life sciences and the commercial fields of medicine, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. The post-Cold War focus of federal science and technology policy on "competitiveness" has been noted by many observers, and the intensified interest in basic research and collaborative product development by large private corporations in various high-technology fields has been widely studied. But the accompanying change in the mandate of research universities toward a greater focus on commer-ciahzing research findings is much less understood. Our goal in this article is to enhance the understanding of the ways in which the relationship between universities and the private economy has changed, particularly in the life sciences. We highlight the primary forces that have blurred the traditionally distinct roles of the academy and industry, illustrating these trends with data from
Viewed in retrospect, recent changes in academe have not all been upward and onward. Divergent forces in a democratic society with a pluralistic culture generate conflicting pressures on the academic profession, as may be witnessed in the dialectic interplay of continuity and change, autonomy and heteronomy, meritocracy and egalitarianism. Internal accommodation to these dualities has necessarily entailed trade-offs, and losses as well as gains. Compromises intended to mollify adversaries during the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s have resulted in later difficulties for the profession, with the implication that to avoid future repetition of past mistakes, academe must calculate more realistically the probable outcomes of alternate courses of action and reaction.
When I first became the Dean of the Graduate Division at Berkeley last fall, I had an extraordinary experience. Fifty-one percent of the 2,500 new graduate students whom I welcomed were women. Thirty-five years ago that number would have been closer to 10%. The students I welcomed included not only doctoral students, but also graduate students seeking professional degrees in law, public health, social welfare, optometry, etc. On our campus there is no medical school, but if there were, women would be close to the majority in that profession as well.
In the preceding issue the author posited a distinction between manifest and latent social roles as a basis for analyzing two types of latent organizational roles or identities. Three variables for differentiating latent roles were suggested: loyalty to the organization; commitment to professional skills and values; and reference group orientations. Cosmopolitans and locals were distinguished in terms of these three variables. Certain differences were found between cosmopolitans and locals in terms of influence, participation, acceptance of organizational rules, and informal relations. In the following essay, factor analysis is used to refine the above concepts. Types of locals and types of cosmopolitans are differentiated, and it is suggested that these two identities may reflect the tension between the organization's simultaneous need for both loyalty and expertise.
Organizations are socially constructed phenomena. A crucial task for organizational research is to analyze how and why people construct organizations rather than other social forms. In this paper, it is argued that recent public-sector reforms can be interpreted as attempts at constructing organizations. Public-sector entities that could formerly be described as agents or arenas have been transformed into 'more complete' organizations by installing or reinforcing local identity, hierarchy and rationality. This interpretation helps to explain important aspects of the reform process.
Case studies of three colleges are used to identify the values, policies, and practices that drive the faculty hiring process in community colleges. Commitment to teaching as a primary value results in a preference for individuals with the master's degree, a de-emphasis on the status of degree-granting institution, and a reliance on evidence of teaching skills. Although community colleges advertise nationally, they tend to hire regionally defined broadly.
In this paper, originally delivered as the 2004 ASHE presidential address, the author relates four streams of his research to the increasingly stratified system of U.S. higher education. He traces the effects of academic capitalism and the new economy, identifies the rise of managerial professionals as a Mode III form of production, discusses the collective organizing efforts of "core contingent" faculty, and explores the education outreach efforts of some managerial professionals. The conclusions advocate social entrepreneurial initiatives that enhance access and social justice in higher education.