vol. 61, no. 1, 2019 Published by NTEU
ISSN 0818–8068
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Australian Universities’Review
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King, D.A. (2004). What different countries get for their research spending. Nature, 430, 311–316.
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vol. 61, no. 1, 2019 Published by NTEU
ISSN 0818–8068
Australian Universities’ Review 2
Letter from the editor Ian R Dobson
55 Whose future? Or why we need to think more expansively about the future of Australian higher education
ARTICLES
Richard Hil
3
Has the role of the university sector to do its mandated duty as a feeder for the neoliberal economy? It depends on ‘the future’.
Economics, education and citizenship Franklin Obeng-Odoom
This paper revisits the opportunities for citizenship, cooperative, and public economics and the responsibility of economics teachers. 12 Doctoral supervisory quality from the perspective of senior academic managers Margaret Kiley
This study sought to identify the barriers and supports for heads of department or similar when they are working with ‘unskilled or neglectful’ doctoral supervisors who might be deemed less than ideal. 22 Neoliberalism and new public management in an Australian university: The invisibility of our takeover Margaret Sims
In this paper the author takes an ‘autoethnographic approach’ to reflect on her experiences of the practices emerging from the neoliberal culture emerging at her and other universities. 31 Silencing behaviours in contested research & their implications for academic freedom Jacqui Hoepner
If ‘unpalatable’ research is attacked from outside universities, what is revealed about academic freedom? When academic work is curtailed, this cherished concept is undermined. The silencing of research based on moral objection rather than wrongdoing, suggests that academic freedom is constrained. 42 Publications, citations and impact factors: Myth and reality Robert Jeyakumar Nathan & Omar Bin Shawkataly
This paper presents an examination of the Malaysian scene on publication politics and practice, and some examples of ethical issues in publishing. OPINION 49 Free speech on Australian campuses: Hidden barriers Brian Martin
Speech at Australian universities is restricted, such as student protests against visiting speakers, defamation threats, cyber harassment and self-censorship being among them.
59 The Kantian University: Worldwide triumph and growing insecurity Simon Marginson
This modern history of the University was first delivered as an evening lecture to the National University of Ireland in Dublin, in November 2018. 71 Unveiling opportunities for hope: Is it too much to ask for a compassionate university? Bill Boyd & Airdre Grant
This paper ponders whether it is too much to ask for a ‘compassionate’ university. REVIEWS 76 It’s time! Whitlam’s Children: Labor and the Greens in Australia by Shaun Crowe Reviewed by Paul Rodan
78 I create, therefore I am Creativity Crisis. Toward a post-constructivist educational future by Robert Nelson Reviewed by Andrys Onsman
83 Management, corporations, business and society Business and Society: A Critical Introduction by Kean Birch et al. Reviewed by Thomas Klikauer and Reshman Tabassum
86 Managing Bullshit Business Bullshit by Andre Spicer Reviewed by Thomas Klikauer & Reshman Tabassum
93 Accounting for the university of the future The University of the Future: Can the Universities of today lead the learning of tomorrow? by Ernst and Young The Big Four: The Curious Past and Perilous Future of the Global Accounting Monopoly by Ian D. Gow & Stuart Kells Reviewed by Tim Moore & Gordon Taylor
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Letter from the editor Ian R Dobson
This issue of Australian Universities’ Review comprises
elicited condemnation or constraint beyond ‘legitimate’
five scholarly refereed papers, three tantalising opinion
scholarly critique’.
pieces, and several book reviews.
Colleagues from Malaysia have prepared a paper about
The first paper comes from abroad, but its author
aspects of research publication misconduct in Malaysia. In
spent a decade at the University of Technology Sydney.
Publications, Citations and Impact Factor: Myth and Reality
Franklin Obeng-Odoom is now at the University of
by Robert Jeyakumar Nathan and Omar bin Shawkataly.
Helsinki, Finland. His concern in this paper is ‘…to revisit
Both authors have close links with the Malaysian
the opportunities for citizenship, cooperative, and public
Academic Movement (MOVE), the National Association
economics and the responsibility of economics teachers’.
for Academics in Malaysia.They outline publication trends
He looks at cooperative economics and citizenship and
in Malaysia and present a few recent examples of research
their place in the study of economics.
misconduct.
Next cab off the rank is a study about what senior
Opinion in this issue comes from three well-known
academic managers think about the supervisory quality
commentators on higher education. Brian Martin is
of PhD supervisors.This is the question asked by Margaret
widely known for his work on whistleblowing, and here
Kiley. Doctoral students’ relationship with their faculty
he offers a piece about ways that free speech is restricted
adviser is said to be the predominant factor in student
at Australian universities. ‘Self-censorship’ is included, and
decisions to continue or withdraw from their candidatures.
this can often be more overt than overt censorship.
However, heads of department and other senior academic
Richard Hil started his life as a commentator under a
managers ‘...know who the poorly performing doctoral
pseudonym: who could forget Joseph Gora’s insightful
supervisors are, but often they are not sure what they…
observations about universities and governance in his
can do to remedy the situation’.
columns in Campus Review Weekly and Australian
Margaret
Sims
is
well-qualified
for
her
topic
Universities’ Review? Unfortunately, he was always a bit
‘Neoliberalism and new public management in an
too close to the bone! He followed up with two fascinating
Australian University: the invisibility of our take-over’. Only
books on Australian higher education: must reads!
a couple of years ago, the University of New England had
Simon Marginson, now with the University of Oxford
to back down in the Federal Court case after it claimed
after stints with the Universities of London, Melbourne,
that Professor Sims, as branch president of the NTEU
and Monash University. His piece in this issue examines
could not also be on the university council, as reported
‘the University’ and how it has evolved. Read on! Finally,
in the Australian newspaper. In her paper, she notes that
Bill Boyd and Airdre Grant from Southern Cross University
‘The higher education sector in Australia is operating in an
look at ‘the compassionate university’.
ideological context in which the ideas of managerialism
Part of what AUR wants to bring to its readers is reviews
and neoliberalism combine to create a discourse shaping
of recently-published books.This issue has five reviews by
the lives of both workers and students’. This ‘managerial
regular reviewers Paul Rodan,Andrys Onsman and Thomas
privilege’ is bad for students, staff and the nation, she says.
Kilkauer, and another which looks at a report by Ernst and
Jacqui Hoepner’s paper is about attacks on ‘unpalatable’
Young (‘an exercise in speculation’), built into a review of
research, typically from outside universities, and the
a recent examination of the ‘big four’ accountancy firms.
impact of this ‘silencing’ on academic freedom? She says
I hope everyone enjoys the material here assembled!
that ‘When academic work is curtailed, this cherished
Ian R Dobson is Editor of Australian Universities’ Review, and an Adjunct Professional Staff member at Monash University, Australia.
yet misunderstood concept is undermined’. This paper is built on interviews with researchers ‘…whose work
2
Letter from the editor Ian R Dobson
vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
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Economics, education and citizenship Franklin Obeng-Odoom University of Helsinki, Finland
In the current political economic dispensation, it is important to revisit the opportunities for citizenship, cooperative, and public economics and the responsibility of economics teachers. In doing so, it is essential to analyse the nature of the dominant pedagogical philosophy of individualism, probe what alternatives could be embraced, investigate whether citizenship is a superior compass, and ascertain how students respond to alternatives. The case study reported in this paper demonstrates not only that individualism is problematic but also that citizenship, public and cooperative economics have much prospect of success. Students who are enrolled in economics subjects could show substantial awareness of social justice and, based on their own account, that awareness could be increased. Overall, students appreciate the opportunity to challenge the status quo. If so, citizenship and cooperative economics have a place in the study of economics – contrary to the widely held view that they are irrelevant. It is the responsibility of teachers to expose the ideology of this impossibility view, emphasise the possibilities for cooperative economics and citizenship, and empower students to question and become citizens. Keywords: citizenship, cooperative economics, property, teachers
Introduction
of study and, if so, how are such subjects received by students?
It is the responsibility of economics teachers to empower students through teaching cooperative and public
Individualism
economics and citizenship (in the context of teaching people to be good citizens). This responsibility is much
The principal mainstream economics philosophy to
like ‘the responsibility of intellectuals’ more generally
be challenged by political economists is individualism.
(Chomsky, 1967), but economics teachers are also in
According to the proponents of this pedagogical world
a unique position. They have a particularly sensitive
view, economics teachers must simply be guided by
responsibility because our material conditions of life
a demand-driven philosophy. Economics teachers, the
depend on the ideas and practices of their students, as
argument goes, must simply supply the skills demanded
they assume important decision-making positions in the
by students who enrol in economics courses. According
global system. For this reason, and because, with few
to this view, such students only seek skills on how to
respectable exceptions, studies in cooperative and public
make money within the ‘reality’ of the capitalist system.
economics have focused less on teaching (see, for a review,
In this sense, teaching how to solve the problems of
Geerkens, 2008; Marini & Thiry, 2018), it is important to
accumulation for industry must, therefore, be the primary
probe how this mandate of economics teachers can best
focus of teachers because that commitment is assumed to
be used.What pedagogical principles must be challenged?
be the primary demand by students. Making students job-
What alternatives could be embraced? Can cooperative
ready is an apt description of how teachers of economics
economics and citizenship animate an actual subject
must see themselves. Theoretically, this line of thinking
vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
Economics, education and citizenship Franklin Obeng-Odoom
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can be located within the human capital theory of Gary
Markets, then, are not only designed to reflect these
Becker (1962) and George Stigler (1970) but, in modern
sentiments, they are also the best allocator of resources
times, they can also be seen in the work of David Colander
and the best mechanism to aid in decision making.
(2003) and Edward Glaeser (2011) to the extent that their
Consequently, teaching ‘critical thinking’ is rare in
version of human capital theory prioritises individual
economics courses in which students are encouraged
skills as the primary determinant of employability and,
to uncritically follow the theories of the masters. In one
when employed, of the wage relation.
recent, widely discussed media review of 172 general
For others, notably the Dutch philosopher Michael
economics modules at seven universities in the UK,
Merry, under capitalism, there are no options for
it was established that 78 per cent of exam questions
citizenship, public and cooperative economics education
simply asked the student to show mastery of theories
to flourish (see, for example, Merry, 2018a, 2018b).
and equations without any independent or critical
According to him, in a capitalist system, the function of
thinking, while for compulsory subjects, sometimes called
education is to serve private interests. So, even if it were
‘fundamentals’, and the more widely taken by economics
desirable to teach cooperative economics and citizenship,
students, 93 per cent of exam questions had no place for
it is impossible to do so, as education under capitalism is,
critical analysis and thinking (Guardian, 2016).
inherently, designed to serve this economic system. From these perspectives, education is entirely
Most of the claims that percolate the design of such programs are, however, based on untested assumptions.
a private affair and the public must not support it
Therefore, it
financially. Bryan Caplan’s arguments in the book, The
systematically and empirically. The existing attempts at
is
important
to
test
these
claims
Case Against Education: Why the Education System is
doing so have been highly informative. The contributions
a Waste of Time and Money (2018), exemplify this line
to two recent special issues of the Journal of Australian
of thinking. The teaching implications of this view are
Political Economy (Nos. 75 and 80), as well as the
undeveloped even in the best books on methodological
various chapters in Advancing Pluralism in Teaching
individualism such as S. Charusheela’s Structuralism
Economics (Decker et al., 2019), show what is wrong
and Individualism in Economic Analysis (2005) and
with economics teaching and why economists remain
Sonya Scott’s Architectures of Economic Subjectivity
adamantly opposed to criticisms of their pedagogical
(2013).The key teaching practice of this pedagogy is the
approaches. Kavous Ardalan’s recent book, Case Method
top-down lecture model.
and Pluralist Economics: Philosophy, Methodology and
What are the implications of pedagogical individualism
Practice (2018), ‘applies a multiparadigmatic approach to
for teachers? First, teachers must follow the pattern of
education’ (p. x) and, as Ardalan notes, ‘The book argues
demand by students.Teachers who deviate from satisfying
that both the case method and pluralist economics
the pre-conceived wants of students will be poorly rated
emanate from the same foundational philosophy that
by the students, as the students will find their teaching
views the world as being socially constructed and that
irrelevant. Second, if teachers merely affirm what students
both of them advocate pluralism.’ (p. x).
want and there are problems for everyone in the world,
Strong on the philosophical foundations of alternative
the teachers must be absolved of responsibility because, as
pedagogy, Ardalan’s study can be better demonstrated
with the ‘Nuremberg Defence’ or the ‘Apartheid Defence’,
with an actual case study, especially focused on teaching
the teachers were merely following superior orders: the
property economics, a field that has received little critical
consumer-student is literally, and figuratively,‘king’. In The
engagement by political economists, although it is a major
Mirage of Social Justice, the Austrian economist Friedrich
area for investigating, for example, the property relations
Hayek provides a distinctive defence (Hayek, 1976/1998;
that were central to the last global crisis. Masson Gaffney’s
Brown, 2010): markets are impersonal, so neither justice
(2015) emphasis on the role of property economics in the
nor injustice can be attributed to anyone. The concept of
last financial crisis is important in this sense, but that work
social justice is, from this perspective, entirely bankrupt.
does not examine how an alternative teaching pedagogy
As it is not clear to whom social justice is directed, it
in property economics might contribute to redressing
follows that it is not clear to whose standards justice must
what Anne Haila (2017) has called ‘institutionalising the
conform; and, hence, it is not clear how social justice can
property mind’.Within the context of the responsibility of
co-exist with citizenship.Third, even if teachers wanted to,
economics teachers, that is what a citizenship pedagogy
they could not possibly succeed in teaching cooperative
seeks to do.
economics and citizenship.
4
Economics, education and citizenship Franklin Obeng-Odoom
vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
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Citizenship Political economists can embrace citizenship as a
Reasoning:
superior pedagogical framework. From this perspective,
e.g. Plato
studying economics is not about oneself at all but, instead, about helping others, the entire world society, and the environment. In her paper ‘Teaching economics’, Joan Robinson, the eminent Cambridge economist, noted that
Citizenship
‘The serious student is often attracted to economics by humanitarian feeling and patriotism – he wants to learn how to choose economic policies that will increase human welfare’ (Robinson, 1960, p. 173). By welfare,
Problems: e.g. Dewey
Care:
e.g. Rousseau
Robinson, means citizenship; not the individualism in ‘welfare economics’, which Robinson calls ‘a system of ideas based on a mechanistic psychology of a completely individualistic pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain, which no one believes to be a correct account of human
Source: Broom, 2010
nature, dished up in algebraical formulae which do not
Figure 1: Teaching citizenship
even pretend to be applicable to actual data’ (Robinson, 1960, p. 173). Citizenship is about fellow-feeling. It can include self-
about education that promotes global citizenship (United
love, even self-interest that does not harm others, but
Nations, 2018). According to the General Secretary of
citizenship is opposed to selfishness and individualism.
the National Tertiary Education Union, ‘Education trade
In his keynote address to the International Association
unions are part of the solution not part of the problem.
for Citizenship, Social and Economic Education (IACSEE),
After all SDG 4 depends on the supply and knowledge
Richard Pring (2016) notes that citizenship includes
of qualified education professionals in all sectors’
a strong concern for the public good, a nuanced
(McCulloch, 2018, p. 2).
understanding of political context, a focus on social justice
Can this philosophy ground university subjects in the
and a commitment to civic society. So, citizenship is not
current political economic dispensation? Economists
only an academic pursuit, or even just a political activity
think not, but Catherine Broom of the Education
of asserting rights and meeting obligations. Citizenship is,
Department at the University of British Columbia has
in addition, a bigger question of one’s contribution to the
shown that it can. She offers three examples, as shown
common good.There is the understanding part, the doing
in Figure 1.
part, and the action part of citizenship entailing taking
Broom’s conceptualisation gives three, intertwining
action to ensure, to enhance, or to maintain a climate of
dimensions of citizenship education. The first draws on
citizenship. Detailed elaboration of these ideas can be
Plato’s dialogue to develop students’ critical reasoning
found on the pages of Citizenship, Social and Economics
skills that enable engagement with the concerns of society.
Education, the flagship journal of IACSEE.
Here, the teacher leads a process of turning students into
Many other concerned citizens and citizen organisations
concerned thinkers. Rousseau’s approach, the second,
have contributed to this effort. Over the years, the
interlinked dimension to teaching citizenship, shares with
Committee on the Political Economy of the Good Society
Plato the concern for a citizenship education. However,
published the journal, The Good Society, to emphasise
Rousseau’s approach more strongly emphasises teaching
the importance of citizenship education. Indeed, the
students citizenship based on care for their own needs.
journal now elevates ‘civic studies’ to the position of what
So, in this sense, while Plato’s approach prioritises the
Trygve Throntveit (2016, p.132) has called ‘subtitular
leadership of the teacher, Rousseau’s pedagogy is student-
eponym’ to animate a renewed emphasis on demanding
led, emphasising that there is no one universal ‘thing’ to
civic rights and giving civic duties to one another, to
teach students because every student cohort has its own
society, and to the environment. To ‘Ensure inclusive and
characteristics which must drive the pedagogy. John
quality education for all and promote lifelong learning’
Dewey’s pedagogy being the third, interlocking aspect
is the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4. Target 4.7 is
of citizenship pedagogy invites a learning approach
vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
Economics, education and citizenship Franklin Obeng-Odoom
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centred on investigating the political-economic structures
can be found in the teachings of John Dewey in books
that shape students’ realities. In the Dewey approach to
such as Schools of To-morrow (1915, with Evelyn Dewey)
pedagogy, the interest of learners is in the critical analysis
and Democracy and Education (1916/1997) which, as
of, critical reflections on, and critical practicalities about
Christopher England (2018) has shown, were influenced
transcending social problems – regardless of the positions
by the ideas of Henry George. George is widely credited
of student and teacher.
with tirelessly putting the case for starting social analysis
Broom’s aim in juxtaposing these approaches to
and learning about the social world through an emphasis
developing pedagogies of citizenship is not to emphasise
on land and landed property and the problems they
differences or disagreement of what is the best or right
generate, as Richard Ely, the founder of land economics
way of teaching citizenship. Rather, the point is to show
as a university course, once famously noted (Ely, 1917). It
that citizenship can be taught in diverse ways. My own
does not mean that the class is all about Henry George but
experience as a teacher confirms Broom’s contentions,
rather about the idea – consistently developed by George,
but my pedagogy has been an interlocking function of a
for example, in Social Problems (1883), The Crime of
diversity of approaches, not a product of any one particular
Poverty (1885), and The Science of Political Economy
dimension. I mix aspects of Plato, Rousseau, and Dewey in
(1898) – that private property is the root of all evil.
the ‘Property and Political Economy (PPE)’ subject that I
In this subject, students are also introduced to the
taught at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia
texts written by the oppressed, including women,
for about ten years.
people of colour, and Indigenous communities. Similarly,
PPE is a pluralist political economy subject in the sense
students are introduced to the work of economists who
that it refuses to accept mainstream economics (icluding
were usually not to be found on the reading lists of the
neoclassical and new institutional economics) as the
typical property economics courses around the world.
only school of economics that has something useful to
Papers in economics journals are studied alongside those
say about property relations and the property industry.
published in political economy journals, journals of
The study unit questions ‘property for profit’ as the only
geography, science, and education. In addition, the reports
valid vision for property economists, and rejects the
of neoliberal think tanks, including the World Bank,
pedagogical individualism that defines most property
are studied. So, pluralism in PPE is not just in terms of
economics subjects. Critical of the usual view in property
engaging alternative ideas but also in terms of listening to
economics teaching that the teacher is the ‘expert’,
marginalised voices, including those of students.
presenting ‘technical’ ideas that cannot be questioned
The three-hour PPE class is interactive and integrates
(Obeng-Odoom, 2017), the subject invites students to
feedback within the learning environment. I would teach
the controversies in schools of economics, how various
for an hour, the students and I would discuss the readings
schools conceive of property, and how the choice of
in a tutorial that lasts another hour, and the last hour would
one school shapes one’s methodological and ontological
be devoted to student debates adjudged by a panel of
views, as well as the range of one’s policy preferences.
student-judges. My lecture slides would usually be posted
The importance of the mainstream view is highlighted
before class to facilitate pre-class student preparation.
but so are its contradictions and why, despite its failings,
Pre-class reading and pre-class reflections are enabled by
landed interests continue to support the approach with
making required readings and tutorial questions available
minor adjustments such as embracing ‘green property
to students before class. Feedback is given both within
development’ which, as research has shown (e.g.,
and outside class. So, dialoguing with students about the
Wilkinson, 2013), is merely another vehicle to make profit.
learning material, or the ‘case study’, is a central pedagogic
PPE was born from, continues to exist to shed greater
practice – drawing on Paulo Freire’s teaching philosophy,
light on, and strives to provide an environment in which
espoused in The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) –
students can develop more sophisticated frameworks that
in contrast to the prevailing functionalist philosophies
are better able to explain, and transcend, the property
animated by the lecture-heavy teaching practice in which
basis of the dispossession and marginalisation of groups
the primary concern of the teacher is teaching to serve the
such as Indigenous people, women, and racially oppressed
subject/field; not necessarily to enhance transformative
minorities. Generally, students are invited to an organising
learning (Ardalan, 2018). My ‘dialogue’ is, however, not
hypothesis
relations
just about developing reason or critical thinking skills for
constitute the bedrock from which social, economic, and
public engagement (Plato), but also to enable the students
environmental problems arise. This analytical philosophy
to critically reflect on social problems (Dewey).
6
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property
and
property
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Why study PPE? Wk1
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Analytical approaches in Prosperity Economics Wk2
Actually existing Indigenous land rights vs ‘desirable’ property Wk7
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Indigenous property & the prosperity of Indigenous property Wk8
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Resource curse Wk4
Saving the environment through property rights Wk9
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Religions, resources & socio-economic transformation Wk5
Ending fossil fuel-based growth Wk10
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Women, oil & property Wk6
Property & the good society Wk11
Figure 2: Themes, specific topics and structure Dialoguing this way has been enabled by a keen interest
begins with the debate about the commons, especially the
to know more about students through engagement with
so-called ‘tragedy of the commons’, the liberal alternative
others who better understand them and with students
by Elinor Ostrom, and the more radical contestation by
themselves (Rousseau). I have learnt, over the years, from
Henry George, while weeks 4 to 6 examine the ideology
highly effective teachers of political economy, such as Frank
of resource curse and some controversies about the
Stilwell, Australia’s eminent teacher emeritus (Mearman,
explanation of women’s marginalisation in resource-rich
2014; O’Donnell, 2014) either by meeting him to discuss
societies. With week 7 seeking to introduce students to
pedagogy, by watching him teach, or by reading his
the nature of Indigenous property rights/possession-based
extensive writings on the subject (Stilwell, 2005, 2006, 2011,
system versus how international development agencies
2012). I studied under Frank Stilwell and was privileged to
regard these rights, week 8 confronts the prevailing policy
tutor in the ‘Economics as a Social Science’ subject that he
position that Indigenous land rights are inferior and an
taught for over 40 years at the University of Sydney (see, for
impediment to growth. Much of the students’ education
example, Stilwell, 2011; Obeng-Odoom, 2017).
about sustainability relates to ecological modernisation,
During that time, I received feedback on my tutoring
so in week 9, we revisit property-based formulations,
which helped me to further develop my own classes when
especially the Lockean-Hardin notion that private
I became a teacher myself. Since then, I have also benefited
property (and, in some respects, market instruments),
from the feedback of students whether in formal surveys
about the economy, society, and environment, while week
organised by the university or via invited feedback when
10 appraises the debates on the limits to growth, including
I have met the students. Colleagues have also offered
the idea of green buildings, the Jevons Paradox critique
feedback when I have sought it or through departmental
and the need for a radically green society, economy and
processes, including the learning futures program. I
environment. Week 10 brings the PPE story together,
also enrolled in the diploma in education program and
by emphasising its key themes and a unifying logic of
completed one crucial subject on constructive alignment.
property, citizenship, and the good society.
In short, my teaching philosophy and teaching practices have been developed collectively. Figure 2 provides an overview of PPE in a typical
Evaluating citizenship as a pedagogical philosophy
semester. In week 1, the case for the subject is firmly and clearly made, while the analytical approach taken
How have students seen their role as citizens in evaluating
by the subject is developed in week 2 through a critical
PPE? The results of surveys of students enrolled in
examination of the debates between the natural rights
the Property and Political Economy subject designed
and conventional schools of property economics. Week 3
to provide/increase critical thinking, social justice
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Table 1: Responses to Survey Questions on PPE and Social Justice Contribution to: Rating
Critical Thinking Skills
%
Social Justice Awareness
%
Driving Per% sonal Action for Just Causes
Social Impact Framework
%
5 (strongly Agree)
23
49
12
26
7
15
7
15
4
20
43
21
45
14
30
24
52
3
4
9
12
26
15
32
15
3
2
0
0
2
4
9
19
0
0
1 (Strongly Disagree)
0
0
0
0
2
4
0
0
47
100
47
100
47
100
46
100
Total*
Source: Author’s Fieldwork, 2017. * Rounding errors apply
awareness, and a general empowering education for
into themes with specific code names, in this approach to
property economists can provide some tentative answers.
data analysis, frequency tables are prepared after tallying
Although the subject outline clearly explains that the PPE
common responses to the questions that students were
subject aims to develop these attributes, it is important
asked. Representative statements within certain themes
to do such a survey to establish the congruence between
are marked and quoted to animate the theme. In addition,
what is promised and what students judge as delivered. In
the university carries out statistical analyses such as mean
any case, it is not always that ‘what an instructor thinks is
and standard deviation tests for the outcomes of the
being taught is what students learn; the two processes are
student feedback service. So, when useful, these analyses
sometimes disconnected’ (Wilson & Meyer, 2011, p. 754).
also ooze into the results of the study.
Accordingly, carrying out the survey was warranted. On October 11, 2017, 49 students were issued with the
Results
questionnaires but two did not answer the questions on social justice, so the number of respondents was 47.
Between 2011 and 2017 when I progressively made
Another student answered all the questions except the one
citizenship a central pedagogical framework, the overall
on social impact framework, so for that specific question,
rating for the subject has increased from 2.21 to 4.08
the total number of responses was 46. I was out of the
(out of a maximum of 5.00).The overall rating for student
room throughout the time of the survey, returning only
satisfaction with staff has increased from 2.57 to 4.48 (out
when I received the student questionnaire administrator’s
of a maximum of 5.00); and the relative ranking of the
email to return. Upon coming back, I received a signed
subject against the course average has risen from about 1
and sealed envelope with the completed questionnaires
point below the course average to over 1 point above the
all of which were anonymous. This approach has been
course average.
successfully used in previous studies (e.g., Wilson
The subject is also well regarded for (a) developing the
& Meyer, 2011; Stilwell, 2011) on social justice and
critical thinking skills of students and (b) contributing to
pedagogy. The questions asked were informed by what
raising awareness about social injustice and teaching new
political economists consider to be the key ambitions for
ways of thinking about social justice and (c) being at least
citizenship (Schneider, 2013), namely critical thinking,
analytically relevant and hence helping to do something
social justice awareness, and the praxis of social justice.
about it. Table 1 contains a summary of the responses by
I relied on two other approaches for complementary data. I conducted open debates about the relevance of
students to the question about how PPE contributes to these three attributes.
the subject to the career of the students and relied on
Table 1 shows that 90 per cent of the students strongly
student feedback surveys conducted by the university
agree or agree that the subject enhanced their critical
over the years. These methods led to the generation of
thinking. Students’ qualitative comments include: ‘It
both numeric and qualitative data.
challenges you to think outside of your normal thought
Following similar studies (Stilwell, 2011; Wilson &
process about things you wouldn’t normally consider’;
Meyer, 2011), I used the technique of content analysis to
‘Your debate is a prime example of this’,‘Critical thinking
make the data meaningful. Starting with grouping the data
in the scope of property relations is core’, ‘Continually
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referenced critiques are discussed in every lecture’, and
with’ (student who rated ‘3’ on both awareness and
‘By having to question every reading, we are able to come
personal drive). Another noted that ‘I have taken on a
up with our own understanding of the meaning and
new understanding of the concept. However, I was always
truths of each reading.’
surrounded [or always aware of the topic]by the topic’
Through citizenship, other aspects of student learning
(student rating ‘4’ on both awareness and personal action).
have also been enhanced. For example, over 70 per cent
For a student rating ‘5’ and ‘3’ on awareness and action,
strongly agreed/agreed that the subject has raised their
s/he was ‘Made much more aware about issue facing
levels of awareness about social justice. About 68 per
oppressed people/groups. But don’t really see what else
cent strongly agreed/agreed that the subject seeks to
I can do’; ‘Able to rethink how poverty/social injustice
‘contribute to increased public good, social mobility and
is caused by + ways it is trapped that way’. ‘Through
equity; support the creation of enabling environments
my personality’, one student said, this ‘subject has made
for communities to thrive; [and] positively influence and
me know more’ (student rating ‘5’ and ‘3’ respectively
impact the public, the individual and the systematic forces
on awareness and personal action) and another student
that shape justice’, a statement printed in the university
noted, ‘I already had a personal concern for social justice.
‘Social Impact Framework’. Students’ comments include:
I learnt more injustices but did not increase an already
‘I feel the approach of the subject was even handed’; ‘It
long concern’ (student rating ‘4’ on awareness and ‘3’
explores very important and fundamental issues to poverty,
on personal action). These results, then, are similar to
income inequality which leads to more perspectives and
the findings of J.L Wilson and K.A. Meyer (2011, p. 757)
insights’; ‘Insights new ways of looking at topics such as
who, in seeking to establish how much their course
climate + poverty’; ‘I found the gist of the subject was to
had contributed to social justice awareness among their
critique capitalism (fairly) and learn about other systems
students, found that the students were ‘no tabula rasa or a
that could benefit society’; ‘makes students more aware’;
blank slate’ but had had some exposure to social justice in
and ‘most socially aware subject in the course’.
their varied experiences in life.
Students are less enthusiastic about personally
What about the career advantages of education in
committing to social justice. Indeed, only 45 per cent said
cooperative economics and citizenship? When asked
the subject helped them to commit to social justice. Does
about how the students rate the contribution of PPE to
this prove the well-known view that property economics
‘practical and professional skills’, some 53 per cent of
students are selfish or care less about social justice, even
the students found PPE relevant and 61 per cent found
if they are aware of it? The qualitative answers seem not.
it particularly relevant to ‘innovation and creativity’. So,
Rather, many students are concerned about social justice,
whether it is in doing further studies, working in the
so the question looked redundant. What the students
private sector as property consultants, or following a
praised was that they have become more aware and
path in property valuation, the dominant career paths
developed better analytical frameworks to understand
of property economics students, (on careers in property
and transcend mainstream debates.
economics, see, for example, Obeng-Odoom and Ameyaw,
While a small minority noted that they are practically
2010), education in citizenship has evident advantages. If
or ideologically unconcerned – even if they are now
so, it is the responsibility of economics teachers to reject
more aware. In their words: ‘I have become more aware,
the ideological claim that (property) economics students
however some of my views do not align with what we
have no exposure to, or are not interested in, social justice.
are taught’ (student rating ‘5’ and ‘3’ on awareness and
As teachers, we can, and must, embrace citizenship; not
personal action). Another said, ‘I am more aware, but it
individualism.
is not relevant to my career. The subject is irrelevant to my future career’ (student rating ‘3’ and ‘1’ on personal
Conclusion
action), while a third noted that ‘The real world doesn’t care about feelings’ (student rating ‘3’ and ‘1’ on personal
The final class of PPE typically features a debate. In 2017,
commitment).
the motion was ‘Private property is the root of all evil’.
However, most students have become more aware and
This debate was fascinating, showing brilliant arguments
appreciate the skills they have developed to understand
from the students on both sides of the debate.The student
and analyse social (in)justice better. As one student put it:
judges voted for the affirmative team on the basis that its
‘I don’t feel I’ve become more aware but simply gained
arguments, and evidence, better represented the social
a deeper understanding of these topics I was familiar
world, but praised the negative team for their analytical
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skills.The takeaway point, as I discussed with the students
students to question the practices of property, and to
after class, was to realise, and to keep, a critical and
teach property economics as a social science rather
pluralist gaze as citizens.
than as an uncritical, so-called technical vocational study
The notes on my power point slides in 2017
which, in fact, institutionalises property as a science that
emphasised five take away points from PPE. First, that our
exists to protect, to advance, and to justify the narrow
world today – the largely capitalist world – is based on
interests of propertied classes (Obeng-Odoom, 2016).
the idea that more private property is better than more
My experiences suggest that, based on the opportunities
public property. Second, by both real-world evidence
provided by cooperative economics and citizenship,
and logical analysis, private property in land/all natural
taking such a responsibility is highly valued by students,
resources generates grotesque social problems. Third, the
especially if done in dialogue with them – rather than
choice is not just between private and public property –
as a sermon.
there is also common property. Fourth, beyond good/bad/ blessing/evil, we have learnt that, focusing on property
Acknowledgements
and property rights, can help us to understand and explain the world system and its many problems/processes and,
I am grateful to my students and AUR reviewers for their
crucially, offer ideas of transcending the capitalist world.
helpful comments.
Finally, I pointed out that the first four points demonstrate that ‘we’ (I emphasise that I too took their course as a
Franklin Obeng-Odoom is with Development Studies and the
student) should not just blend in (merely thinking of
Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) at the
ourselves as fund managers, valuers, asset managers,
University of Helsinki, where he is Associate Professor of
corporate real estate advisers, property managers, and
Sustainability Science.
developers) – but also stand out and stand up as property
Contact: franklin.obeng-odoom@helsinki.fi
economists seeking to analyse critically and reconstruct the world in which we live. A key impediment to realising this aspiration is the composition, and orientation, of members of faculty. Many teachers are also property investors, so they tend to indoctrinate students along similar lines. In addition, landed interests, retained as accreditation bodies (e.g., professional associations that exist among others to offer professional services for the propertied classes), nudge the system into uncritical terrain. The self-preservation of the teachers and the activities of landed interests set up what Gunnar Myrdal (1944) called forces of ‘combined and cumulative causation’, for example, through the recruitment of teachers, the invitation of guest speakers to inspire students, and methodologies which perpetuate the system of teaching based on individualism. Such evident indoctrination, however, cannot be allowed to continue and neither should teachers stand aloof apparently in obedience to the market. As this case study shows, (a) students who are enrolled in economics subjects show awareness of social justice (b) the awareness of social justice can be increased (c) overall, students appreciate being taught to challenge the status quo. Critical and radical pedagogies, therefore, have a place in the study of (property) economics. There are opportunities for cooperative and citizenship economics and it is the responsibility of teachers to advance them, to expose the ideology of property, to empower
10
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Doctoral supervisory quality from the perspective of senior academic managers Margaret Kiley Australian National University
It has been suggested in the literature that the relationship with a doctoral supervisor is the predominant factor in student decisions to continue or withdraw from their candidatures. However, anecdotally it is not uncommon to hear heads of department, faculty deans and those in similar positions say that they know who the poorly-performing doctoral supervisors are, but often they are not sure what they, or others can do to remedy the situation. This study is based on interviews with 34 senior staff in order to understand how they identified supervisors who they generally considered less than ideal in the way they supervised doctoral candidates. This was followed by how they addressed, often, the multiple issues involved. The results provide helpful insights for staff in leadership positions as well as those whose role it is to support doctoral education, and particularly candidates and supervisors. Keywords: doctoral education, PhD supervision
Aim
supervisors would have revealed a more comprehensive picture, this modest beginning presents one aspect of this
The aim of this study was to identify the barriers and
complex picture.
supports for heads of department or similar when they are working with doctoral supervisors who might
Context
be deemed less than ideal, for example: unskilled or neglectful.The research questions addressed were: Within
There is substantial research to indicate that poor research
an Australian context how do Heads of Department
supervision is associated with doctoral delays and non-
define troublesome, unprofessional or poorly performing
completions (see for example Amundsen & McAlpine, 2009;
research supervisors and what, if anything they do about
Gardner, 2009; Platow, 2011).Therefore, identifying ways in
them? In the Australian situation the role of the head of
which senior staff can identify and then respond to issues
department is critical given that generally the dean of
of poor performance in supervisors was deemed to be one
graduate research has little or no authority over staff in
way of addressing the issue of unprofessional supervision.
departments. Note, this study was particularly from the
Of note, performance here was not referring to numbers of
perspective of senior academic managers. While there is
publications and grants, but rather the way staff performed
no doubt that a broader study involving candidates and
their supervisory work with candidates and colleagues. At
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Doctoral supervisory quality from the perspective of senior academic managers Margaret Kiley
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the coursework teaching level (bachelor’s and master’s)
of supervision such as: unselfishness and respect. In
it is often possible to identify poorly-performing lecturers
a more recent study Davis and Kiley (2018) found that
through course and teaching evaluations. However, it
the affective dimensions of supervisors were by far the
is generally recognised that it is much more difficult to
most common with regard to candidates’ comments on
identify and quantify supervisory performance.
the ideal supervisor. However, one of the difficulties with
Despite the difficulty in identifying supervisors of
such findings is the idea that sometimes ‘tough love’ is
concern there are reports such as the article by Grove
much appreciated after submission of the thesis but not
(2016) who writes about the ‘toxic’ supervisor and
necessarily during the process.
‘students from hell’ and Grant (2004) the master/
It is important here to gain some insight into how heads
slave relationship. Specifically related to supervisors,
of department know who are the poorly performing,
Chamberlain (2016 pp. 1-3) proposes a number of different
unprofessional supervisors for whom they are responsible.
types of unprofessional behaviour such as: cheap labour;
Many universities, particularly in Australia, require
the ‘ghost supervisor’; collateral damage; the combatant;
candidates and supervisors to complete an annual report,
creepy crawlers; and the captivate and con supervisor.
with some even requiring six-monthly reports. However,
In their study of supervisory quality Lofstrom and
Mewburn, Cuthbert, and Tokareva (2014) undertook
Pyhalto (2017) used a model of ethical principles based
interviews with 20 candidates and 15 supervisors to
on Kitchener (1985, 2000) with the qualities: ‘1. respect
find out the efficacy and value of such annual reports.
for autonomy, 2. avoiding harm (non-maleficence),
They found that there was a diversity of views about the
3. benefiting others (beneficence), 4. being just (justice)
purpose and audience with most assuming ‘effectively no
and 5. being faithful (fidelity)’ (Italics in the original p.
audience’ (p. 8). Furthermore, ‘no candidate expressed
233). The framework was applied to data they collected
the desire or willingness to comment on supervisor
from Finnish supervisors and candidates in the natural
performance in writing’ (p. 5).
and behavioural science. They found that: ‘A substantial
In light of the above, the New South Wales (Australia)
portion of the ethical dilemmas in the data pertained to
Ombudsman, in a recent report, asked the question: why
non-maleficence, typically exploitation’ (p. 242).
do universities find complaints regarding supervisors to
On the other hand, research by Golde (2000) and
others
suggests
that
a
supportive
be problematic? The report argues that the relationship
advising
between supervisor and candidate is a complex one and:
[supervising] relationship is central to successful and
If a dispute arises it almost always centres on events that occurred when two individuals were alone in a room having a conversation that does not exist outside their respective memories, which rarely align. A third party, investigating a complaint, has nothing they can definitively rely on to determine where the truth lies. (Ombudsman, 2016 p. 3)
timely completion and particularly as an agent for socialisation into the discipline, the institution, and a scholarly approach to research. There are a number of books written for academic staff who are setting out on the course of becoming an effective supervisor (for example Denholm & Evans, 2007; Anne Lee, 2012; Taylor, Kiley, & Humphrey, 2018; Walker & Thomsom,
In light of the importance of good supervision, and the
2010; Wisker, 2012). Unsurprisingly they have a common
difficulty in evaluating supervision in ways that universities
thread related to discussing and managing expectations,
might evaluate undergraduate teaching this small-scale
recognising individual differences, creating a positive
study set out to ask Heads of Department or equivalent:
relationship, and managing the research process.
• What they thought made a ‘good/poor’; ‘professional/
In addition to books, there are numerous publications related to being a ‘good’ supervisor with most research findings recognising the important aspects of the affective rather than simply the cognitive qualities of the supervisor. For example, from student interviews Janssen
unprofessional’; or ‘well performing/ poorly performing’ supervisor; • How they knew about these supervisors, especially the negative ones; and • What they did about them.
(2005) reports qualities such as: availability; interest
However, it is worth noting that one of the first
and enthusiasm; good communication; approachability
challenges associated with the study was deciding on the
and rapport. Adrian Lee, Dennis, and Campbell (2007)
term to use to describe supervisors who generally were
undertook analysis of applications to the journal Nature
not very good! Poorly performing? Unprofessional? Staff
for their Mentor of the Year award and the results
of concern? Difficult? Various terms are used here to give
indicate again, a strong focus on the affective aspects
a sense of the language used by interviewees.
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Twenty-two of the 34 interviewees were from humanities and social sciences (HASS) disciplines and 12
Following ethics approval, deans of graduate research in
from science, technology, engineering and mathematics
each of the seven universities involved in the study were
(STEM) areas.Twenty were female and 14 were male (See
approached and asked to introduce the researcher and her
Table 3).
project to relevant staff in their institution.These were staff that the dean thought might be prepared to participate in the study. Once the message was sent out by email, potential
Table 3: Number of interviewees by discipline and gender Female
interviewees were asked to contact the researcher directly in order to ensure that the institution’s dean of graduate research would not know who had been involved. In most cases, the interviews were held individually, although, at one university there were six staff who
HASS
Male 14
Total 8
22
STEM
6
6
12
Total
20
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opted for a group discussion. Each individual participant was interviewed for approximately 30 minutes with the
In order to analyse the data, each interview record was
interview recorded and then noted whereas the group
read a number of times with major issues coded against
discussion went closer to an hour. The 34 interviewees
the following four key questions. The codes were then
came from seven different universities across three states
categorised into the major themes outlined in Tables, 4, 5
of Australia as detailed in Table 1.
and 6. Questions asked were: • What defined a ‘professional’ doctoral supervisor?
Table 1: Interviewees by type of University Type of University
• What constituted a ‘difficult or unprofessional’ doctoral
N=
Australian Technology Network
9
Innovative Research University
6
Group of Eight
4
Regional
1
supervisor? • How
did
interviewees
know
who
were
the
unprofessional staff? • How were the issues addressed? What worked and what did not? Of note, several interviewees found it easier to describe
Non-aligned
14
the staff who they considered to be professional or
Total
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‘good’ supervisors before they began describing the difficult ones. As a result, the findings below begin on
As Table 2 outlines, of the 34 interviewees 13 were
a positive note and then move onto the more negative
heads of department, seven held the role of associate
aspects. As commented earlier, this modest study sought
dean higher degree by research (HDR), six were deans of
the views of academic managers rather than supervisors
faculty, four were graduate convenors, two were deans of
and candidates.This is not to suggest that the perspectives
graduate research, and one a pro-vice-chancellor. Most of
of candidates and supervisors are not highly valuable but
those in more senior positions had held the role of head
given there is very little research from the managers’
of department or equivalent in previous years.
perspective this study is seen as a start.
