Academic profession in academic organization

It has been argued that academic organizations are organized anarchies with ambiguous goal functions and uncertain technologies. Academia cannot evaluate itself because its dynamics is the garbage-can process. The counter-argument is that rational academic man(woman) is a substitute for organizational foolishness. The organizational behavior of academic institutions must be interpreted in terms of the logic of the academic profession.     

The Japanese academic profession

The historical background to the emergence of the Japanese system of higher education is described, attention being drawn to the link established between national aims and those of the university and to the system of gakubatsu (a form of patronage for graduates of a particular university). Post World War II expansion brought junior colleges (tanki-daigaku) into the sphere of higher education as well as universities (daigaku). Though formally and legally these classes of institution are equal they are in fact ranked according to the old system. Within universities there is also a ranking which is reinforced by gakubatsu. This ranking limits mobility in the academic profession; academic staff are likely to spend all their careers, undergraduate, postgraduate and as faculty members, at the same university. This system prevents Japanese scholars from taking posts abroad though it must also be pointed out that many Japanese academics go to great lengths to remain fully acquainted with western scholarship.     

The Bulgarian academic profession in transition

In this essay I analyze the current status of the academicprofession in Bulgaria at a time of difficult socio-economictransition. After providing a brief overview of the historicaldevelopment of Bulgarian academia, I discuss faculty workingconditions, the career path within the profession and the legalframework for the professoriate. Numerous problems with respectto finances, institutional infrastructure and legal environmentchallenge the status quo of the Bulgarian faculty. The essaycloses by highlighting the future key issues for theacademic profession that focus around its finanacial viability,difficulties in recruiting a new generation of scholars, the qualityof teaching and learning, and faculty entrepreneurship.     

Academe in transition: Transformations in the Polish academic profession

The period since 1989 has been an extremely dynamic one in Polish highereducation. New opportunities have opened up for the academic community,along with new challenges. Suddenly, the academic profession has arrivedat a stage that combines far-reaching autonomy with rather uncertainindividual career prospects. In recent years, a number of new laws havebeen proposed that were intended to change the whole structure ofrecruitment, promotions, remuneration, working conditions, andappointments of academic faculty. All this has occurred admidst thestrains and tensions resulting from changes in the broader society. Thesudden passage from the more or less elite higher education system tomass higher education with a strong and dynamic private sector hastransformed the situation of the academic community beyond allrecognition. The transition has resulted in a new set of values andchanges in position, tasks, and roles for academe in society. Today,the future of the Polish academic profession remains undetermined. Thepositive changes were accompanied by the chronic underfunding of publichigher education. Polish academics have learned to accommodatethemselves to the permanent state of uncertainty in which they areforced to operate. The present paper analyzes the current situation fromthe perspective of global changes affecting the academic profession.     

Women in the academic profession: Evolution or stagnation?

This article focuses on women in the academic profession and reports a study of the social origins of Greek university staff and their career pattern. Data show that women have made few gains as university professors over the past twenty years. The gains recorded in Greece are the result of democratization of the university. As women enter the academy, particularly on teaching staffs, they tend to be older and from more middle-class professional backgrounds than are their male peers. The author notes that the entry of women as academics occurs at a time when universities are experiencing a decline in real and symbolic power.     

分工视角中的学术职业

从分工的视角来看 ,现代大学的学科制度既促进也制约着学术职业的发展。而学术自由作为学术职业的突出特点 ,与学术人格之间形成的良性互动 ,成为学术职业的现实推动力。我国学术职业的发展中面临着种种问题 ,应该从职业分工的角度来研究我国的大学教师 ,以便确立他们的社会地位 ,推进学术研究的发展     

The academic profession in Spain: Between the civil service and the market

The academic profession in Spain is coming to the end of a dynamic period that is the consequence of profound changes and growth. Tenured academic staff with civil servant status enjoy reasonable working conditions. Nevertheless, recruitment and promotion procedures are now under scrutiny. The situation of nontenured academic staff is rather less positive.     

The peripatetic professor: the internationalisation of the academic profession

The internationalisation of the academic profession is a growing, iflittle studied, phenomenon, in contemporary higher education, and thearticle studies attitudes and behavioural outcomes of academic staff from arange of countries in relation to this dimension. After brief allusions topast examples of academic staff mobility, a routine measure ofinternationalisation was used to divide the International Survey populationinto two groups (peripatetic and indigenous). Results indicatedsignificant differences in both values and performance, in a range of areas.Substantial differences are also reported between many systems of highereducation. The article concludes with some comparisons of other staffmobility schemes, and a defense of the worth of international experience foracademic staff.     

