CHEMP News
PRESS RELEASE – Changing Nature of the Academic Profession (CAP project)
Project website
Is this what you expected academia to be? This is one of the many questions that an international survey of the academic profession will seek to answer in a national survey to begin next week.
The Centre for Higher Education Management and Policy at the University of New England will shortly be inviting about 5500 individuals across 21 Australian universities to participate in a survey which examines the nature and extent of the changes experienced by the academic profession in recent years.
The study is the largest ever of its kind, being part of an international comparative project across some 20 countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China/Hong Kong, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela. The project is a follow-up to the early 1990s project carried out under the auspices of the US Carnegie Foundation of which Australia was a part.
It will consider the implications of the changes for the attractiveness of the academic profession as a career and for the ability of the academic community to contribute to the further development of knowledge societies.
“I believe this to be an important project with the potential to greatly benefit our understanding of the dynamics of the Australian academic profession and how Australian academics compare to their colleagues globally” said the leader of the Australian Team, Professor Lynn Meek.
“In this period of rapid change stimulated by globalization and national policies promoting the knowledge economy, it is essential to understand the orientations and actions of knowledge workers, and especially those of the academic profession who occupy such a central position in the knowledge production process. What are the academic profession’s views towards the increasing relevance, internationalization, and managerial adaptations of their workplace, and how are these views changing? The CAP project is especially well positioned to answer these questions” said Professor Meek.
A common survey instrument has been developed and will be administered to a representative sample of academic staff in the participating countries during 2007. The survey will be administered on-line. The Australian data set will be incorporated into the larger international data set which will enable international comparative analyses regarding the changing nature of the academic profession.
Central questions for the study include:
• To what extent is the nature of academic work changing?
• What are the external and internal drivers of these changes?
• To what extent do changes differ between countries, disciplines, and types of higher education institutions?
• How do the academic professions respond to changes in their external and internal environment?
• What are the consequences for the attractiveness of an academic career?
• What are the consequences for the capacity of academics to contribute to the further development of knowledge societies and the attainment of national goals?