Table 2: Roles of interviewees
Findings
Role
N=
Head of Department
13
Associate Dean HDR
7
Faculty Dean
6
HDR Convenor
4
As with many studies (see for example Connell &
Dean of Graduate Studies
2
Manathunga, 2012; Halbert, 2015; Janssen, 2005; Adrian
Director
1
Lee et al., 2007) the affective aspects of supervision are
Pro-Vice-Chancellor
1
Total
14
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From the analysis, as Table 4 outlines, there were four main categories of ‘professional’ supervisor qualities: affective qualities; communication skills; assistance with writing and publication; and the management of candidature.
frequently at the top of any list, and certainly they were reported in this study. For example, the ‘Supervisor has to care about the student as a person’ (HASS3). And, a
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Affective
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Caring
those who were difficult to ‘manage’.
Interested in the candidate 2.
Communication
The unprofessional/difficult supervisor
With the candidate With other supervisors
3. 4.
Writing and publication
Support with scholarly writing
Management
Agreements
The following categories of unprofessional as outlined in Table 5 were evident in the interview data from academic
Publications
managers: organisational; personal; skills; and research related.
Meetings
Table 5: Main categories and characteristics of unprofessional supervisors
Knowledge of policies and procedures professional supervisor is: ‘someone who is genuinely
1.
Category
Characteristics/qualities
Organisational
Unavailability
interested in the student’ (HASS15).
Unresponsiveness
Linked with the affective aspects of supervision is
Lack of timely feedback
communication: ‘And then I want the primary supervisor
Withdrawal
to be someone who really knows how to communicate’
Changing ideas
(STEM2). Communication was described in several ways, including communicating with other members of the
2.
Personal
supervisory team as well as with the candidate.
Inappropriate relationships Too nice
Assisting with writing and publishing was another quality that was reported in relation to the professional supervisor. For example, the good supervisor: ‘does know how to support students with all the problems they
Disrespectful 3.
Skills
Lacking supervisory skills
4.
Research related
Manipulation Inappropriate authorship on publications
face with writing’ (STEM2). And ‘I also think that the professional supervisor encourages students to publish
Unethical behaviour
along the way’ (HASS2). Finally, interviewees talked about the management qualities of supervision such as: setting up agreements;
Organisational
meetings; and knowledge of policies and procedures.
In the category of organisational there were five main
A member of the discussion group (DG) reported that:
characteristics or qualities noted when describing difficult
‘I guess the professional supervisor handles ‘hygiene’
supervisors (Table 4). The first, and most common, was
[organisational] aspects [however] they are necessary
unavailability: ‘Things like students coming in and saying
although not sufficient [to be a good supervisor]’ (DG).
that my supervisor only meets with me for three minutes
A second aspect related to meetings, and something
a week. I am scheduled from 11.27-11.30’ (STEM8).
that came up frequently was: ‘basic things like being able
Linked with unavailability was the second characteristic
to schedule regular meetings and attend these meetings’
of unresponsiveness to candidate needs and required
(DG). And, as HASS2 reported:
administrative tasks, for example: ‘Supervisors are just
I define professional as a system where the supervisor sets up a formal agreement and schedules of meetings and those meetings are adhered to and there is some input from the student on what form those meetings might take but at each meeting there should be a report made by the student on what progress has been made and what they want to discuss and that should be presented to the supervisor.
not responsive enough and they don’t respond quickly
The
of
other thing that I guess is very unprofessional and which I
candidature related to being: ‘very aware of the policies,
think is a major issue…is people who don’t read students’
procedures etc’ (STEM2).
work.’ Or, even when they eventually read the work: ‘a
third
characteristic
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enough to student enquiries and don’t communicate and meet often enough with the student’ (HASS8). And: ‘My own supervisor was a dud in the sense that he was a benign dud as he was absent’ (STEM4). Such supervisors could be described as negligent. The third characteristic was lack of timely feedback. As HASS3 commented: ‘The
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long turn-around time, or no turn around with feedback
for these supervisors to be quite senior, who brought in
on written material’ is a real problem (STEM5). There
substantial research funding, and were good researchers
could be several reasons for this, including institutional
in their own discipline with the term ‘arrogant’ being
pressure to take on excessive supervisory, administrative
used to describe some of them. As will be discussed later
and teaching workloads.
in this paper, it was often this group of supervisors which
Somewhat different from the first three characteristics
was the most difficult for senior staff to manage.
is the fourth, withdrawal, which involved supervisors
Perhaps the personal characteristic or quality of a
choosing not to continue with candidates who are having
difficult supervisor that was most unexpected is what
difficulties:
was described as the too nice supervisor and for some
The other thing I find extremely unprofessional is when perhaps the supervision is not going the way it maybe should have, some supervisors have got the gall to suddenly say that is not in my area and want to withdraw from the supervision process…it’s very difficult to discipline the academic in that situation, there’s a whole lot of academic reasons why. (HASS2)
senior managers they posed considerable difficulty. Basically, these were the supervisors who found it almost impossible to,‘call it’ as some managers described, perhaps being considered weak or lacking in academic courage. In other words, even though the candidate might be struggling to grasp essential concepts, and be behind on most milestones, the ‘too nice’ supervisor kept supporting
The fifth organisational characteristic was described
and encouraging rather than, as senior managers suggest,
by HASS16 as changing ideas.‘He would give advice…the
recommend that the candidate withdraw or change their
student would go away and work on it and then when
program.
he went back to the supervisor, he had other ideas…this happened with three students.’
For example:‘[I] have a swag of committed supervisors and the problem with the ones who are problematic is
In summary, many of the interviewees reported a
that they are too over-indulgent to the detriment of the
number of organisational issues related to the supervisors
student’ (HASS1). Or: ‘I think that is one issue where the
they described as unprofessional including: not being
student doesn’t realise there is a major issue and the
available; lack of helpful and timely feedback and
supervisor has been too positive’ (HASS6). With a third
commentary; and lacking commitment to the candidate
describing:
when ‘the going got tough’.
Personal Under the category of personal, interviewees reported: personal relationships; being malicious; and being ‘too nice’. Comments regarding personal relationships related
At annual review, the supervisor says yes everything is going ok and the panel reiterating that, while the student is clearly struggling [these supervisors seem to think] ‘I can’t tick unsatisfactory as the student will be upset so I will tick satisfactory.’ (STEM8)
to both co-supervisors and candidates. For example,
Skills
because the supervisors were not communicating
The poorly skilled supervisor was not considered
before meetings: ‘[the candidate] gets opposing views
disrespectful or arrogant, but just someone who was
about something and is torn as to who they upset and
not good at supervising, or, who could be described
who they please’ (HASS9). More personal relationships
as ‘unskilled’. For example, STEM1 suggests: ‘they are
were described as: ‘Does not respect the ‘at arms-length’
clueless through no fault of their own, often because
supervisor/student divide’ (STEM3).
they had poor supervision themselves and/or little or
The second quality under personal was the disrespectful.
no support regarding supervision from their institution.’
‘There are the malicious ones, not a huge number of them,
Or, as STEM4 commented: ‘then there is a person who
but they do exist’ (STEM4). Trying to explain this STEM3
doesn’t even know, [about supervision] and doesn’t take
suggests that:
the developmental responsibility seriously at all’. Many,
Sometimes these supervisors are very bright but have psychological problems … Dealing with that situation is not straightforward…I don’t think they realise that the student is the one they are meant to be working with and it is not all about their own research. Another way of describing such supervisors is ‘toxic’ (Grove, 2016; Kearns, 2018) and it was not uncommon
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but not all, Australian universities provide supervisor development programs. We have a supervisor register and there are rules about that…you have to be research active and have published in the last few years and we have to attend an update every couple of years, otherwise you won’t get your registration approved. (HASS8)
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However, with some development programs the focus
why they thought that some supervisors performed their
is substantially on policy and compliance rather than
role so poorly. The most common response from the data
supervisory skills and knowledge which might explain the
was related to the system. For example:
lack of skills for some supervisors.While it is important to know the rules and procedures, the development of skills and strategies for supervisors is critical, particularly for those who did not themselves have quality supervision on which they can base their practice.
There would be a number of people I could name without the slightest difficulty who basically put their name down to do supervision as it counts for workload and it gets them out of what I would call ‘normal’ teaching. So that’s a big problem. (HASS3) This practice is likely to be prevalent in universities
Research related
where workload policies enable staff to ‘buy themselves
The fourth category arising from the data was research
out’ of lecturing by taking on additional research
related and included: manipulating studies and students;
candidates. And in a similar vein where the academics’
inappropriate authorship on publications; and unethical
research role is privileged over their teaching and service
behaviour.
roles.
As HASS9 suggested an unprofessional supervisor is one who: ‘manipulates the study into something they want rather than allowing the student to take the lead’. Furthermore, order of
While it is important to know the rules and procedures, the development of skills and strategies for supervisors is critical, particularly for those who did not themselves have quality supervision on which they can base their practice.
authorship on publications was
seen
by
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as
unprofessional: ‘I find it very unprofessional when students’ work is presented with the supervisor’s name as the first author. I find that extremely unprofessional…’ (HASS2). However, as many would argue, there are different
In the worst case you will have someone with a stellar research career and one of the reasons they are stellar is that they have managed to do nothing else and they want to keep doing that and they resent that they have to teach and they resent that they have to exhibit leadership outside their own lab, they resent the fact that they have to go to Open Days, they resent the fact that they have to deal with student enrolments because that is not what they want to do, they want to be a researcher. (STEM1)
protocols regarding author order for different disciplines
The same interviewee suggested that part of the
although STEM3 comments that one of the things he
explanation for this behaviour is that: ‘I think academics
does is observe: ‘how the supervisor lists the authors in
typically come into a university doing one thing [research
publications and in seminars’ as a way of knowing who
following their PhD] but they are employed to do
the unprofessional supervisors are in the School.
something else and this transition is not clearly explained
Unethical behaviour was not only related to unethical research but: ‘a recent problem has been the ethics of completion where a supervisor moves to another university and wants to take his students who are quite close to completing’ (HASS16). There are a number of issues involved in this practice including the completion funding from the Government which is likely to go to
to them’ (STEM1). And as HASS10 says: The transition from someone whose whole life is devoted to research which is very luxurious and selfish and then all of a sudden, they have commitments outside their research and so the research contribution is less than 50% of what they do. I don’t think we do a good job of explaining this. The good ones get it but others don’t.
the completing university, not necessarily the one where much of the early work was undertaken. Furthermore,
The second reason for unprofessional behaviour that
particularly in some disciplines, there are likely to be
was evident in the data related to the lack of action and
serious ramifications related to the transfer and ownership
taking ‘the tough decision’ on poor performance by senior
of Intellectual Property.
staff.
Why might supervisors be like this? While asking the question: Why might supervisors be like this? was not part of the formal protocol, many
If we were really serious about it and the university were prepared to wear the flak, very senior people like a dean could actually put his or her foot down and say something like ‘we get too many bad reports of your supervision and so you are not getting any more students’. (HASS3)
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When suggesting above that the dean should ‘put his or her foot down’ within the Australian system this would have to be a dean of a faculty or college, given that generally deans of graduate research have no authority over staff in departments. Issues of lack of action, and some solutions from the study, are reported below. However, to summarise there were generally four types of supervisors who caused concern for heads of department
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On reflection, there is one issue I would still struggle with – there is one senior supervisor that I would say is the person I used to get the most consistent complaints about – never formal I hasten to add – year in year out. However, if you go back and ask the successful graduates, they speak very highly of this person and say he was critical to their success. The sources of information link well with the following possible strategies.
and those in similar positions. They were those who can be described as:
Strategies for improvement
• Toxic i.e. disrespectful, unpleasant • Unskilled i.e. poorly skilled in supervision
Keeping in mind that this study was from the perspective
• Neglectful i.e. negligent and uncaring, and
of academic managers, several interviewees reported that
• Too nice i.e. unable to address key issues of performance
there were some staff, generally very few, who they felt
during candidature.
there was little or nothing they could do to change or
However, these comments do not take into account the
even stop supervising given they were bringing in large
fact that it might well be that the Head of Department is
amounts of research funding to the Department. On the
one of those described above. This adds extra complexity
other hand, there were several positive strategies reported
to an already complex situation.
that relate to other poorly performing supervisors and which are noted below (See Table 6).
How did senior staff know who were the underperforming/unprofessional supervisors?
Table 6: Effective strategies for addressing issues 1.
Transparency
Boards of Examiners and formal reviews
Given the generally reported private nature of the
Committee Chairs
research supervisor relationship (see for example Park,
Administrative processes
2008) it would not be surprising if senior managers
2.
Positive culture
generally reported that they were unaware of who were the underperforming and perhaps even the highly performing supervisors in their department or faculty. However, many of those interviewed reported that they were made aware of poorly performing staff through a
Through transparency Administrative structures
3.
Support
For Heads of Department For Convenors/Associate Deans For Supervisors
number of channels. Heads of department reported that they generally
From the data key findings relate to: making the
knew of such staff by reports coming from associate
supervisory relationship or supervisory practices more
deans, convenors and administrators. Another source
transparent; development of a positive culture; and
of information was milestone and progress reports
provision of support structures.
particularly where there was an associate dean or administrator who worked carefully through the reports
‘Opening up’ the supervisory relationship
and passed on comments: ‘We now have a research
The supervisory relationship has been described as the
administrator and they are running regular reports for me
‘Secret garden’ of supervision (Park, 2008) where: ‘…
so I can see what’s happening with progress’ (HASS16). A
student and supervisor engaged together as consenting
third source of information was from candidates: ‘coming
adults, behind closed doors, away from the public gaze,
by and talking with me about issues’ (STEM11).
and with little accountability to others’ (p. 2). However,
Most interviewees went to some length to explain
most senior managers reported that where processes
that they followed up in some detail with the individuals
were in place to open up the relationship or make it
(candidates and supervisors) when a complaint was
‘less private’ there were fewer reported incidents of
made as things were not always as they seemed. This
underperforming or unprofessional supervisors. They
was particularly important in light of the comment by
suggested that one of the key reasons for this was the
STEM5:
peer pressure exerted through a culture of supervisory
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performance. One of the ‘opening up’ processes reported
awards and grants it is very difficult to say to them, we are
related to Annual Reports:
not giving you any more students’. Furthermore, there is
The [progress] reports, other than confidential ones which go to the Head of School, go to a Board in the School and we sit down and read them one by one… and there is a subtle peer pressure. (HASS11) Another example of this process reported: That a [special] meeting is more like a board of examiners for the HDR students and so we go through each report on how they are progressing, and we review each student just to make sure they are all on track… all the supervisors in the enrolling area attend that meeting. (HASS8)
the requirement that heads of school/line managers have a responsibility to discuss issues of performance with staff and offer support/development prior to such action being taken. In a different way a strategy that was reported as being helpful was the increase in candidates presenting their work in public activities. For example:
‘“Oh no, you actually read everything” – so he knew there
Recently a student was presenting and they weren’t going well, and they couldn’t answer a simple question and the supervisor didn’t say anything so it [the issue] was taken to the Head of School [me] and we decided that the person [the supervisor] had to go off the Register… there had been previous problems but this was a public way of addressing the issue and so I could do something about it. (DG)
was going to be a change’ (STEM8). Another system that
Having one or two senior staff in the department
was reported by a few institutions as working well was
annually reviewing each supervisory panel (supervisors
having a chair person, independent of the supervisory
and candidates) was another reported strategy. On the
team, who meets with the candidate: ‘we do have the
whole, when a department had put into place strategies
chairperson approach, chair of the committee who is not
to make the supervisory relationship and practices more
a supervisor.This is a third person who nominates to your
transparent the head/dean reported positive outcomes.
One associate dean reported that following such a meeting a staff member came up to her and commented:
committee and then the student can go to them separate from the supervisors’ (HASS10).
While these strategies were reported as being very helpful they generally relied on having energetic, creative
The idea of supervision being ‘private’ had a slightly
and well-supported departmental convenors or associate
different connotation for STEM6. ‘I don’t think it should
deans which, from the literature (Brew, Boud, & Malfroy,
be private. Some researchers in universities act as if they
2017) is not always the case.
are consultants and doing the university a bit of a favour… and so there is a tendency that research governance is
Development of a positive culture
something they actively resist’. Several interviewees
The development of a culture where positive and
stated that making the process of supervision more
professional supervision was supported was described by
transparent should be accompanied by senior staff being
HASS11: ‘It’s quite collegial here and…so while the annual
more prepared to take action with poorly performing
review meetings are a structure they fit within a culture
supervisors. ‘You have to be in an environment where
and a supportive environment’. STEM1 had an interesting
people are prepared to make the hard decisions when the
way of describing the positive culture: ‘It is important
crunch comes’ (STEM1).
that everyone is hunting in a pack, heading in the same
Another strategy related to structure allows a Convenor
direction, “this is acceptable”, “this is not acceptable” …
or Associate Dean to ensure that poorly performing
structures and transparency are essential.’ Mind you,
supervisors no longer received any new candidates. For
developing a transparent culture, according to one of the
example, STEM3 reported that they are able to: ‘restrict
DG participants is difficult to implement:‘It’s an interesting
[supervisor] access to students and scholarships’ by
one culture, trying to change culture. But I find here [in
managing the application process very strongly. However,
Australia] that it is quite difficult to be transparent’.
in some cases this is not as easy as it sounds. One thing that is really difficult is to stop them from taking on students, it seems to happen completely independently of the Head of School, so someone should not be able to take particular students, but the students just turn up. (STEM1)
Support structures Some interviewees talked about support structures that were available in their institutions for supervisors. However, many of them talked about the problem where those staff considered to be most in need of development
Additionally, as HASS3 commented:‘if you have someone
were likely to be the ones least likely to be involved.
who is a very senior professor and brings in all these
While many universities in Australia have some form of
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mandatory development for staff new to supervision
While there were issues related to handling the
certainly not all required experienced supervisors to
individual who was not performing her/his supervisory
engage in meaningful development.
role in a professional, positive manner, many interviewees
Another form of support was for convenors, associate
mentioned that their role in working with such staff was
deans and heads of department as many reported there
much easier when transparent processes were in place.
was little in the way of assistance for them in their
These processes centred around three main practices.
convening or leadership roles. For example: ‘I’ve never
The first related to making the supervisory process
seen anything [regarding training and support] for
less private with colleagues reading annual progress
convenors and how to manage internal processes and
and similar reports, senior staff meeting regularly with
people’ (HASS11). Another example came from HASS5 (a
supervisory teams of candidates and supervisors, and the
head of school) who reported:
use of committee chairs. The second strategy reported
One of the students came to see me and I said ‘go and see the Associate Dean and complain’ …So they went to the Associate Dean, but it was a very tricky situation and they were not equipped to deal with these leadership problems.
was the involvement of pro-active HDR administrators,
Whereas STEM9 reported that: ‘I did a workshop on
consistently had complaints made about them were not
handling difficult situations before I started this position,
able to take on new candidates without appropriate
it was helpful.’ Support such as this might have helped
conditions put in place.
convenors and associate deans who establish processes that emphasise a strong positive supervisory culture. The third strategy reported was the active management of student applications to ensure that supervisors who
HASS13 as a head of department ‘Heads are only here for
Certainly, this study has a number of limitations,
a short period. There is lots [of training] for supervisors,
particularly given the relatively small number of
but I think having difficult conversations is something we
participants, coming from one perspective, which has
shy away from.’
not made it possible to draw conclusions related to issues
However, some interviewees reported helpful support
based on gender, discipline or type of university. A more
such as: ‘I have fantastic support and administration and
ambitious study involving candidates and supervisors
that really helps’ (STEM12). HASS16 [an associate dean]
would certainly broaden our understanding of this very
also reported the value of a support system:
complex issue in doctoral education.
We have a graduate research school and they are fantastic, they are knowledgeable and confidential and so I always feel I can ring them up, more on processes rather than what to do. But if I do have tricky questions, I can happily sound out the issues. So that’s been really helpful for me.
Acknowledgements A draft of this paper was sent to all participants in the study and a substantial number responded with insightful and helpful comments for which I would like to thank them most sincerely.
Conclusion Margaret Kiley holds an adjunct position at the Australian This modest study reporting from the perspectives of
National University, Australia.
34 academic staff working with doctoral supervisors has
Contact: Margaret.kiley@anu.edu.au
highlighted a number of issues. The first is the different ways in which a supervisor can be unprofessional, that is, toxic, incompetent, neglectful or too nice. Some of the reasons put forward for this behaviour included: • Mis-match of expectations of the role of an academic. • Lack of support and development for supervisors and for senior staff having to work with them. • Being the sort of person who finds it difficult to ‘give bad news’. • Supervisors with personality disorders, or • Simply ‘a nasty piece of work’ as a few interviewees described it.
20
References Amundsen, C., & McAlpine, L. (2009). ‘Learning supervision’: Trial by fire. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 46(3), 331-342. Brew, A., Boud, D., & Malfroy, J. (2017). The role of research education coordinators in building research cultures in doctoral education. Higher Education Research and Development, 36(2), 255-268. doi:10.1080/0729436 0.2016.1177812 Chamberlain, S. (2016, 12 January 2016). Ten types of PhD Supervisor relationships: which is yours? The Conversation. Retrieved from http:// theconversation.com/ten-types-of-phd-supervisor-relationships-which-is-yours Connell, R., & Manathunga, C. (2012). On doctoral education: How to supervise a PhD, 1985 – 2011. Australian Universities’ Review, 54(1), 5-9.
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Neoliberalism and new public management in an Australian university The invisibility of our take-over Margaret Sims University of New England
The higher education sector in Australia is operating in an ideological context in which the ideas of managerialism and neoliberalism combine to create a discourse shaping the lives of both workers and students. The practices that emerge inside higher education organisations as a result combine to form an organisational neoliberal managerial culture that shapes practices, operating in a vicious cycle. In this vicious cycle, managers set the organisational culture through the roles they take on in this figured world, leading to particular ways of behaving and engaging in the practice of management. These experiences are received and internalised by their recipients who come to believe their reality reflects the only way things operate. In this paper I take an autoethnographic approach to reflect on my experiences of the practices emerging from this culture as I have experienced them within one higher education organisation in Australia. I argue that we are seeing the operationalisation of a discourse of managerial privilege that, in the long term, is not only detrimental to the functioning of higher educational organisations but puts at risk the wellbeing of the nation through its impact on both staff and students. Keywords: neoliberalism, managerialism, higher education, power, bullying
Introduction The higher education sector in Australia is operating in
profits … Inequality is recast as virtuous: a reward for usefulness and a generator of wealth, which trickles down to enrich everyone. Efforts to create a more equal society are both counterproductive and morally corrosive (Monbiot, 2017, p. 30).
an ideological context where the ideas of managerialism and neoliberalism combine to create a discourse shaping the lives of both workers and students.These interlocking systems ‘work together to uphold and maintain cultures of domination’ (hooks, 2013, p. 4).
Neoliberalism is positioned as both the new normal and invincible (Tronto, 2017). Managerialism is the enactment of neoliberalism in organisations (Graham, 2016) where the focus is placed
Neoliberalism takes the position that:
firmly on outcomes, performance assessment and
… human society should be run in every respect as if it were a business, its social relations reimaged as commercial transactions; people redesignated as human capital. The aim and purpose of society is to maximise
results (G. Fraser, 2017). Management is perceived to
22
be a specialist skill, a good thing (Shepherd, 2017) that cannot be performed by the professionals who are being managed, but rather must be performed by those who hold
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(Pennington & Prater, 2016 used the term 'figured world' to mean socio-culturally constructed worlds where roles are assigned to various actors who are required to play out those roles in order to be deemed 'successful') that, by nature of the roles assigned to various players, results in particular experiences of reality. Through exploring these experiences of reality, I aim to deepen my understanding of the various influences at play in the hope that more effective resistance can grow from this deeper understanding.
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2016, p. 81).This expertise can be applied across any type of organisation (Shepherd, 2017) and is characterised by theories of how to best constrain, control and enforce This combination of ideas at the level of society impact on the way in which higher education organisations operate. Higher education has become ‘predicated on a business model, people should be treated as
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Culture consists of: • Wider ideologies outside the organisation – managerialism + neoliberalism • structures, interactions, processes within the organisation
‘managerial expertise, theories and techniques’ (Doran,
compliance in workers (De Vita & Case, 2016).
I
Creates a new organisational normal (a figured world) that provides: • Scripts identifying how to behave and how to ‘be’ • i.e. discourses that influence how people perceive situations and how they act
consumers, and capital as the only subject…’ (Giroux, 2015, p. 118). The practices that emerge inside higher
Immersion in this environment reinforces this as the only possible culture – the way things are
education organisations as a result combine to form an organisational neoliberal managerial culture that shapes
These new norms include: • unequal valuation of work • reduced worker agency / lack of trust in workers • perpetual competition • culture of compliance / niceness • language take-over • the invisibility of privilege
practices, operating in a vicious cycle as outlined in Figure 1. In this vicious cycle, managers set the organisational culture through their ‘behaviour, attitude, treatment
Figure 1: The vicious cycle of neoliberal managerialism
of others’ (Jurkiewicz & Giacalone, 2017, p. 4), and this culture becomes internalised by its recipients who
the political arena. In taking this approach I contend that
come to believe their experiences reflect the only way
ideologies external to the organisation (managerialism
things operate. In this paper I will discuss the practices
and neoliberalism) combine to create a context, a figured
emerging from this culture as they are experienced within
world (Pennington & Prater, 2016 used the term ‘figured
higher education organisations in Australia, using my own
world’ to mean socio-culturally constructed worlds where
experiences of these practices to illustrate. I argue that
roles are assigned to various actors who are required to
we are seeing the operationalisation of a discourse of
play out those roles in order to be deemed ‘successful’)
managerial privilege that, in the long term, is not only
that, by the nature of the roles assigned to various players,
detrimental to the functioning of higher educational
results in particular experiences of reality. Through
organisations but puts at risk the wellbeing of the nation
exploring these experiences of reality, I aim to deepen
through its impact on both staff and students.
my understanding of the various influences at play in the hope that more effective resistance can grow from this
Methodology
deeper understanding.
Conceptual framing
Ethical considerations
This study is positioned in an interpretivist ontology;
Auto-ethnography is not subject to traditional ethic
I claim reality is as it is perceived by those operating
committee approvals (Stahlke Wall, 2016), however it is
with a particular frame, in this situation, the frame of one
important to me that I behave ethically. My identity, and
higher education institution in Australia.Thus, individuals
therefore the identity of the organisation for which I
construct their own reality through their interactions in
work are both publicly available, therefore in presenting
the world of this university, however, those who hold
my experiences it is essential that others involved are not
more power in the organisation contribute towards
identifiable. My organisation has undergone numerous
these constructions. Figure 1 demonstrates the way
restructures in recent years, and I have experienced at
in which I see the interaction of factors contributing
least five changes of supervisor in the past two years, five
towards individuals’ construction and experiences of
different heads of school in the past 12 months, and in
their reality.
recent years, three different deans. As an active union
In this paper I present one construction of reality
delegate, not all my interactions in the organisation are
through my own experiences. I have explored my
confined to my own faculty/school.Thus, where I mention
experiences using critical autoethnography (using an
senior staff, the person could potentially be located at any
understanding of critical autoethnography as presented
level of management, in any part of the university, and be
by Holman Jones, 2016) because this framing supports
located at any time over the past five years. This creates
the linking of personal experiences with both theory
a level of anonymity that, I believe, sufficiently protects
and practice, in particular practice as it is positioned in
individuals.
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Research rigour
(VCs) prompted by the revelation of the salary paid to
Research rigour in autoethnography is best established by
the VC of the University of Bath (Adams, 2017). British
reader reaction to the work. Loh (2013) suggests that the
VCs earn, on average, between six and 12 times more than
best criteria is the extent to which the work both rings
average university staff, and 35 times more than average
true to the reader and can be used as the foundation
workers in the local area (Hymas, 2018; Rudgard, 2018).
from which strategies to address the issues raised can be developed.
Analysis
In Australia, Lyons and Hill (2018) report that in many cases, VCs here take more money home each week than is earned by many casuals in a year, with the highest paid taking home 1.5 times more than the VC of the University
In reflecting on my experiences, I have firstly written
of Bath. There is a school of thought suggesting these
reflective narratives about my experiences. Narratives
salaries are justified because great leaders are supposed
are increasingly popular in qualitative research (Spector-
to single-handedly ensure their organisations’ success
Mersel, 2010; Wells, 2011). Used in autoethnography they
(Rhodes & Fleming, 2018). However, other evidence
are particularly useful as the story (auto) can be located
indicates these salaries do not appear to be based on
in culture (ethno) and method (graphy) (Benoot & Bilsen,
performance but rather on a comparison with others and
2016). Having been created, the story can then be situated
a ‘keeping up with the Jones’’ philosophy (Hymas, 2018).
into theory which provides a guide for further thinking
Fitza (2017) argues that organisational outcomes are more
about the experiences (Holman Jones, 2016). Having
often linked to luck or pure chance rather than leadership
created my narratives, I then used a process of constant
performance. McCulloch (2018, p. 2) supports this: ‘their
comparison (B. Glaser, 1965) which involved creating
inflated salaries reflect neither the contribution nor, in
themes and comparing data within and across themes in
many instances, the capability of this new bureaucratic
order to appropriately define each theme, then linking
management cadre.’
themes to theory (via the conceptual framework and associated literature).
Along with the inequitable manner in which senior management are rewarded for their work, is the proliferation of ‘bullshit’ management jobs (E. Glaser,
Results and discussion I am inferior
2014). In the university sector, characterised by growing austerity, we see a ‘weirdly profligate and pointless proliferation’ (p.86) of senior management positions.
Outside the higher education sector, inequality is on
In my context this is exemplified by a restructure,
the rise (Toczydlowska & Bruckauf, 2017): for example
re-introducing faculties which needed the new positions
in Australia in the decade 2004-14 the income of the
of deans, deputy deans and various associate deans. As
wealthiest grew 40 per cent but those on the lowest
a consequence, for those providing the core business of
incomes only experienced a 25 per cent increase (Grant,
the university, teaching and research work, the layers of
2018). By 2017, top Australian managers increased their
management through which work has to proceed for
take-home pay by nearly 12 per cent in a year, whereas
approval have more than quadrupled; not an outcome
pay increases for workers did not keep up with inflation
that I claim justifies the significant additional cost (over
(Rhodes & Fleming, 2018). In the United States the richest
$3 million per year). At the same time as we experience
one per cent hold more wealth than 90 per cent of the
this proliferation of management positions, we are
entire population combined (Giroux, 2015). Inequity is a
experiencing cuts in academic and professional staff; the
fundamental principle of neoliberalism and it is played out
ones delivering the core work of the university and to
in managerialism through the privileging of management
compensate, the remaining workers are required to do
where:‘As a class its primary aim is to reward its members
more work, to work harder. This means that my teaching
with obscene salaries and benefits by cannibalising
workload has increased, and the ‘discount’ I have received
the very services their companies should be providing’
in the past in my teaching workload to recognise my
(Patience, 2018, p. 2).
research productivity is decreasing. At the same time the
In the neoliberal managerial university, the privilege
expectations for my research output are not decreasing,
associated with management is reflected in the growing
so I am expected to increase my overall work productivity
disparity between pay awarded to management and other
in a context where the average academic in Australia
workers. In the UK, there has been significant debate
works 50.7 hours per week (National Tertiary Education
about the remuneration awarded to Vice Chancellors
Union, 2017).
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I cannot be trusted
University-20883). Young (2017, p. 14) suggests that
Along with these growing inequities is the associated
bullying is ‘hardwired into the organisational structure’
under-valuing of workers whose worth is judged by the
and, given that Australian universities are claimed to be
pay they receive. As N. Fraser (1995) suggests, workers
subject to the strictest form of managerialism in the
are subject to a form of symbolic injustice where they
western world (Smyth, 2017), experiences of symbolic
are ‘routinely maligned or disparaged in …everyday
injustice (as conceptualised by N. Fraser, 1995) abound.
life interactions’ (p. 71); a practice that is experienced
My lack of agency (and presumably professional ethics)
as oppression. Jameson (2017) identifies this as a form
is evident in the processes I am now required to follow
of de-professionalisation which is achieved through
to perform my regular duties as an academic. These days
‘questionable managerial behaviour involving controlling,
a professional staff member (appointed at a level not
bullying, performance monitoring, thinly justified by
recognised as senior) is the gatekeeper between me and
economic rationalism’ (p. 2).
the university’s Ethics Committee. I cannot be trusted to
Along with this comes the removal of staff from all
submit my application to the committee myself. In order
forms of governance (Giroux, 2015), something I have
to gain approval to take leave I have to submit a request
experienced personally in the attempt to remove me,
that goes through four layers of management. Each layer
as the academic staff representative, from the university
requires assurance that I am not abandoning my students
council (the governing body) because
of
conflict
of
a
perceived
interest
with
my role as president of the local union (for public reports
see
https://www.
nor any of my responsibilities
My lack of agency (and presumably professional ethics) is evident in the processes I am now required to follow to perform my regular duties as an academic.
theaustralian.com.au/higher-
(presumably I might do so if I was not required to identify who was covering me for every element of my work). Lack
of
agency
is
accompanied by a de-valuing
education/nteu-branch-chief-
of the work of university
margaret-sims-take-une-to-court-over-council/news-story/
staff. Identity Theory proposes that one’s professional
2224f18d3a15b00f581551fb309af0ca and https://www.
identity is developed partly through the ways in
theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/une-backs-down-
which one’s work is recognised and valued by others
on-sims-case/news-story/985241635150f013bb18663ff82
(Baumeister, 1986; Davis, 2014; Stryker & Burke, 2000).
ab2f7).
Work that is de-valued and accompanied by an increase
This
de-professionalisation
is
associated
with
in routine bureaucratic requirements leads to feelings of
increasingly onerous regimes of compliance control
powerlessness and de-professionalisation which can have
policed through policies, regulations, guidelines and
a significant impact on the well-being of workers: stress-
performance management metrics. G. Fraser (2017) argues
related illnesses, depression and high levels of anxiety
such strategies arise from Public Choice Theory which
commonly result (Qureshi, Rasli, & Zaman, 2014; Verkuil,
posits that workers cannot be trusted unless they are
Atasayi, & Molendijk, 2015). In my experience the core
subject to surveillance and quality control mechanisms.
work of teaching is increasingly being de-valued. I recently
In my own experience over the past decade I have moved
attended a meeting where a senior professional staff
from line-management/supervision where I was one of
member (without an education qualification) argued that
over 60 academics supervised by the one manager, to a
online teaching could only be recognised if it consisted
situation where I am now part of a group of fewer than 20.
of lectures or tutorials; that no other form of teaching
Such arrangements are organised on the assumption that
was appropriate. As a consequence, it was considered
appropriate supervision is only possible when managers
appropriate by senior management to no longer pay casual
have a small span of control, identified in recent times by
academics a teaching rate to teach in off-campus units:
Neilson and Wulf (2012) as around ten workers.
rather it was appropriate to pay a lower rate designed for
Associated with onerous supervision comes the
student consultations. I hear similar stories from other
perception of workers that they are being micro-
academics at other universities where the work of online
managed (Connell, 2016; G. Fraser, 2017; Smyth, 2017)
teaching is positioned as best performed by the creation
which often leads to perceptions of systemic bullying
of computer-based learning sites using a range of web
(Sims, in review; also see http://www.nteu.org.au/article/
resources to take the place of human teachers interacting
Achieve-The-Impossible%3A-True-Tales-From-A-Modern-
with students.
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I must always improve in comparison with others and myself
a solo occupation, and Smyth (2017, p. 114) agrees: the
In the neoliberal managerial university freedom has
must of necessity produce better outcomes’. In my own
become recast as an ‘an exercise in self-development’
work, the referees’ comments on the articles I submit
(Giroux, 2015, p. 11). Performance is measured against
for publication, in the main, help improve my work
organisational goals and these goals are ‘continually moved
immeasurably. Referees doing this work are not paid;
by management, so that faculty are never allowed to arrive
rather this is their contribution to the community of
at a definitive end to their work’ (Smyth, 2017, p. 9). The
scholarship. However, such work is rarely recognised by
discourse of continuous improvement positions staff as
management and the time taken to perform the work is
though they never perform their jobs correctly, always
time that is not available for work that is measured by
needing to improve something about their performance,
management-imposed performance indicators.
and thus creating an image of imperfection. Performance metrics encourage a culture of individuality,
‘aggregation of minds working in a cut and thrust way,
It is not nice to be noncompliant
cutting to the heart of the collegial relationships
Furedi (2017, p. 2) argues that Australian universities, in
traditionally associated with scholarship (Smyth, 2017).
particular, ‘appear to be moving backwards to the era
For example, when I am supervising postgraduate
of medieval institutions, where conformity to dominant
students, there is an annual workload allocation assigned
values was upheld as a principal virtue.’ Conformity to
to each student. There is an expectation that students
neoliberal managerial requirements is not only expected,
will be supervised by more than one person to ensure
it is enforced to the extent that those who do not comply
an appropriate range of expertise and support. All the
are positioned as trouble-makers. Such positioning, Giroux
supervisors perform the same work: we all spend time
(2015, pp. 9–10) argues, is a feature of neoliberalism
with the student discussing the research and providing
where all citizens are potential suspects who therefore
advice; we all read all of the student’s written work and
need to be managed by the increasing insertion of
provide feedback. However, the workload allocation is
‘armed police, security guards, drug-sniffing dogs, and
shared between the supervisors as if we were all doing
an array of surveillance apparatuses that chart their
a proportion of the work. The more supervisors on
every move’. This process of dis-crediting, dis-respecting
the panel the less each gets allocated in their official
and de-professionalising those who speak out makes it
workload, something not reflected in the actual work
possible to simultaneously ‘dismiss the substance of their
they each perform and not a position conducive to the
criticisms’ (Giroux, 2015, p. 16).
best support for students.
As a consequence of this ‘dissent has become a
Competition is created not just between me and my
dangerous activity’ (Giroux, 2015, p. 111). Many academics
colleagues, it is created between my performance last
‘have experienced the oppressive nature of top-down
year and my yet to be measured performance this year.
management at their institutions, management which
My productivity is measured by the number (and amount)
brooks no criticism, opposition or dissent’ (McNally, 2018,
of external research grants I obtain, and the number of
p. 37). For many, the solution is to align one’s performance
publications I have. Recently, management circulated a
with
set of academic profiles that identified their expectations
behaviour is rewarded (Smyth, 2017). This alignment,
in relation to the outputs expected from each level of
and anxiousness not to be perceived as a trouble-maker,
academic staff. If I am going to meet these expectations
means that many self-regulate. A number of my colleagues
I have to focus my efforts on a narrow range of activities
have spoken to me in quiet conversations, where they
and cease doing other work such as refereeing journal
cannot be over-heard, apologising for not taking protected
articles, reading colleagues’ work and offering feedback
industrial action because they are afraid they will become
before they submit for publication, supporting colleagues
targets of management. I have colleagues who have taken
who are struggling with ever increasing workloads and
on additional teaching load and not claimed this in their
stress, or offering pastoral care to students whose stress
workload spreadsheet because they do not want to be
levels increase with the ever-contracting length of
targeted. (Very recently, a recent review of my school
trimesters.
argued that it would be a good idea to develop a voluntary
organisational
objectives
where
conforming
The competitive environment is not conducive to
separation package for those staff who did not wish to
the development of good ideas or originality of thought
fully engage with management plans to redevelop the
(Brett, 1997). Brett argues that creativity is usually not
culture of the school.)
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Self-regulation often means that workers no longer
create a dictionary reporting the new meaning of these
operate critically, rather they begin to censor their
words as they are now used. For example, flexibility in my
thinking, focus on the positive, and align their thinking
experience now means remove enforceable protections
to the management-speak. ‘By avoiding careful thinking,
and trust management. Consultation now means telling
people are able to get on with their job. Asking too
everyone what management wants and offering workers
many questions is likely to upset others – and to distract
the chance to provide electronic feedback which
yourself. Not thinking frees you up to fit in and get along’
management can proceed to totally ignore. In my recent
(Alvesson & Spicer, 2016, p. xi). This creates a condition
experience, transparency means appointing senior
Alvesson and Spicer call functional stupidity. There is a
managers to new jobs, the creation of which involved
cost to functionally stupid behaviour, as evidenced by
no consultation, without ever advertising these jobs or
the behaviour leading up to the global financial crisis.
offering anyone an opportunity to apply. Best practice and
In universities, such behaviours led to the perversion of
quality mean whatever a manager (usually unqualified in
education where ‘Formulaic teaching is encouraged by
the specific area of expertise) says is desirable, despite
intrusive online templates, forums for serious debate and
much research-based evidence provided to the contrary.
dissent shrink, or are closed; staff and students alike are overworked and preoccupied with ticking boxes, doing
The invisibility of privilege
tests, and filling in audit statements’ (Connell, 2016, p. 70). Accompanying this is the requirement to protect students so that ‘when the
... systemic de-professionalisation in neoliberal managerial universities has made management privilege invisible.
Neoliberal has of
managerialism
created
a
privilege
culture where
management claim, use (and
principle of free speech is
I believe, abuse) power in
portrayed as contradicting
systemic
discrimination
the principle of safety, it has to give way to the demands
against workers. Normalisation of this privilege makes
of the censor’ (Furedi, 2017, p. 10); infantilising students
it invisible. N. Fraser (1995) makes this point clearly
and extending the notion of adolescence well into
when he argues that one form of symbolic injustice is
ages traditionally identified as adult (Furedi, 2017). The
that of non-recognition: ‘being rendered invisible via
outcome of this is the production of graduates who
the authoritative, representational, communicative, and
have been educated to feed the employment needs of
interpersonal practices of one’s culture’ (p.71). I claim that
corporations; who have been socialised into ‘a regime of
systemic de-professionalisation in neoliberal managerial
security and commodification in which their identities,
universities has made management privilege invisible.
values and desires are inextricably tied to a culture of
In this environment university employees are positioned
commodified addictions, self-help, therapy and social
as human capital:‘tools to be used to attain goals, a system
indifference’ (Giroux, 2015, p. 8) creating what Chomsky
of dehumanisation that equates humans with a ‘piece of
(2016) calls one of the greatest threats to democracy the
metal – you can use it if you want, you throw it away if
world has ever faced.
you don’t’’ (Jurkiewicz & Grossman, 2012, p. 6). Because staff are tools they are expendable (Giroux, 2015) and
The take-over of language
thus universities are awash with ‘stories of disposability’ (Giroux, 2015, p. 105). Staff are expected to comply and
Language is a powerful contributor to culture, and
if they do not they are determined unworthy. In a recent
the neoliberal managerial culture is supported by a
example, management decided that online teaching was
proliferation of meaningless corporate speak; a form of
not actually teaching but rather involved answering
language Spicer (2018) calls bullshit. Bullshit he argues
student questions. Therefore, when casual academics
is ‘words that have no relationship to the truth’ but can
were employed to teach online it was appropriate to
‘take over organisations, crowd out their core purpose,
pay them a third of the teaching rate. When a number of
and muddy the waters … Bullshit makes people despair’
long-terms casuals (many of whom had taught the same
(Preface, p. 2). Luks (2017) identifies a range of bullshit
unit over a period of years) complained, one received the
words including:adaptability,flexibility,quality,benchmark,
following response: ‘In the circumstances, I wish to take
innovation, best practice, consultation, transparency and
this opportunity to thank you very much for your service
resilience. I have often thought it would be useful to
to the School, which I know you have provided over many
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years. It is unfortunate that you are not able to accept the
these behaviours when they occur. That means fighting
contract, which effectively means your end of working for
for all the different kinds of work that are needed in a
us.’
university setting to be equally valued. In my context,
Where privilege is made invisible, management actions
online teaching must be recognised as equally important
become defined ‘in universal and common-sense terms
as face-to-face teaching and not just a less expensive way
as if it is beyond critique and dissent’ (Giroux, 2015, p.
to deliver content to a large number of students. It also
114). Of course, if you chose not to accept a contract that
means fighting the way neoliberal managerialism has
pays two thirds less for the work than you were paid last
taken over our language: Luks (2017) suggests regular
year, it is perfectly reasonable to say thanks and goodbye.
playing of ‘bullshit bingo’ not only raises awareness but
It is your choice. If you have a problem with that then
challenges people to think about the meaning of the
you should think about your own character flaws, and
words they hear and speak/write.
how your lack of willingness to be flexible has led you
Neoliberal individualism must be challenged by
to the position of losing employment. Under neoliberal
collaborative work. In part this requires us to reflect on
managerialism ‘all social problems and their effects are
what is important: do I withdraw and work on a publication
coded as individual character flaws, a lack of individual
or do I connect with people, take time to share a chat over
responsibility, and are often a form of pathology’ (Giroux,
morning tea and be available to read a new colleague’s
2015, p. 195).
work, advise on how to respond to a hairy student
Managers who enforce these decisions ‘... progressively
question or empathise over an unfair student evaluation?
acquire the ability to become detached from the
Jameson (2017) writes about the importance of this kind
consequences
&
of informal support: he claims corridor talk in particular
Grossman, 2012, p. 7). The invisibility of their privilege
can be particularly effective in helping people manage
makes their behaviour appear rational and sensible and
the stress associated with increasing workloads and
the problems lie with maladjusted individuals who need
compliance demands and decreasing professional agency.
to learn to function more appropriately (G. Fraser, 2017).