The robed baron: The academic profession in the Italian university

The Italian academic profession is subject to complex bureaucratic structures and many strains as the result of rapid academic expansion but very limited resources. The ladder up the academic profession is both complicated and very difficult. Norms of professionalism are in conflict with the traditional patron system. This paper analyzes the current situation of the academic profession in Italian universities, and stresses a discussion of the career ladder and how it works in the academic system.Data for this paper have been collected as part of a research grant no. 73.00982.09 from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.     

河北省高校学报出版状况的统计分析及发展研究

以2003年河北省67种高校学报数据为统计源,采用定量分析方法,对河北省高校学报的数量增长、办刊情况以及办刊人员结构等方面进行了分析研究,进而指出了高校学报改革发展的方向。     

The US academic profession: Key policy challenges

The US academic profession is currently under considerable pressure due to a complex array of demographic, economic, social, and technological developments. The profession has recently witnessed major shifts in the areas of assessment and accountability, governance and power, faculty roles and functions, and recruitment patterns. This article examines a number of key policy dilemmas and challenges taking place in the profession owing to these developments.     

孔子与古鲁:中国与印度学术职业的变革

随着高等教育外部环境的不断变化,中国与印度的学术职业已经并正在继续发生重要的变革。在中国,随着政治经济体制改革的推行,政府开始改革公办高校的教师聘用制度,以解决原有体制中存在的冗员、合格教师短缺和效率低下等问题。改革虽然取得了一定的积极成果,但也面临着如何使西方管理文化与中国传统文化兼容等问题。在印度,政府结构调整使政府逐步撤出高等教育领域,其学术职业呈现出衰落的趋势。为此,印度大学拨款委员会采取了各种措施以提高教师的水平,但收效甚微。中国与印度的学术职业正处于一个不确定的过渡阶段。     

法国高等教育管理体制变革中的教师学术职业

法国作为中央集权管理体制的典型代表,正经历着高等教育分权的变革。大学自治对教师职业存在的重要影响,在学术责任、聘任与晋升制度、质量评估等方面,表现为教师流动性低、教学与研究结合困难、评估缺乏激励性、学术职业前景黯淡等。增强大学的自主性、改革僵化的管理体制是解决学术职业发展中的矛盾的重要前提。     

Deviancy from the norms of science: The effects of anomie and alienation in the academic profession

Anomie Theory, as formulated by Robert K. Merton, has been posited as a possible explanatory framework for deviancy from the norms of science.Anomie is the inability of some individuals to achieve excessively emphasized group goals through adherence to group norms. This study tests Anomie Theory by using alienation from the reward system of academic disciplines as an operationalization of this theory. Findings suggest support for Anomie Theory as an explanation for deviancy from the norms of communality, disinterestedness, and universalism. Implications for such topics as the use of norms as interpretative devices and the ambivalence of academics over compliance with dominant and subsidiary (counter-norms) are discussed. Implications for professional practice are also offered.     

The academic profession in Britain: A study in the failure to adapt to change

The article describes the impact of mass higher education and increasing financial stringency on the academic profession in Britain: the profession has fragmented and salary levels have fallen comparatively. The author argues that the profession has failed to adapt to the changes and that its continued adherence to a common salary scale represents a constraint on the system as a whole.     

The quality of scientific scholarship and the “graying” of the academic profession: A skeptical view

The results of a number of citation studies have been utilized to support the view that the graying of the academic profession will have no impact on the quality of work produced in various scientific disciplines. This conclusion is challenged. It is argued that citations may not indicate the most innovative and creative work, that age may be negatively related to the creation and reception of innovative work, and that the age structure of a scientific community may have an impact on the ability of innovative work to be produced and accepted.     

Recasting the academic workforce: why the attractiveness of the academic profession needs to be increased and eight possible strategies for how to go about this from an Australian perspective

This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds itself, and would provide a very shaky foundation on which to build the future workforce. There is an overarching need for a fresh conceptualisation of academic work that is authentic and feasible and suggestions are offered of what this might look like. A number of strategies are proposed how such a recasting might be implemented. The paper works from Australian research, and make suggestions for other systems.     

Institutional variability in faculty conformity to the norms of science: A force of integration or fragmentation in the academic profession?

Fragmentation in the academic profession derived from differences among academics in different types of colleges and universities suggests a need to identify possible compensatory integrating mechanisms. This study seeks to determine whether faculty conformity to the four norms of science identified by Merton are such integrating mechanisms or whether they are forces of further fragmentation. The 1977 Survey of the American Professorate conducted by Ladd and Lipset was the data source for this study. The results indicate that the norms of universalism and communality serve as a compensatory integrating mechanisms, while the norms of disinterestedness and organized skepticism function as forces of further fragmentation among academics in different types of colleges and universities.