1 Fran Collyer and Jeremy SimpsonPractices of Conformity and Resistance in the Marketisation of the Academy Fran Collyer and Jeremy Simpson Reflections, Intersections and Aspirations. 50 years of Australian Sociology Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association 25–28 November 2013 – Monash University, Caulfield Campus, Victoria.
2 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian Academy• Funding of this study: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Uni of Sydney • Research Question: What do members of the academy understand by the term marketisation, and what kind experiences have they had? • Sampling: - drawn primarily from the social sciences – via direct invitation - four universities: one Sandstone, one Redbrick, one Gumtree and one New University (Marginson’s typology). - disciplines include sociology, history, social policy, science and technology studies, politics, economics and engineering. - 22 participants, various roles (half teaching and research, a few research only, one teaching only, and others in management – four heads of school or departments (some of whom also teach), three in management only positions (e.g. Deans, Directors), and two emeritus professors.
3 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian Academy- Rank of participants: 4 Professors 3 Associate Professors 2 Senior Research Fellows 6 Senior Lecturers 2 Lecturers - Gender – 11 men and 11 women Method: - qualitative, largely unstructured, in-depth interviews - participants were asked about: their role(s), career progress, their understanding of marketisation and their experiences of it.
4 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyThe Meaning of ‘marketisation’ (1) Marketisation as a product of: - neo-liberalism, and the new ideological order (Assoc. Prof., HoD, Gumtree); - generational change - new generations of academics and managers trying to put their own stamp on things (Emeritus Prof., Red Brick); - a new period in history or phase of capitalism marked by the end of welfare state (Assoc. Prof., HoD, Gumtree).
5 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian Academy(Meanings continued) (2) Marketisation as a cause of other developments. Marketisation produces: - the reform of previous practices and structures (the end of the ‘God Professor’ and the rise of the celebrity academic) (Prof., Sandstone); - competition between universities and within universities (S.R. Fellow, Redbrick) - the elimination of, or marginalisation of ‘non-performers’ and those considered no longer suitable for the new environment (Assoc. Prof., Gumtree) - a growth in student numbers, particularly international students (Assoc. Prof., Redbrick) - new means of evaluation (e.g., metrics) (S.R. Fellow, Redbrick) … ‘performance measures feel like getting gold stars for being a good girl …’ (Assoc. Prof. Redbrick)
6 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademySome definitions of marketisation: ‘I describe the forces that are shaping my work environment as marketisation slash neo-liberalism’ (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone) ‘A condition of permanent revolution’ (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick) ‘A social sorting mechanism – producing hierarchies and functions’ (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick) ‘A radical change to a new way of valuing academic work’ (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick) The entry of market logics and norms into academia (Assoc. Prof. HoD, Gumtree) A means of ensuring resources only go to those achieving market outcomes i.e., profit (Lecturer, New University) An inter-generational succession struggle (Emeritus Prof., Redbrick)
7 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyExperiences and Evidence of Marketisation: • food outlets such as McDonalds on campus (Snr. Lecturer, HoS, Red Brick) • being unable to pursue research or activities where no ‘points’ or funds are attached (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick) • ‘Larger classes, and the demand to get students through at least cost’ (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick) • Lack of transparency in decision-making e.g., hiring of staff to meet targets and strategies without advertisement. ‘Decision-making is now too political’ (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone) • Increasing casualisation (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick) • schools pitted against schools and academics against academics, a war of all against all (Snr. Lecturer, Redbrick)
8 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyExperiences and Evidence of Marketisation (continued): • an increasing tension between ‘strategic research’ which brings in funds, and ‘investigator research’ (Snr. Fellow, Redbrick) • increasing compliance-related administration which is often related to government regulation (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone) … too much of an audit culture, many quality assurance programs are meaningless and just form filling (Prof, Gumtree) • increasing standardisation … ‘The McDonaldisation of the university’… having to fit into categories and boxes (e.g., FOR codes). If you don’t fit the boxes, you are disadvantaged. This is particularly the case for some smaller or speciality discipline areas (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone). It also makes it harder to do inter-disciplinary research or pitch for those kind of grants, for example, there is no FOR code for disability research (Prof., New University) • Increasing reliance on unpaid labour from academics (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone)
9 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyThe positive side of marketisation: ‘… it is important to get rid of people who are not publishing but ‘just coasting’… If you are being paid to publish you should do so’ (Prof., Gumtree) ‘I honestly don’t have a problem with it. I have always been on soft money and each contract I get has a promotion attached. I wouldn’t have been promoted any other way … I am good at negotiation and I play to the market’ (Assoc. Prof., Assoc. Dean, Red Brick).
10 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyResistances/Strategies: • say no to things and ignore things. Don’t engage directly with things unless required to (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone) • do a monograph with three authors – two chapters each, but you get five points (Assoc. Prof., HoD, Gumtree) • do the minimum with all the paperwork and don’t take it too seriously … ‘Just put in some words, don’t spend any time or thought on it, adopt a template if you like, which is already there. Don’t even add any words or subtract any words, just use the template’ (Assoc. Prof., HoD, Gumtree) • quarantine your family time and think about work as a job not a vocation (Lecturer, HoD, Sandstone) • focus one’s research into areas more likely to be funded (e.g., national priorities) (Prof, Gumtree)
11 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyResistances/Strategies (continued): • get the ‘strategic research’ done efficiently, allowing space for your ‘investigator driven research’ (Snr. Fellow, Redbrick) • avoid journals with long turn around times (Snr. Fellow, Redbrick) • ‘become the union rep. it’s safer’ (Snr. Lecturer, Red Brick)
12 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyPreliminary Findings: • Marketisation as a process of ‘re-purposing’ • Marketisation as an heterogeneous, diverse process - some universities are adopting an accountancy model of practice, others a model of innovation • Outcomes differ according to type and wealth of the university • Impacts differ markedly with individual status, security etc. ‘the more senior you are, the more you can ignore demands to change’ (Professor, Gumtree). ‘if you don’t need or want promotion, a grant, more resources, permanency … you can keep your head down and do your own thing’ (Snr. Lecturer, Red Brick)
13 A Study of Marketisation in the Australian AcademyPreliminary Findings (continued): • There is no real form of resistance, only strategies to help one manage the process as best one can, or take the ball and go home (retirement). • Marketisation represents a re-stratification of academia, where new kinds of abilities and capacities are privileged: - some are being ‘re-purposed’, but mostly the new workforce is coming in and the old is going out. The new academics are good at marketing themselves, at being a product that can be packaged and sold. • It is reforming the system, but is this the kind of reform needed? ‘It may address some of the problems with the old model … the isolated scholar .. but its emphasis on metrics and its authoritarianism (the setting of the agenda from higher up) is too inflexible’ (Assoc. Prof., HoD, Gumtree). ‘There is a problem with the old institutional structures and the old forms of decision-making and policy-making. But we have to ask ourselves if this is the right way to reform them?’ (Snr. Lecturer, Red Brick).