This leads to the consideration of the role of informal
At the broader societal level, Deleuze (1992) sees this as
leaders in developing resistance. Informal leaders are
evidence we have moved into an era characterised by
often ‘subjected to negative criticism, control and scrutiny
control.
by managers’ (Jameson, 2017, p. 4) but it is their support
of
their
behaviour’ (Jurkiewicz
of ‘mutually wounded’ (p.5) colleagues that enables staff
I am a skilled, intelligent, trustworthy academic
to continue to work and achieve organisational targets. Grove (2018) argues for a new form of management, one through which people work together in a more
Giroux (2015, p. 32) argues ‘the time for widespread
equal relationship and cites the way partners in a law
resistance and radical demographic change has never
firm organise themselves using a consensual model.
been so urgent’ and I propose the same sentiment for
Smyth (2017) and Stromquist (2017) point out that whilst
the university sector. Education is a powerful tool used in
universities were traditionally managed by academics this
shaping our society and thus is a key element in crafting a
has shifted with the rise of neoliberal managerialism and
new democracy not tainted by the workings of our post-
the creation of a management class, most of whom have
truth world and our neoliberal managerial universities.
never been academics. This divide between workers and
Giroux (2015, p. 189) further argues ‘resistance demands a
management (Stromquist, 2017) contributes to a sense of
combination of hope, vision, courage, and a willingness to
mistrust where ‘employees presume that all behaviour
make power accountable’ and that we need to ‘challenge
has a hidden purpose and they’ll spend time seeking it out
the normalising discourses and representations of
rather than focusing on work’ (Jurkiewicz & Giacalone,
common sense and the power inequalities they legitimise.’
2017, p. 6). Universities need new management that works
Failure to take action, to identify the issues, ipso facto
with employees, enforcing real transparency, and focusing
supports the very culture and behaviours I claim need to
on communication and real consultation.
change (Jurkiewicz & Giacalone, 2017).
Given the role of the leader is crucial in shaping
The key is how to harness our own agency as skilled,
organisational culture (De Vita & Case, 2016), and it
intelligent and trustworthy workers to do this. One
is organisational culture I believe, that sets up the
necessary element is not only the recognition and
vicious cycle of neoliberal managerialism which is so
identification of oppression but the active challenging of
disadvantageous to an organisation De Vita and Case
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(2016) claim quite bluntly that this does not work] it
disadvantaged. Her involvement in the NTEU began when
is essential to develop new models of leadership in
the Union was first established but in more recent years she
universities. New management can focus on a model
has become more actively involved as member of the Branch
of ethical leadership. Dibben, Wood, Macklin, and Riggo
Committee, Branch President for a time and a National
(2017) position this as a holistic form of leadership
Councillor.
where ‘leaders and organisations need to broaden their conceptualisation of outcomes – moving beyond just a focus on profit and shareholder value, and considering the impact on employees, the environment, customers, and the community’ (p.188). Ethical leadership is complex, and leaders need to be flexible (in the real meaning of the word, not the managerial meaning) and have good interpersonal skills to be able to include all organisational members in the leadership process. Ethical leadership takes the position that leaders ‘should not focus, in a static, modern way, on the needs of the organisation as primary but rather on the needs of the individual employee … the emphasis is now not on destroying the experience of individuals but enhancing it’ so that ‘… as far as possible, the individual’s needs are met without fundamentally compromising the organisation as a whole’ (p186). Chomsky (2013, p. 5) claims that in our modern form of democracy ‘the public must be kept in the dark about what is happening to them.The ‘herd’ must remain ‘bewildered.’’ For those with privilege to maintain this power, alternate views must remain hidden, suppressed, and the official mandate must continue to be spread to ‘regiment the
References Adams, R. (2017). Bath University vice-chancellor quits after outcry over £468 pay. The Guardian, November 29, 3 pages downloaded. Alvesson, M., & Spicer, A. (2016). The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work. Pearson. Baumeister, R. (1986). Identity, Cultural Change, and the Struggle for Self. New York: Oxford University Press. Benoot, C., & Bilsen, J. (2016). An Auto-Ethnographic Study of the Disembodied Experience of a Novice Researcher Doing Qualitative Cancer Research. Qualitative Health Research, 26(4), 482-489. doi:10.1177/1049732315616625 Brett, J. (1997). Competition and collegiality. Australian Universities’ Review, 40(2), 19 – 22. Chomsky, N. (2013). The US behaves nothing like a democracy. Transcript of a speech delivered in Bonn, Germany at DW Global Media Forum. Salon, Saturday 17 August, 35 pages downloaded. Retrieved from http://www.salon. com/2013/08/17/chomsky_the_u_s_behaves_nothing_like_a_democracy/ Chomsky, N. (2016). Who rules the world? New York: Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Books). Connell, R. (2016). What are good universities? Australian Universities’ Review, 58(2), 67 – 73. Davis, J. L. (2014). Triangulating the Self: Identity Processes in a Connected Era. Symbolic Interaction, 37(4), 500-523. doi:10.1002/symb.123
In the higher education sector Rea (2018, p. 31) argues so
De Vita, G., & Case, P. (2016). ’The smell of the place’: Managerialist culture in contemporary UK business schools. Culture and Organization, 22(4), 348 – 364. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2014.971122
‘much of what is done in our universities is now hidden
Deleuze, G. (1992). Postscript on the societies of control. October, 59, 3 – 7.
from scrutiny, even from within the university community.’
Dibben, M., Wood, M., Macklin, R., & Riggo, R. (2017). Rethinking ethical leadership using process metaphysics. In C. Jurkiewicz & R. Giacalone (Eds.), Radical thoughts on ethical leadership (pp. 169 – 198). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
minds of men, much as an army regiments its soldiers’ (p6).
I have argued that neoliberal managerialism performs this function in the higher education sector, and through its manipulation of education, contributes to the shaping of neoliberal citizens. If we simply accept this as the way the world is we are acquiescing to its focus, the way it shapes us and shapes our children. We are accepting a world where inequality is valued, and where critical thought and debate are silenced. I argue, along with Connell (2016, p. 73):‘Quality doesn’t come from privilege or from an elite; quality concerns a whole workforce and the working of a whole institution. Working conditions and workplace relations matter for the intellectual project. We need to think about sustainability in a much longer frame than the policymakers and managers generally do.’ We need to do
Doran, C. (2016). Managerialism: an ideology and its evolution. International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, 5(1), 81 – 97. Fitza, M. A. (2017). How much do CEOs really matter? Reaffirming that the CEO effect is mostly due to chance. Strategic Management Journal, 38(3), 802-811. doi:doi:10.1002/smj.2597 Fraser, G. (2017). Neoliberalism, new managerialism and the new professionalism in community development. (PhD), University of Edinburgh. Retrieved from https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/25813/ Fraser2017.pdf?sequence=1 Fraser, N. (1995). From redistribution to recognition? Dilemmas of justice in a ‘post-socialist’ age. New Left Review, 1(212), 69 – 93. Furedi, F. (2017). What’s happened to the university? A sociological exploration of its infantilisation. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
this work together and we need to do it now.
Giroux, H. (2015). Dangerous thinking in the age of the new authoritarianism. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
Margaret Sims is Professor of Early Childhood at the
Glaser, B. (1965). The constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis. Social Problems, 12(4), 436 – 445.
University of New England. She began her career in community work, supporting children and families who were vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
Glaser, E. (2014). Beyond bullshit jobs. Soundings, 57, 82 – 94.
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Qureshi, M. I., Rasli, A. M., & Zaman, K. (2014). A New Trilogy to Understand the Relationship among Organizational Climate, Workplace Bullying and Employee Health. Arab Economic and Business Journal, 9(2), 133-146. doi:https://doi. org/10.1016/j.aebj.2014.05.009
Grant, S. (2018). A war is being waged between nationalists and globalists and Australia is not immune. ABC News, 5 February, 4 pages downloaded.
Rea, J. (2018). University integrity undermined by declining public investment. NTEU Advocate, 25(2), 30 – 31.
Grove, J. (2018). Heroic leadership ‘will fail’ in higher education. Times Higher Education, June 29, 2 pages downloaded.
Rhodes, C., & Fleming, P. (2018). CEO pay is more about white male entitlement than value for money. The Conversation, July 24, 3 pages downloaded.
Holman Jones, S. (2016). Living Bodies of Thought:The ‘Critical’ in Critical Autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 22(4), 228-237. doi:10.1177/1077800415622509
Rudgard, O. (2018). Vice Chancellors can go to meetings which set their own pay at almost all universities. The Telegraph, 15 February, 3 pages downloaded.
hooks, b. (2013). Writing beyond race: living theory and practice. New York: Routledge. Hymas, C. (2018). Vice chancellor salary study demolishes their claims that pay rises are based on performance. The Telegraph, 6 June, 4 pages downloaded. Jameson, J. (2017). ‘Critical corridor talk’: just goppip or hidden moral resistance to managerialism? the negative capability of distributed higher education leadership. Paper presented at the Society for Research into Higher Education. Higher education rising to the challenge, Celtic Manor, Newport, Wales. https://www.srhe.ac.uk/conference2017/abstracts/0141.pdf Jurkiewicz, C., & Giacalone, R. (2017). You can lead a man to oughta, but you can’t make him thin. In C. Jurkiewicz & R. Giacalone (Eds.), Radical thoughts on ethical leadership (pp. 1 – 20). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Jurkiewicz, C., & Grossman, D. (2012). Evil at work. In C. Jurkiewicz (Ed.), The foundations of organisational evil (pp. 3 – 15). Armonk, New Youk: M E Sharpe. Loh, J. (2013). Inquiry into Issues of Trustworthiness and Quality in Narrative Studies: A Perspective. The Qualitative Report, 18(33), 1 – 15. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol18/iss33/11 Luks, F. (2017). The ugly, the bad and the good. bullshit as discourse, accursed share and lubtricant. Journal of Extreme Anthropology, 1(1), 85 – 90. doi:10.5617/jea.5378 Lyons, K., & Hill, R. (2018). Million-dollar vice-chancellor salaries highlight what’s wrong with our universities. The Conversation, 5 February, 6 pages downloaded. McCulloch, G. (2018). NTEU at 25 – One era ends and another begins. NTEU Advocate, 25(2), 2. McNally, M. (2018). Academic Freedom. NTEU Advocate, 25(2), 36 – 37. Monbiot, G. (2017). Out of the wreckage. A new politics for an age of crisis. London: Verso. National Tertiary Education Union. (2017). 2015 NTEU State of the Uni survey. Report #2 Workloads. Retrieved from Melbourne, Vic: Neilson, G., & Wulf, J. (2012). How Many Direct Reports? Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 112 – 119. Patience, A. (2018). Towards a social democratic future for Australia. In J. Menadue (Ed.), Pearls and irritations daily (Vol. 2018). Retrieved from http:// johnmenadue.com/allan-patience-towards-a-social-democratic-future-foraustralia/
Shepherd, S. (2017). Managerialism: an ideal type. Studies in Higher Education, 1-11. doi:10.1080/03075079.2017.1281239 Sims, M. (in review). ‘Bullying is not tolerated here: we have policies and procedures which protect staff.’ An auto-ethnography of frustration. Article submitted to the International Journal of leadership in Education. 31 May 2018. Smyth, J. (2017). The toxic university. Zombie leadership, academic rock stars and neoliberal ideology. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Spector-Mersel, G. (2010). Narrative research: Time for a paradigm. Narrative Inquiry, 20(1), 204 – 224. Spicer, A. (2018). Business bullshit. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Stahlke Wall, S. (2016). Toward a Moderate Autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 15(1), 1609406916674966. doi:10.1177/1609406916674966 Stromquist, N. (2017). Twenty Years Later: International Efforts to Protect the Rights of Higher Education Teaching Personnel Remain Insufficient. An examination of achievements related to the existence of the UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel enacted in 1997. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/320839150_Twenty_Years_Later_International_Efforts_to_ Protect_the_Rights_of_Higher_Education_Teaching_Personnel_Remain_ Insufficient Stryker, S., & Burke, P. (2000). The past, present and future of an identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63, 284 – 297. Toczydlowska, E., & Bruckauf, Z. (2017). Growing Inequality and Unequal Opportunities in Rich Countries. Innocenti Research Brief, 2017-16, 5 pages downloaded. Tronto, J. (2017). There is an alternative: Homines curans and the limits of neoliberalism. International Journal of Care and Caring, 1(1), 27 – 43. doi:1 332/239788217X14866281687583 Verkuil, B., Atasayi, S., & Molendijk, M. L. (2015). Workplace Bullying and Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0135225. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135225 Wells, K. (2011). Narrative Inquiry. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Young, K. Z. (2017). Workplace Bullying in Higher Education: The Misunderstood Academicus. Practicing Anthropology, 39(2), 14-17. doi:10.17730/0888-4552.39.2.14
Pennington, J. L., & Prater, K. (2016). The veil of professionalism: An autoethnographic critique of white positional identities in the figured worlds of white research performance. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(5), 901-926. doi:10.1080/13613324.2014.885431
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Silencing behaviours in contested research & their implications for academic freedom Jacqui Hoepner Australian National University
What do attacks on ‘unpalatable’ research reveal about academic freedom? When academic work is curtailed, this cherished yet misunderstood concept is undermined. Silencing based on moral objection – rather than wrongdoing – suggests academic freedom is more constrained than we believe. On paper, academic freedom is rule-bound, yet ‘dangerous’ ideas produce overwhelmingly visceral reactions. It was these emotional responses I examined to explore the difference between what we believe academic freedom to be, and how it manifests in contentious fields. I conducted qualitative interviews with 18 researchers whose work elicited condemnation or constraint beyond ‘legitimate’ scholarly critique. I used mixed-methods data analysis to determine shared themes and characteristics. While academic institutions uphold their commitment to unfettered enquiry, ‘academic freedom’ is highly contingent and subject to the values of players in a range of disciplinary and institutional fields that together yield a generalised field of ‘academic research’. This research challenges assumptions about ‘freedom’ by identifying parameters that bound the notion. I argue the concept is indeed bounded, and that academics become aware of those bounds when they bump up – often unexpectedly – against them. Keywords: Academic freedom, silencing, moral disgust, peer review, qualitative research, reflexivity
Introduction
‘unacceptable’ enquiry in particular fields. I conclude these boundaries are only visible as ‘the rules’ once they
This paper is concerned with attacks on research
have been transgressed, when those actors threatened by
and what they reveal about the revered yet poorly
the transgression act to penalise rule breakers.
understood notion of ‘academic freedom’. I present data
This paper identifies 42 silencing behaviours present in
from interviews with academics from Australia, Canada,
attacks on research and interrogates what these behaviours
the US and UK whose work has been attacked on what
mean for our understanding of academic freedom. It is
appear to be moral grounds, rather than for demonstrable
important to distinguish between attacks based on moral
misconduct or flawed methods.
Although academic
objections and patent cases of wrongdoing, as the former
institutions promote and defend an ideal of academic
are not accounted for in the ‘legitimate’ limits to academic
freedom–that unfettered pursuit of knowledge is vital
freedom we see from an institutional perspective. That is,
to the function of universities–research silencing reveals
universities stress that with rights come responsibilities:
boundaries around what distinguishes ‘acceptable’ and
that research must take place according to scholarly
vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
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conventions; ethics clearance, peer review and so on.
guarantees academics’ rights to pursue lines of enquiry,
Research silencing reveals more insidious limits to
as long as it is conducted in an appropriate and scholarly
academic freedom, as these silencing behaviours make
way. It is then left up to both the written conditions and
the rules that curtail freedom visible only once they have
often unspoken norms within academic communities
been broken.
to determine guarantees and limitations. It is clear these
Academic freedom
policies reflect the values of the day–‘academic freedom’ is contingent and constantly shifting, as seen in recent
This paper challenges what we expect and believe about
debates around ‘ministerial veto’ of Australian research
academic freedom. It is often considered an unbounded
projects (Piccini & Moses, 2018). It is not a guaranteed,
ideal–only by allowing researchers unfettered freedom
universal ‘good’. It is inherently bounded and limited, in
to pursue lines of enquiry can learning and knowledge
both spoken and unspoken ways. This can be seen in the
flourish (Department of Education University of Oxford,
current University of Sydney academic freedom policy:
n.d.). According to Jackson (2005, 2006) a typical Australian university policy considers academic freedom ‘fundamental to the proper conduct of teaching, research and scholarship. Academic and research staff should be guided by a commitment to freedom of inquiry’ (Jackson, 2005, p. 110). Conversely, other scholars point to a dangerous erosion of academic freedom. Several argue that the modern university, particularly in the western liberal-democratic world, has created perverse incentives that orient researchers towards agendas set by politicians of the day, rather than lines of enquiry the researcher deems important (Edwards & Roy, 2016; Hayes, 2015; Henry, 2006; Kinnear, 2001).
The University of Sydney declares its commitment to free enquiry as necessary to the conduct of a democratic society and to the quest for intellectual, moral and material advance in the human condition. The University of Sydney affirms its institutional right and responsibility, and the rights and responsibilities of each of its individual scholars, to pursue knowledge for its own sake, wherever the pursuit might lead… The University of Sydney, consistent with the principles enunciated in its mission and policies, undertakes to promote and support: the free, and responsible pursuit of knowledge through research in accordance with the highest ethical, professional and legal standards... (University of Sydney, 2008) The University of Sydney’s policy espouses commitment
Academic freedom in its modern form can be traced back
to the highest ideals of freedom, and the importance
to the German university model of the early nineteenth
of knowledge for its own sake. I draw attention to the
century (Hofstadter & Metzger, 1995). It originated from
explicit mention of ‘the rights and responsibilities of each
teaching, rather than research, based on freedom to
of its individual scholars, to pursue knowledge for its own
teach and freedom to learn (Bryden & Mittenzwei, 2013).
sake, wherever the pursuit might lead.’ The University of
‘Professors should have the right to perform teaching and
Sydney appears to make a theoretical commitment to pure
research according to their interests, and students should
or basic research. Implicit in this is the right for Sydney
have the right to choose what courses to follow’ (Bryden
University academics to pursue research, regardless of the
& Mittenzwei, 2013, p. 314). According to Shils (1995, p.
findings. That scholarship for its own sake is worthy and
7), the modern incarnation of academic freedom ‘protects
will be protected by the University.
the moral and intellectual integrity of the teachers’. In
My own university, the Australian National University
other words, ‘If the public cannot be sure whether a
(ANU) has recently introduced a Statement on Academic
teacher is independent in presenting her work, then the
Freedom that serves to bolster its existing rather
teacher has lost her integrity and her work is of minor
ambiguously written policy (Hoepner, 2017, pp. 94-95).
value’ (Bryden & Mittenzwei, 2013, p. 314). Academic
This Statement supports a commendable, high-level
freedom is considered fundamental to good research as
commitment to intellectual freedom:
well as teaching, if universities are to produce meaningful findings and help inform public debate. Most universities profess a fundamental commitment to academic freedom but can written, institutional policies really provide and guarantee the freedoms we believe they do? These policies are as much about protecting freedom as they are about structuring the conditions for research. Immediately obvious in these policies is a tension between rights and responsibilities. That is, the university
32
Academic freedom is fundamental to the life of The Australian National University. Our founding values require us to advance and transmit knowledge by undertaking research, education and public engagement of the highest quality… The Australian National University affirms its institutional right and responsibility, and the rights and responsibilities of its members, to free enquiry. The University will defend the right of our staff and students to exercise their academic freedom, provided it is done with rigor and evidence. (Australian National University, 2018)
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responsibilities’ I draw particular attention to the mention of ‘rigor and evidence’. This makes a clear distinction between academic freedom underpinned by methodological and evidentiary scrupulousness and broader notions of freedom of speech–two concepts often erroneously conflated. It is also worth mentioning
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Documented cases of suppression overemphasise the major and dramatic events, such as dismissals and cutting off of funding, and underemphasise problems such as blocking of publication and subtle harassment by collegial disapproval. Documented cases also overemphasise instances in which channels for formal redress are available. (Martin, Baker, Manwell, Pugh, 1986, p. 5).
however, that despite this principled commitment, at
Dreger’s work around academic freedom, science and
the very same time I was discussing the development of
justice chronicles her experience navigating the tension
this Statement with ANU’s Academic Board and members
between activism and science in fields relating to sex and
of the Executive, my work drew a complaint from an
identity (2015). Dreger provides in-depth case studies of
external actor to the VC, leading to a lengthy embargo of
academics and scientists whose work provoked extreme
my doctoral thesis and an academic misconduct enquiry
backlash. Many of the cases involved research into sexual
(of which I was cleared of any wrongdoing). This is not
behaviour and identity, such as intersex, transgender
to criticise the ANU, but merely to suggest that perhaps
and biological bases for sexual coercion. She argues
the head does not always know what the tail is doing:
that attacks on researchers are due to science becoming
lengthy and complicated administrative procedures will
inextricably linked to personal feelings and sense of
continue to stifle ‘everyday’ academic freedom even
identity. Particularly in research on sexuality and sex
when those at the top believe it is fundamental to what
differences, science is relegated in favour of activism and
they do. Without carefully examining how ‘messy’ cases
advocacy. Rather than a few isolated cases, Dreger found
such as mine result in procedural silencing, even the most
patterns among researchers being punished for pursuing
principled institutions and policies may fall short of the
lines of enquiry deemed ‘unpalatable’.
ideal. Commendably, the ANU has taken steps to do so. Despite
noble
ideals, most
university
policies
acknowledge limits to academic freedom, through reference to ‘responsible conduct’, ‘ethical standards’ or ‘obligations’. Even on paper, academic freedom is limited.
I had accidentally stumbled onto something much more surreal- a whole fraternity of beleaguered and bandaged academics who had produced scholarship offensive to one identity group or another and who had consequently been the subject of various forms of shut-downs. (Dreger, 2015, p. 108).
There is a tension between what we think academic freedom means and the unspoken limits that constrain
In her pursuit of several case studies, Dreger begins
it. These limits are only revealed once they have been
to question notions of academic freedom and whether
transgressed, where we see a clear demarcation between
it is ‘right’ that some areas of research are considered
‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ lines of enquiry.
off-limits, and whether we should stop being afraid of
Research silencing How can we understand attacks on research? Previous scholars have explored attacks on academics and their implications for academic freedom, particularly Brian Martin (Martin et al.,1986; Martin, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2017), Alice Dreger (2015), Gordon Moran (1998) and Linda
dangerous ideas. Is there anything too dangerous to study? Should there be any limits? What if, in order to prove how important truth seeking is, we made a point out of studying the most dangerous ideas imaginable? What if we became unafraid of all questions? Unbridled in our support of the investigation of ‘dangerous’ ideas? (Dreger, 2015, p. 133)
Gottfredson (2010). These areas of the literature provide pertinent insights into attacks on research.
In the 1980s and 1990s, art historian Gordon Moran
Martin argues attacks on researchers can be understood
was compelled to investigate silencing in academic fields
as examples of ‘suppression of dissent’. He argues in most
after finding himself on the receiving end of ‘uncivil’
cases research is attacked it is because powerful interests
attacks from the ‘Guido Riccio affair’ (Moran, 1998).
shut down what they see as inconvenient research. Martin
Moran provides an apt justification for his (and my) use of
highlights a problem with trying to understand the nature
‘silencing’ as a preferred term to describe these responses
and extent of this problem: namely, overt examples of
to unpalatable or challenging work.
attacks on researchers may be unrepresentative of a broader problem. Clear-cut examples obscure more insidious forms, and the structures that enable and encourage them. vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
Silencing is a more encompassing term than censorship, suppression or peer-review rejection. Silencing takes place at various levels: A scholar might be
Silencing behaviours in contested research & their implications for academic freedom Jacqui Hoepner
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silenced, an idea might be silenced and the truth might be silenced by a big lie… Silence is not only imposed, in some cases, on scholars and ideas, but silence is also employed, by academic leaders and peer review authorities for instance, as a tactic… (Moran, 1998, p. 3)
Materials and methods
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gottfredson and
this research problem. When I first began my doctorate
a
fellow
colleague
encountered
five
Reflexivity statement It is important to acknowledge how and why I came to
overlapping,
at the Australian National University, I was investigating
yet technically separate ‘events’–including blocked
‘wind turbine syndrome’ and what factors influence
promotions and withdrawal of funding–that highlighted
these health concerns. In largely English-speaking,
the fraught and contested nature of academic freedom.
western countries, a phenomenon has affected several
She found that while her university paid lip service to its
small wind farm towns. Some individuals who live near
importance, their actions suggested otherwise. As a result,
turbines claim they make them sick. When I started, the
Gottfredson’s work provides six ‘lessons’ about academic
literature was small but suggested there was no credible
freedom.
evidence to link turbines with ill health (NHMRC, 2015).
Academic freedom, like free speech, (1) has maintenance costs, (2) is not self-enforcing, (3) is often invoked today to stifle unwelcome speech, (4) is often violated by academic institutions, (5) is not often defended by academics themselves, and (6) yet, requires no heroic efforts for collective enjoyment if scholars consistently contribute small acts of support to prevent incursions. (Gottfredson, 2010, p. 273)
And yet the fears and complaints persisted (Stop These
Most practically, Gottfredson provides a thought
indeed there was no physical link? The debate had been
experiment around what university guidelines really
polarised and divisive, with stark ‘sides’ well established.
mean. They appear so vague, contingent and context-
I hoped to occupy a more neutral and open space to
dependent they are almost meaningless.
explore what was happening. But before I could conduct
As a thought experiment, readers might ask themselves to whom they would turn if they thought their institution had violated their academic freedom. Who inside or outside your institution has any authority or responsibility to investigate or take action? Does your university have any written policies that specify what academic freedom is, what constitutes a violation, what constitutes credible evidence that the violation occurred, who rules on the evidence, and whether the institution is required to act on that ruling? Do all parties interpret the written procedures in the same way and, if not, whose interpretation holds? What are your options if the designated authorities simply refuse to entertain formal complaints or they dismiss compelling evidence as irrelevant? What if the authorities are the perpetrators against whom you seek protection? (Gottfredson, 2010, p. 274)
Things, 2013). I wanted to know if there were shared themes or experiences among those who claimed to suffer health problems, as some literature suggested (Chapman, St.George, Waller & Cakic, 2013; Hall, Ashworth, & Devine-Wright, 2013). What drove these concerns, if
a single interview, anti-wind groups (Stop These Things, 2015) and a major daily Australian newspaper (Lloyd, 2015) disrupted my data collection. While it had been difficult to recruit interview participants in such a polarised field as it was, the involvement of newspaper and anti-wind groups made it impossible. Both told their readers–the very people I was trying to recruit– that I was unqualified, untrustworthy and acting as a paid spokesperson for the wind industry. They said my agenda was to exploit and manipulate vulnerable people. Once I recovered, I realised this attack on my study presented an even more interesting line of enquiry than the one I’d originally intended to pursue. Why was my research considered ‘unacceptable’ and worthy of these silencing responses? This experience provoked analytical
These perspectives are valuable, but not comprehensive in
understanding
research
silencing
in
fascination with this phenomenon and was central to
Western,
the intellectual development of the project. My position
Anglophone higher education contexts. Both Martin and
as a ‘beleaguered academic’ was fundamental in how
Dreger’s accounts focus primarily on responses from
I approached the problem of research silencing and its
interest groups external to academia. While these and
implications for academic freedom.
other scholars have explored vested interests, ethical
It was necessary to employ a reflexive methodology,
perspectives and the mechanics of academic suppression,
common in participant-observer, ethnographic and
little analytical attention has been paid to the emotional,
anthropological studies (Engels-Schwarzpaul, A; Peters,
visceral landscape in which these conflicts occur, and the
2013; Guillermet, 2008; Nazaruk, 2011). ‘Reflexivity
wider implications for our right to pursue lines of enquiry,
is the process of reflection, which takes itself as the
no matter how controversial.
object; in the most basic sense, it refers to reflecting on
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oneself as the object of provocative, unrelenting thought
Analysis
and contemplation’ (Nazaruk, 2011, p. 73). Reflexivity
After completing the interviews, typing up transcripts and
requires a consistent, active awareness of, and reflection
ensuring the validity and acceptability of the data with
on my own position relative to the research problem. It
participants, I performed an iterative process of thematic
allows me to recognise why my initial research project
analysis, common in qualitative research (Fereday & Muir-
within the wind turbine syndrome space was always
Cochrane, 2006; Nowell, Norris, White, & Moules, 2017).
going to be difficult, if not impossible. It also allows
I carefully parsed the transcripts for emerging themes. I
me to acknowledge the various ways my position both
hand-coded themes and myself and supervisors reviewed
orients me and the enquiry I’m following, while also
these several times to ensure validity. Once preliminary
making it possible for me to gather a rich diversity of
themes were established, data was reviewed again to
data. Only by gaining participants’ trust, as ‘one of them’
group and analyse accordingly. From this analysis, it
was I able to elicit candid accounts of their experiences
was possible to identify shared themes and patterns,
with research silencing. While this began as an informal
particularly around the range of responses participants
impression, it became clear during interviews that our
encountered. The analysis also revealed the groups most
shared experiences allowed some participants to open
likely to instigate research silencing.
up in ways they would not have otherwise. (Further detail of my use of reflexive methodology can be found in: Hoepner, 2017 pp. 9-23).
Results Summary of Figure 1
Interviews
Figure 1 visually represents several aspects of my dataset.
My participants were researchers from Australia, the US, UK
The vertical axis represents discrete forms of silencing
and Canada whose work had been attacked, constrained
behaviour. They have been placed on a scale from more
or silenced in some demonstrable way. I identified many
covert or implicit behaviours (bottom), to overt or explicit
from adverse media coverage around their work as well as
behaviours (top) for ease of interpretation.The behaviours
tips from colleagues, while employing snowball sampling
range from self-policing or self-censorship, to termination
from these participants to identify researchers with
of employment. Pale grey represents silencing behaviour
similar experiences. Participants were from a range of
that came from within academia or the scientific
fields, though most overlapped with public health in some
community, while dark grey represents behaviours from
way, with participants’ findings challenging conventions
outside academia–whether members of the public,
around sugar, obesity, addiction, mammography and
media or industry. The horizontal axis represents the
circumcision, among others. Research which threatened
number of participants interviewed who encountered
identity (around race and sex in particular) was also prone
the behaviour. The 42 silencing behaviours in Figure 1
to attacks, which supports Dreger’s findings (Dreger,
have been broken into seven groupings: private silencing;
2015). It is worth noting that while some participants I
structural limitations; effects of polarisation; beyond peer-
interviewed were from physical science backgrounds
review; outside pressure; using old and new media; and
and could be described as ‘disgruntled academics’ who
allegations and discipline. This is to both simplify the
were blindsided and confused by the attacks on their
graph and provide a consolidation of the different types of
work, many were from social science disciplines and
behaviours my participants encountered. This means the
as such had examined research silencing within their
behaviours can be understood in several ways: grouping,
respective fields from a theoretical perspective too.These
level of overtness and whether the response came from
should be considered ‘participant-experts’ as their views
within or outside academia.
were nuanced, considered and based on theoretical and experiential knowledge.
Patterns of silencing behaviours
All 18 interviews were semi-structured, with questions
After analysing the data, it was possible to identify
following similar themes: how they became involved
42 distinct ‘silencing behaviours’ that participants
in the research, responses to their work and how they
experienced in response to their research. Most
feel about the same (Hoepner, 2017, pp. 29-30). While it
participants encountered multiple behaviours within
would be impossible to include the backgrounds of all
this range. As shown in Figure 1, these behaviours range
participants, full interviewee summaries can be found in
from subtle and hard to pin down, to overt or very public
Hoepner (2017, pp. 23-29).
attacks. The motivation for these silencing behaviours
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Silencing behaviours in contested research & their implications for academic freedom Jacqui Hoepner
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play here.
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Silencing behaviours from private (bottom) to most overt (top)
Termination Research misconduct inquiry Disciplinary action from employer Conflict of interest accusation Direct threats of violence Allegations of funding… Allegations of misrepresenting/… Accusations of ethical breach/…
Silencing behaviours from private (bottom) to most overt (top)
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Figure
1
is
something
Figure 1: Graph of silencing behaviours and their prevalence within and outside academia
of
translation–rendering conversational
data into quantifiable, tabular data are quantitative, or that
Using old and new media
Attacks from industry/ organisation Unwanted support/ endorsement… Contacting employer, demanding… Paying employer for contradictory…
Behaviour instigated from outside academia
Outside pressure
Behaviour instigated from within academia
Misinformation in journals Time-consuming inquiries/… Symposia attacking research Public statements decrying research Explicitly told to shut up or stop Keynote speech rebuttal Sustained minor harassment Misinformation on Wikipedia page
they are representative of all
academic
of
responses
experiences to
research
more broadly. However, it does provide a sense of how prevalent
the
behaviours
were within the dataset. Is it
Beyond peer review
an anomaly only experienced by one or two participants,
Polarisation
Difficulty collecting data due to… Pressure to declare 'a side' Rejecting/ disbelieving claims of…
or is it something we can see across disciplines, across different
Pressure to follow research orthodoxy Research communities close ranks Pressure to not 'add fuel to the fire' Pressure to give up/ shift to… Only able to do research in very… Ethics committee limitation/… Shut out from major journals Impossible-to-reconcile peer-review… Funding bodies limiting scope for… Pressure to only find positive/… Pressure to respond in peer-reviewed…
0
W
data. This is not to say my
Spreading misinformation in blogs/… Media involvement/ interrogation/s Harassment over social media
Private cautioning from colleagues Intimidating younger students Friendships tested over academic… Colleagues giving 'cold shoulder' Self-policing or self-censorship
a
qualitative,
Allegations and discipline
E
countries
and
systems, that may suggest a pattern in negative responses to research? It is important to stress that overt cases
Structural
of
research
often
appear
suppression anomalous.
This rendering of the data into clear thematic patterns
Private silencing
2
4
6
8
illustrates this is a problem 10
Scale represents number of participants affected by silencingby behaviour Scale represents number of participants affected silencing behaviour Figure 1: Graph of silencing behaviours and their prevalence within and outside academia Examples of silencing behaviours
that plays out in subtle and explicit
ways,
originating
from both inside and outside academia, and across different disciplines. The significance
of this problem is worthy of While it would be impossible to outline and provide examples of all 42 silencing behaviours within the investigation and analysis. word limit, a selection is given below. was often unclear at the outset, though from researching As such, it is necessary to each Self-censorship participant’s orexperiences interviews, formalise tabulate thematic and behavioural patterns self-policing inthrough this instance refers to participants who feltand pressure to avoid controversial topics they felt it wasliterature; too risky or potentially damaging to theirfor careers. surrounding mediaresearch coverage andaspeer-reviewed within the dataset this problem to be considered Participants who mentioned this had either previously been attacked suppressed and didway: not want it seemed well beyond the standard peer-review process in aormore productive that tothis is not just sensitive experience it again, had witnessed a colleague encounter backlash or had some well-founded reason to researchers expect. From my investigation into their academics feeling slighted. Visualising the data reveals respective cases, opponents in most cases were unable to provide proof of misconduct or wrongdoing. From the
there is something more systemic at play here.
beginning of this project, the responses followed similar 7 patterns. For instance, many mentioned accusations of
Examples of silencing behaviours
conflict of interest or denouncements in mass media.
examples of all 42 silencing behaviours within the word
Once I began interviewing participants and analysing
limit, a selection is given below.
While it would be impossible to outline and provide
the data, it became clear these kinds of responses were
Self-censorship or self-policing in this instance refers
common. These responses are not part of an established
to participants who felt pressure to avoid controversial
peer-review structure, as they do not appear to be aimed at
research topics as they felt it was too risky or potentially
improving research or furthering understanding through
damaging to their careers. Participants who mentioned
critique, but rather to silence or shut down.
this had either previously been attacked or suppressed
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and did not want to experience it again, had witnessed a
in public forums, rather than through journal peer-review.
colleague encounter backlash or had some well-founded
This overlaps with several other behaviours. This often
reason to avoid controversial research. For example, a
caught participants by surprise, as they expect to justify
participant from public health discussed the various
their work through established peer review channels
reasons academics may avoid particular research areas.
and not in the mainstream media. An epidemiology
I don’t doubt that concern about the reputational damage and personal attacks deter a lot of people from getting involved in the field, or at least in making public comment on these sorts of controversial issues. It probably also affects their preparedness to get involved in the research.
participant believed he was doing the right thing by sending advance publications of his follow-up paper to relevant organisations, but it ultimately backfired.
When… I knew the 25 year follow-up was about to be released by the BMJ, I notified the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute that it was coming out, and I sent them the advance publication. Their reaction was This kind of silencing behaviour may be entirely to thank me for this, but what it did was to arm them unspoken or even unconscious. It would be difficult to with the ability to react as soon as our report hit the ascertain how prevalent academics policing themselves media, when they were out in force decrying it, on the wrong basis. So, these were out of controversial topics is, people who were definitely as there is little data on what It would be difficult to ascertain how obsessed with the idea that research academics choose mammography was the right prevalent academics policing themselves not to pursue. This comment thing to do and they weren’t out of controversial topics is, as there is prepared to listen to evisuggests steering clear of little data on what research academics dence. fields likely to draw attacks might happen at every stage
choose not to pursue.
of research–from deciding
Contacting requesting
employer, disciplinary
not to pursue it in the first place, through to avoiding
action in this study refers to participants whose critics
publication or public engagement.
called or emailed their employer demanding they be
Shut out from major journals in this context refers to
punished, or their position terminated.This was a common
participants unable to get published in major journals
silencing behaviour described by participants. While one-
because journal editors and reviewers considered their
off calls did not appear to be persuasive in most cases,
position indefensible. This appears not as a matter
they may have exerted influence when enough pressure
of substantive problems with methodology or data
was applied. This pressure also contributed to a lingering
analysis, but intolerance of the moral implications of
sense of unease in participants, as the implication was
the paper. An anthropologist I interviewed recounted
that they had acted inappropriately in some way. An
her difficulties getting published in mainstream
evolutionary biologist participant was generally unmoved
circumcision journals.
by the attacks he encountered but says the ones that did
I had kind of extraordinary attempts to try and stop publication of the paper. And it took… a long time to get that paper published. I had something like 25 reviews for that paper… And what was happening too is that I quickly realised that there were certain people that if the paper was sent to them they were just in principle opposed to everything I was saying in the paper, so I would specifically list them as non-preferred reviewers. But then what I realised at a certain point was that it was intentionally being sent to those people I had indicated as non-preferred reviewers. And then I think one of the reviews I received in about the third journal I submitted it to, was a one-sentence review where the person said ‘In my prior 8000-word review on this topic, I’ve indicated why the arguments are untenable in this paper and it can’t be published. Full stop, end of story.’
upset him were those that questioned his professionalism and integrity. What bothered me about it was they felt their perception of it was accurate and correct and as a consequence, I must have done something improper. And as a result, they… went as far as they could to try to penalise me for my behaviour. Now this is contacting the Vice Chancellor of our university, contacting the ARC regarding my funding statement. Meanwhile, if they’d just approached me I would have said ‘This is where it came from, this is how I got it.’ And I tried to do that to some and they just said they didn’t believe me. Research misconduct inquiry refers to participants who were forced to defend their work against claims of wrongdoing in an official investigation. Although participants who experienced this behaviour were
Public statements decrying research in this analysis
ultimately cleared of misconduct, they believe their
refers to participants who had their research condemned
reputations sustained damage throughout the process. A
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nutritionist I interviewed explained her anxiety around
from perpetuating visceral, knee-jerk responses. The data
having a research misconduct inquiry, as she feared her
indicates these reactions are just as prevalent within
reputation might be permanently affected.
academia as without, if not more so. After all, cognitive
I was stunned when… the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research… made the decision, after a long time, I think it probably was December 2013, so we’d been now going almost two years. She made the decision that the only way to settle this was to institute an inquiry into research misconduct. And honestly the words ‘research misconduct’ were enough to make me feel sick, because you know, it would mean from thereon in if someone, you know, got your name and just Googled it, it would be associated soon enough with something called ‘research misconduct’. And you didn’t have to read far to gain the impression that I’d done something wrong.
biases and partisan thinking can be exacerbated when one is expertly trained in research and distinguishing between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sources (Kahan, 2014). The impact of internal attacks should not be downplayed. Certainly, ministerial vetoes make the news (Piccini & Moses, 2018), but the way the academy internalises and ‘weaponises’ societal expectations, orthodoxy and palatability through ‘legitimate’ structures such as conferences, ethics, peer review, for instance, to silence colleagues can have a much more significant, and more insidious influence on the research that is, or is not conducted.
Discussion
What does research silencing reveal about academic freedom?
