Academic Insecurity
It is well known that in order to build and uphold your reputation as an academic, you need to have an ever-increasing number of publications against your name. The more articles produced, the more successful you are. However, reading these academic articles is not a light activity that most people choose to do in their spare time. Due to the complex language they are written in, they are not accessible to the everyday person, and from my own experience, you often need a dictionary to fully understand the content.
So when are these publications going to be read and who will read them?
When doing research and writing academic texts, the student or professor has to do background reading for their subject of study, which is then evidenced in their own work through citations and references of other academic articles and texts.
Therefore, is it possible that if these conventions did not exist, a large portion of academic publications would not be read even within academia, and academics wouldn’t be so focused on getting their names onto publications?
The ultimate goal is to publish as many articles as possible and have as many other writers reference your work so that your academic reputation is established and upheld. And thus the pattern of seeking recognition through peer validation and approval continues, along with the mindset of ‘publish or perish’, a phenomenon among many academics who continue to write and publish articles from the fear of losing their job or reputation if they do not do so.
Due to this constant circulation of recognition that has been set up by higher education, the reality that I have observed is that many academics are using their performance and number of publications to prop up their feelings of self-worth and professional value. Some websites state how often an article has been cited or referenced, much like the concept of ‘liking’ that takes place on social media. For many, it is not so much about the love of their research and the topic they have expertise in, it is about how much recognition they can get for what they do. Along with an inbuilt fear of losing status and employment if one doesn’t keep up with the quota of required publications set by the university.
I recently overheard an academic express how they had published more articles than ever this year, yet they were being asked to write even more. From their tone of voice, it was clear that they were feeling the pressure on them and there was a sense that it was never going to be enough. This is certainly not evidence of a system that is supporting their employees to excel in their area, but a system that is squeezing as much out of them in order to secure their own proscribed targets of academic ‘excellence’.
The Irony of Academic Conventions
Ostensibly, academic conventions have come about to establish standards in academia. This applies equally to students’ assessable work and experts’ papers intended for publication. However, behind this there seems to be an underlying agenda to keep people in the loop of academia. Through the necessity of citing others work and building on their research, the industry itself has created a closed system designed to sustain its own momentum, without which there would not be as much research traction in academia.
Whether it be a person gaining a degree simply for the practical purpose of furthering their career or committing to a life of research and teaching in higher education, there are some key messages that are being ingrained into everyone that works within this system.
Firstly, you cannot trust the ideas and inspirations that come to you unless you have the backing of other academics who have already researched the same topic. This creates an insecurity and a reliance on evidence, and hence the emphasis on evidence-based work in society as a whole.
Secondly, and something that is promoted in all levels of education, is that our work is only of value when it receives the approval of others, whether that is through receiving good marks, or later, through having other people cite your work and publications.
Additionally, there is the impact on people’s natural expression given that at university you spend years training yourself out of it by adhering to the conventions (aka rules).
Overall, this creates the culture of elitism separating the people who are skilled in expressing in line with the academic conventions from those who are not.
There is great irony in this. The message that is often instilled in children when growing up is in favour of gaining a university degree in order to open your mind and propel yourself into a career. To have a university degree is evidence that you have succeeded in life, and you are a grade above those who have not. However, if we allow ourselves to be constrained into the academic conventions that come with studying at university, we can potentially be set up for a life of insecurity, forever relying on the recognition of others, as opposed to truly knowing ourselves without the need for external feedback. Is this not in conflict with the concept that universities and the research that is championed and done through them is for the betterment of life?
We are led to believe that research is about improving life and finding newer and better ways of doing things. Universities need to be seen to maintain their reputation in contributing to society in this way.
But if at the core of this education system is an ingraining of insecurity into those who partake in their studies, how can this truly support people?
Further to this, is the impact of the rigorous referencing on the academics working in the system. Whilst they may appear confident on the surface, is it not a cover of the insecurity that lies under the need for recognition and accolades which has been fostered since entering education from a young age?
Whilst you do need a degree for many jobs and gaining this can absolutely support your career, it does not set you up with the true confidence and innate knowing of who you are that we all had as children before stepping into the education system. And thus, given that everyone is required to go through education, and the system is how we have set it up to be, it is not surprising that insecurity is a rampant by product of this enabled system of society.