TY - CHAP
T1 - Selling academe’s soul to the devil?
T2 - Performativity, pressured professionalism and the rationalisation of knowledge production
AU - Evans, Linda
N1 - A former primary school teacher, Linda Evans is professor of education at the University of Manchester, where she also currently holds the role of associate dean in Faculty of Humanities. Her work focuses on working life in education contexts, and includes leadership, professionalism, and professional development. She has pioneered the research field of research leadership and researcher development. In addition to her most recently published monograph, Professors as Academic Leaders: Expectations, enacted professionalism and evolving roles, Linda has authored six books and over 70 academic papers. She was elected to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2019.
PY - 2023/2/23
Y1 - 2023/2/23
N2 - Drawing upon data from two studies of academic working life - one of journal editorship and authorship, and the other of university professors – this chapter discusses pressures experienced by academics in the UK’s neoliberal university. Linda Evans outlines her conceptualisation of professionalism, including notions of ‘demanded’ professionalism – that which is implicitly or explicitly asked of a specific workforce – and ‘enacted’ professionalism, that which the workforce actually ‘does’. She illustrates how, manifesting itself as expectations held of an occupational group, ‘demanded’ professionalism shapes ‘enacted’ professionalism. Findings common to both studies reveal 21st century academe to make for a highly pressured work environment that frequently spawns performance angst. As academics try to meet the performativity-imposed challenges of such ‘pressured professionalism’, knowledge generation becomes undermined, thwarting potential for pioneering breakthroughs, and research integrity is compromised as data manipulation leads to epistemic corruption. In such ways, academe risks selling its soul to the devil.
AB - Drawing upon data from two studies of academic working life - one of journal editorship and authorship, and the other of university professors – this chapter discusses pressures experienced by academics in the UK’s neoliberal university. Linda Evans outlines her conceptualisation of professionalism, including notions of ‘demanded’ professionalism – that which is implicitly or explicitly asked of a specific workforce – and ‘enacted’ professionalism, that which the workforce actually ‘does’. She illustrates how, manifesting itself as expectations held of an occupational group, ‘demanded’ professionalism shapes ‘enacted’ professionalism. Findings common to both studies reveal 21st century academe to make for a highly pressured work environment that frequently spawns performance angst. As academics try to meet the performativity-imposed challenges of such ‘pressured professionalism’, knowledge generation becomes undermined, thwarting potential for pioneering breakthroughs, and research integrity is compromised as data manipulation leads to epistemic corruption. In such ways, academe risks selling its soul to the devil.
KW - workplace stress
KW - ‘demanded’ professionalism
KW - ‘enacted’ professionalism
KW - academic leadership
KW - getting published
KW - epistemic worthiness
UR - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/universities-in-crisis-9781350249981/
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9781350249981
SP - [41-72]
BT - Universities in Crisis
A2 - Lybeck, Eric
A2 - O'Connell, Catherine
PB - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
CY - London
ER -