Distinction between responses from inside and outside academia
The silencing behaviours described lie outside established
In this analysis, I have chosen to distinguish between
expects to deal with, based on (flawed) assumptions
responses initiated by those inside the academic
around academic freedom and research protocols.
community, and those outside the community, whether
These responses do not appear to be based on critical
they are interest groups, media, public figures or industry.
or rational critique. Rather, these are impulsive, knee-jerk,
Within my data, recriminations arising within the academy
visceral responses aimed at shutting down, denouncing
against academics that crossed these lines were far more
or silencing unpalatable or discomfiting research. We see
prevalent than those from outside. Some participants
communities closing ranks and penalising those who
encountered attacks from both insiders and outsiders
cross boundaries or refuse to play by the rules.
peer-review
channels, beyond
what
an
academic
and this did not necessarily correlate with whether or
Is academic freedom really what we think it is? Does
not they were supported by their institution.This reflects
it live up to the ideal? It would seem that once research
findings from the broader literature (Martin 2002, 2017;
crosses a boundary–and deemed unacceptable–unspoken
Dreger, 2015; Gottfredson, 2010; Moran, 1998) that many
and invisible boundaries are revealed, drawing a clear line
academics are left to defend themselves when institutions
between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ research. Patterns of silencing
fear reputational or financial damage.
behaviours establish what it looks like when researchers
A distinction between insiders and outsiders is
are punished for transgressing boundaries.
important for a couple of reasons. First, the behaviour may
So what drives attacks on research when no substantive
feel more or less hurtful depending on who initiated it.
misconduct or wrongdoing is present? A visceral, knee-
An attack from a member of the public can be dismissed
jerk response. One aimed at shutting down lines of
more easily as ‘ignorant’ or ‘ill informed’, as several
enquiry, and reprimanding those not playing by the rules.
participants did. Opposition from an industry group who
Hidden limits are revealed in a close examination of the
feel threatened by findings provides a clear motivation
relations of disgust. These limits are particularly apparent
to suppress or condemn research. These external attacks
in lines of enquiry that threaten the public health field,
may be just as devastating and limiting as any other, but the
in and through my interrogation of the actors who
reason may be easier to understand or accept. However,
have experienced silencing of their work. Moral disgust
if a peer within the academic community attacks your
literature suggests people may ‘primitively’ appraise ideas
research, particularly outside of established peer review
they find morally reprehensible, rather than cognitively
channels, it may be much more difficult to comprehend
processing them (Chapman & Anderson, 2013). This
the backlash.This confusion may contribute to an already
response may override critical, conscious thought. It’s
distressing atmosphere.
important to acknowledge that while emotion may
It is also important to separate these responses because
motivate the initial response, those opposed to offending
it suggests academic training does not stop someone
research can be quite methodical and careful in employing
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silencing tactics. In these emotive responses, Haidt argues
Martin. I was not concerned with discussing examples
the ‘rational mind’ can operate in service of passions, not
where researchers had demonstrably breached codes
in spite of them (Haidt, 2012).
of ethics or manipulated data. My sole focus was on
Most academics will likely never encounter this response and will continue to take the ideals universities espouse for granted. It is only those cases in which a researcher
exploring research silencing and its implications for academic freedom.
pushes a previously unseen boundary that we see this
Implications for academic freedom
visceral response, exposing the fragility of the academic
This paper questions assumptions usually associated
freedom ideal. My participants’ stories demonstrate that
with the concept of ‘academic freedom’. Academic
when academic work crosses boundaries, individuals or
freedom is not a given, without limits or borders. While
groups will wield whatever power is at their disposal to
we may acknowledge more ‘legitimate’ constraints to the
shut down the offender. There is no attempt to engage
practice of academic freedom, such as peer review and
critically or review the work in question. It is simply to
ethics protocols, there are unspoken, insidious ‘rules’ that
silence, to stop, to shut down.
severely curtail and silence particular research, in ways that go beyond written policies. This means that academics’
Limitations
own understanding of their
The nature of this research
While we may acknowledge more ‘legitimate’ constraints to the practice of academic freedom, such as peer review and ethics protocols, there are unspoken, insidious ‘rules’ that severely curtail and silence particular research, in ways that go beyond written policies.
meant I relied on a relatively small sample of the more extreme cases of research silencing.
In
recruiting
academics and researchers whose
work
had
been
publicly attacked or at the very least contested enough
rights and responsibilities is inadequate, as they expect to be protected so long as they ‘play by the rules’. I have argued that we should not take academic freedom policies for granted, as the silencing
behaviours
I’ve
documented here reveal that
to draw my attention, I likely
boundary transgressions can
missed more subtle or insidious cases. The true scale of
be harshly penalised, despite academics believing they
research silencing, from private silencing, through to
were doing ‘all the right things’. This paper calls for a
disciplinary action is difficult to comprehensively account
more reflective, honest examination of the ways research
for.
silencing sets the conditions for scholarly thinking and
Another
limitation
disproportionate
of
my
geographical
sample
was
their
enquiry, rather than accepting the ‘just there’ ideal of
representation.
Most
academic freedom.
participants were from Australia, with around a third from the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom.
Implications for the literature
This means I missed stories from academics in other
This paper has significant implications for the broader
parts of the world. European countries such as Finland,
literature around contested research and academic
Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Spain measure
freedom. In some ways, it reinforces respective findings
highly on five indicators of academic freedom, including
from Martin, Dreger and Gottfredson that vested interests,
academic tenure and legislative protection (Karran, 2007).
identity and controversy can influence and curtail what
Conversely, countries like the United Arab Emirates, China
research is seen as ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’. While
and Singapore are more overtly restrictive than the four
previous work in this field provides pertinent insights
countries I drew participants from (Kinser, 2015). My
into the problem of research silencing and its implications
dataset was overwhelmingly drawn from English speaking,
for academic freedom, this paper goes further. I argue that
western, liberal-democratic countries.
it is not that academic freedom policies are being flouted,
This paper was never intended to assess the validity
or ignored, or breached in cases of research silencing-
of my participants’ research. Unlike Alice Dreger, I was
but the protections widely assumed to be provided by
not concerned with proving through comprehensive
academic freedom are illusory. The boundaries between
research and analysis that my participants were justified
‘good’ and ‘bad’ research are only see-able once they have
in their research. I was also less concerned with the
been crossed. These boundary crossings override any
structures that enable suppression of dissent, like Brian
‘legitimate’ rules, which creates confusion and a sense of
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injustice for those academics penalised: ‘I thought I was doing the right thing.’
Implications for players in the field My research findings have significant implications for players in academic fields, including universities, research communities and individual academics. University policies pertaining to academic freedom promote an unrealistic ideal; suggesting unfettered enquiry is fundamental to their role within society, despite competing obligations
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References Australian National University. (2018). The Australian National University Statement on Academic Freedom. Released 23 July 2018. Retrieved from: http://www.anu.edu.au/files/committee/ANU%20Statement%20on%20 Academic%20Freedom.pdf Bryden, J. & Mittenzwei, K. (2013). Academic freedom, democracy and the public policy process. Special Issue: Sociology, Knowledge and Evidence in Rural Policy Making, 53(3), pp311–330. http://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12012 Chapman, H. & Anderson, A. K. (2013). Things rank and gross in nature: a review and synthesis of moral disgust. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2), 300–27. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0030964
brand management, among others. While many academic
Chapman, S., St.George, A., Waller, K. & Cakic,V. (2013). The Pattern of Complaints about Australian Wind Farms Does Not Match the Establishment and Distribution of Turbines: Support for the Psychogenic, “Communicated Disease” Hypopaper. PLOS ONE, 8:10, pp1–9.
freedom policies stress researchers must meet scholarly
Dreger, A. (2015). Galileo’s Middle Finger. New York: Penguin Press.
to ‘client
service
delivery’, industry
stakeholders,
international collaborations, broader ‘national interest’ and
requirements, these legitimate and widely accepted ‘rules’ ultimately mean nothing if a line of enquiry crosses a boundary and is deemed ‘bad’ or ‘dangerous’. It will not matter that academics ‘fulfilled scholarly responsibilities’ to those threatened by a boundary transgression, whether representatives of university administration, academia, industry groups or the public. For research communities, this paper argues for a more reflective approach to the work we do, and whether it is justifiable to silence findings we disagree with. If we continue to allow lines of enquiry we don’t like to be curtailed, narrowed or shut down, does all research become conditional and subject to research silencing? This paper concludes individual academics need to recognise that although they may satisfy scholarly requirements, their work may still cross a boundary and as such provoke research silencing. Calls to defend academic freedom in light of attacks on researchers mean little when our understanding of ‘academic freedom’ itself is so lacking.
Acknowledgements
Edwards, M. A. & Roy, S. (2016). Academic Research in the 21st Century: Maintaining Scientific Integrity in a Climate of Perverse Incentives and Hypercompetition, Environmental Engineering Science 34:1, p51–61. http:// doi.org/10.1089/ees.2016.0223. Engels-Schwarzpaul A. & Peters, M. (2013). Of Other Thoughts: NonTraditional Ways to the Doctorate: A Guidebook for Candidates and Supervisors. Rotterdam, NLD: SensePublishers. Fereday, J. & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2006). Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 80–92. http://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500107 Gottfredson, L. S. (2010). Lessons in academic freedom as lived experience. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(4), 272–280. http://doi. org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.001 Guillermet, E. (2008). Reflexivity–A tool for the anthropologist. An example: the fieldwork of a French PhD student. Antropoweb, 16–21. Haidt, J. (2012). The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion (1st ed.). New York: Pantheon Books. Hall, N., Ashworth, P. & Devine-Wright, P. (2013). Societal acceptance of wind farms: analysis of four common themes across Australian case studies. Energy Policy, 58, 200–208. Hayes, D. (2015). New ranking exposes curbs on university freedom of speech. The Conversation. Retrieved February 3, 2016, from https://theconversation. com/new-ranking-exposes-curbs-on-university-freedom-of-speech-37060 Henry, A. (2006). Academic Freedom Under Fire: The Case for Critical Pedagogy. College Literature, 33(4), 1–42.
as always.
Hoepner, J. (2017). You Need to Shut Up: Research Silencing and What it Reveals about Academic Freedom. PhD Thesis. Open Research–Repository, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, College of Physical & Mathematical Sciences, The Australian National University. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/121823
Dr Jacqui Hoepner is Early Career Fellow for HDR
Jackson, J. (2005). Express Rights to Academic Freedom in Australian Public University Employment. Southern Cross University Law Review, 9, 107–146.
I would like to thank the researchers who generously gave their time to share their often-traumatic experiences. To Professor Simone Dennis for her expertise and guidance,
Supervision at the Australian National University, where she also teaches Masters and undergraduate courses at the School of Archaeology and Anthropology. Her scholarly work focuses on institutional culture, academic freedom, critical public health and contested research. Contact: jacqui.hoepner@anu.edu.au
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Jackson, J. (2006). Implied Contractual Rights to Academic Freedom in Australian Universities. Southern Cross University Law Review, 10(2005), 139–200. Kahan, D. (2014) Climate-Science Communication and the Measurement Problem. Advances in Political Psychology (2015) 36, 1-43. Kinnear, P. (2001). Academic Freedom and Commercialisation of Australian Universities Perceptions and experiences of social scientists. The Australia Institute, 37.
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Lloyd, G. (2015). In response to the Media Watch report about The Australian’ s coverage of wind farms. The Australian. Retrieved from http:// www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/in-response-to-the-mediawatch-report-about-the-australians-coverage-of-wind-farms/news-story/ ea7e13660d70930785876c412a97917c Martin, B (ed.). (1996). Confronting the Experts. Albany: State University of New York Press. Martin, B. (1999). Suppression of dissent in science. Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, 7, 105–135. Martin, B. (2002). Dilemmas of defending dissent: the dismissal of Ted Steele from the University of Wollongong. Australian Universities’ Review, 45:2, 7–17. Martin, B. (2017). Defending university integrity. International Journal for Education Integrity, 13:1, 1–14. Martin, B., Baker, C.M., Manwell, C. & Pugh, C. (eds.). (1986). Intellectual Suppression: Australian Case Histories, Analysis and Responses. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Moran, G. (1998). Silencing Scientists and Scholars in Other Fields: Power, Paradigm Controls, Peer Review, and Scholarly Communication. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN: 156750342X, 9781567503425 Nazaruk, M. (2011). Reflexivity in anthropological discourse analysis. Anthropological Notebooks, 17:1, 73–83.
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NHMRC. (2015). NHMRC Statement and Information Paper: Evidence on Wind Farms and Human Health. Retrieved from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/ health-topics/wind-farms-and-human-health Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic Analysis: Striving to Meet the Trustworthiness Criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16:1, pp1–13. http://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847 Piccini, J & Moses, D. (2018). Simon Birmingham’s intervention in research funding is not unprecedented, but dangerous. The Conversation, published online 26 October 2018. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/simonbirminghams-intervention-in-research-funding-is-not-unprecedented-butdangerous-105737. Shils, E. (1995) Academic freedom and permanent tenure. Minerva 33, pp5–17 Stop These Things. (2013). Cape Bridgewater: Sonia. Australia: YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx1rRxMUwvc&list=PLAktpg ushkOMxKByCxZ5ZvwxfALpC3v1x&index=4 Stop These Things. (2015). Simon Chapman, Will Grant & Jacqui Hoepner: the Wind Industry’s Health “Expert” Great Pretenders. Retrieved from https:// stopthesethings.com/2015/03/16/simon-chapman-will-grant-jacqui-hoepnerthe-wind-industrys-health-expert-great-pretenders/ University of Oxford, Department of Education. (n.d.). Academic freedom and values. Retrieved from http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/about-us/academicfreedom-and-values/ University of Sydney. (2008). Charter of Academic Freedom, (May), 2008.
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Publications, citations and impact factors Myth and reality Robert Jeyakumar Nathan Multimedia University, Malaysia
Omar Bin Shawkataly Universiti Sains Malaysia
This article discusses the role of university academics as researchers. In present-day society which touts instant gratification, the primary role of a university is being undermined. In Malaysia, academics no longer teach and research as they please but are ‘guided’ by government agencies and influenced by the priorities of funding agencies. One of the components of academic freedom is the freedom to publish. Academics publish research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. They choose journals in which their articles will be peer-reviewed, published and read by the communities of interest. However, lately many academics tend to publish in journals based on rankings, in journals reputed to have higher impact than others. Often young academics are puzzled whether they should publish where it matters or where it would quickly boost the key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the university. This article highlights some of these struggles in modern academia and exposes several examples of academic misconduct. Keywords: role of academics, academic freedom, journal ranking, academic misconduct
focus and concern would be students’ learning. For
Introduction
lecturers and professors, their main focus is often their field of expertise that they research and teach. Lecturers
Academics are pillars of educational endeavour and
and professors seek to invigorate students’ thinking on
agents of knowledge discovery and dissemination. Some
their subject matter, by constantly questioning the status
academics only conduct research, while others busy
quo and providing new perspectives to a subject matter
themselves solely with teaching. Still others have mastered
through research.
the delicate art of balancing both teaching and research.
Their focus would be discovering new knowledge and
In a nutshell, an academic’s value lies not merely in
contributing to the greater body of knowledge. In terms
fulfilling the role of a teacher, but also in active discovery
of knowledge creation, researchers play a pivotal role
and disseminating knowledge through research.
in the academy in their systematic attempt to conduct
Let us examine the roles of the teacher and contrast
research to provide answers to important questions.
it with a lecturer who conducts research. A teacher
This is in line with the purpose of research which aims
uses a syllabus with textbooks as guides to teach and
to enhance knowledge and generate new applications
convey knowledge to students, aiming to ensure students’
from newly-discovered knowledge (Sulo et al., 2012).
comprehension of the subject matter. A teacher’s primary
The danger is that the wheel might be reinvented. A
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researcher’s worst nightmare is to get stuck in the middle
contribution to the common good, which depends on
of their research, only to discover that the same work has
the free search for truth and its free exposition. It is this
already been done (Noll, 1997). To avoid this, researchers
which justifies academic freedom, not the interests of the
need to be constantly updated with the changes to the
individual academic or even the interests of a university.
existing body of knowledge and new knowledge in their
Ideally, academic freedom functions to fulfil the two main
field of research.
roles of higher education, which have been defined by Franke (2011, p. 2-3) as the advancement of ‘knowledge
Academic freedom
through research and creativity’ and the education of students in such a manner that they are able to ’develop
In the process of knowledge creation and dissemination,
their own independence of mind’.
academics crave academic freedom. Academic freedom
In line with this, academics should be given the
refers to the independence and autonomy given to
freedom to conduct research, publish, share and explore
academics to teach and conduct research in any capacity
ideas, in addition to maintaining the quality of their
without being constrained by rules and regulations,
respective institutions (Herther, 2009), uninhibited by
thereby allowing them to discover and disseminate newly-
numbers or rankings or tenure.Tenure is the permanency
found ideas regardless of their sensitivity (Robinson &
of employment up to the age of retirement which
Moulton, 2001). Additionally, scholars require academic
ensures that academics will not be dismissed based on
freedom which allows them to work and research
their freedom to publish in their areas of interest. As
without restraint and/or interference by other individuals,
academics, they should be able to conduct research
authorities and the government (Robinson & Moulton,
in their preferred area (Wicks, 2004) and advance
2001). In having this form of freedom, academics may
knowledge where they see fit without being worried
effectively focus on research which can generate, nurture
that their contract will not be renewed just because
and exchange ideas and knowledge more freely, without
they are not publishing in line with the university’s rigid
being confined to rules and regulations that might limit
research map.
the scope of their work. To conduct research free from
Engaging
in
research
enhances
one’s
personal
external influences and be able to teach and share
development and provides new knowledge for teaching
knowledge freely without any form of control, as well as
purposes. Teachers or educators active in research
having the right to choose problems for investigation is
will acquire skills and knowledge and enhance their
the traditional view of academic freedom (Polanyi, 1998).
students’ learning experience by delivering quality
Scholars and researchers should be granted the right
teaching sessions and encouraging knowledge sharing
to conduct research without interference or suppression
among students (Thomas & Harris, 2000; Nathan et al.,
in accordance with their professional principles of
2017). By cutting down on teaching hours and offering
intellectual rigour, scientific inquiry and research
more research grants, institutions of higher learning can
ethics. They should also have the right to publish and
encourage academics to engage in active and continuous
communicate the conclusions of the research which they
research (Katz & Coleman, 2001). However, academics
have authored or co-authored.
should be given leeway (Franke, 2011) in finding the
Aby & Kuhn (2000) stipulated that academic freedom
delicate balance between teaching and research, and
encourages the exploration of new ideas, the testing of
in choosing areas of investigative research without
received wisdom and, ultimately, the search for truth; it is
compromising on teaching and research standards merely
the sine qua non of free inquiry. This resonates with the
to fulfil the goals of funding agents or market trends.
very notion of education in the words of John F. Kennedy;
Academic freedom is inseparable from a university’s
‘the goal of education is the advancement of knowledge
role as the critic and conscience of a society, because
and the dissemination of truth’ (Kennedy, 1956). In the
academic freedom can only exist within an environment
past, threats to academic freedom, and subsequently to
that encourages creativity, radical ideas and criticism of
freedom of intellectual enquiry and expression, have
the status quo (Jones, Galvin & Woodhouse, 2000). Here
originated from individuals and groups within and outside
the university ought not to focus its research directions
the university, who wield their power to prevent the
merely towards meeting industry needs; rather it should
expression of opinions contrary to their own.
look at the holistic role of the university towards the
Academic freedom is essential in higher education institutions if these organisations are to make their proper vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
entire spectrum of society (Nathan, Tan & Shawkataly (2013).
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to consider, the age of citations, permissible articles, or the question of including self-citations; hence, there is no
According to Rowley and Slack (2000), the main reason
such thing as “the” correct journal. Ultimately researchers
academics publish is to allow more people to access their
should publish their work in relevant journals where it
work and provide a platform to share new findings or
matters by considering topic relevance and readership.
ideas. If there is no restriction on scholarly property rights
Apart from ranking, the quality of research should not
or confidentiality, and the principal agrees, the researcher
be solely dependent on impact, defined by Herther (2009)
is free to publish. Publishing as a new researcher provides
and Gumpenberger et al. (2012) to mean the number of
one with a better sense of personal achievement, improves
times a researcher’s work has been cited by others. The
one’s writing and communication skills, contributes
number of publications and citations received constitute
to a better resumé and garners recognition. During the
what is known as the impact factor. Academics are
production of a piece for publication, most scholars fall
considered influential by their quantity of publications
back on journal articles, monographs and conference
and also the fact that their work is frequently cited by
papers that have been published by others as their
others in the field. The popular notion is that if one’s
sources of reference (Turk, 2008), commonly referred
work is not cited by others, the research is not attractive
to as the literature review. The number of publications
enough or has not produced new knowledge, thus
that a researcher has accomplished also adds credence
having less impact. A piece of literature that has gained a
in terms of fulfilling the criteria for future recruitment
higher number of citations tends to have a higher impact
(Gumpenberger, Wieland & Gorraiz, 2012).
over others (Zhang, Su & Deng, 2008). From a holistic
In highlighting the importance of research publications,
perspective however, many other elements are just as
Yuyuenyongwatana and Carraher (2008) emphasised (i)
important, and they include the reputation of the journal’s
the pursuit of knowledge; (ii) the extrinsic rewards to
editors and review board, researchers’ insights, rankings,
those publishing; and (iii) the increase in the prestige
the impact factor, colleagues’ opinions, the journal’s
of the institution within which the publishing faculty
longevity, rate of acceptance, and circulation number, all
is affiliated. According to Knight and Steinbach (2008),
of which are pertinent factors which may affect number
scholars across disciplines have substantial common
of citations and impact factor (Bontis & Serenko, 2009).
interests with respect to journal publishing, thereby
In addition to meeting the requirements of quantity
strengthening the ties that unite academics seeking to
and quality, it is well-known that academics worldwide
publish, which inadvertently lead to a potentially high
face pressure to publish in prestigious English language
likelihood of future cross-disciplinary research, and a
journals, with the journal impact factor being the most
correspondingly robust environment for an intellectual
widely recognised indicator of journal prestige and
exchange of information.
influence. The impact factor was designed to assess
In academia, productivity is defined by the number of
journals indexed by the Web of Knowledge, and it
research endeavours conducted over a specific period,
measures how often an article in a journal has been
while the quality of research, which cannot be measured
cited on average per year. For journals within the same
tangibly, is dependent on peer or expert reviews.
subject category, the factor indicates the journal’s relative
Publication productivity often serves as a requirement
influence or impact. The impact factor reflects average
for consideration in the extension of tenure, promotion,
citation rates for articles; a high impact factor shows that
and academic merit pay. Gomez-Mejia and Balkin (1992)
a journal is important in its field. Based on this, many
reported the most significant determinant of differences
scholars select journals in which they hope to publish.
in academic pay levels at institutions granting both
According to Editage Insights (2013), although the
doctorate and non-doctorate degrees, was publication in
journal’s impact factor serves as a useful tool for the
top-tier journals.
evaluation of journals, it must be used wisely.
The
In terms of quality, Engemann and Wall (2009) stipulated
selection of a journal for researchers to send their
that a journal ranking should not be assumed to be a
manuscripts should not rest solely on the impact factor,
definitive indicator of the relative quality of individual
simply because some journals have a lower impact factor
papers within the journal, and that any ranking should be
due to their narrow focus area, while other journals with
handled with a great deal of care when being used for
broad focus areas tend to have a higher impact factor. As
decision making. For all journals, a rank is the outcome
such, researchers should determine the quality of a journal
of many judgment calls, be it on the actual set of journals
using other indicators like Source Normalised Impact per
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Paper (SNIP) and the Eigenfactor score (ES), to get a better
exceptional for a researcher who has been publishing
idea of the journal’s prestige and influence.
for 20 years. Higher learning institutions are using this
In light of the fact that research publications often add
among many other metrics to help them in making tenure
prestige and status to an institution (Kirkpatrick & Locke,
decisions, awarding grants and allocating research funds
1992; Manning & Barrette, 2005), reputable institutions,
(Jacso, 2008).
especially research-oriented ones, often require their
In addition to the H-index, there is an indicator known
academics to publish in top-tier journals. This notion is
as the g-index introduced by Leo Egghe (2006), which is
compounded by Fogarty and Ravencroft (1999), who, in
an enhanced version of the H-index. This was followed
their examination of a population of accounting-based
by the contemporary h-index, known as the hc-index,
scholars with PhDs between 1986 and 1996, found a
introduced by Antonis Sidiropoulos, Dimitrios Katsaros,
strong relationship between the willingness of academics
and Yannis Manolopoulos (2007), and finally the e-index
to publish and the status of an institution.
introduced by Chun-Ting Zhang in 2009, all providing
The presence of the Internet is another element that has made its mark in the evolution of research publication
different tools to measure the impact factor and citations of a researcher (Sun & Wang, 2013).
culture, where researchers now have higher accessibility
Due to the strong correlation between peer judgments
to journals via the online mode. Electronic journals, or
and citation frequencies, citations tend to be used as an
e-journals, provide a sense
indicator
of efficiency in terms of
This prompts scholars and academics to engage more aggressively in doing research for the purpose of gaining extrinsic rewards rather than for their own interest or for the sake of acquiring or disseminating new knowledge and to push the boundaries of knowledge in their field of specialisation.
mobility, ease in reading and publishing, saving time and cost, and reducing the barriers between researchers and readers (Rao, 2001). Thanks to the accessibility provided by the Internet, the traditional platform for research
publications
among
of
quality
and
other
things, for
benchmarking
universities,
scholarship and employment decisions, decisions regarding research funding, exploring research fields and identifying influential work and research trends. This prompts scholars and academics to engage
has
more aggressively in doing
made way for the presence
research for the purpose
of open access journals in a range of disciplines. Open
of gaining extrinsic rewards rather than for their own
access journals enable free access to publications via
interest or for the sake of acquiring or disseminating new
the Internet using a “funding model” through which
knowledge and to push the boundaries of knowledge in
researchers bear no costs when downloading or printing
their field of specialisation. Academics also tend to write
research materials (Rowlands & Nicholas, 2005). In
on current or hot topics in the hope of attracting other
some cases, costs are borne by the authors themselves,
editors and reviewers, and increasing their publications
usually via their employers or funding body, while in
(Stewart, 2008). However, as the H-index takes self-citation
other instances, researchers themselves operate the
into account, it may affect the quality of the measurement
open access journals funded by costs borne by their
of bibliometric indices. Hence, it has been suggested that
employers. Open access journals have certainly benefited
self-citation indicators come in as supplementary indicators
academics, evidently seen in the increasing citations and
to provide better evaluation of an author’s contribution
impact factor, by providing them with a means to publish
(Mohammad & Farzaneh, 2009).
extensively due to the convenience now available, in contrast to traditional methods.
The existence of such measurement indices, evaluation and funding cultures have indeed provided the context
Another factor that spurs academics to publish was the
for coercive citation. When academic promotions are
introduction of the H-index in 2005 by J.E. Hirsch, which
based on publications in a journal with a high impact
is a bibliometric measurement that takes into account
factor, most journal editors are motivated to get the best
the total importance of a researcher, measured by how
impact factor possible because this attracts more articles
often he or she gets cited. A scientist gets an H-index of N
from up-and-coming researchers. This has opened new
for their Nth paper when all their works are sorted from
doors and opportunities for pay-to-publish and predatory
the highest to lowest cited (Hirsch, 2005). Hirsch suggest
journals that are flourishing. Disguised as open-access
an H-Index of 20 as good, 40 as outstanding and 60 as
publishers, many for-profit predatory publishers are
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rushing in to exploit academics who are geared towards
site on the Internet without citing the source’ (Rouse &
increasing their number of publications quickly in order
Gut, 2001, p. 1).
to meet key performance indicators. Most of which are of
Plagiarism occurs when one person takes the credit
poor quality, plagiarised and poorly or not peer-reviewed.
for original ideas from someone else. In taking away that
A list of such predatory journals are listed in Bealle’s List
which belongs to others, it destroys the freedom that
of predatory journals and publishers (2018).
people should enjoy as academics. Plagiarism, therefore,
While it is necessary to ascertain the quality of academics and scholars, universities and institutions of higher
reverses the goals of academic freedom, which is the pursuit of disseminating unblemished research.
learning, it must also be understood that the ratings used
According to Schrimsher, Northrup and Alverson (2011),
in the form of rankings, impact factors, indices and so forth,
plagiarism and other incidents of academic misconduct
are not “definitive”, as postulated by Stewart and Cotton
are on the rise for a variety of reasons. Students seemingly
(2013), who highlighted the shortcomings of conventional
have the notion that Internet-based information is public
rankings and necessitated the need for multiple measures
knowledge and thus, is free from intellectual property
depending on the institute’s strategy and priorities. A
rights. As such, they do not seem to think that the
holistic view of an academic’s contribution to his field of
information taken off the Internet needs to be cited for
specialisation and to the institution is necessary.
academic purposes. Due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of citing requirements, there have been high
Academic misconduct and ethical issues
levels of unintended plagiarism, bogus referencing and collusions (Perry, 2010). To avoid plagiarism, researchers
Honesty is certainly the best policy and cannot be over-
should adhere to proper citations and referencing to give
emphasised when it comes to academic research. First,
credit to the original author and articles they cite. Text-
authors need to provide accurate and responsible reports.
matching software, such as Turnitin can be of help, up to a
Second, reviewers need to provide fair and equitable
point, in checking for potential plagiarism.
judgment on journals. Apart from this, journal editors
The following paragraphs present several cases of
should also exercise their responsibilities without fear
academic misconduct recorded in Malaysian higher
or favour and endeavour to publish research which can
education. These examples are in relation to misconduct
further enhance and disseminate knowledge that can
with regard to publication. In the frenzy of increasing
benefit others in relevant areas (Calabrese & Roberts, 2004).
their number of publications, more cases of academic
Another issue that must be taken into account is citations,
misconduct are now recorded. Names of individuals and
which refer to the basic unit measuring research output. Citations are regarded as an objective, or at least, a less
institutions have been disguised.
subjective measure to determine impact, i.e. influence and
Case 1: Lost in Translation
importance.They are used in addition to, or as a substitute
This case involves a ‘Senior Academic A’ from a publicly-
for, peer judgments. It’s important to cite sources used in
funded university in Malaysia who had published a book
research for several reasons as listed below:
in the Malay language in 1990. The book was printed and
i.
To show your reader you’ve done proper research by
distributed by the university’s publication house and
listing sources you used to get your information.
cost the university approximately RM50,000.00 (approx.
To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other
A$18,500) for printing and distribution. The book
researchers and acknowledging their ideas.
contained thirteen chapters, 11 of which were later found
ii.
iii. To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors.
to be a direct translation of materials taken from a 1960s English text book. The other two chapters were a direct
iv. To allow your reader to track down the sources you
translation from two journal articles written in English.
used by citing them accurately in your paper by way
This case was exposed by a postgraduate student who
of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list.
was doing her research and stumbled upon the original
Failure to ensure accurate citations leads to plagiarism,
English book. The university took action by withdrawing
which refers to ‘the use of someone else’s ideas or words
the book from all bookshops it had initially been
without properly acknowledging the original source,
distributed to and the ‘author’ was made to reimburse
turning in an assignment verbatim for a class that you’ve
the university. However, no stern disciplinary action was
already used for another class, borrowing ideas or work
taken, and the senior academic was permitted to continue
from others, and cutting and pasting information from a
teaching. He retired as a senior academic.
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Case 2: Research grant for a stolen proposal
publications that one has produced, rankings, impact
In this case, ‘Professor B’ plagiarised a PhD student’s
factors, or the other indices should not serve as sole
research proposal and used the student’s proposal to
indicators of an academic’s prowess, nor should it create
apply for a research grant. Professor B came in contact
boundaries which curb the pursuit of knowledge for
with the student’s proposal as he was appointed as the
the sake of knowledge itself. Academics and researchers
external examiner for the student’s research proposal
should therefore persist in pushing the boundaries
presentation. His aim was to use the student’s proposal
of knowledge by publishing where it matters, to the
to solicit research funding and to eventually publish the
communities of interest, aligned or not to the government
work. Blinded by his ambition to publish and neglecting
or funding agencies.
ethics, Professor B plagiarised the student’s research
Researchers should also be judged on the quality of
proposal and submitted it as a funding application. The
their information and their contributions to the academic
‘stolen proposal’ was awarded the research grant vied
community as well as their ability to provide insight and
for; however, the student’s name was not in the grant
advance knowledge. Not only do these factors enable
application, nor did the student know about this approved
the researchers to gain intrinsic rewards in the form of
research funding. Upon discovering this halfway through
personal satisfaction and the uplifting of the intellectual
his PhD studies, the student reported it to the university.
standards of their institutions, but they are also able to
The university gave Professor B a verbal warning.
contribute towards the betterment of society through
Professor B went on to use the grant for the research he
sustainable dissemination of their findings, knowledge
had obtained. Everyone lived happily ever after; except
and truth in their discipline.
the PhD student whose original work was stolen.
Case 3: Lend me your student’s work, I just want to learn
According to Lee (2014), instead of ‘publish or perish’, academics should persist and publish, and publish to accomplish, create knowledge, or to challenge taken-forgranted assumptions. In short, researchers should not
This is a case of a new ‘Lecturer C’ who recently joined
publish for the benefit of the university administrators, but
a university and borrowed the final year project of
for the benefit of the research and academic communities,
a student under the supervision of another lecturer
not forgetting the society at large (Nathan et al., 2013). If
(Lecturer D). Lecturer C borrowed the student’s project
‘publish or perish’ could be replaced with a more positive
under the pretext of being a new lecturer wanting to
mantra like ‘publish to accomplish’, and if publishing could
learn the format and the supervision process of a final
be rewarded for its own sake and publications evaluated
year project. However, Lecturer C went on to publish the
for their own worth, academic publishing would become
results and findings of the student’s final year project and
a much more rewarding experience.
probably thought it was ethical to include Lecturer D
In the words of Franke (2011, p. 2-3):
as the co-author of ‘his paper’, when in fact the results
Good research and creative activities need breathing space. People may be inhibited from doing their best work if they fear offending outside forces, such as politicians or donors, or inside authorities, such as trustees or senior administrators. Without academic freedom, our society would lose professors’ best inventions, scholarship, and creative products.
belonged to the final year student.The student’s name was not in the published manuscript. Lecturer D eventually reported this to the university, since Lecturer C is still under probation and on contract, the action taken was not to renew his contract. No other action was taken. The above cases are several among many examples of academic misconduct that happen in Malaysian universities.
Robert Jeyakumar Nathan is a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty
Unfortunately, not all get reported and only a handful are
of Business, Multimedia University, Malaysia. He serves as
investigated. Among the investigated cases, the institutions
the Assistant Secretary General for the Malaysian Academic
are found to have been grossly inadequate in taking serious
Movement (MOVE).
disciplinary action against the perpetrators, thereby not
Contact: robert.jeyakumar@mmu.edu.my
sending a strong signal against academic misconduct.
Looking forward Although one of the requirements placed upon academics
Omar Shawkataly is a Professor of Chemistry with the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Penang, Malaysia. He is an .executive committee member for the Malaysian Academic Movement (MOVE).
by universities is active publication, the number of vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
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Engemann, K. M., & Wall, H. J. (2009). A journal ranking for the ambitious economist. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, May/June.
Rao, M.K. (2001). Scholarly communication and electronic journals: Issues and prospects for academic and research libraries. Library Review, 50(4), 169-175.
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Rouse, A. M., & Gut, D. M. (2001). Plagiarism: What is it and how to avoid it. Athens, OH: Ohio University.
Fogarty, T. J., & Ravencroft, S. P. (1999). The importance of being “wordy”: Willingness to write and publication productivity among accounting academics. Accounting Education, 8(3), 187-202.
Rowlands, I., & Nicholas, D. (2005). Scholarly communication in the digital environment: The 2005 survey of journal author behavior and attitudes. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 57(6), 481-497.
Gomez-Mejia, L. R., & Balkin, D. B. (1992). Determinants of faculty pay: An agency theory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 35(5), 921-955.
Rowley, J., & Slack, F. (2000). Writing for publication: The first steps. Management Research News, 23(5/6).
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Schrimsher, R. H., Northrup, L. A., & Alverson, S. P. (2011). A survey of Samford University students regarding plagiarism and academic misconduct. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 7(1), 3-17.
Herther (2009). Research evaluation and citation analysis: Key issues and implications. The Electronic Library, 27 (3), 361-375. Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(46), 16569-16572. Jacso, P. (2008). The Pros and Cons of Computing H-Index using Google Scholar. Online Information Review, 32 (3), 437-452. Jones, D.G., Galvin, K. & Woodhouse, D. (2000). ‘Universities and critics and conscience of society: The role of academic freedom.’ The New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit, AAU Series on Quality No. 6. ISSN 11718826. Online Available: http://www.aqa.ac.nz/sites/all/files/ASQ6%20Critic%20and%20 Conscience.pdf Katz, E., & Coleman, M. (2001). The growing importance of research at academic colleges of education in Israel. Education & Training, 43(2), 82-93. Kennedy, J.F. (1956). Remarks of Senator John F Kennedy at Harvard University, June 14, 1956. Retrieved from http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/ Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations/Harvard-University-Speech.aspx Kirkpatrick, S. A., & Locke, E. A. (1992). The development of measures of faculty scholarship. Group and Organization Management, 17, 5-23. Knight, L. V., & Steinbach, T. A. (2008). Selecting an appropriate publication outlet: A comprehensive model of journal selection criteria for researchers in a broad range of academic disciplines. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 3, 59-79. Lee, I. (2014). Publish or perish: The myth and reality of academic publishing. Language Teaching, 47, 250-261. Manning, L. M., & Barrette, J. (2005). Research performance management in academe. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 22(4), 273-287. Mohammad, R. D., & Farzaneh, A. (2009). Author self-citation pattern in science. Library Review, 58(4), 301-309.
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Sidiropoulos, A., Katsaros, D. & Manolopoulos, Y. (2007). Generalised Hirsch h-index for disclosing latent facts in citation networks, Scientometrics, 72 (2), 253-280. Stewart, A., & Cotton, J. (2013). Making sense of entrepreneurship journals: Journal rankings and policy choices. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research. 19(3), 303-323. Stewart, D. W. (2008). Academic publishing in marketing: Best and worst practices. European Business Review, 20(5), 421-433. Sulo, T., Kendagor, S. T., Kosgei, R. D., Tuitoek, D., & Chelangat, S. (2012). Factors affecting research productivity in public universities of Kenya: The Case of Moi University, Eldoret. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences, 3(5), 475-484. Sun, J. & Wang, G. G. (2013). How is HRD doing in research and publications? An assessment of journals by AHRD (2005-2011). European Journal of Training and Development, 37(8), 696-712. Thomas, R., & Harris, V. (2000). Teaching quality and staff research: Are there connections? A case study of a metropolitan university department. Quality Assurance in Education, 8(3), 139-146. Turk, N. (2008). Citation impact of Open Access journals. New Library World, 109, 65-74. Wicks, D. (2004). The institution of tenure: Freedom or discipline? Management Decision, 42(5), 619-627. Yuyuenyongwatana, R. P., & Carraher, S. M. (2008). Academic journal ranking: Importance to strategic management and general management researchers. Journal of Business Strategies, 25(2), 1-8. Zhang, J., Su, X. N., & Deng, S. H. (2008). The academic impact of Chinese humanities and social science research. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives, 60(1), 55-74.
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OPINION
Free speech on Australian campuses: Hidden barriers Brian Martin University of Wollongong
Speech at Australian universities is restricted in various ways. A few of them, such as student protests against visiting speakers, receive lots of attention. Others seldom do, such as defamation threats and cyber harassment. Self-censorship may be more significant than overt censorship. Those who want to raise awareness of hidden limitations on speech can learn from the methods used to raise the alarm about student protests. Keywords: free speech; academic freedom; censorship; self-censorship; dissent
Introduction
Australia being infected by the same kind of intolerance as in Britain and the US (Fox, 2016; Lukianoff and Haidt,
On 11 September 2018, Bettina Arndt, a social
2018).
commentator and former sex therapist, was scheduled to
Because much of this commentary is impressionistic
give a talk at the University of Sydney. Student protesters,
and draws on anecdotes, ironically it is very far from a
opposed to Arndt’s views about rape on campus,
scholarly assessment of free speech on campus. Although
blocked access to the venue, and police were called to
there is a vast body of research on censorship (Jones,
enable the talk to proceed. Protest organisers from the
2001), scholars have not agreed on a consistent and
University’s Wom*n’s Collective were quoted as saying
comprehensive way of judging and comparing different
that “Giving Bettina Arndt a platform on this issue has
types of constraints on speech, on campus or elsewhere.
the potential to cause a great deal of harm to students
There are challenges galore. Whose speech is at risk:
and survivors of sexual assault, who are having their
students, academics, non-academic staff, visitors? To
experiences questioned by her tour” (Roberts, 2018).
whom are they trying to communicate? What are they
On the other hand, supporters of Arndt presented the
trying to say? How are they trying to say it? What media
protest as a threat to free speech on campus (Devine,
are they using? There is a huge difference between an
2018; Fernando, 2018; Sammut, 2018).
academic writing an article for a scholarly journal and a
More generally, some commentators see protests against
student making a comment on Twitter.
visiting speakers as a manifestation of toxic political
Though some scholars say only states can censor
correctness, in which demands for protection from
speech, in practice any group with a near-monopoly on
disturbing ideas are stunting the expression of diverse
power can do so, for example corporations (Jansen, 1988).
viewpoints on campuses and beyond (e.g., Kinsella, 2018;
Students lack this sort of power, but they can still act like
Lesh, 2018a; Merritt, 2018). Much of this commentary sees
censors, as in the protest against Arndt.
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In the study of censorship, there is an even greater challenge: some speech is inhibited. When people deeply
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militaries and corporations whose own research is subject to stringent controls over topics and outcomes.
absorb limits to discourse, there are things they never
A bigger issue is the effect of external sponsorship
even consider saying. Self-censorship is very hard to
on research agendas (Dickson, 1984; Krimsky, 2003;
document compared with overt censorship.
Proctor, 1995). Coming up with findings unwelcome to
Another complication is that there are several
a sponsor means further contracts are less likely, so there
legitimate and widely accepted constraints on speech.
is an incentive to please the sponsor. More generally,
Rules against serious verbal abuse, as in cases of bullying,
academic fields may become oriented to the agendas of
are an example.
external funders, so some topics become fashionable and
Given the definitional and methodological difficulties
others lower status. In this way, funding shapes research
in assessing free speech, my limited aim here is to outline
priorities through rewards for compliance rather than
some of the barriers in universities that receive relatively
through overt censorship.
little public attention. This is an exercise of highlighting what is sometimes overlooked, not to make a definitive
Suppression of dissent
assessment. I briefly discuss a variety of constraints or inhibitions, and then examine them in light of methods
Occasionally, an academic speaks out on a topic or in
of making censorship backfire.This is not to dismiss those
a way that threatens or offends some powerful group,
concerns that do receive attention – some nuanced and
leading to action against the academic. There are various
wide-ranging treatments are available (Ben-Porath, 2017,
triggers for adverse actions, including:
King, 2013, Knox, 2017, Lesh, 2018b) – but to point to
• Challenging a university administration, as in the famous
issues that usually dwell in the shadows.
case of Sydney Orr, dismissed from the University of
In an academic context, free speech is valued for
Tasmania in the 1950s (Eddy, 1961).
its contribution to the creation and dissemination of
• Questioning a senior colleague’s research, as in the case
knowledge. This includes research to promote and
of Michael Spautz, dismissed from the University of
examine knowledge claims, teaching to enable learning
Newcastle in 1980 (Martin, 1983).
of knowledge and skills, and informed contributions to
• Questioning assessment practices, as in the case of Ted
public issues. The focus here is on structural barriers that
Steele, dismissed from the University of Wollongong in
compromise these activities, in other words that hinder
2001 (Martin, 2002).
the core mission of the university.
