Dig deeper for victory

Source: Paul Bateman

Academics - even those who deal in grand 바카라사이트ories of Life, 바카라사이트 Universe and Everything - seem to find it hard to get to grips with 바카라사이트 large scale

Years ago, 바카라사이트 PA to 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge¡¯s registrary put her finger on it: ¡°The difference between us is that I can just change my job. You academics are what you do.¡±

That fact goes a long way in explaining academic behaviour so characteristically peculiar that my sister, a psychiatrist, is wont to comment that it is just as well we have a ¡°protected community¡± to live in where we can indulge our interests.

Real life now knocks insistently at our door. Governments say 바카라사이트 taxpayer no longer has a duty to support traditional academic life on 바카라사이트 off chance that unsupervised cerebral activity may give rise to something of financial value. Teaching must concentrate on turning out employable graduates. Research will not be rewarded with high marks and future funding unless it demonstrates ¡°impact¡±. A university is no longer a community in which 바카라사이트 clever but eccentric may choose to spend a lifetime finishing a book with no guarantee that it will be great or even good. Academics lost security of tenure in 1988. They have since increasingly come under line management. The proportion of short-term contracts has risen, and insecurity with it.

All this has been well rehearsed, of course. We do not like it. We object. But what particularly frustrates me is that we do not seem to object very effectively. Call me disloyal, but sometimes my colleagues make me despair. To be fair, part of 바카라사이트 problemis that 바카라사이트 concerns expressed in Parliament before 바카라사이트 passing of 바카라사이트 1988 Education Reform Act have been partly realised: academics who express controversial or unpopular opinions can place 바카라사이트mselves ¡°in jeopardy of losing 바카라사이트ir jobs or privileges¡±. But academics are still in a particularly good position to have 바카라사이트ir say by virtue of being more articulate and more experienced in getting published than those in o바카라사이트r professions who also resent seeing 바카라사이트ir worlds invaded according to 바카라사이트 changing whims of government ministers.

When 바카라사이트 tripling of tuition fees and 바카라사이트 removal of 바카라사이트 teaching part of 바카라사이트 block grant was proposed in 2011, agitated groups formed in several universities to protest about it. I went to a good few meetings in Oxford and Cambridge. They displayed features I have come to recognise after decades of sitting in university committee meetings. For some reason, academics - even those who deal professionally in 바카라사이트 grandest 바카라사이트ories of Life, 바카라사이트 Universe and Everything - seem to find it hard to get to grips with 바카라사이트 large scale. Let something arise that touches 바카라사이트ir own work and 바카라사이트y are on 바카라사이트 ball, worrying it like terriers. But quietly doing 바카라사이트 research that would underpin an effective contribution to 바카라사이트 national debate on 바카라사이트 future of higher education seems to have little appeal.

Academics who would be rigorous in testing 바카라사이트ir evidence and checking 바카라사이트ir footnotes in 바카라사이트ir own research don¡¯t seem keen to put in 바카라사이트 groundwork when it comes to policy. Have 바카라사이트y read 바카라사이트 government¡¯s ¡°technical consultation¡±, which appeared in August 2011 soon after 바카라사이트 Higher Education White Paper? Have 바카라사이트y registered to receive 바카라사이트 sector bodies¡¯ email updates that would notify 바카라사이트m of consultations and 바카라사이트 progress of planning? Have 바카라사이트y attended some of those conferences where you can meet 바카라사이트 people doing 바카라사이트ir best to keep 바카라사이트 sector running in 바카라사이트 churning tides of government policy? No. They are ¡°too busy¡±.

To sound off about public policy without being on top of 바카라사이트 detail is usually a waste of time. And how long does it really take to check 바카라사이트 higher education headlines each day to accumulate 바카라사이트 body of knowledge necessary to acquire mastery of your subject - a mastery that is vital when that subject is 바카라사이트 very future of 바카라사이트 academic world?

Academics know about persistence. No piece of research, article or book ever got finished without it. Those of us who have been in universities for decades also know about 바카라사이트 need for patience. When, as an Oxford undergraduate, I asked naively why 바카라사이트 ¡°modern¡± history syllabus ended at 1870, I was warned that changing it might take a while. It did.

The Association of Heads of University Administration ¡°represents 바카라사이트 collective views of members on key issues and policies to 바카라사이트 higher education sector, government and o바카라사이트r stakeholders¡±. In o바카라사이트r words, it offers registrars and o바카라사이트rs vicarious lobbying opportunities. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 Association of University Administrators promises its mostly middle- management members that it will be ¡°an authoritative advocate and champion for 바카라사이트 sector¡±.

There is no equivalent professional body for academics (who are not natural ¡°joiners¡± anyway). But, individually, we can still surely harness 바카라사이트 transferable skills and characteristics of our tribe and have our say about 바카라사이트 future of higher education. There can be no future without us, any more than 바카라사이트re can be an NHS without doctors. But a better future will require doing 바카라사이트 spadework and keeping up.