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ERIC Number: EJ1132781
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-1609
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Collegiality and Performativity in a Competitive Academic Culture
Macfarlane, Bruce
Higher Education Review, v48 n2 p31-50 2016
Collegiality is one of the most symbolically significant concepts of higher education and continues to be widely espoused as a core value by members of the academic profession. However, the highly competitive and performative nature of modern higher education means that the conventional values and behaviours associated with collegiality, such as mentoring and consensual decision-making, are coming under increasing pressure. The paper reports on a questionnaire survey of academics within a Faculty of a leading research university in Hong Kong designed to understand perceptions of structural, cultural and behavioural collegiality. These perceptions vary considerably by academic rank and gender with power vested in a mainly male professorial oligarchy. Collegiality appears to be most weakly formed as a behavioural norm and, linked to this finding, the study further indicates how ventriloquizing the values of collegiality has become a performative riff in academic life which, in practice, is increasingly characterised by isolation and individualised competition.
Tyrrell Burgess Associates. 34 Sandilands, Croydon, CRO 5DB, UK. Tel: +44-2086-561770; e-mail: subscriptions@highereducationreview.com; Web site: http://www.highereducationreview.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A