• Questioning orthodox views, as in the case of climate sceptic Peter Ridd, dismissed from James Cook
Research agendas
University in 2018 (Alcorn, 2018). Most such cases are highly complex, with a variety
Quite a bit of academic research is funded by outside
of views expressed about whether the actions by
bodies, primarily corporations and governments. Some
the academics and their critics were justified. Some
research funded this way is unencumbered, with no
commentators interpret the events as involving attempts
constraints or expectations on outcomes or publications.
to silence scholars.
However, quite a bit is subject to formal conditions,
Dissent can be risky, but it is not always clear what is
affecting not just what is studied but also when, how and
safe and what is not. Jacqueline Hoepner began her PhD
to whom findings are communicated.
at the Australian National University on the topic of the
Academics and research students whose work is
health effects of wind farms but could not even begin
funded by outside bodies may be subject to agreements
interviewing before attacks by non-university wind-
restricting what, when and how they can publish their
farm opponents made it impossible for her to continue.
findings (Kypri, 2015; Resnik, 1998; Ries & Kypri, 2018),
Changing her topic, she interviewed scholars in several
and otherwise be subject to efforts to suppress results
English-speaking countries who had experienced attacks
(Yazahmeidi & Holman, 2007).
as a result of their investigations. One of her conclusions
Most large universities have associated commercial
is that it is very difficult to know in advance where the
wings, and in some fields much contract research is
boundaries are between what is safe to study and what
subject to constraints. The scale of this sort of research
can lead to reprisals (Hoepner, 2017).
is unclear, as is the impact on academic freedom. In many
Though there are quite a few publicised cases of
instances, universities become outposts for governments,
suppression of academic dissent (Delborne, 2008;
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Dreger, 2015; Martin et al., 1986; Moran, 1998), these
processes are slow, bureaucratic and time-consuming,
directly affect only a tiny percentage of scholars. Because
they discourage some researchers from some projects.
information about many cases never enters the public
Although there has been some concern about the
record, for each well-known case there may be dozens
impact of research ethics processes (Haggerty, 2004;
of other instances.
Shea, 2000; Stanley & Wise, 2010), there seems to have
In some cases, scholars feel obliged to fill a gap in
been no systematic study of how research is affected. It
knowledge or public discussion, even though they
is plausible that requirements prevent some poor and
personally have little stake in the issue: they are reluctant
damaging research but also, by the expansion of coverage
dissenters. It is ironic when such scholars come under
and regulations, discourage research on certain topics,
attack for seeking to pursue the mission of the university.
for example ones where powerful subjects might object, such as the study of corruption, or where there might be
Defamation and other discouragements
adverse media coverage (e.g, Valentish, 2018).
In Australia, defamation law is an important barrier against
grants is a path to productivity and advancement. Because
free speech (Pullan, 1994; Walters, 2003). Using the law
the success rate for prestigious peer-reviewed grants is so
is expensive and drawn-out, and places the onus on
low, many academics play safe in the projects they propose,
defendants, who are assumed guilty unless they can prove
thereby self-limiting the range of topics studied. This form
otherwise.
of self-censorship is aggravated when the Minister of
For Australian academic researchers, obtaining research
More generally, there are many examples of powerful
Education vetoes grants on ideological grounds.
groups using legal actions to silence critics, for example
Copyright, patents and other forms of intellectual
in Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
property are supposed to foster creativity and innovation,
(Ogle, 2009; Pring and Canan, 1996). SLAPPs can be effective
but in practice the effect is often to stifle them (Halbert,
even when they have no chance of success in court.
1999). However, there are few studies of the impact of
Physics academic Alan Roberts wrote a book review, published in 1980, in which he said “I object to the author’s lack of moral concern.”After several court cases, the book’s author was awarded $180,000 (Bowman, 1983).
intellectual property on speech and research at Australian universities. Australian government laws concerning national security certainly affect academic work. For example,
However, relatively few defamation cases involving
research into corruption in intelligence organisations
academics receive publicity, in part because most
would face enormous obstacles, in part because
complaints are dropped or settled before entering
whistleblowers and journalists are subject to criminal
court. The impact of defamation law on academic work
sanctions. There are few studies of the impact of national
is probably less by actual suits than by discouraging
security controls on campus speech.
investigations and commentary.
Campaigns of abuse and vilification via mass and social
Journal and book editors can be extra cautious. In
media can have a devastating effect on targets. Online
one instance from my own experience, a journal editor,
harassment is a widespread and serious problem, especially
presumably to reduce the risk of a legal action, removed
for women with a public profile (Citron, 2014; Poland,
some names from an article of mine without telling me. In
2016). Emma Jane (2014, 2017) has examined the problem
another instance, lawyers took a year to approve an article,
in Australia, but there seems to be little other research on
which was published with changes and a disclaimer.
the impact of cyber harassment on speech on university
Since the 1990s, I have posted on my website documents about
corporate
healthcare
provided
by
campuses. Other restraints include campus policies that
Michael
restrict the diversity of ideas (Lesh, 2018b), fear of having
Wynne (2008). Several companies threatened to sue the
work plagiarised, hate speech laws, confidentiality rules,
University of Wollongong over some of these documents,
university codes of conduct concerning public comment
though none ever initiated legal action. Separately, Wynne
by staff, and freedom-of-information requests.There are few
(2017) has written about the risks of speaking out.
studies examining the impacts of these restraints.
Academic researchers are supposed to obtain approval from a research ethics committee before carrying out
Self-censorship
any project that can cause harm to animals or humans. This includes seemingly innocuous activities such as
In overt censorship, there is clear evidence of pressures to
interviewing members of the public. Because approval
keep quiet, to avoid certain research topics or to modify
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findings. Commercial contracts, reprisals for speaking out
publicity, hundreds of thousands of times. When online
and defamation threats are overt forms of censorship and
censorship counterproductively increases attention to the
control. More insidious is self-censorship: due to a fear of
censored object, this is now called the “Streisand effect.”
the consequences or a desire to conform in order to fit
However, censorship does not always backfire. Censors
in or obtain advancement, a person chooses not to speak
and their allies regularly use several types of methods
out, avoids sensitive topics or changes their comments.
to reduce outrage: hiding the censorship (censorship of
Witnessing reprisals against others can provide a
the censorship); devaluing the targets of the censorship;
warning to avoid doing anything that might trigger
reinterpreting actions by lying, minimising the impacts,
similar attacks. It is plausible that the biggest impacts of
blaming others, and reframing; using official channels
suppression cases are not on the targets but on those who,
to give an appearance of justice; and intimidating and
seeing what happened to a colleague, decide to play it
rewarding people involved (Jansen & Martin, 2015). For
safe.Thomas Mathiesen (2004) describes several methods
example, when McDonald’s sued two members of London
of “silent silencing” of opposition within organisations.
Greenpeace for defamation over the leaflet “What’s
One of them is “normalisation,” making quiescence seem
wrong with McDonald’s?,” it used all of these methods
normal. Self-censorship is most effective when it is just
for reducing outrage, though in this instance McDonald’s’
the way people behave, without conscious reflection.
efforts failed spectacularly (Jansen & Martin, 2003).
Self-censorship
can
discourage
scholars
from
This backfire framework for analysing struggles over
investigating topics or using perspectives seen as
censorship can be applied to various restraints on free
unorthodox, fringe or dangerous. In international relations,
speech on campus. Several of the restraints receive little
the study of pacifism is marginalised (Jackson, 2018); in
or no attention, including those due to suppression
psychology, the study of parapsychology is usually off
clauses in contract research, defamation, research ethics
the agenda (Cardeña, 2015; Hess, 1992); in physics, those
requirements, and self-censorship. In these areas, restraints
who question relativity or quantum theory are usually
and inhibition have such low visibility that there is little
dismissed out of hand (Campanario and Martin, 2004).
need for additional action to reduce public concern.
Self-censorship is related to what is called “forbidden knowledge”
(Kempner
full range of methods of outrage management more
discouragement of dissent from dominant views or the
commonly become apparent. The first is prominent
views of powerful groups – these may not be the same
dismissals of tenured academics. For example, in the
– pervades the thinking and discourse of entire groups.
dismissal of Ted Steele from the University of Wollongong,
When there is a chilly climate for dissent, fear of rocking
management used the methods of cover-up, devaluation,
the boat steers research choices, perhaps especially for
reinterpretation, official channels and rewards (Martin,
those who are untenured or seeking career advancement
2005). In both the Steele case and the Orr case, the
(Hoepner, 2017, p. 41).
dismissals generated extensive adverse publicity for the
al.,
2011),
in
In two areas involving free speech on campus, the
which
et
Although some commentators – I am one of them – say
universities. In as much as the dismissals targeted critics
self-censorship is more important than overt censorship,
of the universities, they were hugely counterproductive,
there is little evidence behind this assessment. This is
being instances of censorship backfire.
because it is exceedingly difficult to measure the extent
The second area where outrage-management techniques
of individual self-censorship or the effects of a chilly
are apparent is in student protests against visiting speakers.
climate for dissent.
Student protesters do not try to cover up their censorship efforts. On the other hand, they commonly denigrate the
Censorship backfire
targeted speakers, reinterpret their own campaigning as protecting students, and use intimidation to enforce their
Sometimes censorship is counterproductive: it leads to
views. However, these censorship efforts have often been
greater awareness of the thing being censored. In 2003,
counterproductive, giving greater attention to the views
celebrity Barbra Streisand became upset about her Malibu
of the visiting speakers than would otherwise have been
mansion appearing among a series of online photographs
the case. Supporters of the speakers, including portions of
of the California coast, and sued the photographer and
the mass media and some politicians, have stoked outrage
publisher for $50 million. Her legal action triggered outrage
by publicising the censorship, validating the speakers,
and, importantly, great interest in the photo. Prior to the
interpreting the protests as censorship, mobilising
legal action it had been downloaded only six times; after
support and resisting intimidation.
52
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Student protesters apparently do not recognise, or
Each of these restraints in turn can be connected to
perhaps do not care, that their actions give the speakers
conditions in universities, including job insecurity,
greater visibility or that there are effective alternative
commercial imperatives, disciplinary conformity, and fear
ways of responding to the expression of disliked views.
of dissenting.
A possible explanation is that activists are driven more
For those who believe that some of the less visible
by opportunities to express their feelings and mobilise
constraints deserve more attention and action, there
students than by a long-term strategy to promote their
is much to learn from the issues that have become
preferred views. Furthermore, perhaps student activists,
prominent. Student actions against visiting speakers have
on campus for only a few years, have a shorter time
become a cause for concern due to campaigning efforts of
horizon than academics and administrators who bear the
those speakers’ supporters, especially in the mass media
longer-term consequences of counterproductive actions.
and by some politicians. These efforts involve publicising
Whatever the explanation, student protests against
the protests, validating the speakers, labelling the protests
visiting speakers are one of the few facets of on-campus
as censorship, mobilising support, and continuing to
censorship that receives much attention. Meanwhile,
organise talks in the face of intimidation.
other forms of silencing remain in the shadows.
The very same techniques can be used by those who are concerned about less visible restraints on speech. It is
Conclusion
important to remember that free speech on campus does not happen automatically or by passing regulations, but is
Sociologists have long argued that social problems are not
the result of struggles in which people speak out and join
inherent in social conditions: for something to be labelled
together in support of their goals.
a social problem depends on “claims-making” by various interested groups (Spector & Kitsuse, 1977). For example,
Acknowledgements
drink driving had to be turned into a problem (Gusfield, 1981). Those who agitate to turn a social condition into
Thanks to Bettina Arndt, Don Eldridge, Jacqui Hoepner,
a social problem – that is, make the condition be seen
D’Arcy Holman, Sue Curry Jansen, Kyp Kypri, Mark
by others as a problem – are the claims-makers. They
McLelland, Matthew Lesh, Jeremy Sammut and Michael
act to raise awareness, create alarm and mobilise action.
Wynne for valuable feedback on drafts.
This sort of activity is seen in a wide range of areas, from Brian Martin is emeritus professor of social sciences at the
concerns about sexual harassment to calls for war. To say that social problems are socially constructed is not to say they are unimportant or artificial. Claims-
University of Wollongong. Contact: bmartin@uow.edu.au
makers, when they are successful, can help create a social movement (Mauss, 1975), and social movements have been responsible for many of the changes that today are seen as advances, such as abolishing slavery and emancipating women. One value in looking closely at how social problems are constructed is noticing how some things become seen as problems whereas others are not. Some of the neglected issues may be, by certain criteria, as much or more important than the ones in the limelight. On Australian campuses, speech is inhibited, constrained or suppressed in various ways. Only a few of these have been turned into social problems. Student protests against visiting speakers are seen, in some quarters, as a serious threat to free speech. Occasionally, dismissals of tenured academics become public issues. Otherwise, though, restraints on speech are mostly accepted or ignored,
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Lesh, M. (2018a). We need laws to ensure sickly unis allow free speech. The Australian, 28 September, p. 16.
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Wynne, M. (2017). Speak out if you dare. Inside Aged Care. Retrieved from https://www.insideagedcare.com/introduction/speak-out-if-you-dare Yazahmeidi, B. & Holman, C.D.J. (2007). A survey of suppression of public health information by Australian governments. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 31(6), 551–557.
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Whose future? Or why we need to think more expansively about the future of Australian higher education Richard Hil ‘The future depends on what we do in the present’ – Mahatma Gandhi
Around the corner
opportunities in health, welfare, teaching, ‘creative industries’, finance, marketing, IT, tourism, construction
Future gazing has become something of a hobby among
and other fields. Labour market conditions may change
higher education boffins. It’s more head-scratching
and technological developments intrude, but the role of
than staring into the tea leaves and crystal balls, but the
the university sector, or so it seems, is to do its mandated
thinking caps are definitely on – well; sort of.
duty as a feeder for the neoliberal economy.
While there’s certainly no shortage of venues to indulge
To this end, education ministers, senior university
this stuff – conferences, seminars and roundtables – most
managers, business leaders, and a bevy of highly paid
tend to dwell on dreary questions like:
consultants tirelessly devote themselves to the task of
What sorts of skills and training will graduates need for
job supply. Academics and students – and the ‘general
the jobs of the future? Are universities equipped to deliver
public’ for that matter – are rarely consulted about such
job-ready graduates? Where will the necessary funds
matters, which is all a bit strange when you think about it,
come from? What role will academics play, and what sort
given that as ‘knowledge workers’, academics would seem
of workplace conditions will they face?
rather well placed to ponder the direction of their own
Typically, such lines of inquiry concern themselves
institutions. Sadly, this silencing also extends to those who
with the trends and patterns of today, and what’s likely
hold different perceptions of the future based on their
to follow. In the more economic-centric gatherings, the
own traditions, experiences and understandings of the
future of higher education is linked to issues of economic
world.The voices of First Nations people, for example, are
growth, global competitiveness, productivity, employment
often marginalised or dismissed as narratives of the past,
opportunities, ‘skills shortages’, training needs, and so
which suggests that ideas about the future are as subject
forth. Mercifully, these dismal concerns are sometimes
to colonising practices as the past and present. Indeed, the
enlivened by bouts of reflective analysis, including
very idea of ‘the future’, devoid of the voices of dissent
how universities might respond to rapid technological
and difference, means that other narratives tend to prevail.
change, particularly the challenges presented by robotics,
And they do.
artificial intelligence and automation. Sadly, however, concerns about the desirability of cyborgs strutting the
A herd of elephants
Anthropocene tend to be subsumed by the need to secure the ‘jobs of the future’. The only thing left to figure out is
Perhaps most striking about most future gazing fora is
how universities can meet employers’ incessant demands
their capacity to ignore not one, but an entire herd of
for employable graduates, and particularly how to expand
elephants in the room. The first of these is the seemingly
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obvious question: what constitutes ‘the future’? It’s a
focussed on the economy, skills, training, pay, employment
fuzzy temporal category that receives less attention than
conditions, etc., but nonetheless, I proceeded to wade
the blueberry muffins served up at morning tea. On
into the idea of the future – something, surprisingly,
the rare occasions it is seriously considered, the world
that hadn’t been done up to that point. I suggested that
of tomorrow is immersed in the usual concerns of the
the crises and challenges we face will, as author-activist
economy and job readiness. Why so? Well, largely because
Naomi Klein (2014) puts it, change everything. What we
universities have been fully integrated into the neoliberal
know today might be irrelevant or meaningless tomorrow,
economy, so what ails the economy, ails universities, and
so why drone on about the future without facing up to
what the economy demands, the university sector usually
what is happening right now?
delivers. Not surprisingly, therefore, what passes for the
Bolstered by my usual penchant for melodrama, I
future in this scenario is – if not quite Groundhog Day –
assailed my audience with the following list of actual
then something not far removed.
and potential calamities: the climate crisis (profoundly
But are things that simple? I’m no futurist or clairvoyant
existential in nature and consequence); the economic
but I do know that tomorrow’s world is made up of what
crisis (unprecedented levels of inequality, wage stagnation,
former US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, referred
massive levels of casualisation and underemployment,
to as the “known unknowns”. Wicked problems and
and the very real prospect of another major financial
unpredictable events are all part of the mix of uncertainty
meltdown); the crisis of disconnection (epidemics of
that constitutes the future. That’s a known known, even
loneliness and anxiety and allied mental health problems);
for an old war horse like Rumsfeld.
the ‘post truth’/ ‘fake news’ epistemic crisis (designed to
What tends to be missing from many of today’s higher
befuddle us and undermine democracy); the deepening
education chat fests, however, is human agency; that is,
crisis of nationalist popularism (with its tendency toward
our capacity to think about and shape the sort of future
extreme violence and division); and the potential crisis
we want, based on the values we hold dear. This can vary
posed by artificial intelligence and robotics (the capacity
wildly of course, depending on ideological preferences
to alter the very conditions of human life). Last but not
and other considerations. But agency does at least allow
least, there is a crisis of governance in just about every
for the possibility of reimagining something different to
area of government, whereby decisions are made by ill-
what is.That, surely, is more exciting than the drudgery of
informed and self-interested elites, often without any
economic forecasting, to which most current discussions
reference to the populations they claim to be representing.
seem wedded.
Sound familiar?
Granted, it’s hard to break out of this straight jacket,
You’ve probably got your own list of problems. The
especially in the current university environment. The fact
point is: how on Earth is it possible to talk about the
is that the nature of institutional governance is such that
future if there may well not be one, at least not in the
discussions about ‘future directions’, or what the suits
form currently conceived?
like to refer to as ‘strategic planning’, are conducted in
Don’t get me wrong. I know that universities can’t
the narrowest of terms, often privileging senior managers
solve all these problems alone, but they have for many
with an eye on brand promotion, market share and
years, through their teaching, research and other
bottom lines. The gulf between senior management and
activities, assisted the process of elucidating the nature
academic staff – even when supposedly mediated by
and causes of crises. Now, however, these intellectual
university committees – means that certain voices tend to
practices are jeopardised by the constant restructuring
dominate policy discussions, and rather than questioning
of workforces and workload intensification, making it
the neoliberal orthodoxy, they continually reinforce it.
more difficult to undertake the knowledge work that we so desperately need.
Here comes trouble
Indeed, some (like me) would go as far as saying that universities are part of the problem. If we accept that
When I stood up to address the future of higher education
higher education institutions are part of the neoliberal
at a recent conference, I blurted out that “there are
matrix, which has variously contributed to many of
millions of people around the world who don’t have
the crises and challenges we now face, then surely you
a future, or not one that is survivable, and that might
might want to think outside the usual box? Some serious
include you and me”. It was perhaps an errant outburst
reimagining might be warranted. What about discussing
in the circumstances, having listened to numerous talks
the values, ethics and practices that might help create a
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different, survivable, just, peaceful and regenerative world,
uncertain, even mysterious, although it is a future that can
and the role of education in all this? It’s not a question
and will be shaped by what we think and do now.
that can be easily answered, but as knowledge workers
How does this relate to the conference I attended?
committed to understanding the world in which we live,
Well, perhaps we should start our conversations about
academics should surely be at the forefront of debates
tomorrow’s world of higher education by providing some
about the future – some are, but not too many. Arguably,
context and allowing for the possibility of reimagining a
without the constraints placed upon them by current
very different way of being.
managerialist regimes, academics would be better placed
And perhaps we should begin by peering over the
to engage the public in conversations about the sort of
neoliberal parapet to those higher educational initiatives
future they would like to see.
that are much better placed to address the problems that
All this might seem light years away from economic
now confront us. Buddhist and Indigenous universities
concerns, industrial relations and job readiness. But is
and programs (including many of the latter in our current
it? Perhaps we need to think about the sorts of jobs we
system), slow/free universities, progressive colleges
might need to create a more compassionate, connected,
in the US, Canada and many parts of the global south,
cooperative and, dare I say, kinder society? Or, what
Schumacher College in the UK, the School of Life in
about the jobs that might help us transition out of environmentally destructive and
violent
occupations
such as in the weapons and
England and Australia, and a host of informal community
... how on earth is it possible to talk about the future if there may well not be one, at least not in the form currently conceived?
education
initiatives
are
just some of the alternative approaches
that
concern
extractive industries (which
themselves
are
quality of life, well-being
so
enthusiastically
supported by universities)? Just a thought…
with
the
and regeneration rather than economic growth and productivity. They’re interested in reconnecting with the earth and
Other conversations
each other through the trilogy of head, hand and heart, as well as weaving Indigenous wisdoms through curricula,
Another elephant at the conference was the fracturing
research and community-based projects. They’re about
of neoliberalism which, according to economist Richard
decolonising curricula, unlearning modernist, materialist
Denniss (2018) at the Australia Institute, is occurring from
and environmentally destructive values and practices, and
within and without, taking us further into some dark
understanding how power works in a corporatised world.
repressive places and ensuring more of what David Harvey
They promote critical pedagogy through dialogue and
(2004) refers to as “accumulation by dispossession”.
nomadic ways of thinking that enable students to become
No-one is quite sure what will follow. And yet, in the midst
active citizens rather than neoliberal denizens. Above all,
of all this we are witnessing an amazing contestation of
they see the crucial importance of understanding our
ideas, with many now predicting a very different future
complex interconnections with the planet and the need
– dystopian and otherwise. On the left-progressive side of
for collaborative, sharing, non-hierarchal and participatory
politics, there are some fascinating debates going on. The
relations. For these institutions, a commitment to peace,
following books are testament to new and exciting ways
social justice, and human rights is the starting point of
of thinking about ‘the future’: George Monbiot’s (2017)
education, not a by-product.
Out of the Wreckage, Kate Raworth’s (2018) Doughnut
Advocates of such approaches see the purpose of
economics, Post capitalism by Paul Mason (2015), Utopia
higher education not simply as preparing students for the
for realists by Rutgers Bregman (2014), Drawdown by
jobs of the future – although, yes, we need highly educated
Paul Hawken (2018), Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles
graduates – but rather, as involving them in meaningful
Massy (2017), No is not enough by Naomi Klein (2017),
dialogues about the values, ethics, practices and relations
Climate – A new story by Charles Eisenstein (2018) – to
necessary for a better world.
name but a few. The point is that we are indeed in the
It would be silly (and insulting) to suggest that none
middle of a profound period of change, a struggle over
of the above occurs in the neoliberal university, because
ideas about what might serve us better in the future.
it does. There are brilliant, committed academics devoted
At the very least, the future is seen as unpredictable,
to critical scholarship and the rest. But in a system
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where ‘critical thinking’ itself can be commodified and
do, however, is buy into a neoliberal conception of the
blended with vocationalised ‘graduate attributes’, and
future.That’s the road to oblivion.
where academics are dragooned into supporting the corporate brand, the opportunities for reimagining are,
Richard Hil is Adjunct Professor, School of Human Services
let’s say, restricted. Indeed, as I have often said, progressive
and Social Work, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
academics pursue their work in spite of rather than
Contact: josephgora@hotmail.com
because of the neoliberal university. More’s the pity.
References Now what? The conference I attended was organised by the National
Bregman, R. (2014). Utopia for Realists: How we can build the ideal world, London: Bloomsbury.
Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). It proved to be a
Denniss, R. (2018). ‘Dead right: How neoliberalism ate itself and what comes next’, Quarterly Essay, 70, 4 June.
fascinating exchange of views and ideas, but not for
Eisenstein, C. (2018). Climate – A new story. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.
the reasons I had anticipated. There’s no doubt that the
Harvey, D. (2004). The ‘New’ Imperialism: Accumulation by Dispossession. Socialist Register 40, pp. 63-87.
conference participants, me included, remain extremely concerned about excessive workloads, suspect regulatory practices, reduced academic autonomy, casualisation, corporate influence, commercialisation and so forth. These are important areas of struggle in which the Union continues to play a key role. Many of these concerns, however, sit within the framework of what is commonly referred to as ‘industrial relations’. This battlefield is intimately connected to other, wider struggles that are formative for the world of tomorrow. They are struggles closely related to the crises and challenges identified earlier. The question that arises from all this is: if academics are to retain and create the intellectual spaces necessary for meaningful critical
Hawken, P. (2018). Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. London: Penguin Books. Klein, N. (2014). This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate, London: Simon. Klein, N. (2017). No Is Not Enough. Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada. Mason, P. (2015). Post Capitalism: A Guide to our Future, London: Allen and Lane. Massy, C. (2017). Call of the Reed Warbler: A new agriculture – A new earth, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. Monbiot, R. (2017). Out of the wreckage: A new politics for an age of crisis, London: Verso Books. Raworth, K. (2018). Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, London: Cornerstone.
scholarship – scholarship for a liveable future – then what sort of politics should they engage in? I don’t have the answer, but a good place to start might be to link our struggles over the governance of universities to the very reasons why these institutions exist in the first place. And even though many academics have been co-opted into the neoliberal university and given that most do not belong to the union, there is surely a case for a different sort of conversation, one that raises the prospect of an entirely different sort of higher education beyond the remit of neoliberal junk values. I would urge the NTEU to continue to link its work explicitly to those international campaigns in defence of the public university. It should also continue to promote a public conversation about the sort of society (and future) we’d like to see, and the role of universities in this regard. Unions have long been integral to those great social movements that have sought to advance democracy, social justice and human rights. They have in many instances acted as a bulwark against tyranny and social division. It’s a proud tradition that can and should be upheld, especially during these most troubling of times. What we should not
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The Kantian University Worldwide triumph and growing insecurity Simon Marginson University of Oxford
Introduction
This article discusses the University as an institution in three parts, moving from the abstract to the concrete.
How might we think about that institution called ‘the
The first and longest section begins with the University
University’, at home and across the world? Because
as a social form or type: what it is, its inner motors, what
something like the institution we know is now found
holds it together; and its outer drivers, what holds it in
in every part of the world, and there are identifiable
society. The second section remarks on tendencies in
commonalities
quiet
the university in which we now live, the contemporary
foundations of the University in Europe still relevant?
everywhere. Are
the
small
university. The third and concluding section discusses
What kind of institution has the University become?
limits and problems of the University. It is called ‘The
One historical example is that of the National University
insecurities of the University’.
of Ireland. In 1845 the Queen’s College Act established constituent colleges in Cork, Galway and Belfast. In 1851
The University as a social form
John Henry Newman was made the first rector of the Catholic University. This University was independent of
There is much written about the University as a social
the coloniser-state, and accordingly it was suborned and
form. Yet it can be argued that there are only three
marginalised. At first the Catholic University was blocked
great ‘ideas’ of the University. One is Newman’s idea.
from granting degrees. However, in 1882 it became
The second, which preceded Newman in time but
University College Dublin (UCD); and in 1908 UCD, Cork
is more modern and more important, is the German
and Galway were federated in the National University of
idea developed by Immanuel Kant and Wilhelm von
Ireland. Then those universities, like their counterparts
Humboldt.
elsewhere, began their long ascent to the peak of modern
The third is the American research university idea, which
society that they now occupy. UCD alone enrolled 33,724
was the successor to the German idea.The American idea,
students at last count. It is a global university. And yes,
carried by large-scale science based institutions of social
UCD grants degrees. In the most recent year, there were
status and power; and normalised by global connections,
8,857 awards.
globally visible exemplars and global rankings; is the
Yet in a fashion the small beleaguered founding
dominant model today.
Catholic University of Dublin still resonates. It is still with us. Its influence too is global. In 1852, J.H. Newman,
Three ideas of the University
the first rector of the University, delivered the lectures that became The idea of a University. There is no more
Newman’s idea and the American idea have each been
beautifully written book in the literature on higher
summarised in a brilliant book. The German idea must
education. It still compels us. Newman’s model of the
be gleaned from a larger body of works and practices.
worldwide institution was born in colonised Dublin.
Nevertheless, the German idea is the pivotal moment.
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John Henry Newman
horizons as it proceeds.The educability of the self-forming
Newman (1982) is obsolete. Yet Newman’s ‘idea’ is
learner is not fixed but is continually expanding (Sijander
ever-present. His invocations against vocational utility,
2012). In the optimistic modernist vision of Bildung the
and against research in the University, are no longer
intellectual creator stands on the shoulders of giants, but
persuasive. But Newman did not set himself against
by the same token, that creator stands ever-higher than
knowledge as such. Newman’s pellucid vision of teaching
any of those who came before
and learning was of personal development immersed in
Kant
published
the
epochal
essay
What
is
diverse knowledge. He told us that knowledge and truth
Enlightenment? in 1784. Kant (2009) called on the public
are not just means but ends.“A University”, says Newman,
to enlighten itself, to use critical reason to interrogate
“taken in its bare idea … has this object and this mission;
the times in which it lived. Importantly he emphasised
it contemplates neither moral impression nor mechanical
that critical reason does not emerge naturally. It must be
production; it professes to exercise the mind neither in
instilled through education (Kivela 2012).
art nor in duty; its function is intellectual culture, here it
Much was happening in 1784 when the idea at the
may leave its scholars, and it has done its work when it has
root of the modern research university was germinating.
done as much as this. it educates the intellect to reason
In Vienna, Mozart wrote his 17th piano concerto, K453
well in all matters, to reach out towards truth, and to grasp
in G Major, arguably the first of his really great keyboard
it” (Newman, 1982, pp. 94-95).
concertos in that astonishing run from number 17 to
Learning is also good for students. “The knowledge
number 24 in which the mind emerges in the music with
which is thus acquired”, says Newman, “expands and
a new directness, clarity, scope and reflective depth. Like
enlarges the mind, excites its faculties, and calls those
Kant, Mozart, intensely curious about the intellectual
limbs and muscles into freer exercise” (Newman, 1982, p.
currents of his time, seems utterly contemporary with
128). This is good for everyone. “If then a practical end
us. In London, the young JMW Turner was beginning to
must be assigned to a University course, I say that it is of
reflect upon the character of light. Five years later the
training good members of society. Its art is the art of social
French revolution began, in which the public, following
life, and its end is fitness for the world” (Newman, 1982, p.
Kant’s advice, interrogated its times and found in them
134). Newman’s idea is no longer enough to comprehend
liberty, equality and solidarity. Contemporary Western
the many-sided work of the University. Yet the positive
politics was born.
vision is right in itself. Newman’s idea is still part of the University’s heart.
Immanuel Kant and Wilhelm von Humboldt
After the revolution, the European states which had been rocked to their base could never return to the old regime. Their new ambition was to be modern and stable at the same time – to find ways both to augment the newly-
Meanwhile, something similar but also different had
freed individual agency that has been fostered in the
emerged in Germany. There, student development
revolution, while at the same time controlling that agency,
through immersion in knowledge was explicitly joined
harnessing it to the state.Wilhelm von Humboldt took the
to a larger social and governmental picture. Knowledge
Kantian idea of Bildung, socially nested self-formation,
was seen not as a given doctrine but as a living and
into the blueprint for a new kind of University. This can
changing practice and its development became one of the
be called the Kantian University. It became successively
functions of the University. Further, by cultivating reason
the modern European University, the reforming American
in students, education did not just fit them for society,
University, and the world University of science and critical
it also transformed and improved society (Biesta 2002).
scholarship.
This was Kantian enlightenment, in which the education
Von Humboldt’s University of Berlin, founded in
of students in continuous self-formation, Bildung,
1809, had a formative curriculum that was both broad
became one of the drivers of modernity (Kivela, 2012).
and deep, grounded in history, classical languages and
The Bildung idea, arguably the most developed original
literature, linguistics, science and research (Kirby & van
philosophy of education in the Western tradition (even
der Wende 2016). He wanted a University that would
John Dewey’s powerful work on education is primarily an
serve the state and at the same time would do so in
expansion of its themes), still resonates. Bildung implies
the form of an autonomous institution with freedom to
an education dedicated to the unbounded evolution
learn and to teach, Lernfreheit and Lehrfreiheit. These
of individual and of collective human potential. Self-
notions, with their inner tensions, became central to the
formation through education opens new and widening
German university and the American research university
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that followed. Across the world, faculty still defend their
be its reputation, which he called its “name” (Kerr, 2001, p.
self-determination by invoking the global culture of
15), and the shared interest in itself across its diverse sub-
the Humboldtian university (Sijander & Sutenin, 2012),
communities. It was also sustained by its growing social
though this is now more focused on the freedom of the
uses, especially of its research.
academic than the freedom of the student.
Let us now fast forward to today. Can we improve on Clark Kerr’s account? What are the main components of
Clark Kerr
today’s University and how do they hang together?
The American adaptation of the German science university began with Johns Hopkins in 1876 and had
The institution today: The Inner University
spread to Harvard and the other Ivy League institutions by the early twentieth century. In another form, it radiated via
What might be a simplified description of the University
the land grant movement, with its un-Newmanlike service
today, a model of the type of 1852 Newman, 1809
to agriculture, industry and government. In retrospect,
Germany or 1963 United States? Arguably, the University
we see here the beginning of the triple helix (Etzkowitz
of today combines three distinctive and essential elements.
& Leydesdorff, 1995), the third mission and the engaged
These elements are first the corporate university, second
university. After World War II
the
and the Manhattan project,
and third the knowledge-
research flourished in the leading universities, while the United States became the first mass higher education system. Almost ninety years after Johns Hopkins, in 1963, University
of
The multiversity is multiple and diverse in missions, functions, sites, disciplines, students, inner interest groups and external stakeholders. This loosely coupled combinatory model is in fact highly functional.
California
self-forming
student,
bearing, knowledge-creating faculty. Each of these three elements
has
agency
in
itself, each develops under its own power, in fact each has tremendous momentum on a social scale. They are
President Clark Kerr gave
also enmeshed with each
three lectures at Harvard and turned them into the
other. Together they comprise what we can call the Inner
definitive account of the American research university,
University.
The Uses of the University (Kerr, 2001). This is a fine book, as realistic account of the
The corporate institution
University as has ever been written. Fifty-five years later
First, there is the branded corporate university, which is
it is still largely right. Kerr’s vision lacks the Internet and
nested at one and the same time in local communities,
globalisation but otherwise remains definitive of the
national systems and global networks (Marginson &
institution. It is more prosaic than Newman, but Kerr has
Rhoades, 2002).This is the University as an institution, one
great clarity of mind and word; and he takes in the whole
that is of distinct organisational type and has autonomous
University and polity, and part of society and economy
volition and self-reproduction.
as well. His main point was that the small elite university
The institution has the autonomy that von Humboldt
of Newman’s time had grown into the large ever-growing
was able to deploy and develop because of its particular
“multiversity”. The multiversity is multiple and diverse
legal structure. This is the outcome of a fortunate
in missions, functions, sites, disciplines, students, inner
historical accident. The foundational medieval European
interest groups and external stakeholders. This loosely
universities were incorporated institutions. Though they
coupled combinatory model is in fact highly functional.
were outgrowths of the church, for the most part they
Variable cross-subsidisation from teaching protects the
were also established under the auspices of the state as
non-economic character of research. Revenue shortfalls
semi-independent entities. Subject to the influence of
can be quarantined because of the part-decoupled
both church and state, they were wholly controlled by
character of functions. Kerr said that the multiversity
neither (or at least, not wholly controlled for most of the
had no single animating principle. He was not sure what
time), and in the small space left to them between the
held it together. He thought that it was probably not
overlays of church and state they could pursue their own
the university president, though it was apparent that
agendas. From this foundation they evolved as distinctive
the administration was everywhere becoming more
institutions with their own rituals, symbols, awards, and
important in the larger institutions. Rather, the glue might
later their own knowledge-intensive missions. The partial
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autonomy of European universities made them different
distinguishing motivation is acquisitiveness (Cunliffe
to the other pre-modern forms of higher education
2015, p. 1). Acquisitiveness is the desire for objects, and for
across the world.Their laws of motion were distinct from
social status (sometimes derived from objects, sometimes
those of the scholarly Buddhist monasteries in India, and
more abstract). Newman did not discuss this. Adam Smith
academies in Cairo and other Islamic cities, where religion
did. Adam Smith in 1776 called the desire for status and
dominated; and distinct from the academies in China, that
wealth the “the desire of bettering our condition” (Smith,
trained scholar-officials for the state. Notably, none of
1979, p. 441).The motivation of acquisitiveness feeds what
these other kinds of institution evolved into a worldwide
is probably the most universal kind of self-formation in
form with its own identity and habits.
the University. The majority of students, regardless of the
Today, at first glance, the semi-independent corporate
other kinds of self-formation in which they are engaged,
University slots into the familiar idea of the self-seeking
and whether they are enrolled in STEM, philosophy or
business firm. The University is often seen as another
business studies, want the credentials that universities
business.Yes and no.There’s more to it than that, and also
bring. They want to form themselves in terms of earning
less. The University is not primarily driven by profit or
power and/or social position. Rates of return data capture
revenues, though many universities are busily ambitious
one part of this.
for market share. Revenues are a means to the real end,
As a result, there is no end to the long growth of social
which is social prestige, social status, and an expanding
demand for the opportunities associated with higher
social role in the lives of families, communities and
education. In some national systems, like South Korea and
economies at home and abroad. Modern universities
Finland, the school leaver participation rate now exceeds
are driven to continually expand in size and function,
90 per cent (Cantwell, et al., 2018).
to aggregate people, resources and status, as Clark Kerr noted. Each extension of mission and function brings with
The knowledge-making faculty
it growth in the professional staff for whom, unlike the
The third element of the University is the knowledge-
faculty, the corporate institution looms larger than do the
making faculty, nested in local, national and global scholarly
individual disciplines located within it.
communities. Higher education is not an easy industry
The self-forming student
in which to work as an academic, especially in the early years. For much of the career the apparent lifetime rate
The second element that composes the modern University
of return on the PhD does not justify the investment, and
is the self-forming student (Marginson, 2018a), who is
few reach the top of the profession where the personal
nested in the aspirational family (Cantwell, Marginson
rewards are greatest. Many doctoral graduates simply
& Smolentseva 2018, Chapter 1). If some students might
cannot get faculty jobs. Many are confined to a succession
appear reluctant to form themselves through learning, the
of hourly-paid posts. Despite this, large numbers of people
point is that all the students are there, inside the University,
want to work with codified academic knowledge, and a
and many or most of them (depending on country and
high proportion want to create part of that knowledge.
type of university) will graduate.
The agency of faculty cannot be primarily grounded in
Why are the students there? For the purposes of self-
the employment relation, because bright people can earn
formation, yes, and there are many different modes of self-
better money with more security elsewhere. They want
formation. There is also a leading mode. Some students
to be faculty because this is a way of life they respect and
want to acquire cultural capital, and some want social
desire. It is a vocation.
networks. Some students want to immerse themselves in
The explosive growth in the number of published
cultural performances or student politics. Some want to
papers around the world partly reflects growing national
form a family by marrying another student. Most students
investments in science, in most countries, and the
want to form themselves in more than one way at the
growing role of advanced knowledge in industry and
same time. Many students want to immerse themselves
government. Both points were made by Kerr (2001). It
in knowledge because for them knowledge is fulfilling in
also reflects the inducements implanted by university
itself, as Newman said. In a sweeping study of ten thousand
performance cultures. But these explanations alone are
years of Eurasian history, the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe
not sufficient. Studies of scientific networks indicate that
concluded that one of the two motives that distinguishes
science is more cooperative than competitive; and grows
the human species is curiosity, the desire for information,
primarily through bottom up and horizontal disciplinary
and understanding, the desire to know. Cunliffe’s other
cultures (for example see the study of national and global
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science networks by Wagner, Park and Leydesdorff, 2015).
how the world works. Less a norm like Newman and von
The collective faculty make knowledge because persons
Humboldt and more a description like Kerr. Newman
with power and money want them to do so. The faculty
and von Humboldt did not need to see the University
also make knowledge because it is their nature to do so,
explicitly in terms of status. They took it for granted that
as a silkworm makes silk, as Marx said (Marx, 1979, p.
in the small socially elite institution of the nineteenth
1044). Knowledge makes the faculty and the faculty make
century the social elite already had status. There was no
knowledge.
mass pool of social rewards to differentiate and allocate across the population as there is now. Kerr sensed that
The University as a status economy
massification had changed things, but the full implications were not clear to him. He did grasp that the University’s
In the University these three distinct kinds of agency,
reputation, its name, was helping to unify it.
the institution, the students and the faculty, have evolved together. They are mutually supporting. This is especially
Universal growth
apparent in the research-intensive university, where all three kinds of agency and their interdependencies have
There are two more points to be emphasised about the
become highly developed. Operating together, the three
three kinds of agency which together constitute today’s
kinds of agency constitute a status producing economy.
University. First, there is the point that each form of
This function also peaks in the research-intensive
agency – institution, students and faculty – is self-driven
university, which is almost always a socially elite status-
and self-developing. Each grows of its own volition. One is
sensitive institution.
reminded of the worldview of the American pragmatists,
Because student formation occurs through the
Dewey and C.P. Mead, with their distinctive take on
immersion in knowledge, through the teaching-research
Kantian Bildung, which highlights the ubiquity of growth
nexus, faculty contribute both student formation and
in and through education (Kivela, Sijander & Sutinen, 2012,
knowledge making, at the same time. Each of the students
p. 307). At the same time, the growth of each – institution,
and the faculty then feed into the status of the corporate
student and faculty – provides favourable conditions for
institution. First, there is mutual status building between
the growth of the others.This suggests that solely in terms
elite self-forming students and the institution. By attracting
of its inner workings, the University must expand its role
high scoring students, universities enhance their own
and influence and resource usage over time.This includes
prestige. At the same time, elite universities confer prestige
its role as a status economy and the volume of social
on graduates. There is an exchange of status between
status that it manages.
university and student. Second, knowledge making faculty
The other point is that these three forms of agency
build research university status; while at the same time
have proven to be universalisable – or nearly so – on the
elite research universities harbour top researchers, and
world scale. The extent of similarity between universities,
provide them also with prestige. Again, we see that
everywhere, though from differing national and cultural
faculty and institution are engaged in an exchange of
contexts, is often remarkable. This is why global rankings,
status.There is a double exchange of status.The two status
despite their biases, omissions and inequalities, are
exchanges are interactive, because knowledge building
superficially plausible. The corporate institution, led by
by faculty, while it enhances the status of the institution,
a semi-autonomous strategic executive, is a form that is
also enhances the attractiveness of the institution to elite
now widely distributed; though the executive has varying
students. In the interdependency between the three
steering power; and government has a varying role,
elements that comprise the Inner University, social status
country by country, in directly regulating the University.
in different forms is both the currency and outcome of
On the faculty side, training regimes and career structures
exchange.
again vary markedly between countries, but the actual
The modern research University is a giant engine for
work of faculty in teaching, scholarship and research
producing and reproducing status. And to answer Clark
seems to have converged. On the student side, the modes
Kerr’s question, it is primarily this that holds it together.
of self-formation seem much the same everywhere,
The University as status-bearing and status-creating
though the balances between self-investment in position
organisation is another idea of a University, though it
and in knowledge can differ.
is not pretty. It is less about the curvature of aesthetics
A proof of the portability of the European/American
like Newman and more about the trajectory of lives and
university form is its ready adoption in East Asia, where
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civilization is deeply rooted and is different to the West
nation-state. Certainly, the University is conditioned by
in important respects. China, Singapore and South Korea
government, especially through funding and regulation.
have corporate university presidents, fecund researchers
It is by no means wholly determined by government or
and self-investing students. Each element is somewhat
even politics.
modified when compared to the originating American
Global research universities are partly disembedded
university form. In China and Singapore, the universities
from nation-states, operating with a high level of
are more closely embedded in the State than is the case
freedom outside the border, in their research and alliance
in the Atlantic countries. The faculty have a stronger
making (Beerkens, 2004). Universities and faculty, not
sense of responsibility to both their students and the
government regulation, shape the bulk of research
state. Students are more diligent in fashioning themselves
activity. Governments fund, and interfere, but they are
through education (Marginson 2016, Part II; Marginson
not the motive force. In their network analysis of science
2018a).
Caroline Wagner and colleagues concluded that “the growth of international collaboration” is “decoupling from
The Outer University: social roles
the goals of national science policy” (Wagner, et al., 2015, p. 3). Though governments think they fund research to
So far, this article has discussed the Inner University. It has
advance national policy goals, the quantitative network
stopped short of nesting the University in social purposes
analysis by Wagner and colleagues finds that in two
and roles, aside from making the point that it produces
thirds of nations, the pattern of national science activity
status, which is grounded in social relations. But when we
is now driven primarily by global networks, rather than
model the University today, the Outer University, nested in
the global patterns being driven by national research
society, is equally important to consider.
system activity (p. 9). This again emphasises the bottom
Newman and Kant imagined the university/society relationship as entirely university driven.
As noted,
up, agential character of faculty research. Nor do governments ultimately create, limit or
Newman believed that students immersed in knowledge
otherwise control student self-formation.
were thereby made fit for society. Kant believed that
the standard policy narrative, which is embedded in
persons immersed in learned knowledge would, working
everyone’s thinking, is that governments expand places in
together, both expand the space for public rationality and
higher education so as to provide opportunity and meet
generate the continuous improvement of society. There
the needs of the economy. Yet participation in higher
is something important in this supply-side vision. For
education is growing rapidly across the world in all
example, the greater is the number of students immersed
kinds of economies: manufacturing economies, services
in science, the more scope there is for science in public
economies, commodity economies, all but primarily
conversation and policy. Yet neither the Newman idea nor
agricultural economies in fact. Higher education is growing
the Kant idea capture what is socially distinctive about the
in economies with high growth rates and economies with
University or explain why society continues to sustain it.
low growth rates. In the longer run, family and student
The official narrative
As noted,
demand spills out from under all government efforts to limit the number of places. As participation expands
There is another narrative about the social role, that is
to include the whole middle class and moves further
sustained by national governments. In this discourse
down the family income scale, it becomes more difficult
government define the outcomes that universities should
for young people to stay outside higher education. The
serve. Government funds and regulates universities in
penalties of not having higher education are more severe,
order to secure social and individual benefits, which
in terms of both work and social standing. This, more
are primarily in the form of individual opportunity and
so than rates of return, drives the growth of demand
collective economic prosperity.This is a more prosaic, less
(Cantwell, et al. 2018;Trow 1973).
universal and more nation-bound version of the Kantian
Government gives ground, successively, to each
narrative. But this governmental narrative is not very
increase in the popular demand for opportunity. Its lack
convincing. The agency of each of the three forces that
of control over student self-formation is shown by the fact
have been described – the University as an institution,
that the participation rate does not fall, or if so it is a brief
the self-forming student, the knowledge making faculty
event and the enrolment trajectory goes back to growth
– is simply too strong and too autonomous to be
in students as a share of the age cohort. Participation rises
driven, defined, limited or contained by either nation or
inexorably over time. Government finds itself opening up
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Two unique social roles
though when it can it often shifts more of the cost onto families and students. Student self-formation in the
Arguably, the university has two primary external
University is socially driven, not policy driven.
functions, or sets of functions, and its growth and survival rest on these functions. In both of these fields of activity,
The New Everything?
social organisations other than the university also play a
If the official narrative is misleading, what is the unique
role, but the university has a special role – it is hegemonic
social role of the University? What does the University do,
within the total field of activity and shapes it elsewhere.
that no other organisation does, or does as well as it? Here
These two functions are occupational credentialing, and
the waters are muddy. As Clark Kerr said, multiversities
the production of codified knowledge.
do many things. As higher education expands universities take in more of society, spreads their activity maps and
Credentialing
adopt more and more stakeholders.
Credentialing is the master system whereby the University
At present the region and city building functions of
distributes status on the social scale. It is true that
universities are increasingly prominent: Universities are
occupational credentialing is shared between educational
evolving as adjuncts to local authorities within networked
bodies, public regulators and professional bodies. In law
governance and have long been
a
primary
of local jobs.
source
Along with
hospitals they are often the largest employers in smaller cities
and
medium-sized
and medicine, professional
Is the University the New Everything? Has it become the state, and society itself? No. Though universities are increasingly socially engaged.
towns. In the UK, universities
bodies and internships can be part of the final stage. However, the overall pattern of the last half century, in an ever-growing number of occupations, has been to
regularly monitor and report
diminish on the job training
on non-EU international students, operating in this
and increase the role of university classrooms, reading
manner as adjuncts of the Home Office. In many locations,
lists, essays and degree certificates. In some occupations
university performing arts provide the main local cultural
there is continued debate, and transfers to university are
life. Universities reach downwards into schools, run
sometimes (though rarely) reversed, but the primary
hospitals and sometimes information systems for whole
movement is clear.
health sectors. The National University of Mexico, as well conducting a quarter of the nation’s research, manages
Codification of knowledge
astronomical observatories, runs research ships up and
Likewise, many
down the Atlantic and the Pacific, provides symphony
knowledge and related information in various forms,
orchestras and houses the leading national football team.
from think tanks to media to government. Many non-
Is the University the New Everything? Has it become
university organisations conduct research, including
the state, and society itself? No. Though universities are
companies and public laboratories. However, in most
increasingly socially engaged, the question is how much
countries universities lead published science, and
ultimate responsibility they bear, and in which areas?
they have a near monopoly of the doctoral training of
We should distinguish core and non-core functions.
researchers for all sectors. Patterns vary by country but
Most of the activities listed above could be carried out
overall, the role of large research universities in research
by organisations other than universities. Many do not
is growing in relative terms. For example, in China
require intensive academic knowledge. Non-university
and Russia, some formerly separated academies and
agents might be better at the arts, football, or migration
laboratories have been merged into the university sector.
policy. Some functions in health or governance are only
Overall the research outputs of public laboratories
in universities because of neoliberal devolution strategies
and institutes are growing more slowly than those of
in which governments transfer their responsibilities
universities.
to autonomous public and private bodies. This is not a
kinds
of
organisations
produce
strong basis for the social role of universities. It also fails
Exchange between the two
to explain why that social role has proven to be both
The two social roles are heterogenous but have
tenacious and universal on a large and growing scale.
become combined. The University’s hegemony in
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codified knowledge determines the distinctive form
consequences than the production of social status alone.
taken by university teaching, which is Newman and
The codification of knowledge ranks the different kinds
von Humboldt’s idea of the immersion of student self-
of knowledge according to academic take-up, university
formation in knowledge. Students, like non-students,
of origin, and discipline. Credentialing also sorts
form themselves in many different parts of life, including
graduates on the basis of university and discipline. Both
the family, work and social media. Only in universities is
functions help to order institutions and shape student
knowledge an essential element of their self-formation.
investment. Once again, we find status is like a glue that
Credentialing is prior soaked in knowledge rather than
holds the modern University together. Branding, ranking,
in workplace skills, and this, in the diverse disciplines,
now dominate the landscape. We are all aware of status,
shapes the agency that graduates bring into the
at least in its institutional form. As noted, it is not pretty.
workplace. The potency of the credentialing function
It is certainly hierarchical. Coupled with the dominance
provides a powerful protection for the knowledge-
of traditional universities, the status economy is caste-
intensive learning regime.
like, reproductive, in its sorting function.
The fact that student self-formation immediately prior
Herein lies a paradox, grounded in a tension between
to work occurs through immersion in knowledge at
cultural and social values. The same Inner/Outer caste-
one step removed from work, and not primarily through
and-status economy also reproduces the more attractive
rehearsals for occupational practice, is a perpetual source
features of the University, such as knowledge production
of controversy. This means that the claims routinely made
and student learning as self-formation. If students did not
by business and industry, that graduates are not adequately
gain this form of social value at the moment of graduation,
prepared for the workplace in general, and for specific
their drive to educate themselves would be much reduced.
workplaces, will always be part of the public debate.
This in turn would reduce the extent of other forms of self-
Under some circumstances – for example near universal
formation in higher education, including their intellectual
participation in higher education, with low discrimination
and cultural growth; and through the interdependency
between different largely generic graduates which makes
between the teaching and research functions of the
it harder for employers to select, coupled with fast
University, it would reduce codified knowledge.The status
rising graduate unemployment – this tension could spell
economy enables us to maintain the idea of Newman, and
serious trouble for the University. It has not come to that.
the idea of Kant and von Humboldt – though primarily
Until now both the credentialing regime and codified
in the research intensive sub-sector. The University is less
knowledge have proven to be sufficiently useful for both
good at spreading those ideas to all.
students and industry. Each constitutes successful selfreproducing systems.
The (contemporary) historical university
Inner/Outer status economy
So, this then is the University. A powerful combination of institutional agency, family and student agency, and
One key to these processes of self-reproduction is
faculty agency. Articulated by knowledge, as Newman and
that both the social role of the External University
von Humboldt knew; articulated by credentials, as later
in knowledge, and the social role of the External
became apparent; and ever growing in size and function,
University in credentialing, are essential to status
as Kerr was the first to really understand. And in these
exchanges in the Inner University, and vice versa. This
processes driven and combined by the production and
knits the Inner and Outer University together. This is
exchange of status, as has been argued here.
another way of saying that it knits the University into
What are the implications for the real-life universities
the society in which it is embedded. Credentialing is the
we inhabit? The University has become exceptionally
medium for the exchange of status between university
dynamic in all three domains: the growth and worldwide
and student. The research function of the University
spread of high student participation, the worldwide
feeds into the value of its credentials. Immersion in
growth and spread of research activity and outputs,
knowledge is the prior condition of credentialing.
and the worldwide spread of the large multi-function
In self-formation students make themselves into
university as the paradigmatic post-school institution.
credential-able workers. And so on.
The fact that all three agencies exhibit this exceptional
These
inter-dependencies,
within
the
Inner/
Outer status economy of the University, have more
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primarily resourced nationally, its output is more global system driven than driven by bounded national systems.
First, student-self formation, manifest in the growth of participation. From 1995 to 2015 the world Gross
Spread of the multiversity
Enrolment Ratio (GER) in tertiary education as measured by UNESCO (2018) rose from 16 to 36 per cent, with four
Third, the spread of the large multi-discipline multi-
fifths of the world’s 216 million students enrolled in full
purpose and often multi-site multiversity form of
degree programs. Of those about half can be expected to
university. In the policy literature on diversity in higher
complete their degrees.
education, it is often assumed that a major growth of
The GER increased by 20 per cent in the last 20 years.
enrolment and provision must trigger a greater variety
At that rate the GER reaches 50 per cent by 2040. In 60
of institutions by type. This has not happened. With some
national education systems, the GER already exceeds
country exceptions, diversity by institution mission
half of the school leaver age cohort. The quality of mass
or type is static or declining, except in online and for-
higher education varies greatly, but it is clear that we
profit provision, which, however, remain secondary
are experiencing an extraordinary growth of educated
in all established higher education systems. (For a
“capability”, to use Amartya Sen’s (2000) term.
comprehensive review of patterns of diversity and the rise of the multiversity form see Antonowicz, Cantwell,
Faculty agency
Froumin, Jones, Marginson and Pinheiro, 2018).
Second, faculty agency, in the form of the growth of
discipline-specialist
knowledge. To access global science, nations need their
institutions. In many countries these have been merged
own trained people, not just users but producers of
into comprehensive multi-disciplinary universities. In
research who interact with researchers abroad. All high-
some cases, such as Ireland, non-university institutions
income and most middle-income countries now want
are being upgraded and redesignated as universities. In
their own science system and they are building doctoral
many though not all countries, a growing proportion of all
education and employing researchers in unprecedented
higher education students are in designated universities.
numbers. Alongside the expansion in student enrolment
It is likely a growing proportion are located in universities
since the mid 1990s there has been equally rapid growth
with significant research. Meanwhile the average size of
in investment in R&D and in the stock of published
comprehensive multi-disciplinary universities is growing.
knowledge. Between 1990 and 2015 US research spending
In elite research universities, as in other institutions, size
tripled in real terms. China grew its total investment in
is one source of relative advantage.
Overall there has been a reduction in the role of institutions, and
binary
sector
R&D from $13 billion to $409 billion (NSB, 2018). In 2003-2016 the total world output of science
Insecurities of the University
papers, mostly by university researchers rose from 1.2 to 2.3 million, an increase of 93 per cent in only 13
So, we experience worldwide the march of the
years (NSB, 2018). The growth of science in East Asia has
multiversity to fame and fortune. This is an institutional
been especially remarkable. More than one third of all
triumph on a scale unimaginable to Newman and
scientific papers published in English now include at
Humboldt. Perhaps the extent of the global radiation of the
least one author with a Chinese name (Xie & Freeman,
University and science would have surprised Kerr, though
2018). China now leads the world in the production
he did anticipate that the research multiversity would
of high citation papers in mathematics and computing
spread more widely across the world. But the continued
(Leiden University 2018. For more discussion of these
hegemony of the University over the codification of
tendencies and their implications see Marginson, 2018b;
knowledge, and occupational credentialing cannot be
Marginson, 2018c).
assumed. Indeed, the great growth of the university form,
These data have been listed in terms of nations, but
and its social functions, masks tensions and fragilities.
the growth of cross-border collaboration, as identified
These are more exposed when the context, especially
in the number of internationally co-authored papers, has
the political context, becomes significantly disturbed, as
been more rapid than the growth of scientific output
at present (for more discussion see Marginson, 2018c).
as a whole (NSB, 2018). As noted previously, science is
Then the many joins in this complex assemblage called
primarily bottom up and discipline based. Though it is
the University emerge as possible fault lines.
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Let us look – briefly, it is speculative – at the potentials
parts of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In those zones
and problems for the three kinds of agency (corporate
rampant marketisation, for example small private colleges
institution, students, faculty) and the two unique social
in India and for-profit and online delivery in Africa, is now
roles of the University, its role in relation to knowledge
blocking the evolution of high participation systems of
and its role in relation to credentialing.
higher education of adequate quality.
The institution
might pursue debundling of the multiversities as a kind
Perhaps governments under commercial pressure of crusade using anti-trust style legislation. In the EnglishThe University qua institution faces several risks. The
speaking world it would be difficult to do this across the
more the University becomes a container for the whole
federated United States or Canada, but easier to do so in
of society and is pulled this way and that between a
UK or Ireland, with their centralised polities.
huge range of roles, the greater the risk that it will lose command of its own destiny amid short-termism and multiple consumer-like stakeholder accountability.
Faculty agency
A
related problem, especially if the autonomy of the
There are two risks to faculty agency. The sharp end
University declines, is role dissonance. We see this already.
problem, in a small group of countries, is suppression.
In some institutions there is tension between on one hand
At present the countries severely at risk include Turkey,
local and national enmeshment, and on the other hand
Hungary and parts of the Middle East and Africa. Currently
global research, global mobility and the cosmopolitan
we hope the state politicisation of the University, as in
ideal. The external populist attack on science can be
the Cultural Revolution period, does not return to China.
seen off, although it is destabilising, but doubts about
We can hope that China stays off the list of countries
whether the University is locally committed are a slow
in which faculty agency is severely repressed, while
drip problem that is harder to evade.
noting that freedoms in minority zones such as Tibet
Debundling
and Xinjiang are of immediate concern. Presently most faculty in the sciences retain a broad scope to determine
More fundamentally, there are inefficiencies, diseconomies
their research, though there is government interference
of scope, in the combinatory model of the multiversity.
in research decisions (as in many countries); social
None of the functions of this conglomerate corporate
scientists, hemmed by official readings of ‘the social’,
institution are done especially well because they are part-
are more constrained than are natural scientists; and in
contaminated by other functions, and the finances of
China as elsewhere, performance management regulates
each part are never wholly separate.This leads to the core
faculty autonomy.
issue, the growing danger that confronts the University of
The larger and more universal danger for faculty
Newman, Kant and Kerr. Commercial companies want the
worldwide is a slow drip problem – the fragmentation of
University to be debundled between its teaching, research,
collective agency. Faculty agency is often exceptionally
credentialing and service functions. This would kick-start
strong in the leading universities but more imperilled
huge new opportunities in different industry sectors,
lower down. Fragmentation takes a number of forms,
while destroying the University and much of what it does.
including the relative growth of casual (hourly rate or
However, within a given national system of higher
‘part-time’) labour, erosion in the tenured posts as a
education, once the University form has been established
proportion of all posts in research intensive universities,
as hegemonic in higher education, it is hard to displace.
and the cowering of the capacity for educational and
Once established, the forces of aggregation and
research-based faculty judgments in lower tier institutions
combination seem to be stronger than the forces for
in which business norms predominate, and intellectual
debundling and the economic logic of specialisation/
curiosity is solely a means to the real ends which are
niches. The status economy that is the University secures
money and institutional marketing.
critical mass. A growing number of people invest in it. Debundling would undo the status economy, which has
Student self-formation
many beneficiaries in society. We see debundled higher education at scale only in
There are two risks to student self-formation. One is a
those zones in which the University as such has not been
problem that is eating into contemporary representative
strongly established, or remains a small elite sector, in
democracy (Runciman, 2018). The social media world
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of instant emotions, in which we connect instantly to
losers, and some would defend the University. The larger
thousands of others, is much more exciting than the
problem, which is less visible and where there is no
long hard slog of changing hegemonic opinion and
external constituency to mobilise in support, is the slow
shifting government policy. In democracy, the social
drip problem of the fragmentation of faculty agency in a
media conversation is displacing the slow discussion-
casualised academic labour market.
based process of winning support in political parties
Here universities themselves must be persuaded that
and institutions. In universities, the social media world
it is not in their interests to build institutional agency by
and the kind of agency it fosters can overshadow self-
deconstructing faculty agency. A relatively stable core
development in knowledge and labour markets with
faculty with critical mass is not a managerial weakness
their uncertain timelines and unpredictable rewards, and
but an education and research strength. Research-based
the intrinsic difficulty of the process. Relaying twitter
faculty sustain the immersion of learning in knowledge,
messages and posting photos is easy. Learning can be hard.
ensuring that the research mission is not a separate
It is impossible to see the self-forming student agency
economy decoupled from the rest, but feeds into the other
project collapsing on a large scale in East Asia but perhaps
parts of this unified status economy and the benefits that
it could happen in the United States.
it fosters, including Bildung.
The second danger that in more unequal societies, as
In this manner the contemporary University maintains
universal participation approaches, the rewards to each
unbroken the thin thread that it has inherited from
new layer of graduates will no longer sustain the economic
Newman and above all from Kant. That thread will break
drivers of self-formation, especially if the private costs of
someday. The lesson of natural and human history is that
higher education increase. The difference between being
nothing lasts for ever.We can hope that the thread will not
a graduate and being a non-graduate will shrink at the
break soon. For at this time we have nothing better with
margin to zero. In essence, this is the danger that the
which to replace it.
growth of human capability will outstrip the expansion of opportunities to use that capability (Cantwell, et al.,
Notes
2018, Chapter 16). This is not an immediate danger except perhaps in
This article was first delivered as an evening lecture to the
the United States. In the US tertiary participation is near
National University of Ireland in Dublin, on 7 November
universal but completion is weak, private costs are rising
2018. The author thanks Patricia Maguire from NUI, and
and social inequality is rampant, so that the bottom layer
thanks the participant audience for stimulating discussion.
of graduates has poor prospects. Elsewhere there is
For further supporting arguments, data and references,
further to go before the University ceases to be the hope
see the book High Participation Systems of Higher
of aspiring families.
Education (Cantwell et al., 2018).
The thin thread
Simon Marginson is Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Education and Linacre College, University of
In the last analysis the future of the University rests on the
Oxford, UK. He is also Principal Investigator at the ESRC/
continued healthy evolution of the two social connectors,
OFSRE Centre for Global Higher Education, and a member of
which are knowledge and credentials.The two are related.
the AUR Editorial Board.
If credentials were separated from the learning program
Contact: simon.marginson@education.ox.ac.uk  
and became based on measured occupational skills, selfformation would no longer be immersed in knowledge. Likewise, those same credentials would no longer be underpinned by the University qua university and the bottom would be knocked out of the status economy in higher education. But the greatest danger that the cotemporary University faces is not debundling, which would only occur under certain political conditions and would be contested. Debundling would deconstruct the social value of past degrees as well as present degrees; it would create many vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
References Antonowicz, D., Cantwell, B., Froumin, I., Jones, G., Marginson, S. & Pinheiro, R. (2018). Horizontal diversity. In B. Cantwell, S. Marginson & A. Smolentseva (eds.), High Participation Systems of Higher Education (pp. 94-124). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Beerkens, H. (2004), Global Opportunities and Institutional Embeddedness: Higher education consortia in Europe and Southeast Asia, doctoral thesis, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, University of Twente, http://www.utwente.nl/ cheps/documenten/thesisbeerkens.pdf. Biesta, G. (2002). Bildung and modernity: The future of Bildung in a world of difference. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 21, pp. 343-352. The Kantian University Simon Marginson
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Unveiling opportunities for hope Is it too much to ask for a compassionate university? Bill Boyd & Airdre Grant Southern Cross University
A few years ago, one of us responded, in this journal,
so on.As far back as 1992, the effects of such organisational
to an article by Australian academic Eva Peterson, who
sensibilities were recognised for the potentially destructive
had set out to celebrate the joy of an academic career
forces they appear to have become (Palmer, 1992). At
(Boyd & Horstmanshof, 2013). Peterson explored the
that time, Palmer noted the importance of balance and
narratives of the aspirations of research academics as they
symbiosis between, on the one hand, the conservative role
moved forward in the academy, only to find a tale of woe
of organisations and, on the other hand, the dynamic roles
(Peterson, 2011). There was, found Peterson, a malaise in
of social movements, in simultaneously maintaining status
the university. Early career scholars were making choices
quo and driving change. This balance, Palmer reminded us,
and expressing aspirations in an atmosphere of, as they
is essential to a healthy society. However, he then warned
understood and experienced it, overwork and undervalue.
us (p. 10),‘when an organisation mentality is imposed on a
Instead of exciting career path strategies, Peterson
problem that requires movement sensibilities, the result is
encountered coping strategies and exit strategies. She
often despair’. It appears we have progressed beyond this
concluded that policy makers and university managers
Palmerian moment.
would do well to listen to the stories of these academics,
This opinion piece is, for this moment, a response, a
their narratives, instead of continuing, as she claimed, to
thinking experiment about how to make a shift against
dismiss and denigrate them. A grim picture indeed: one
narratives that oppress, and how to respond positively to the
that, although the word was not used, lacked compassion.
‘compelling need for compassionate academic leadership in
We prefer, for the moment, not to revisit that tale of
our universities’ (Waddington, 2018, p.87).We unashamedly
woe. We do note, nevertheless, that such a tale reflects a
draw on writers from more demanding educational
common situation in the academy. Many academics begin
circumstances – from the socially charged environments
their career at university full of hope and ambition, to
of late twentieth century Brazil and the emergence of
do, as Anne Pirrie (2018) calls it, ‘good work well’. They
post-apartheid South Africa – to provide inspiration that
arrive with plans to inspire their students, to instil a love
demonstrates change is possible in the academy.
of learning and of their chosen discipline, only to have
How do we know that we are beyond the Palmerian
the shine on their hope tarnished by the sheer grind of
moment? The evidence is clear. It lies in the narratives
working in a higher education institution. There are many
that academics provide when asked about their daily
reasons for this – the increasing bureaucratisation of the
experience of working in the university. We appear to
university, shifting government and societal expectations,
be in a situation, rightly or wrongly, that fosters deficit
performance reporting processes, attitudes towards
narratives, narratives of coping, narratives of leaving,
university education as job training, funding pressures, and
and narratives of despair. These are easy narratives to
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perpetuate, founded on a strong sense of being uncared
often second-career academics whose professional
for, of being unappreciated, and of being put upon. Who
cultural upbringing was outside the university – whose
reading this opinion piece has not experienced the
daily reality appears to accord with the deficit narrative.
narratives of woe from disgruntled colleagues? The war
Second career academics hold up a useful mirror against
stories of excessive hours of marking? The inequities of
which to check the health of the university. Without
rules that ‘they’, some faceless others, impose upon us?
a scholarly apprenticeship – the years of PhD training
Others who get promoted but could not, it is asserted
and post-doctoral uncertainty – they are less immune to
with righteous indignation, teach their way out of a
the curiosities of academic culture. In short, they often
brown paper bag? These are powerful narratives, which,
simply don’t get it. Helping them transition into academe
importantly, largely serve to reinforce negative visions
– refocusing their narratives – is important work; no one,
of working in the university – the ‘paradigm of suffering’
generally, helped them when they were first employed. It
that Dickson & Summerville argue need to be replaced
is an opportunity to instil some good will and optimism –
by the ‘right to be well’ (2018, p. 24). In short, these are
a vote of confidence, if you like – into their working day.
narratives borne of, and potentially validating, a tangible
An academic’s good will and optimism – should it not
sense of lack of compassion in the system. Perhaps we are
be subsumed by the daily grind – is reflected in all aspects
being gentle in such an assessment; perhaps we should be
of working life. It is especially important in building
more direct.Take, for example, Freire and Faundez’s (1989,
and maintaining compassionate collegial and student
p. 42) assessment of the situation: ‘Brutalising the work
interactions. This emotional component of work echoes
force by subjecting them to routine procedures is part of
throughout the institution and throughout the student
the nature of the capitalist mode of production. And what
experience. Students – our greatest teachers, according
is taking place in the reproduction of knowledge in the
to Freire – continually remind us of this point. They can
schools is in large part a reproduction of that mechanism.’
enlighten us, if we are listening and paying attention.
Regardless of perspective, however, for those who
Students, for example, are clear about the role of empathy:
value the institution of the university, these are worrisome
empathy in workplace culture can have a huge influence
narratives. Is it possible to counter them? Paulo Freire,
in how they feel; role modelling of empathy is crucial; and,
despite the previous quote, offers a two-pronged
regardless of the positive benefits of an empathetic approach
statement of hope: an early declaration of intent – ‘In
to ones work, maintaining empathy in the contemporary
order to achieve humanisation, which presupposes the
workplace can be challenging (Hughes et al., 2018).
elimination of dehumanising oppression, it is absolutely
It is important to counter the deficit narrative with
necessary to surmount the limit-situations in which men
acknowledgement of reality. Such a declarative stance
[and women] are reduced to things’ (Freire, 1970, p. 93) –
may require dogged optimism. One way to support
followed by a later statement of practice – ‘This capacity
that optimism is to look to the educational greats, the
to always begin anew, to make, to reconstruct, and to not
distinguished voices who affirm the vitally important role
spoil, to refuse to bureaucratise the mind, to understand
and transformative responsibilities that are embedded with,
and to live as a process – live to become – is something
and in, teaching practice. One of the greatest optimists is
that always accompanied me throughout life’ (Freire,
the aforementioned Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire.
1993, p. 98). In short, yes, it is possible to counter these
We are, perhaps obviously, inspired by him, his words, his
worrisome narratives.
passion, his thoughts. We are inspired, in particular, when
It is now a matter of considering how we might replace
he talks about the task of the teacher and mentor as being
such deficit narratives. As experienced academics, we
to ‘unveil opportunities for hope, no matter what the
know that it is not enough to simply say that things are not
obstacles may be’ (Freire, 1992, p. 133; emphasis added).
as bad as you think.The strength of the deficit narrative is
Academics such as Vandeyar and Swart (2016), in their
palpable; it is, indeed, a self-reinforcing power. We suggest,
work on South African teaching practice, echo such
however, that it is possible to co-opt or appropriate the
opportunity of hope as they seek to rebuild post-apartheid
narrative as a powerful and positive mode of expression
compassion in education. We have much to learn from
in itself, to use it to counter negativity, and to instil some
such charged conditions. Vandeyar and Swart write about
sense of hope and compassion into the system. We have,
the need for a pedagogy of compassion in the creation
indeed, already done this, and it works (Boyd et al., 2012,
of a socially just and aware society. This is especially
2013). As a senior academic, one of us adopted the role
important if we accept the transformative purpose of
as a mentor to early and mid-career academics – indeed
teaching, and, therefore, acknowledge the responsibilities
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that come with a transformative role. A teacher who
important comment about the teacher and the student:
embodies compassion in their teaching practice models
they become ‘jointly responsible for a process in which all
to students a way of thinking and operating in the world
grow’ (we have added the emphasis). In acknowledging the
has long term social impact.
etymological roots of the word university – Latin,‘the whole,
Teachers not only need to be able to raise the critical consciousness of learners but they need to adopt an ‘epistemology of compassion’ in order to enable learners to become active critical citizens, imbued with a sense of common humanity and compassion. … becoming an agent of transformative change may challenge the very premise of teachers’ identities and practices, but by empowering the learner to exert influence on her world, the teacher is in turn also changed and empowered (Vandeyar & Swart, 2016, p. 141).
aggregate’ and, notably, Late Latin, ‘a number of persons
When academics are bound in a deficit narrative,
picaresque exploration of creative transformation needed
however, their commitment to, and capacity for, a
in the modern university, goes further. She helps us join the
pedagogy of compassion may be much diminished. And
dots between joint responsibility and an ethical imperative:
so we come to the next question: How do we empower
‘It is only by exercising the ethical imagination and
academics to set aside deficit narratives and take up
acknowledging the extent to which we are intertwined and
compassion? We note that narratives play a critical role
entangled in a world of things,’ she reminds us,‘that we can
in both threatening and enabling compassion in the
restore the ethical centre to the ‘hollowed’ out university’
university system. ‘Our only truth is narrative truth, the
(Pirrie, 2018, preface p. 12). In practical terms, Maginess &
stories we tell each other and ourselves – the stories we
MacKenzie (2018, p. 42) help us progress such restoration:
continually recategorise and refine,’ another Bill Boyd,
‘One way in which we might cultivate compassionate
not the same Bill Boyd co-authoring this opinion piece,
regard,’ they suggest, ‘is to use the embodied experiences
informs us (Boyd, 2018), ‘Such subjectivity is built into
and suggestive capacities of literature to [re]imagine or
the very nature of memory and follows from its basis and
[re]conceive beliefs or attitudes, to cultivate perception,
mechanisms in the brains we have. The wonder is that
discernment and responsiveness’.
associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation …’ – the notion of joint responsibility becomes a potent signifier of a compassionate relationship in the university; compassion ceases to be just as a ‘private interpersonal value, but [becomes] a broader institutional and global value’ (Maginess & MacKenzie, 2018, p. 42). Again, perhaps we are being too gentle in proposing such a suggestion. Anne Pirrie, in her 2018 self-acknowledged
aberrations of a gross sort are relatively rare and that for
Returning to Boyd’s characterisation of narratives
the most part our memories are so solid and reliable.’ In
as stories that ‘we continually recategorise and refine’,
other words, narrative is fundamental to our survival in
Freire reminds us that, ‘knowledge emerges only
the world.‘The only truth,’ Boyd continues,‘is the narrative
through invention and re-invention, through the restless,
truth. Now that is something to contemplate.’
impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings
OK, narratives are essential to survival. How, then, might
pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other’
we, in the ethos of the ancient martial arts, use the strength
(Anon, 2018a). This is the place of ‘chance encounters,
of narrative against itself? Boyd draws our attention to
missed opportunities, vague inklings, sudden rushes of
some most important truths: of the fundamental nature
excitement, trip and slips, falling down and getting up
of the narratives we build and tell and remember; of the
again that are part of ethical professional practice’ (Pirrie,
continuity of our recategorisation and refinement of
2018, preface p. 2). The problem – amongst many – with
narratives; of the essential truthfulness of narratives. It is
deficit narratives is that they refuse recategorisation and
these qualities that may perpetuate a deficit narrative or
definition. They refuse to engage the chance encounters,
may reinvigorate a compassionate narrative. It is these
missed opportunities, vague inklings and so on. And they
qualities that allow a university academic to cease being
refuse to get up after falling down. Importantly, they stifle
the reactive agent that the deficit narrative demands of
restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry. And how
him or her. It is these qualities that also allow the same
better could we describe the work and purpose of the
academic to become an active agent in a compassionate
academy than as ‘restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful
education.To allow the teaching academic to no longer be,
inquiry’? Our responsibility, therefore, has to be to
in more words from Freire, ‘merely the-one-who-teaches,
reinvigorate the opportunity for such an inquiry. One way
but one who is him/herself taught in dialogue with the
to do so is through narratives of hope.
students, who in turn while being taught also teach’ (Anon,
When the overarching narrative of a university shifts
2018a). Importantly, Freire’s observation is followed by an
toward
employability, commercial
imperatives
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industry needs – the ‘increasingly [focus] on the private,
and obligations? It is here that Paulo Freire (again!) speaks
rather than the public good’ (Maginess & MacKenzie, 2018,
clearly and directly to the art of teaching and the deep
p. 42) – and overwhelms narratives of scholarship and
emotional and spiritual commitment it entails.
graduates as citizens, of critical thinking, of intellectual rigour and of social compassion – Etzkowitz et al.’s (2000, p. 325) ‘evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm’ – this impacts on the entire agenda of work at the university and, to go to the core of the university, its intellectual foundations. And, as Pirrie reminds us, this
I understand the process of teaching as an act of love. I mean, it is not an act of love in the formal sense, and never in the bureaucratic sense. It is an act of love as an expression of good care, a need to love, first of all, what you do. Can you imagine how painful it is to do anything without passion, to do everything mechanically? (Darder, 2002, p. 92)
impact is significant. It is surely no coincidence that the distortions of the modern university have been brought about by the predominance of the business model of higher education. The result of this has been an increased emphasis on target setting, rigid systems of performance management and in the development of ever more sophisticated techniques of monitoring and surveillance. Contrary to the expectations of the architects of these widespread systemic changes, such developments have made it considerably more difficult to get on with the deceptively straightforward business of doing good work well. (Pirrie, 2018, preface pp. 1-2; emphasis added)
Another approach might be to draw established university practices to guide us towards a compassionate perspective? The well-established, and establishment, realm of human research ethics offers principles that can be extended well beyond the remits of human research (Boyd, 2014). Human research, it is widely acknowledged, is bound by principles of respect and codes of behaviour, principles and codes that could – we suggest should – be adopted in the day-to-day running of an institution such as a university.These could and would guide a new age of morally and socially responsible and respectful behaviour
And yet, the employability, commercial, industry
in the institution. Principles such as merit, integrity, justice,
and private purpose holds fast in most aspects of the
beneficence and respect (Anon, 2018b) must surely guide
modern university’s work and being. This is despite
us towards a compassionate workplace.To be meaningful,
what Waddington (2018, p. 87) reminds us about our
these well-accepted but purely abstract concepts need
universities, that they ‘still have a duty of care; a moral and
to be tangible and palpable. They need to be visible as
legal obligation to ensure that everyone associated with
practice and material in the workplace. What do they
the institution, whether this be students, employees or
look like? What do they sound like? What do they feel
the general public, are fully protected from any personal
like? The answers can be deceptively simple. They look
physical and/or emotional harm …[and that] care,kindness
like work and work processes that are fair and just, that
and compassion are not separate from being professional;
do not impose stress on people, and that are honest and
rather, they represent the fundamentals of humanity in
true to the purpose of the job. They sound like language
the workplace’. Given that, as Waddington also reminds us,
that acknowledges people’s humanity, that praises and
‘compassion is now a crucial and core concern in tertiary
acknowledges from the heart, and that respects each
education’, it has to be possible to open a door to another
employee’s individuality. They feel like joy at, and from,
future, to the university characterised by compassionate
work, not just tolerance of too few hours for too much
narratives of critical thinking, of citizenship, of shared
work.They look, sound and feel like, in the words of Paulo
responsibility of a true community. The question is now
Freire, acts of love. As he, yet again, reminded us, ‘it is
one, simply, of what such narratives can look like.
impossible to teach without the courage to love, … it is
It is complicated, but there are several possibilities, several openings of, and for, opportunities of hope.We can
impossible to teach without a forged, invented and wellthought-out capacity to love’ (Freire, 1998, p. 3).
turn to the commitment to a pedagogy of compassion.
Perhaps our universities need to consider what this looks
After all, it is possible to do so in the charged conditions
like as an institution.And in doing so, they may discover acts
of transition from apartheid to post-apartheid South
of compassion and love that can, as one of us has previously
Africa (Vandeyar, 2013; Vandeyar & Swart, 2016). How
suggested,‘realistically reflect the diverse, troublesome and
can academics maintain their commitment to a pedagogy
contingent contexts of academics’ desires to engage’ in
of compassion and to a teaching practice that speaks
their work as academics (Boyd et al., 2012, p. 13).They may
to the spirit of their students beyond, for example,
even discover a shared narrative, a collaborative moment, in
employability goals? How can academics maintain their
which compassion ensures that, as has also been previously
own spirits when surrounded by institutional constraints
demonstrated (Boyd et al., 2013, p. 37, emphasis added),
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‘the narrator’s story gets told, that it is acknowledged as
Higher Education Area, 2014(2), 1-20. www.ehea-journal.eu.
being an authentic telling of the narrator’s experience,
Boyd, B. (2018). The Literacy Advisor. Retrieved from https://literacyadvisor. wordpress.com/.
the collaborative process enhances this as a … mutual storytelling and restorying …’. In suggesting this possibility, we share Pirrie’s (2018, preface p. 12) vision of reinvigorating relationships in a way that ‘reconciles care about each other – about each and every one of us – and care about performance [read the daily activities of being an academic]’. Universities which can demonstrate their compassionate credentials will be successful universities (Waddington, 2018), although this will require ‘kindness in leadership and compassionate institutional cultures … their leaders … to embody compassion in their leadership practice … and be a shared approach’ (p. 87). Waddington has a vision of universities ‘characterised by openness, curiosity, kindness, authenticity, appreciation and above all compassion’. This ‘more socially-oriented concept of compassion’ advocated by Caddell & Wilder (2018, p. 14) shifts the emphasis from individual academics – their ‘personal resilience, ... work-life balance, and … soft-skills
Boyd, W. & Horstmanshof, L. (2013). Response to Petersen on ‘Staying or going?’ Australian early career researchers’ narratives. Australian Universities’ Review, 55(1), 74-79. Boyd, W.E., O’Reilly, M., Rendall, R., Rowe, S., Wilson, E., Dimmock, K., Boyd, W., Nuske, E., Edelheim, J., Bucher, D. & Fisher, K. (2012). “Friday is my research day”: chance, time and desire in the search for the teaching-research nexus in the life of a university teacher. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(2), 19pp. http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol9/iss2/2 Boyd, W.E., Parry, S., Burger, N., Kelly, J, Boyd, W. & Smith, J. (2013). Writing for ethical research: novice researchers, writing, and the experience of experiential narrative. Creative Education, 4(12A), 30-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ ce.2013.412A1005 Caddell, M. & Wilder, K. (2018). Seeking compassion in the measured university: Generosity, collegiality and competition in academic practice. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 14-23. Darder, A. (2002). Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love. Cambridge: Westview Press Dickson, L & Summerville, T. (2018). ‘The truth about stories’: Coming to compassionate pedagogy in a first-year program. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 24-29.
from which to explore the everyday interactions within
Etzkowitz, H., Webster, A., Gebhardt, C. & Terra, B.R.C. (2000). The future of the university and the university of the future: evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm. Research Policy, 29(2), 313-330.
the university and consider the practical and political steps
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury.
to manage everyday interactions’ – to ‘a fresh perspective
required to create supportive work environments’. It is too much to ask for a return to being ‘jointly
W
Freire, P. (1992). Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.
responsible for a process in which all grow’? And is it too
Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the City. New York: Continuum
much to ask for what Trail & Cunningham (2018) simply call ‘The Compassionate University’?
Freire, P. (1998). Teachers as Cultural Workers – Letter to Those Who Dare to Teach. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Postscript
Freire, P. & Faundez, A. (1989). Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation. New York: Continuum.
As this article was being finalised for publication, the Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice published a Special Issue on Compassionate Pedagogy (2018, 6 (3)). Readers are encouraged to explore further
Hughes, K., Alexjuk, E.J., Paterson, J., Whittington, R. & Spielman, S. (2018). Beginning a conversation on teaching about empathy in practice. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(2), 99-103. Maginess, T. & MacKenzie, A. (2018). Achieving moralised compassion in higher education. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 42-48.
(https://jpaap.napier.ac.uk/index.php/JPAAP/issue/view/23).
Palmer, P.J. (1992). Divided no more: A movement approach to educational reform. Change Magazine, 24(2), 10-17.
Bill Boyd is Professor of Geography at Southern Cross
Petersen, E.B. (2011). Staying or going? Australian early career researchers’ narratives of academic work, exit options and coping strategies. Australian Universities’ Review, 53(2), 34-42.
University, Australia Airdre Grant is an academic in the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Southern Cross University, Australia Contact: william.boyd@scu.edu.au
References Anon. (2018a). Paulo Freire Quotes. Retrieved from https://www.azquotes.com/ author/5153-Paulo_Freire. Anon. (2018b). National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. Canberra: National Health & Medical Research Council, Australian Government. Boyd, B. (2014). Adapting research ethics principles and practices to enhance professional coursework education in universities. Journal of the European vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
Pirrie, A. (2018). Virtue and the Quiet Art of Scholarship: Reclaiming the University. London: Routledge. Trail, J. & Cunningham, T. (2018). The Compassionate University: How University of Virginia is changing the culture of compassion at a large, American public university. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 49-56. Vandeyar, S. (2013). Teaching a class act of human compassion. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(8), 57‒61. Vandeyar, S. & Swart, R. (2016). Educational change: a case for a ‘pedagogy of compassion’. Education as Change, 20(3), 141-159. Waddington, K. (2018). Developing compassionate academic leadership: The practice of kindness. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(3), 87-89. Unveiling opportunities for hope Bill Boyd & Airdre Grant
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REVIEWS
It’s time! Whitlam’s Children: Labor and the Greens in Australia by Shaun Crowe ISBN 9780522874051 (paperback), Melbourne University Publishing, 265 pages, 2018. Reviewed by Paul Rodan
The title of this book (an adapted PhD thesis) links the
sometimes be confronted with electoral results that may
emergence of the Greens with aspects of the political
necessitate some form of cooperation or arrangement
legacy of Labor hero Gough Whitlam. But, while the
with the Greens.
environment emerged as a key issue during the Whitlam
Unfortunately for the Greens, the November 2018
years, it did so without much initial encouragement from
Victorian election failed to live up to its promise to be
the great man himself, a point made clear in the memoirs
such an election. Speculation that the Labor Government
of Labor’s first minister for the environment, Moss Cass.
might fall into minority status proved unfounded with the
(Cass, Encel & O’Donnell, 2017). Moreover, Whitlam was
party easily securing re-election in its own right. Indeed,
an almost fanatical supporter of a strong two-party system,
the Greens had a problem-plagued campaign and probably
viewing it as a virtual sine qua non of parliamentary
polled below expectations. A glance at the electoral
democracy. It is unlikely that he endorsed the notion of
horizon would seem to reveal few if any prospects for
competition for the progressive vote.
power-sharing (barring a hung parliament in the 2019
The book commences with an outline of the Australian
federal election) beyond the current ACT arrangement.
political party system, from federation to 2007. In this
Crowe’s analysis is informed by interviews with an
history, the ALP’s emergence as the single parliamentary
impressive list of (over forty) Labor and Greens activists,
party of the left stands out—a contrast with the major
including present and former parliamentarians. On
conservative party which, for nearly a century has usually
Labor’s side, several members see little common ground
had to seek coalition in order to govern at the national
with the Greens and are at odds with the minor party’s
level (and in some of the states).
failure to worship at the altar of economic growth. They
Labor’s strong position reflected the reality of class-
also allege Greens indifference to the protection of
based politics up until at least the 1960s. Put simply, the
working-class jobs, in which context, ALP links with trade
ALP had a virtual monopoly on the progressive side of
unions are seen as vital. At worst, they see the Greens
politics (all three Labor splits were essentially to the
as comprising educated elites whose detachment from
right), unless one counted the Communist Party, and it
economic and social reality inures them to the struggles
was hardly any sort of rival in electoral politics.
of life outside the inner-suburbs. This is not an outlook
Crowe traces developments at the end of that period,
likely to encourage cooperation and these Labor people
locating the Australian experience in the context of the
would find parliamentary reliance on Greens support
emergence in comparable democracies of a tertiary-
hard to endure; some were scarred by the experience of
educated post-material cohort of voters, whose agenda
the Gillard Government.
would prove challenging for the long term-social
A second Labor element is less at odds ideologically
democratic parties whose territory was now threatened.
with the Greens, seeing common ground on social issues
This discussion usefully summarises the academic
and sharing reservations about neoliberal economics,
literature on the associated transition within the system
and with a strong commitment to the environment. This
from “mass party” to “catch-all party”.
sentiment has allegedly been identified in various inner-
With the two-party system in obvious decline, Crowe’s
suburban Labor branches where the Greens are seen as an
interest in the Labor-Greens relationship is of more than
organisational, not ideological foe, looking to some more
academic significance, as it is possible that the ALP will
like Labor with a conscience. I might add that this group
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is implicitly aware of the Greens’ superior appeal to the
and supply, leaving legislation to case-by-case negotiation.
idealism of youth, a field seemingly long abandoned by
This can make for a precarious parliamentary life, but one
pragmatic Labor. Two features are seen as helping keep
gets the impression that many in the ALP might see it as
such sympathisers within ALP ranks: a desire to participate
the lesser of two evils.While both sides praised the Gillard
in a party which can form government, and the enduring
Government for its negotiating acumen and legislative
value of that party’s historical trade union links. A cynic
record, they had to concede that both parties lost ground
might add that such links tend to give some of them their
in the 2013 election that saw Tony Abbott elected.
jobs. This group is more likely than the first to view longterm cooperation as possible.
The author is restrained in offering views of his own, mostly presenting and interpreting events and interview
As befits the book’s title, some older Greens players
material. An important point for this reviewer is that the
were attracted to Whitlam’s agenda, and then disillusioned
Australian two-party system is dead, mostly due to the
by Hawke and Keating. Contrary to stereotypes about
demise of the class system that underpinned it. Thus,
identity politics, most were primarily attracted to the
ALP members pining for a return of their monopoly of
Greens because of a strong commitment to environmental
the progressive vote are likely to be disappointed, even
protection. And, unlike Labor over the past few decades,
if the Greens vote may be reaching some sort of plateau.
there is not a neoliberal to be found in these Green ranks.
Whether a working or even tolerable relationship can
Opposition to unfettered free markets was a theme for
be developed with the Greens (when necessary) will
several interviewees, with the ALP criticised for its timidity
probably depend on which Labor version of their “foe”,
in failing to adequately regulate business.
as discussed above, emerges as the dominant perspective.
The theme of disillusionment with Labor is connected for some with their prior ALP membership. The
Perhaps neither view will prevail, and relations will limp along as now.
compromises required in seeking majority support and
In a stimulating foreword, academic and former WA
“appeasing voters and interest groups” are too great, Labor
premier Geoff Gallop asks (inter alia) how the Labor/
is too cautious and its “underlying materialism” (p. 81)
Greens relationship compares with that between the
blinds it to the problems facing society. Some cite negative
Liberals and Nationals, a question beyond the scope of
experiences when interacting with Labor governments,
the book, but certainly an interesting one. One wonders
and dissatisfaction over response to climate change is
whether those Labor activists most hostile to the Greens
a recurring theme. Some such as now ex-senator Lee
regard their differences with them as more fundamental
Rhiannon saw no prospect of grass roots power within
than those between the conservative coalition partners?
Labor, although her version of it within the NSW Greens
Is their current electoral contest that dissimilar to that
clearly caused some friction within that branch.
between the Liberals and Nationals, the difference being
In the second half of the book, the author uses the experience of the Gillard minority government to illuminate the relationship between Labor and the
that the conservatives have had many decades to carve out an agreement about who runs in which seats. Among
other
areas
meriting
further
research,
Greens, with a focus on the policy areas of climate
exploration of the characteristics and backgrounds
change, refugees and the mining tax. On balance, Greens
of Greens voters is one such potential topic. Without
respondents were more positive about the minority
wishing to endorse the ALP stereotype of the party, it has
government experience than were Labor people, but it is
always seemed odd to this observer that up to 20 per cent
clear that a major party and a minor party bring different
of Greens voters gave their preferences to Liberal rather
frames of reference to the relationship. A major party is in
than Labor in lower house seats. Why? Who are these
the business of maximising its vote across a wider section
people?
of the electorate. Characterised by Gillard (on the asylumseeker issue) as “a dual constituency issue” (p. 171), this
Paul Rodan is an adjunct professor with Swinburne University
problem simply doesn’t exist for a minor party that hovers
and a member of the AUR Editorial Board
at around ten per cent of the national lower house vote. With hindsight, several interviewees regarded the formality of the Labor-Greens agreement, complete with signing ceremony, as a mistake. Those Labor people
Reference Cass, M., Encel, V. & O’Donnell, A. (2017). Moss Cass and the Greening of the Australian Labor Party, Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne, 2017.
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I create, therefore I am Creativity Crisis. Toward a post-constructivist educational future by Robert Nelson ISBN 9781925523270, Monash University Publishing, 264 pages, 2018. Reviewed by Andrys Onsman
I know Robert Nelson from my days at Monash University.
better according to a pre-determined marking rubric.This,
He wrote a perspicacious and complimentary review of
Nelson argues, assumes there is a set of skills, knowledge
my book on representative art and imagery as semiotics
and attitudes already in existence that the student must
and social signifiers in cultural othering. I also know him as
cognitively assimilate during (or prior to) a course of
an enthusiastic, engaging and learned teacher because my
study. As such it discourages students from discovering
job at the time was to get everyone who taught at Monash
skills, knowledge and attitudes that are not on the rubric.
on board with aligning their intended learning outcomes
There is a growing body of evidence that that approach
to their assessment tasks and letting their students know
precludes the development of artistic exploration and
exactly what was required of them. I’m not entirely sure
experimentation (why is it necessary to draw distinction
whether such prior knowledge should disqualify me
between scientific and artistic experimentation?). It is
from reviewing his new book, but I acknowledge that my
readily apparent that constructive alignment is a poor fit
response to it may be swayed towards the positive – at
in conservatoria of music and schools of art, contributing
least in the first instance. In any case, I’ve put my cards on
to learning outcomes that can be measured comparatively.
the table, so from here on in, it’s up to you.
As Derek Bailey put it last century, in order to become an
I also acknowledge at the onset that I do not consider
artist, you start off copying the masters and then use what
reflexion to be synonymous with reflection. The latter
you’ve learnt to develop your own voice. He adds that
refers to contemplative consideration and analysis, the
the second part of that statement often gets lost. Nelson
former refers to automatic reaction. In truth, it annoys
argues that constructive alignment assures that it does.
me that the two are used interchangeably, even though
But Nelson casts his net much further than Art. In
technically it is correct to do so. And I’m not overly
short, he argues that all learning ought to be the product
enamoured with the “summary of chapters” malarkey that
of creation rather than construction. The difference
seems to have become the norm in books these days. I
hinges on whether learning is seen as epistemological or
understand their use in finding out what each chapter
ontological. Nelson’s proposition suggests that the whole
is about so you can decide whether or not to buy it but
shebang would benefit from restructuring towards the
chapters belong in books, and buying one or two of them
latter, and thereby flies in the face of popular practice
seems disrespectful. I expect the next step will be to have
and is, at first blush, unlikely to occasion any great change
summaries in tweet form: then no one will have to read
in practice. But Nelson is also a writer of prosaic fluidity,
more than 280 characters at a time. Perhaps it’s time to
artfully supported by a wide array of references and
start a ‘slow reading’ craze; where people read reflectively
precedents, and he puts his case convincingly. And even
rather than reflexively….
if you don’t necessarily agree with his thesis, you will be
In Creativity Crisis, Nelson argues fundamentally that
richly rewarded if you allow yourself to follow its narrative
the constructive alignment of learning (CAL) can have
arc.You may even find yourself questioning if constructive
a deleterious effect on imagination and on creativity,
alignment actually does warrant its sacrosanct place in
particularly the latter’s function when learning is seen as
education.
doing in order to discover stuff. Seeing that constructive
There are 14 chapters in the book.The first and second
alignment continues to be the cornerstone of curriculum
outline what is wrong with the higher education world
planning and teaching structuring in the universe of
and how CAL became manifest in the system on the back
higher education, it is nothing if not a brave call.The typical
of a dubious premise, and the last is a summary of the
university syllabus is constructed as a guide to what the
argument for an ontological approach. Chapters 3 to 13
student needs to acquire in order to score adequately or
exemplify the argument from different perspectives and
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in various contexts, but they all make the same point:
analysis is far more detailed and interesting, but the
CAL depends on what is to be learnt being extant and
substance of the chapter is that teachers should be nice,
known and articulated as intended learning outcomes at
and niceness is more robust than kindness and patience.
the expense of the unintended and serendipitous ones.
Modelling niceness, he argues, inculcates niceness in the
Structuring a curriculum in accordance with CAL allows
students and this is a good thing but it’s a balancing act:
(or depends on) assessment rubrics and starting off
you place your marker on a continuum between doormat
learning with assessment rubrics casts creative thinking
and autocrat. And sometimes, as Nick Lowe tells us, you
into a minor role. The immediate concern about that is
have to be cruel to be kind (but in the right measure).
that CAL will favour automatons. Taken to extremes, it means that CAL will deliberately produce automatons.
The next chapter – Telling – is also teaching focused (as opposed to learning focused) and includes a lovely
In line with learning centred education, there is
vignette about a student in a lecture who in contrast to
nowadays a tendency to want to measure everything the
being passive allows his/her mind to follow the tangents
student does; either to see if what we do as teachers has
the lecturer sparks, to daydream. Nelson makes the
any effect or to take credit for whatever does, regardless
point that it doesn’t always have to be about interaction.
of whether it was due to anything the teacher did. And,
Daydreaming in this context is the student independently
because we know that learning is optimised when the
fleshing out possibilities with imaginary characteristics
student is engaged with a task, engagement needs to be
and phenomena. It’s an excellent point and I’d add that
somewhere on the scoring rubric. The problem is that we
a good lecturer can capture the consciousness of an
aren’t all sure about what engagement is. While I agree
audience and shape that collective daydreaming. Watch
with that as a statement, I found Nelson’s explication of the
Billy Connelly at work over two hours or, at the less
lexical meaning of the word (and several others) somewhat
exuberant end, Malcolm Fraser. (Yes, I know! I’m talking
overwrought. Language is far from written in stone and
about after he left politics. He could move an audience
meanings fall somewhere between Humpty Dumpty and
like nobody’s business simply by standing still and
Moses, often dependent on context. Engagement as I use
talking!) A good story-teller can plant seeds in your head
it in the pedagogical context refers to engagement with a
that will germinate and grow into realisations later. We
task or phenomenon, which allows for a degree of variation
had a few of that kind of lecturer at art school when I was
in action and involvement on the part of the learner and
there, and they remain fond memories to this day. Take
teacher. I don’t see it as akin to or, according to Nelson,
that and multiply by about a million times and you have
marginally less severe than enslavement. Nonetheless,
an orally transferred culture. Much of Australian Aboriginal
I take his point that measuring engagement by way of
knowledge was taught and learned via stories, told and
observed and tallied contributions to a discourse will yield
retold over millennia. There isn’t that much CAL in the
meaningless data, regardless of how important we might
Dreaming. Or in daydreaming.
take it to be. And asking a learner to indicate whether
In the chapter on student-centredness, Nelson tries to
or not he or she is or was engaged surely disrupts that
slip a couple of furphies past us.The first is that “learning-
engagement, which means the only correct response can
centred” teaching is much the same as “learner-centred”
be “no”, which in turn, defeats the purpose of the question.
teaching. The second is that Biggs’ 3 levels of teaching
But although we may not know how to measure it, we do
focus (on the student; on the teacher; on the learning)
want our students to be engaged with the task at hand: if
with ‘blaming the student’; ‘performing rather than
not fully then at least majorly.
teaching’; and ‘keeping students busy and engaged’. It is
My concern with the relevance of etymological
an unnecessarily shallow conceptualisation and Nelson
forensics swings to orange in the chapter titled “Being
quickly moves on to his primary contention that it all
Nice”, a self-explanatory title if ever there was one. It
depends on what we mean by ‘centre’. He posits that
is quite interesting that “nice” comes from the Latin
the university itself demands to be central. Apparently,
“nescius”, which means to be ignorant. It makes sense:
in the past ‘centre’ didn’t mean the middle of something
Sergeant Schultz in Hogan’s Heroes knew nothing, and he
but any point in whatever it was you were talking about,
was a “nice” German POW guard. But of course, he didn’t
something that although quite interesting, strikes me
want to know anything. In legal jargon, nescius still means
as drawing a very long and somewhat irrelevant bow
ignorant but in the sense of unaware rather than foolish.
because nowadays centre does mean the middle, and if
We tend to see ignorant as us ignoring something, but it
something is at the centre of an activity it refers to the
can also mean us being ignored by something. Nelson’s
thing that will be most affected by that activity. Hence,
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learning centred teaching is teaching that aims to
doomed to eternal self-doubt. But I don’t see how comfort
have the most impact on learning. It’s quite hard to be
is an essential aspect of creativity. Anecdotally we know
anything-centred if the centre of anything isn’t fixed. But
that creativity can thrive in the most uncomfortable
Nelson makes a much more important point when he
conditions. Shamim’s Ahmad’s rather brilliant book,
argues that the centre of anything is always relative and
Torment and Creativity: A Psychoanalytic Study of
contextual – and quite often our pre-occupation with our
Literature and Literati is a convincing argument that
own knowledge domain makes us ignore what else exists
torment is actually a necessary characteristic.
in the student’s ken. In that regard I am sympathetic to
contrary to Nelson, I’m not entirely sure that subjectivity
his aversion to learner or student-centred teaching as an
is still on the outer in all research methodologies. In
idea or ideal. It also means that teachers may not be as
music, it’s not only “not defenceless”, it is increasingly in
important to learning as we’ve been led to believe. In any
the centre (wherever that might be) of what we do.
And
case, what Nelson wants us to do is to think deeply and
Nelson is back on much firmer ground with his invitation
independently about what the concepts we are expected
to the reader to re-examine the concept of leadership.The
to adhere to as teachers really mean.
distinction between following a “beloved leader” (ignore
In the chapter on the notion of expectation Nelson
the North Korean overtones) and following your own
proposes that learning ought to allow for time to let
ideas is neatly made. I’m not convinced by his suggestion
things settle. His assertion that expectation shared a
that no scholarship leads unless it is creative, primarily
common ancestry with waiting but that nowadays there
because most scholarship in my fields is extremely
is a distinct if underappreciated difference. One waits for
creative but doesn’t necessarily lead and secondarily
something general, but one expects something particular.
because confirmatory scholarship generally consolidates
There is certainly a suggestion of greater certainty in
the vanguard which can be just as creative, but I applaud
expecting something than in waiting for something.
his suggestion that student learning ought to be allowed,
Sometimes you wait expectantly and sometimes you wait
encouraged and supported to lead, even where it might
hopefully: airports for returning family and Lotto results.
cause some frisson with the dominant paradigm and
Even if I didn’t entirely (or at all, to be honest) buy his
established knowledge compendia.
argument that (paying) attention has waiting in it, it is an
His chapter on waste is not a declaration of war but a
interesting thought. I do conceive of attention as having
suggestion that we ought to consider what we mean by
a preparedness element, and maybe this is what Nelson
the term, especially in education. The average university
is teasing out.
teacher has spent more than 20 years in the system as a
The point that resonates the most for me is that when
student and if she had a dollar for every minute wasted
expectations are removed, students have a much wider
she’d be able to retire before she started teaching. We
array of (self-generated) learning outcomes. For some
waste time on the unnecessary, the superfluous and
students, taking away explicitly-stated expectation and
the incomprehensible. But, Nelson asks, what if we
guideposts will allow them to blossom unexpectedly but
reconceptualise that which we call waste? Waste is natural:
I am concerned that for others, having marks to hit may
nature and natural selection are very wasteful systems.
be more beneficial. At least in theory, educators want all
That idea rubs up uncomfortably with the contemporary
their students to do as well as possible. On the other hand,
idea that efficiency is the key to sustainability and
as Nelson hints, expectation on the part of the student can
survival. Despite David Suzuki’s exhortations, if we were
lead to a sense of entitlement and most teachers could
to live our lives naturally, the planet would be despoiled
write a book about that particular plague. No, your fees
in a fortnight.
don’t mean you automatically pass, they mean you get
There is an element of waste being thought of
the opportunity to study. No, I don’t care how much your
as everything and anything we don’t like, and such
father has spent on you, you have to do the work, or you
affective conceptualisations are often contextualised by
will fail. Well, that’s the theory anyway…
the zeitgeist rather than by an inherent unworthiness.
The chapter on subjectivity is surprisingly brief. And I
Waste as unintended by-product may well be worthy of
don’t really understand what “We can never be creative
re-examination, especially if, as Nelson suggests, we over-
without comfort in our subjectivity” means. I accept
ride the notion that it is useless. I’m not entirely convinced
wholeheartedly that creativity assumes or demands
by all of Nelson’s conclusions – art creates waste but so
subjectivity, or at least artistry does, and that we need
does every discipline, so therefore stop picking on it – but
a degree of confidence in what we create else we’d be
there is a great deal of worth in his suggestion that instead
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of trying to prevent waste we include it as potential
a learner has invested in the learning, she will claim
source material in learning. Surely Duchamp would agree.
ownership of it. I can see how there is a proactivity about
Flux is another interesting concept in education.
owning knowledge but I’m not sure I entirely buy Nelson’s
Nelson starts by polarising learning as basic or sublime;
argument that owning knowledge in this sense equates
prosaic and exalted; abstract and concrete. He refers to the
to being responsible for it. I have a lot of knowledge in
character Biggs uses in dichotomising the good student
which I have no investment, trivial declarative knowledge
and the bad student. I’d hoped that Nelson would blow
mostly acquired incidentally, and which I am not even
that unsubstantiated artifice out of the water, but he only
sure I would realise I’ve forgotten once I have. Owning
gives it a little nudge to move it out of the way. There is a
knowledge is not the same as acquiring it or storing it.
diversity among student cohorts these days and possibly
Disowning knowledge presents problems. All of this is
it is getting wider. If we are to be learning centred, then
stimulating stuff and well worth engaging with. But I will
the range of what and how we teach will also be getting
contest his statement that universities seldom encourage
broader. Nelson’s solution is that the teacher facilitate
students to accept or claim ownership of their ideas.
learners to flux. I confess that I hadn’t heard the word
Perhaps it is because I’ve worked mostly in areas such
used as a verb before, but it seems more appropriate than
as Fine Arts, Design and Performing Arts that exactly the
to “porpoise”, an activity that seems to be roughly akin to
opposite is true in my experience. In popular music and
fluxing. It accepts that students and artists will dip in and
jazz, we not only encourage students to own their ideas,
out of the task at hand and posits that teaching ought to
we celebrate ownership as an important indicator of
allow and encourage that.
development as a musician and person.
The idea that to flux is the opposite of to flow is
Next comes the chapter on reflection, entitled
refreshingly startling in a book about creativity. A flow state
“Reflexion” and I shall take a moment to reflex on it.
according to Csikszentmihalyi, is absorption with a task
Reflectively. Despite my surly etymological preferences,
to the exclusion of all other conscious and subconscious
this is another highly stimulating chapter.We blithely bang
tasks. A state of flux is a more fragmented engagement with
on about reflection and command our students to reflect
a task. It’s an interesting conceptualisation.The suggestion
and/or be reflective but, like Nelson, I suspect we aren’t
that thinking surges in currents is fine in general but the
entirely what it is or how it works. We have a version of it
“currents flowing in water” analogy used to explain how
that we generally expect students to pick up on and, as is
flow and flux can work in mutually beneficial ways ends
the case with much learning, most often they do. But the
up somewhat overwrought. And declarative statements
“ready, steady, reflect” instruction does seem impossible
such as “Cognition is rhapsodic” made with no supporting
to obey without assuming that there is an accessible
evidence, tend to grate after a while. Nelson suggests that
framework or dot-point list of steps to follow. There is a
“this economy of rolling transfers” that allows for “richly
lovely scene in the Big Bang Theory, when Amy sits quietly
communicative and creative teaching” suffers at the hands
on the couch in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, with a
of constructive alignment and “the culture of compliance”
thick neuropsychology book closed on her lap.“What are
it engenders. It is an idea worth considering.
you doing?” asks Leonard, somewhat unnerved by Amy’s
Nelson’s claim that “Psychology is possibly not the
lack of movement. “I thought you were reading.” “I was
ideal discipline in which to investigate imagination” made
reading,” replies Amy. “Now I’m thinking about what I’ve
me snort coffee through my nose because everyone
read.” And the (live) audience laughs. We might ask why
knows that psychology is the only discipline in which to
because it is in fact a depiction of the stereotypical view
investigate imagination, although I will allow a couple of
of what reflection is. But, as Nelson points out, reflection
others like physiology, quantum mechanics and aesthetics
isn’t as constrained or regimented as that because
to play a supporting role. That’s what happens when
thinking isn’t as ordered as that. The irony of the BBT
you equate psychology with behaviourism. Die, John B.
scene isn’t that the audience laughs (it is pre-programmed
Watson, die!
to laugh at anything that is set up to be funny), it is in Amy
The notion of ownership in pedagogy is a broad,
having shown in past episodes that she is far from a linear
fragmented and conflicting church these days. Basically,
thinker. She is a neuropsychologist studying addiction
we nowadays accept the notion that a person owns (and
and addictive behaviour. I know she’s a character in a sit-
should acknowledge owning) knowledge. Within that,
com but they get their science right on that show. And
there is a sense of taking responsibility for that ownership
as an aside, the actress who plays the part actually is a
and what is done with it. We generally assume that when
neuropsychologist.
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of
discovery in learning is the editorial aspect of creativity:
reflection as a concept through history, arguing that how
it’s what allows leaners to bypass re-invention and to
it is understood is reflected in the words that describe it.
recognise worth in what has been created. But Nelson
Rather than suggesting exhaustive forensics, the archival
goes further, arguing that CAL can stymie creativity. I
investigation primarily outlines an argument. To reflect,
counter with the proposition that CAL has been at the
he asserts, is “to energise intuitions across complicated
heart of some of the most creative outcomes ever and
matrices of information, opinion and experience, where
his saying that “a paper on creativity is unlikely to give a
one matches the several stimuli in lively connexions” (p.
physicist an unforeseen boost in ideas” (p. 4) strikes me as
237). (I would like to see stimuli ‘connex’!) See, that’s
ill-considered, especially when you cite someone like the
what Amy was doing: energising intuitions, if by intuitions
aforementioned David Paganin, a physicist who geysers
Nelson means ideas, tentative, ossified, propositional,
with ideas after reading papers on creativity. But ours are
possible, et cetera).When we reflect on something, we see
not necessarily oppositional points of view but simply
how it fits in what else we know, think and believe. And
varying aspects of a broader discourse on what creativity
then in some way it affects our schema. It can make us
is. It’s a fecund field and a quick glance at the Oxford
change our minds or confirm what we know or believe. It
English Dictionary will outline the contested notions
is therefore, as Nelson says, an important part of learning.
buried therein and it’s good that people like Nelson push
There is a cornucopia of stimulating ideas in Creativity
that discourse a little further. Of course, the obverse of
Crisis. One of the most important is that creativity rubs
that coin is the question of whether agreement should
against the competitiveness of education legitimised by
it be achieved, would run counter to what the discourse
assessment. Nelson doesn’t hold a great deal of hope that
is about.
things will change anytime soon in that regard. The other
Even if you don’t agree that there is a creativity crisis in
is that pre-selecting what is to be learnt as objectives is
pedagogy, I think Creativity Crisis is an important book
stifling creativity. Nelson cites a paper I wrote in 2006
because it raises important questions about what pedagogy
with David Paganin (another Monash alumnus, one who
is; what it is becoming and what the consequences of that
proof-read Nelson’s manuscript) in which we state
might be. The writing is on the wall, somewhere amongst
… that an essential point of postgraduate research supervision is to enable students to be creative in their pursuit of coming to know things that are as yet not known. The supervisor’s role is not only to teach extant knowledge, skills and values but also to encourage students to discover their own.
Banksie’s art and the sea of mindless, artless and arrogant tags that serve as reminders that while everyone has a voice, not everyone has something to say. This book has a lot to say, says it well and isn’t afraid to question the dominant paradigms of education. It deserves a wide readership and I recommend it to all educators.
It is a proposition that I am more convinced is true now. So, while I may not agree that creativity is at a crisis
Andrys Onsman is a higher education consultant and adjunct
stage in our tertiary sector, I do believe that an exclusive
associate professor at the Sir Zelman Cowan School of Music
focus on cognitive recall is likely to curtail it. Coupled to
at Monash University, Australia
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Us and them Business and Society: A Critical Introduction by Kean Birch, John Justin McMurtry, Darryl Reed, Caroline Hossein, Mark Peacock, Alberto Salazar, Sonya Scott, & Richard Wellen ISBN 978-1-78360-448-7 (pbk.), London, Zed Books, ix+301 pages, 2017. Reviewed by Thomas Klikauer and Reshman Tabassum
Perhaps there has never been a better introductory
words, the more one examines the free market, the more
textbook to the subject of business than Business and
elusive it becomes.To examine all this critically, the book’s
Society by Kean Birch and his colleagues (hereafter
chapter highlight four key issues (p. 7-8):
described as ‘Birch’s’). In the 18 well-structured,
production and systems of values; politics, ethics and social values; institutions and organisation; and constitutive discourses.
comprehensive and concise chapters, Birch’s book describes the history of capitalism and how businesses, companies, and eventually corporations came into being. The book is not a “here it is, how it was” book. Rather,
At least historically, most of these political, ethical
it critically reflects on capitalism’s history. The book
and social values seem to have played little or no role,
introduces the reader to key concepts of economics
for example, in the introduction of vagrancy laws. These
and what the authors more accurately call “political
were laws directed against ‘a person without dwelling
economy”. Neither can be separated, as there has never
or job…[they were disciplined by] whipping, branding,
been an economy without politics. In turn, there has
mutilating and hanging’ (p. 16).They were persecuted and
never been politics without economics. Much of this
prosecuted for so-called ‘crimes’ that rather than being
started in the days of Plato’s “polis” around 350 BC. Politics
crimes, indicate class injustices. Escaping the brutality
can only be separated from economics in econometric
metered out by the ruling elite, workers were driven
and adjacent – often neoliberal – ideas. In any case, the
into early factories where similar punishments, such as
book begins by saying that ‘the market has become the
for being late, were administered. This was administered
de facto institution for managing our society’ (p. 2) even
through visible punishment (Foucault, 1995) and through
though the deceptive market is often governed by a
the invisible forces of capitalism. Capitalism always
handful of monopolies. While the corporate media keeps
includes so-called ‘economic necessity’ creating ‘workers’
up the romantic illusion of a feudal village market, this has
(p. 18) that are forced into employment. This remains
next to nothing in common with realities like the 21st
even more so after cuts to what was once called the
century’s software and internet market dominated by
welfare state. In the present day, shiny management and
what French social theory calls: ‘GAFMA’ (Google, Apple,
human resources textbooks, ‘capitalism’s dirty history’
Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon).
(p. 26) is eliminated just as the ‘dark Satanic mills’ (p. 26)
Still, the common hallucination of a free market lingers
have vanished into the air. They are eliminated just as
on just like the fantasy of ‘homo economicus’ (p. 3) – the
the original crimes of capitalism and the not so original
rational individual constantly calculating costs versus
crimes as last year’s Libyan slave market, through which
benefits. Furnished with these fictions, free markets have
men have been sold for $400 (CNN, 2017). Together
for long been highly concentrated.This defines commodity
with global poverty and environmental vandalism, these
markets and increasingly labour markets as well where
are the dark sides of what is sold to us as globalisation.
‘between 35 and 50 per cent of private employment in the
This is a system that once started as imperialism with the
USA, UK, and Canada is in large enterprises’ (p. 5). Unseen
‘East India Company’ (p. 29) remains as a prime example.
by many but still in existence, ‘a significant proportion
This also included a global slave trade with about ‘35,000
of economic activities takes place within business
slave voyages’ (p. 34). Australia is not even shown on his
organisations and not within the market’ (p. 6). In other
slavery map (p. 35), but Australian slave masters, through
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blackbirding, forced countless people into Australian
Forum’ (p. 119). In reality, it is the congregation of the
slavery (Higginbotham, 2017). Has this been eliminated
rich and powerful of (mostly) men. The millions living a
from school history books, as part of an ideological effort
refugee camps are not even mentioned while sipping on
to sell neoliberalism and globalisation?
a glass of Dom Perignon for $250 at Davos. Rolling Stone
What also remains important for business and society
magazine calls Goldman-Sachs ‘a great vampire squid
is the historical development of corporate capitalism
wrapped around the face of humanity’ (p. 83). It may be
and the corporations that has led to the list of ‘world’s
a vampire squid, but it also wields tremendous ‘corporate
top 100 economies that consist of 31 countries and 69
power’ (p. 87) together with the global ‘monopolies and
corporations’ (http://blogs.worldbank.org). What defines
oligopolies’ (p. 89) that ‘dominate many societies’ (p. 95).
these corporations is profit and the separation between
These corporations do so rather independently of the
‘ownership and control’ (p. 46) as well as the legal fiction
‘varieties of capitalism’ (p. 101) and of the present system
that underwrites corporations. This is not just in terms of
of anti-democratic ‘global governance’ (p. 116).
‘limited liability’ (p. 49) but also in regard to their existence
Rather than democratic global governance, global
and internal governance. Many pro-business writers
capitalism and corporations have established a ‘global
employed by corporate media and in business schools have
hegemony’ (p. 125) that functions – despite Donald
justified this. For many business school professors, Upton
Trump – with ‘the USA as the global hegemon’ (p. 126).
Sinclair’s insight still applies. It is hard to understand the
This, of course, is intimately and inextricably linked to
truth about capitalism when your wage depends on not
‘global environmental change’ (p. 132) and the impending
understanding the true state of affairs in capitalism. They
‘Anthropocene’ (p. 133). The Anthropocene may be more
are employed to work long and hard to make us believe
of a ‘Capitalocene’ (Moore, 2017) as many have shown
in stakeholder theory, corporate social responsibility,
(https://exxonsecrets.org). Meanwhile, the myth of
business ethics, and corporate citizenship. Meanwhile, ‘the
markets as ‘self-correcting’ (p. 149) entities is broadcast.
shareholder primacy’ (p. 57) model dominates even though
Marx called the exposure to markets a ‘play of chance and
it is a well-known fact that it ‘facilitates opportunistic
caprice’ (p. 152). Among those broadcasting market myths
behaviour (i.e. mismanagement) by executives and
is Hayek, the Hungarian aristocrat and ardent admirer of
managers’ (p. 59) – often camouflaged by the various
Chile’s brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet. Hayek not only
ideologies of Managerialism (Klikauer, 2013).
supported Pinochet but also ‘described [himself] as the
It is not unusual for chief executive officers (CEOs)
guru of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’
to rake in big money with next to no relevance to their
(p. 156). The word “guru” is a rather truthful description
actual performance. Meanwhile, those lower down the
given to something attributed to an eminent management
corporate hierarchy are made to suffer according to
writer: ‘Drucker liked to say that people used the word
‘performance management’. This is the outcome of what
guru because the word charlatan was so hard to spell’
Fayol (1916) has called the ‘chain of command’. It hits
(The Economist, 2009).
workers rather than CEOs (Klikauer, 2017a). For example,
To the great benefit of Birch’s Business and Society,
‘Oracle’s Larry Ellion, [who] was the highest-paid CEO
the book does not deliver the typical one-sided picture
in the USA in 2012; received $96.2 million a year, a 24%
of so many other business books – usually sold as
increase, despite his company’s share price falling 23%’ (p.
“mainstream” – but includes a fruitful discussion on
60). His income was roughly $11,000 per hour. Meanwhile,
the ‘political economy and critiques of capitalism:
the median annual US income in 2012 was $52,371. Ellion
heterodox perspectives’ (p. 179), thus virtually ending
makes this in less than five hours! With ratios like these,
the hallucination of ‘isolated individuals [trapped in]
no wonder the worker-wage to CEO payment grab has
competition’ (p. 181) as the eternal faith of humanity. One
risen to a staggering ‘1:354’ (p. 66) stage. To make it clear,
of the book’s most insightful strengths is the outlining
this means, for example, when the average American
of the alternatives to capitalism even though we have
worker buys one pizza, their CEO could buy 354 pizzas.
been made to believe that “it is easier to imagine the
This is called ‘corporate responsibility’ (p. 71). Even more
end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism”
of an hallucination is the idea that ‘Philanthrocapitalism…
(Jameson, 2003, p. 76). Four alternatives to capitalism
Can Save the World’ (p. 79). Indeed, one can see how
can be identified (p. 189):
‘Goldman-Sachs’(p.83) is wining and dining in Davos while
Social rather than private ownership;
its Philanthro-capitalism Saves the World. Their Davos
• Worker and consumer councils corporate workplace organisations;
gatherings are euphemistically labelled ‘World Economic
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than
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• Remuneration for effort and scarifies rather than for property, power or output; • Participatory planning rather than markets or central planning; and • Participatory self-management rather than class rule.
• The eroding of capitalism through setting up alternative structures and organisations to capitalism (e.g. cooperatives). The book favours the last option when discussing, for example, the Association pour la Taxation des Transactions
Unlike these alternatives, current government focuses
financières et pour l’Action Citoyenne (Association for
on ‘business, regulation and policy’ (p. 195) where,
the Taxation of financial Transactions and Citizens’Action)
under the camouflage of deregulation, pro-business
or ‘ATTAC’ - https://www.attac.org (p. 248), ‘fair trade
re-regulation is taking place under the ideological
organisations’ (p. 250) and LETS ‘local exchange trading
guidance of neoliberalism. An almost classic example
systems’ (p. 251). Almost inevitably these alternatives to
has been ‘food labelling’ (p. 203) and the prevention of
capitalism can lead to a ‘social economy’ (p. 258) in which
what has been known as “the traffic-light system” (green
‘business practices (e.g. entrepreneurship) and business
is good to eat, yellow is okay to eat, and red: do not eat too
logic (e.g. profits) [no longer] colonise (civil) society and
often). After corporate lobbying and €1bn expenditure
government’ (p. 258). This establishes a ‘social economy
on public relations (PR), the traffic light food labelling was
– always embedded in society’ (p. 259), rather than the
banned in Europe (Phillips 2003). Corporate lobbying, the
current state of affairs where society is embedded in the
ideologies of corporate social responsibility and business
economy as supplier of labour and buyer of products, thus
ethics as well as a solid and well-financed PR campaign
featuring as an appendix to corporations. In corporate
paid off handsomely. This and many other things are
capitalism, people have two functions. Firstly, they supply
cloaked in what is euphemistically called ‘business ethics’
labour and secondly, they are customers. Capitalism needs
(p. 211). Business ethics has mutated into being more than
us to work and to buy things.These ‘things’ are often things
just a cloaking devise. It has metamorphosed into a fully
we do not really need and we buy them with money we
functional ideology (Klikauer, 2017b). Not surprisingly,
do not have to impress people we do not like. The book
the author of the chapter on business ethics reaches
ends with a conclusion called ‘rethinking ownership –
the conclusion that ‘business does not lead to significant
the market versus the commons’ (p. 274), arguing that
changes’ (p. 215) – change has never been the task of
we need to move beyond markets and property while
business ethics. The task of business ethics is PR (Stauber
avoiding “The Tragedy of the Commons” (Harding 1968).
& Rampton, 1995; MEF, 2003).
In summary, Birch’s book on business and society is
Indeed, the idea of business ethics is ‘to gain the trust of
unparalleled by any other in the field.
consumers’ (p. 218) and to get people to trust capitalism and its corporations. This occurs even though many
Thomas Klikauer is a teacher in the Sydney Graduate School
people of our globe are all but excluded, as the chapter
of Management, Western Sydney University, Australia
on ‘business and social exclusion’ (p. 225) illustrates. A
Contact: t.klikauer@westernsydney.edu.au
particularly useful idea to incorporate those excluded into capitalism came from Mohammed Yanus/ Grameen
Reshman Tabassum is a PhD student in the Department of
Bank. Rather than incorporating people into the profit-
Management, Deakin University, Australia.
generating system of capitalism and making them
Contact: rtabassum@deakin.edu.au
internalise the rules of corporate behaviour (Mander, 2001; Benson & Kirsch 2010), there is also ‘resistance and [there are also] alternatives to corporate capitalism’ (p. 241). These alternatives to capitalism take, according to Erik Olin Wright (p. 242), four forms: • The taming of capitalism, which is essentially the socialdemocratic “please be nice” solution to capitalism’s pathologies; • The smashing capitalism, i.e. the revolutionary uprising of the working class against capitalism that appears to
Benson, P. & Kirsch, S. (2010). Capitalism and the Politics of Resignation. Current Anthropology, 51(4), 459-486. CNN. (2017). Libya’s slave markets. Retrieved fromhttps://edition.cnn.com/ videos/world/2017/11/29/libya-slave-trade-cnntalk-lon-orig-mkd.cnn Fayol, H. (1916). Administration industrielle et générale (Industrial and General Management). London: Sir I. Pitman & Sons, ltd. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books. Harding, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162, 1243–1248.
be nowhere in sight; • The escaping from capitalism that often means joining a hippie commune as far as they still exist; and finally, vol. 61, no. 1, 2019
References
Higginbotham, W. (2017). Blackbirding: Australia’s history of luring, tricking and kidnapping Pacific Islanders. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/
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news/2017-09-17/blackbirding-australias-history-of-kidnapping-pacificislanders/8860754
Mander, J. (eds.) The Case Against the Global Economy – and for a turn towards localisation. London: Earthscan Press.
Jameson, F. (2003). Future City. New Left Review, 21(May-June), 65-79.
Moore, J. W. (2017). The Capitalocene, Part I: On the nature and origins of our ecological crisis. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 44(3), 594-630.
Klikauer, T. (2013). Managerialism – Critique of an Ideology. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Klikauer, T. (2017a). Eight fatal flaws of performance management. Management Learning, 48(4), 492-497. Klikauer, T. (2017b). Business Ethics as Ideology?. Critique, 45(1-2):81-100. MEF. (2003). Toxic Sludge is Good for you - The Public Relations Industry Unspun. 45 minutes, DVD, Northampton: Media Education Foundation. Mander, J. (2001). The Rules of Corporate Behaviour. in: Goldsmith, E. &
Phillips, L. (2003). MEPs reject ‘traffic light’ food labels after €1bn lobby effort. Retrieved from https://euobserver.com/economic/30301 Stauber, J. C. & Rampton, S. (1995). Toxic sludge is good for you: lies, damn lies, and the public relations industry. Monroe: Common Courage Press. The Economist. (2009). Remembering Drucker. Retrieved from http://www. economist.com/node/14903040 Wright, E.O. (2016). How to be an anti-capitalist for the 21st century. The Journal of Australian Political Economy, 77, 5-23.
Managing Bullshit Business Bullshit by Andre Spicer ISBN 9781138911673 (pbk.), London: Routledge, xii+200 (index), 2018. Reviewed by Thomas Klikauer & Reshman Tabassum
To a large degree, Andre Spicer’s recent book on ‘business
functioning of a business and ultimately capitalism, i.e.
bullshit’ is about ‘the meaningless language [conjured up]
the making profit. If business bullshit and the “banality of
in schools, in banks, in consultancy firms, in politics, and in
its evil language” are removed, corporations will improve
the media’ (p. xii). Spicer is correct in mentioning business,
their ‘real bottom line’ (Magretta, 2012).
but what he does not do is mention the following: it is this
For Spicer, the historical origins of business bullshit
language that drives thousands of business schools. It is
and its pathological language came with Kroning and
this language that is handed down to MBAs. It releases
AT&T’s management ‘guru’, who was hired to change
MBAs happy to spread Spicer’s managerial buzz-word
the AT&T corporation. According to Colvin’s Fortune
language of business bullshit.
Magazine obituary of Peter Drucker, Drucker once said a
The key idea of Spicer’s book is that ‘business
management guru is someone named so by people who
bullshit’ can take over organisations, crowding out their
can’t spell ‘charlatan’ (Colvin, 2005). Micklethwait and
core purpose and muddy the waters of language’ (p.
Wooldridge (1996) have entitled management gurus ‘witch
xii). In other words, when pro-business management
doctors’. In the case of AT&T’s business bullshit, it was the
academics, management writers, CEOs, and other upper-
‘Russian mystic… George Gurdjieff’ (p. 2) and his ideas
level managers invent bullshit language, they fabricate
that introduced an entire new set of bullshit language to
something that gets in the way of businesses.It is‘crowding
management.Those familiar with managerialism (Klikauer,
out their core purpose’ as Spicer wants us to imagine.
2013a; 2013b; Clegg, 2014) have long known that such
This core business remains profit making or as bullshit
language has ‘led to a lot more meetings [as] everything
talk calls it, creating shareholder value. This is the jargon
[takes] twice as long’ (p. 3). Spicer seems to have passed
of business bullshit. Andre Spicer’s book is not against
over the 25 years of writings on managerialism, an
business; rather it is the very opposite. In it, he argues
intellectual and scholarly accomplishment that began with
that removal of bullshit language can make businesses
Enteman’s seminal work Managerialism: The Emergence
return to their core purpose, namely making money
of a New Ideology (1993).
– for some a lot and for others not so much. The book
It might certainly be true that ‘Kroning may have been
supports corporations, businesses, and capitalism’s profit
killed off [while] Kronese has lived on’ (p. 4). Management
maxim (Benson & Kirsch, 2010). In great detail, the book
charlatans like Gurdjieff, even when changing just one
shows how the business of bullshit disrupts the proper
company (AT&T), may not have the global impact that is
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claimed in the book. The rather limited impact in AT&T
‘bullshit jobs’ (p. 14) is retold: ‘These are jobs in which
cannot explain the global spread of managerialism’s
people experience their work as utterly meaningless,
language or bullshit language. There are much more
contributing nothing to the world and they think should
powerful forces behind all this than Spicer leads one to
not exist’. A self-reflective or even critical thought that
believe. Often, this is not down to the use of language,
business schools’ academics might also occupy such
but to powerful ideologies. These are used to legitimise
jobs is not even discussed. Issues like these are neither
and stabilise business organisation and capitalism.
reflected upon nor is there a critique. Not just in business
Ideologies are not concerned with the truth. Instead, they
schools, but also in private industries, managerialism
are designed to eliminate contradictions and stabilise
has serious impacts, especially when deans of business
domination.
schools, and university presidents – not yet called CEOs –
Like managerialism, ‘the bullshitter has a lack of
thrive on business bullshit.
connection or concern for the truth’ (p. 6). Questions such
Spicer notes ‘all this image enhancement had one
as ‘why?’, and what has created the global phenomenon of
economic impact:the CEO’s pay went up’(p.16).For Spicer,
business bullshit?, are never asked and never discussed.
large CEO pay-outs and golden parachutes may not be
Needless to say, it is true that ‘bullshitters are not
more than just an ‘economic impact’. Even the otherwise
concerned that their grand pronouncements might be
extremely business friendly Fortune Magazine had to
illogical, unintelligible and downright baffling. All they
admit recently that the pay gap between average workers
care about is whether people will listen to them’ (p. 7).
and CEOs stands at a whopping 271 (2017). Others put
Spicer is certainly correct when noting that ‘jargon
the number even higher than that. Nonetheless, Fortune
can become a linguistic barbed wire fence, which stops
Magazine announced “Top CEOs Make More in Two Days
unfortunate amateurs from trespassing on territory
Than An Average Employee Does in One Year (Donnelly,
already claimed by experts’ (p. 11). The same applies to
2017). Spicer’s Business Bullshit carefully dodges such
the language of business bullshit. ‘That is bullshit’ indeed
comparisons – and the consequences thereof. Those on
puts up a ‘barbed wire fence’. It blocks conversations,
the receiving end of business bullshit simply vanish.
but it might also clog the thinking process. Spicer’s book
Having rather skilfully eluded a deeper analysis or
might just be a vivid example of blocked thought, and
placing his business bullshit inside a meaningful if not
perhaps even more so critical thought. The book remains
explanatory or perhaps analytical framework, Spicer
on the surface. Spicer never connects his substantial
re-tells Nokia’s ‘Hello There’ story of 2014. In his ‘No
volume of anecdotes, management tales, organisational
Logic’, we learn about ‘organisational life’ (pp. 30 & 57).
stories, business travels, and his conference attendances
‘Organisation life’ is not seen for what it is: a business
to any form of critical or analytical framework. The book
bullshit term. Instead, Spicer takes it on in the blissful
remains largely a collection of stories, travel experience
unawareness that most of human life takes place outside
and conference anecdotes. Since these make up the core
of organisations. Meanwhile, many for-profit organisations
of the book, they will be discussed below.
and workplaces are deprived of life – places of ‘The Living
Consequently, Spicer writes ‘many managerial practices
Dead’ where people have ‘Switched Off’ and ‘Zoned Out’,
are not adopted because they work, but because they
as Bolchover (2005) calls it. Ideologically, one is tempted to
are fashionable’ (p. 11). This is a great line with limited
suspect that terms such as ‘organisational life’ camouflage
analytical qualities. Meanwhile, many critical questions are
the fact there is not much life in business organisations.
never asked, and we are told that ‘the bullshit merchant
Beyond that, doesn’t ‘organisation’ sound so much
can find a lucrative trade in any large organisation’
nicer and neutral than corporation – a term carrying
(p. 13). The fact that managerialism thrives on this
connotations to capitalism’s pathological realities, for
and management consultants rake in large fees as the
example, rampant profits, the ruthless destruction of
work force is ‘downsized’ (to use another managerial
human life on earth, etc. Perhaps dilbert.com’s outright
buzzword), is never criticised. On the similar paradigm,
cynicism is the best one can hope for on Spicer’s
business schools which happen to be some of the key
‘organisational life’. However, on a more serious note,
drivers behind business bullshit, are never thoroughly
Spicer’s organisational life could boil down to what
analysed and placed in context in a book that is mainly
had been depicted in the BBC’s The Office (Gervais &
storytelling.
Merchant, 2001); The Living Dead – Switched off Zoned
Nonetheless, the book has its interesting moments, for
Out, The Shocking Truth about Office Life (Bolchover,
example, when David Graeber’s well known concept of
2005); Organisational Pathology: Life and Death of
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Organisations (Samuel 2010); Office politics (Godwin
managerialism-speak merchants’ (p. 39) are coerced into
2013); and by far the most noteworthy classical study on
what ultimately results in ‘silence is the best policy’ (p.
the Moral Mazes – The World of Corporate Managers
39). Meanwhile, workers under managerialism are forced
(Jackall 1988). None of these illustrations cross Spicer’s
to adhere to an old feudal policy (p. 39):
thoughts, as the book quickly skips from one issue to another. Having
discussed
the
theme
of
mergers
‘when the great lord passes by, the wise peasant bows deeply and farts silently.’
and
acquisitions, Spicer moves to the example of universities.
Today, it is: when the great CEO passes by, the wise
In this, discussing universities, the review follows Spicer’s
worker bows deeply and farts silently. All too often those
book. In one such example, Spicer notes that ‘in Helsinki,
at the receiving end of all this, i.e. workers are not just
the costly merger of three educational institutions (a
forgotten but deliberately eliminated from the public. In
business school, a technical school, and a design school)
many standard management (text) books used in business
was driven by the analogy of the ‘Nordic MIT’ (p. :35).
schools, in crypto-academic articles on management and
Finland’s top educational managers might have been
business, and perhaps even in books on business bullshit,
‘Victims of Groupthinking’ (Janis, 1985). They might have
workers are neglected disappear into thin air. Spicer’s
also been preys of managerialism – believing their own
Business Bullshit is no exception.
ideology. But when one deliberately cuts off any deeper
Workers are disregarded, discarded, and ideologically
analysis by simply labelling all this business bullshit, one
reframed. Just as standard management textbooks have
might also be exposed to the danger of being accused
replaced corporation with Orwellian Newspeak terms
of protecting business, corporations, management, and
like organisation, and profits (Oldspeak) have been
ultimately shielding capitalism.
replaced with shareholder value (Newspeak). Whenever
Protecting
corporations,
business
schools
and
anti-democratic
authoritarian
management
regimes
capitalism can be done by exposing a few so-called ‘bad
need to vanish into rhetoric’s thin air, managerialism’s
apples’ like Spicer’s “Helsinki” case. Such an approach
henchmen prefer the word “bureaucracy”. Exchanging
can imply, in turn, that apart from a few bad apples, the
management with bureaucracy whenever convenient
overall box of apples is good, i.e. businesses, business
might make Cicero’s disciples happy while protecting
schools and capitalism. A proper discussion would have
management, but it rarely enlightens one about the
to reach deeper. Collecting and telling funny stories and
state of affairs. Aligned to this, Spicer notes ‘despite the
anecdotes is not enough when seeking to understand the
widespread stories about the decline of bureaucracy
relationship between language and business, corporations,
sclerosis, we have actually experienced an explosion of
and capitalism (Klikauer, 2007 & 2008). For Spicer, many
bureaucracy’ (p. 47) – no! We have seen an explosion of
of his stories and anecdotes may be found in the ‘Nordic
management mutating into managerialism.
MIT’ and the similar managerial hallucinations that occur
Originating from the Frenchman Jean Claude Marie
elsewhere. They do occur because of a prevalence of
Vincent de Gournay (1712-1759), bureau or office means
marketing and PR (public relations, propaganda, and spin).
a system of government in which most of the important
These have reached deep inside research and teaching
decisions are taken by state officials, rather than by
oriented institutions that once deserved the name
elected representatives. Bureaucracy does not mean
university.
an overblown managerial apparatus, operating today’s micro-level
corporations for profit-maximisation. Rather, bureaucracy
managerialism took hold, universities became marketing/
As
refers to public administration for the public, the state,
PR institutions, creating what Cronin (2016) calls a
and society good. What bureaucracy also does not imply
‘PR university’. One might call such Nordic-MIT-like
is a self-serving management elite, narrowly focused on
hallucinations business bullshit. But this prevents us
ROI (return of investment) and the real bottom line.
from understanding mechanisms behind such managerial
Transferring bureaucracy into the world of business
absurdities. What is happening is the conversion of
and management makes the ‘C-words’ of corporations
universities based on research and teaching into PR
and companies vanish. What also disappears is the ugly
driven marketing institutions driven. The managerial PR
but also very historical truth about corporations and
university focuses on Fleck’s ‘Impact Factor Fetishism’
companies. The etymological origins of company go back
(Fleck 2013). While ‘MBAs learning and making use of
to ‘con’ and ‘pane’. These were bread- (pane) sharing
business jargon’ (p. 38), those on the receiving end of ‘the
mercenaries (con) and hired killers (Klikauer 2014, p.
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macro-level
neoliberalism
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106). Under what Spicer calls business bullshit language of
corporate lawyers’, but thankfully neither managers nor
organisations and bureaucracy, the harshness of the profit
business school professors are mentioned. Still, some
maxim disappears. Beyond that, business organisation and
might tend to think that their jobs are indeed part of the
its ideological henchmen have heavily borrowed from
list of bullshit jobs. Perhaps American writer and Pulitzer
democratic state institutions, supported by bureaucracies.
Prize winner, Upton Sinclair (1994, p. 109), hits the nail on
Much of this is designed to create the appearance that
the head when noting
lower level administrators are the problem – not those who govern them, i.e. top management and CEOs. Very often, the opposite is the case.
‘it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!’
When seeking to stabilise managerialism, as is often
Secondly, none of these are ‘the central task of…
done by business schools, their next task is to infuse new
workers’. Creating business bullshit and its language has
MBAs with the latest managerial buzzwords and ‘weasel
never been the job of workers. It remains utterly the job
worlds’ (Watson, 2004). Set apart from corporate reality, it
of upper-level managers. Office workers are managerially
is not at all surprising to uncover that ‘many management
controlled, supervised, monitored, ‘watched’ (Barker
ideas are cooked up far away from the day-to-day realities
1993), assessed and measured by KPIs, the infamous key
of a workplace’ (p. 56). Many management ideas are not
performance indicators (Klikauer, 2017a). Behind the
designed to have much to do with ‘the day-to-day realities’
deceptive wording ‘central task of…workers’ (p.68) lurks
of management. Far from workplace reality, business
an unstated truth. It is not workers, but managers who are
bullshit buzz words have a rather different task. They are
responsible for ‘complex of rules and regulations’ (p. 68).
not invented to be reflective of management and work.
What Spicer calls ‘rules and regulations’ are invented
Instead, they are designed to support what ideology sets
and rather un-democratically made up by managers.
out to achieve, namely three things:
There is next to no input by workers when such
• To camouflage contradictions (e.g. the fact that workers
rules and regulations are created. Still, they might be
and management have different interests on wages,
formulated using Spicer language of business bullshit,
working time and general working conditions);
but they also determine the existence of what is
• To cement domination (e.g. managerial domination over workers); and finally,
euphemistically called subordinates or underlings. It is managers who create these ‘rules and regulations’. In
• To prevent emancipation (e.g. by obscuring the true
Spicer’s book, workers simply disappear. Eliminating the
affairs of work through, for example, putting up a
worker-management relationship also means that our
smokescreen called business bullshit).
attention is directed away from those who regulated the
A notable example that seeks to achieve the task set out
working lives of millions. Perhaps for ideological reasons
by ideology, is ‘bosses continue to demand loyalty from
– sustaining capitalism protecting management, etc. –
their subordinates [while] those at the top get the lion’s
managers become detached from ‘rules and regulations’.
share of rewards’ (p. 57). Like in any Mafia court case, the
Still, these govern us – those who need to work. And
most obvious, that what can no longer be denied, is freely
indeed, corporations, companies, business and even
admitted. Behind the admission, no further explanation,
business schools love deregulation as it takes the state
conceptualisation, theory or perhaps just an analysis is
out of the equation. Taking out the regulative capacity
provided. Standing alone, statements like these might lead
of the state means opening up an unregulated space.
to the inference ‘well, bosses rake it in big time, what else
This allows managers to re-regulate such spaces. As a
is new?’. It is carefully crafted passivism, determinism,
consequence, we find incidents of macho-management.
and ultimately defeatism and not much more. A similar
Just as the old saying goes: Power tends to corrupt;
smokescreen is put up with this:
absolute power corrupts absolutely. As a consequence,
‘global bureaucracy has created a huge number of bullshit jobs, such as PR agents and corporate lawyers…the central task of bullshit workers is to create a vast and apparently unbroken complex of rules and regulations, which increasingly infiltrate all of our lives’ (p. 68).
inside every corporation, business and business schools there are rafts of corporate policies, mission statements, ‘rules and regulations’. Spicer’s book still holds some truths. For example, there is the top-down engineering of corporate bullshit policies, KPIs, mission statements and so on.This has often negative
Statements like these disguise several things: firstly,
consequences for workers. More and more workers
Spicer’s list of bullshit jobs includes ‘PR agents and
‘spend…time answering emails, sitting in meetings and
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updating your LinkedIn profile [they are] also required to
However, management likes to condense workers’
spend time trying to optimise the way [workers] process
contributions and working lives to a sheet of paper called
this bullshit’ (p. 73).This acts as a double-edged sword for
‘balanced scorecard’ (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). This is
the workers in the form of bullshit time:
what Spicer would call business bullshit.
1. Wasted time satisfying the upper echelons of managerialism and 2. Real working time, e.g. doing your job.
Whether employees are denigrated to human resource assigned an individual profit indicting numbers on an (often not really) ‘balanced’ scorecard or Excel file for the purpose of performance management, they are forced
Beyond that many workers complain about the
to toe the line. This is a line invented and handed out by
stratospheric increase of sitting in often useless meetings.
upper management. More often than not, this occurs in
The sheer endless number of internet-transmitted jokes
a ‘my way or the highway’ approach. Spicer notes ‘you
about meetings tells one as much. On a more thoughtful
can be cynical about management bullshit all you want in
note, Grady’s TED-talk (2013) testifies to the widespread
private, but in public you need to pretend you are signing
frustration about management meetings. Concurrently,
up’ (p. 93). Workplaces under the rule of managerial
Managerialism’s business bullshit not only wastes an
regimes are never really the ‘public’. Fairly often, these
employee’s time siting in management meetings, but also
are
makes much of middle-management’s work artificially
reflective of mixture of George Orwell’s Animal Farm
busy through
(1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1948). Managerialism
‘attending meetings, reviewing other people’s work, maintaining good relationships with others through informal conversations, feed the administration machine through various form filling putting together proposals and propositions for new projects and funding’ (p. 78).
authoritarian
workplaces
without
democracy
mixes Orwellian-style ‘some animals are more equal than others’ with Big Brother style workplace surveillance (Barker, 1993). Management critiques have called the often rather scripted behaviour of workers ‘Impression Management’ (Rosenfeld et al., 1995). On a slightly more philosophical note, what this means might be reflective of
Worse, some workers are annually forced into
Baudrillard’s Simulacra (1994). Many workers no longer
applying for their own jobs. In those cases, human
really partake in management bullshit. Instead, they
resources (HR) management’s ‘internal labour’ market
merely simulate ‘signing up’ (Spicer). Working in today’s
is driven to extremes by upper-mangers. Being hooked
companies becomes mere simulation. And this remains so
on managerialism often means being hooked on the
irrespective of Working with the Corporate Psychopath
systemic and structural casualisation of the workforce
(Klikauer, 2017b) or not.
often camouflaged as being part of strategic management
Of course, it is not only ordinary office workers who
and being flexible. Beyond that, it legitimises upper
are ‘drowning in shit’ (p. 93). As Spicer returns to the
management as they organise the entire recruitment
theme of universities and business schools, managerialism
and selection process from analysing jobs, positioning
and business bullshit have also become embedded in
job descriptions and advertising the position to creating
universities and business schools. In the world of an
short-lists and holding actual job interviews.
astute critic of managerialism, Don Watson (2004, p.
More often than not, many of these activities are not
166), ‘Managerialism came to universities as the German
done to ‘feed the administration machine’ (cf. Watson,
army came to Poland’. As a consequence, academic staff
1997). It is done to feed the upper-management apparatus
experience these effects correctly described by Spicer:
legitimising its existence as many of these activities (e.g.,
‘plans for a new building for an international centre for
form filling) are not really necessary for the administration
democracy and conflict resolution being cancelled in
of a company. Instead, they are quintessential for the
favour of a new building for the business school’ (p. 94).The
acceptability of upper-management and the controlling
more we are made to believe that ‘we live in a democracy’,
rules it has established. In short, it does not ‘feed the
the more it seems it is taken away from us. Apart from
administration machine’ – it feeds managerialism. Many
this, the very same ideology conveniently obscures the
at the top of the managerial pyramid who believe in
fact that huge chunks of our lives are excluded from
management fundamentalism see those at the bottom
democracy: our educational systems, our schools, and
of Fayol’s infamous ‘chain of command’ (1916) in the
of course our workplaces. Terms resembling workplace
following way: ‘you’re just a sheet of paper’ (p. 81). This
democracy and industrial democracy have been extinct.
sheet of paper might appear to be business bullshit.
Google.Books suggests industrial democracy has become
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severely eroded since the 1970s. It has effectively been
(corporate) funding. Certainly, in the case of Alan Turing
eliminated from the public domain and even more so
they might not even help in ‘creating the right image’ (p.
from academia. Industrial democracy is no longer taught
126) of a university. Today, ‘what matters is the external
at universities.
presentation’ (p. 126).
In the ‘managerialised university’ (p. 95), teaching and
Eccentrics, Alan Turing for example, may well be ‘the
research have been substituted by the classical insignia of
people who told the truth [but in today’s university] their
managerialism (Aspromourgos, 2012). Now it is university
reputation [is] on the line’ (p. 136) and their jobs too.Today,
league tables, beauty contests, rankings and ‘impact factor
university management will ‘performance management you
fetishism’ (Fleck, 2013), measured as the crown king of
out of here’ if you do not measure up.The case of London’s
scholarly achievement. What counts in universities as in
Imperial College and ‘Stefan Grimm’ (Parr, 2014; Gove,
‘the business school itself [is] the routinely [undergone]
2015) has shown this. In other words, reality reaches well
brand-building and brand-refreshing exercises each time
beyond Spicer’s depictions. Still, Spicer notes that ‘bullshit
there [is] a change of Deans’ (p. 96) or a new cohort of
took precedent over anything vaguely resembling the truth’
management consultants being hired. This is an activity
(p. 136). Business bullshit in the form of Managerialism has
spiced up with the eternally performed treadmill of
many more serious consequences, reaching far beyond
business restructuring. In any university apparatus
mere ‘lip service’ (p. 146).
inflated by managerialism, ‘the number of administrators
Spicer is certainly on the mark when noting that
has increased rapidly [while] the number of academics
‘relying on bullshit means organisations do not get to
has stayed relatively flat’ (p. 98). When the managerialist
the root of the issue’ (p. 153). The very same can be said
university is ‘Selling Students Short’ (Hil, 2015) it does so
about books on business bullshit. They too do ‘not get to
with more managers and fewer academics. Meanwhile,
the root of the issue’. Instead of going to the root, Spicer
according to Spicer
argues that ‘bullshit is very much a mixed blessing’ (p.
‘the real work is no longer doing research and teaching and other things a university is supposed to do. Rather, the real work has become dealing with… bullshit…to make universities appear more business-like’ (p. 100).
164). Blessed is the managerial bullshitter! Blessed is the
Virtually the same happened in Britain’s National Health
somewhat of ‘a six-step-to-ecstasy’-style checklist, Spicer
Service, for example:‘there was an 87 per cent increase in
concludes with a recipe on how to make businesses more
the number of managers, whereas the number of clinical
efficient. Just follow ‘six things’ (pp. 175ff.) and business
staff rose by about a third’ (p. 99). This may be business
will thrive again. Spicer’s listings include: eliminate bullshit
bullshit, but this has something to do with neoliberalism,
jobs; cut back corporate escapism; provide employees
managerialism, capitalism, Maggie Thatcher, and Herr
with some security [note the ‘some’!]; give employees
von Hayek. Instead of linking politics to economics, to
space to ask questions; forget best practice; and finally
ideology, and to managerialism, Spicer’s book tells simple
focus on stability. But wait, there’s more! Corporations
stories. One often reads about this and that ‘best-selling
should also ‘stop rewarding bullshit’ (p. 183). This can be
book’ (pp. 125,165, etc.) as one fights the feeling that
achieved through yet another six steps: limit attention to
subconsciously the author is jealous not to have written
bullshit; don’t reward bullshit with legitimacy; provide
a best-seller. Perhaps Spicer’s subconscious jealousy of
alternative bases of self-confidence; make stupidity costly;
not having written a best-seller prevents him from asking
make mounting organisational load costly, and finally,
questions like ‘is writing a best-seller a sensible aim?’.Take
track trust.
bullshit writer! Perhaps this is a reminiscence of American philosopher John Rawls’,‘veil of ignorance’ (1972, p. 140). Spicer is oblivious to what lies behind business bullshit. In
McDonalds for example. A McDonalds hamburger is true
The book ends here with little conclusion, having one
best-seller but eating it might not be a sensible thing to
and a half pages while presenting six steps. In the end, one
do. It hardly delivers superior nutrition and an exquisite
is hard pressed to escape thinking that this book depicts
culinary experience. Meanwhile in the academic world,
plenty of trees, while never quite seeing the forest. The
neither Einstein’s theory of relativity nor Alan Turing’s
forest that surrounds us is created when management,
1936 paper ‘On Computable Numbers with an application
their agents and accomplices invent business bullshit and
to the Entscheidungsproblem’ were best-sellers. But they
the nightmarish workplaces that come with it. Much of
surely changed things. In today’s managerial universities,
this has been so exquisitely described in Schrijvers’ ‘The
people like Einstein and Turing are all but useless as
Way of the Rat’ (2004). Interestingly, business bullshit
they do not ‘publish a lot’ nor do they rake in external
terms such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and
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business ethics are just as absent from the bullshit book as power, contradictions and capitalism. Pretending that business bullshit has nothing to do with power, capitalism, Managerialism and the ideology that legitimises
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Grady, D. (2013). How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com Hil, R. (2015). Selling Students Short: Why you won’t get the university education you deserve. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
management, hardly advances our understanding of
Jackall, R. (1988). Moral Mazes – The World of Corporate Managers, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
management, modern workplaces and businesses. One is
Janis, I. L. (1985). Victims of Groupthinking. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Press.
left wondering is it all just more business bullshit? Thomas Klikauer is a teacher in the Sydney Graduate School of Management, Western Sydney University, Australia Contact: t.klikauer@westernsydney.edu.au Reshman Tabassum is a PhD student in the Department of Management, Deakin University, Australia.
References Aspromourgos, T. (2012). The Managerialist University: An Economic Interpretation. Australian Universities’ Review, 54(2), 44-49.
Kaplan, R.S. & Norton, D.P., 1996. Linking the balanced scorecard to strategy. California Management Review, 39(1), 53-79. Klikauer, T. (2007). Communication and Management at Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Klikauer, T. (2008). Management and Communication – Communicative Ethics and Action. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Klikauer, T. (2013a). What is Managerialism? Critical Sociology, 41(7-8), 1103-1119. Klikauer, T. (2013b). Managerialism – Critique of an Ideology. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Klikauer, T. (2014). Seven Moralities of Human Resource Management. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Klikauer, T. (2017a). Eight fatal flaws of performance management: How performance management is killing performance – and what to do about it: rethink, redesign, reboot. Management Learning, 48(4), 492-497.
Barker, J. R. (1993). Tightening the Iron Cage: Concertive Control in SelfManaging Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(3), 408-437.
Klikauer, T. (2017b). Working With the Corporate Psychopath. Retrieved from www.counterpunch.org
Benson, P. & Kirsch, S. (2010). Capitalism and the Politics of Resignation. Current Anthropology, 51(4), 459-486.
Magretta, J. (2012). What Management Is: How it works and why it’s everyone’s business. London: Profile.
Bolchover, D. (2005). The Living Dead – Switched off Zoned Out, The Shocking Truth about Office Life, Chichester: Capstone Press.
Micklethwait, J. & Wooldridge, A. (1996). The witch doctors: making sense of the management gurus. New York: Times Books.
Clegg, S. (2014). Managerialism: Born in the USA. Academy of Management Review, 39(4), 566-576.
Orwell, G. (1945). Animal Farm – a Fairy Story. London: Secker & Warburg.
Colvin, G. (2005). Peter Drucker: 1909-2005. Retrieved from http://archive. fortune.com
Parr, C. (2014). Imperial College professor Stefan Grimm ‘was given grant income target’. Retrieved from timeshighereducation.com
Cronin, A. M. (2016). Reputational capital in ‘the PR University’: public relations and market rationalities. Journal of Cultural Economy, 9(4), 396-409.
Rawls, J. (1972). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Donnelly, G. (2017). Top CEOs Make More in Two Days Than An Average Employee Does in One Year. Retrieved from http://fortune.com Enteman, W. F. (1993). Managerialism: the Emergence of a New Ideology. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Fayol, H. (1916). Managerialism Industrielle et Generale (Industrial and General Managerialism), London: Sir I. Pitman & Sons, ltd. (1930). Fleck, C. (2013). The impact factor fetishism. European Journal of Sociology, 54(2), 327-356. Gervais, R. & Merchant, S. (2001-3). The Office (BBC Sitcom-Mockumentary). London: British Broadcasting Corporation. Godwin, J. (2013). The office politics handbook: winning the game of power and politics at work. Pompton Plains: Career Press.
Orwell, G. (1948). Nineteen Eighty-four. London: Secker & Warburg.
Rosenfeld, P. Gaicalone, R. A. & Riordan, C. A. (1995). Impression Management in Organisations – Theory, Measures, Practice. London: Routledge. Samuel, Y. (2010). Organisational Pathology: Life and Death of Organisations. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Schrijvers, J. (2004). The Way of the Rat – A Survival Guide to Office Politics. London: Cyan Books. Sinclair, U. (1994). I, candidate for governor: and how I got licked. Berkeley: University of California Press. Watson, D. (1997). Against the Megamachine: Essays on Empire & Its Enemies. Brooklyn: Autonomedia. Watson, D. (2004). Watson’s dictionary of weasel words, contemporary clichés, cant & management jargon. Milsons Point: Knopf.
Gove, J. (2015). Stefan Grimm inquest: new policies may not have prevented suicide. Retrieved from timeshighereducation.com
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Accounting for the university of the future The University of the Future: Can the Universities of today lead the learning of tomorrow? by Ernst and Young EYGM Limited, 34 pages, 2018
The Big Four: The Curious Past and Perilous Future of the Global Accounting Monopoly by Ian D. Gow & Stuart Kells ISBN 9781863959964, Black Inc, 272 pages, 2018 Reviewed by Tim Moore & Gordon Taylor
There is much debate nowadays about the future of higher
counterpoint to the report – whereas Ernst & Young
education. The relentless change seen over the last few
chose to deliberate on the uncertain future facing our
decades has been turbo-charged in recent times through
universities, in the Gow and Kells book, the tables are
the growing involvement of business and corporations in
turned, with the authors sounding their own prescient
the shaping of university futures – a process Marginson
warnings to the accountants.
and Considine (2000, p. 3) have referred to as ‘the
The first feature to note about the Ernst & Young
increasing interpenetration of economic capital into
document, running to 34 pages, is its graphical
university education’. One type of ‘player’ increasingly
sophistication. Much of its space – on our estimation,
seeking to assert itself in such debates is the management/
more than three quarters of the report – is given over
accounting sector, taking in firms like Ernst & Young,
to elaborate looking figures, flow charts, colourful
KPMG, McKinsey etc. A recent contribution is the Ernst
photographs, boxed-up quotes from ‘key stakeholders’,
& Young ‘research paper’ – The University of the Future
endless dot points, and a lot of white space. Gow and Kells
– recently released to much fanfare in a well-co-ordinated
(2018), note that there is something of a formula to these
media campaign of press releases, television interviews,
documents:
and broadsheet coverage. Given the growing influence of this sector on our sector, we think it worth reviewing the quality of such contributions, as well as to ponder what might be behind the growing interest such firms have in the education of our youth.
All the written outputs of the Big Four have a family resemblance that manifests in similar structures, disclaimers, graphics, typography and heft (p. 69). Regarding the last of these attributes, ‘heft’, this is known in the trade, Gow and Kells explain, as the ‘thud
In this extended review, we also make passing reference
factor’, where clients and readers are led to be impressed
to another volume published around the same time as
by the sheer bulk of a document, when the actual content
the Ernst & Young report – Gow and Kells’ book, The
may all be rather thin. It’s worth pointing out too that what
Big Four: The Curious Past and Perilous Future of the
the Ernst & Young report demonstratively lacks is that
Global Accounting Monopoly. This detailed monograph,
feature that lies at the heart of all writing in the academy
an insider account of the goings on in Ernst and Young
– sustained prose, organised around a series of ordered
and the three companion firms (Deloittes, KPMG and
paragraphs that seek to provide credible evidence for any
PriceWaterhouseCooper) serves as useful context for
claims that lie within.
understanding the methods and motivations that lie
Gow and Kells note another feature of the Big Four
behind the EY report.The book also provides a tantalising
inhouse style – this is to be ever-reliant on what they call
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the ‘dumbed-down’ jargon of managerialism – ‘incentivise’,
future? The technique used, one common in the world of
‘impactful’, ‘stakeholder engagement’, ‘learnings’ (their
management, but little known and regarded in academia,
examples, p. 69). It will come as no surprise to learn that
is what’s called ‘scenario planning’. First developed as a
the Ernst & Young document is not short on in this type
zero-sum game by military strategists, the process typically
of idiom. The following are unexceptional examples (our
involves a few people ‘brainstorming’ likely futures and
emphases).
then drawing out the implications for decision-making. It
Universities will position themselves as educational wellbeing partners, delivering customised education services. (p. 10)
has no objective credibility, and none is claimed for it. But
[Universities need to] experiment with unbundling degree programs and deconstructing the value chain. (p. 30)
these intuitions can only be informed by the background
what is claimed is that the outcomes of such a process are intuitively valid. The methodological problem is that assumptions of those brainstormers, assumptions of which the participants may often be only subconsciously
In spite of these stylistic shortcomings, the Ernst &
aware. This in itself is no bad thing. But these intuitions
Young document does contain the semblance of an
or ‘conjectures’, as the epistemologist Karl Popper called
argument, which can be summarised thus:
them, have to be disciplined and tested.
i.
Universities, in the current environment, are facing a
ii.
This is where the Ernst & Young team let all pretence
period of unprecedented change;
at objectivity slip. The nature of scenario planning does
These changes are being brought about by a range of
not lend itself to Popperian refutation, but the conjectures
societal forces over which the universities have little
do demand objective critical scrutiny. Instead, EY
control – digitisation, globalisation and the like; and
immediately constructs a regime of surveys, focus groups,
iii. Out of these forces, universities will face a range
interviews and something called ‘secondary research’
of dramatic, possible futures, ones, which if
(reading?) which sets out, as they say (p. 33), to ‘confirm
not responded to strategically, will make them
the dominant external forces’ which will drive change in
increasingly irrelevant, if not obsolete, in the brave
higher education (our emphasis). In short, they will go
new world of the 21st Century economy.
looking for anything which might seem to support their
Expanding on this line of thinking, the authors sketch
assumptions and not at all to critique them.The procedure
out a range of hypothetical ‘universities of the future’, each
is a closed circle and therefore incapable of advancing
given its own special, ‘branded’ label. Four of these are
knowledge or understanding of the problem at hand.
outlined in the report. The first is the so-called ‘Champion
Indeed, it is only in the Recommendations at the very
University’, conceived by the authors as an inert, status
end of the Ernst & Young document (rather than at the
quo institution, funded by government and offering mainly
outset, where one might expect them) do we get an
traditional undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
explicit indication of the underlying assumptions that
Second is the ‘Commercial University’, which the authors
inform the Ernst & Young scenarios:
suggest would be ‘financially independent … to ease national budget pressures’, as they say – and offering programs that would be co-designed and co-delivered with industry. A third configuration is the ‘Disruptor University’, a wholly privatised operation, where learning would be
Knowledge is becoming increasingly commoditised and learning is moving online in a massive way. Economic rationalism and current trends suggest that government will be increasingly forced to pull back from current funding models. (p.30)
organised on a just-in-time basis, as a series of ‘on-demand,
The second sentence encapsulates the distortions
micro-certificates’. And finally, there is the Virtual University,
economic rationalism imposes upon more carefully thought
where it is envisaged that most of the action will happen
out conceptions of knowledge and learning, conceptions
online, ‘as humans begin to be replaced by machines’.
which have prevailed through many past vicissitudes. Had
Significantly, of these options the report sees the second
the Ernst & Young team bothered to read anything that does
and third , the ‘Commercial’ and ‘Disruptor’ visions as the
not “confirm” their prejudices they might have discovered
most likely. It is these two outcomes, the authors suggest,
the failure of very vigorous attempts by the entrepreneurs
that universities and policy makers should immediately
of classical laissez faire utilitarianism to highjack the UK’s
‘start to evolve (sic) and plan for’ (p. 30).
redbrick expansion of the university system in the late 19th
But how have such conclusions been arrived at? What
and early 20th centuries. They might also have noticed
is the Ernst & Young methodology that enables them
the recent fiasco in Australia surrounding the attempted
to have such clear and certain apprehensions of the
privatisation of TAFE. The cracks in the present rationalist
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/ neoliberal landscape are appearing faster and wider
via the media. In a report in the Sydney Morning Herald,
almost by the month. For all we can foresee at the moment,
based on an interview with one of the Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young’s ‘current trends’ might just as well turn out
report’s authors, the following appeared as both the
to morph into a very sudden Kuhnian paradigm shift – a
article’s headline and lead.
disruption indeed – away from the trajectory these authors assume. One wonders how Ernst & Young’s thinking might cope with the possible disruption of their disruption?
40 per cent of existing university degrees will soon be obsolete, global accounting firm Ernst and Young says (SMH, 1/05/2018).
A different scenario, of course, would be one that
Thus, what was initially a speculative opinion from
proposes a revitalisation of the traditional, durable
an alleged – and questionable – number of academics,
strengths of higher education to serve the wider
becomes an accepted assumption in the report, and
contemporary world as opposed to the narrow interests
then in reporting to the world, a fact – one for us all to
of business. Here there would be a reasserting of deep
contemplate with due sobriety. This is pure trickery, an
disciplinary and other understandings which alone
evidential sleight of hand that would be quickly called out
assure flexibility of thought and the capacity for sound
under the peer review processes of the academy. There
judgement. But such a scenario cannot be found in the
is not much doubt however, about the intended effect of
Ernst & Young vision for the future for the fairly obvious
such claims – which is to create a sense of uncertainty
reason that firms such as Ernst & Young would play little or
and crisis in the sector, a state of affairs that can only be
no part. A university which submits to the blandishments
successfully navigated with the assistance and strategic
to teach the transitory answers to ‘how’ questions of skill
advice of a company like Ernst & Young.
– to ‘commoditise’ knowledge – has abandoned the ‘why’,
The growing sense of depression one experiences
much less the ‘whether’, neither of which may have any
reading the Ernst & Young report (and its subsequent
obvious short-term economic reward.
publicity) leads to two basic questions: one that is
The Ernst & Young document is wholly an exercise
relatively simple to answer, and the other, quite a mystery.
in speculation, and as we suggest, speculation based
The first – the easy one – is why Ernst & Young, an
on a methodology that is dodgy at best. It is interesting
organisation fundamentally founded in the business of tax
however, to see what is made of this highly provisional
and auditing assessments of companies, would feel itself
material. From the interviews conducted for the report,
qualified to tell universities what is best for them to do as
the following finding is reported, though somewhat
educational institutions, including both what should be
tucked away amid the typography and graphics:
taught, and how? Part of the answer to this question is to be found in the
Some university leaders estimate that around 40 per cent of existing university degrees will soon be obsolete.
subtitle of Gow and Kells’ book: The Curious Past and
This is a dramatic finding – one calculated to fill the
‘perilous future’ mentioned here relates to the increased
average academic with deep dread. Closer scrutiny,
levels of risk surrounding these firms’ core business
however, leads one to be skeptical. With no attribution
activities. Thus, in the area of auditing, Ernst & Young, for
provided for the statement, we are not to know who
example, was required in 2010 to pay US$99 million as
these leaders might be, nor indeed, what types of leaders
settlement in a class action for its role in the infamous
– Vice-Chancellors? Administrators? Or even university
Lehmann Brothers collapse, one of the triggers of the
board members – many of whom it turns out nowadays
global financial crisis (GFC) (Gow & Kells, p. 124). In its
are drawn from the ranks of firms like Ernst & Young.
tax consulting, major reputational damage was done to
The quantifier ‘some’ (as in ‘some university leaders’) is
the firm through its involvement in various tax avoidance
also unimpressively vague. What number might this be?
schemes set up for a range of corporations (Koch, Disney),
Two? Three? Four? A critical mass of informants, sufficient
as revealed, for example, in the famous Luxembourg
to make the finding a valid one? And finally, one looks
Papers (LuxLeaks) in 2015 (Fitzgerald & Guevara, 2014).
Perilous Future of the Global Accounting Monopoly.The
warily upon the predicted number of soon-to-be-obsolete
Gow and Kells explain that the cumulative effect
courses. Did all the putative informants somehow arrive
of these scandals and debacles has been for the Big
independently at such an uncannily precise figure of 40
Four firms to adapt their business models increasingly
per cent?
towards ‘low-risk’ advisory services, including advice to
Dubious as this finding is, what is more significant is
our universities. But it’s not just providing advice to our
the way it was then presented subsequently to the world
institutions that appears to be of interest here; it’s also
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about getting a slice of the educational delivery action.
one-time academic colleagues, who toil in the faculties
Thus, it is no surprise to see in the Ernst & Young report
engaged in the real ‘business’ of the university – teaching
a concerted effort to denigrate traditional faculty and
and research. The recent trend for the consulting firms to
degree structures – ‘University degrees are almost obsolete
find places in their ranks for superannuated VCs is further
in some industries’, they aver. What they envisage in
evidence of a less-than-holy alliance between the parties
the place of sustained studies in identifiable knowledge
(Sydney Morning Herald, 2018; Parker/KPMG, 2018).
fields is a plethora of commercially supplied, patented (!),
All futurological musings are fraught – and as we have
virtual ‘nano-courses’, all organised around the ‘skills’ of
seen, often function more as self-interested urgings than
the moment, including, one imagines, such intellectually
any objective foretelling of the way things will actually be.
inspiring offerings as how to work in a team, or how to
In such a spirit, we offer no predictions about the future –
build your personal brand, or even how to whip up flashy
for either sector. We conclude instead with a simple hope
documents in the style of the Ernst & Young report!
– this is that the growing nexus between university and
Notwithstanding the concern increasingly expressed
corporation is a state of affairs that can be increasingly
by actual educationists about the ongoing dilution of
challenged and resisted by university communities in
deep disciplinary learning (see Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist,
times ahead – indeed the ‘future of our universities’ might
for a recent example, 2018), it is clear that proposals like
well depend on it.
this have a simple purpose – to create a privatised system on which companies like Ernst & Young might gorge.
Tim Moore is an Associate Professor in Language and Literacy
Commenting on such an agenda in relation to an earlier
at Swinburne University.
Ernst & Young higher ed report, philosopher Dirk Baltzly (2012) wrote: The point of [the 2012 report] was not to predict the future of higher education in Australia …rather it was to shape that future by dint of providing quasi-expert advice to justify greater private sector involvement. TINA (‘there is no alternative’) is a well-known ideological trope in the armoury of neoliberalism. This is meant to look a bit like research, but its function is advocacy. The appearance of the 2018 report – with the same clear TINA trajectories – suggests Ernst & Young are playing some kind of long game here. This brings us to the other question – the more difficult one – which is why the esteemed institutions that are our universities have somehow been persuaded that operations like Ernst & Young actually have credible things to say to us about how we should organise our institutions and our curricula. The evidence of university annual reports suggests that, in fact, our administrations are much seduced by these services. Among Victorian universities, for instance, an estimated $17 million was spent on outside consultancies in 2014, a figure one assumes has continued to rise since that time (Trounson, 2014). The sad conclusion to draw is that the present crop
Gordon Taylor was formerly Associate Professor and Director of the Language and Learning Unit in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University, and sometime Coordinator of the Faculty’s Quality Programs.
References Baltzly, D. (2012). Comment in response to article: ‘The end of universities: Don’t count on it’, The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/ the-end-of-universities-dont-count-on-it-10350 Finkel, A. (2018). Master the foundations and rule a universe. The Australian, 18/07/2018. Fitzgerald, A. & Guevara, M. (2014). New leak reveals Luxembourg tax deals for Disney, Koch Brothers empire, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), 9/12/2014. Marginson, S. & Considine, M. (2000). The Enterprise University: Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Parker, S. (2018). Reimagining tertiary education: From binary system to ecosystem. KPMG, Melbourne. Sydney Morning Herald (2018). ‘‘You don’t learn that at university’: 40 per cent of degrees will soon be obsolete, report finds’, 01/05/2018. Sydney Morning Herald (2018). ‘Major funding and policy changes to universities, TAFEs needed: KPMG’, 01/08/2018. Trounson, A. (2014). ‘Uni consultants make $17m killing’. The Australian, 19/04/2018.
of university administrators – with their corporate level salaries, and with their similar obsessions with the ‘strategising’ of everything – have come to have much in common with the business partners and cronies with whom they increasingly fraternise. Indeed, one hazards that they have more in common here than with their
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