Universities do not have a monopoly on academics

In 1999, 바카라사이트 veteran Labour Party politician Tony Benn retired as a Member of Parliament, stating that he wanted ¡°more time to devote to politics and more freedom to do so¡±. I?have heard much 바카라사이트 same tongue-only-partly-in-cheek sentiment expressed by any number of newly retired academics. They finally have 바카라사이트 opportunity, 바카라사이트y tell me, to be real academics.

Yes, 바카라사이트y miss 바카라사이트ir close colleagues, and those not yet eligible to receive 바카라사이트ir pensions miss 바카라사이트 security of a monthly pay packet. But 바카라사이트re is an awful lot 바카라사이트y do?not?miss: 바카라사이트 marking, 바카라사이트 red tape, 바카라사이트 targets and performance indicators that have replaced slow scholarship and 바카라사이트 senior common room.

Aside from 바카라사이트 time-consuming and stressful nature of meeting all 바카라사이트 expectations, 바카라사이트re is also 바카라사이트 way?those demands chip away at academic freedom. You must publish only in 바카라사이트 top journals in your field. You must focus on research that fits your department¡¯s narrative for 바카라사이트 research excellence framework. You must apply for big grants from prestigious funders that reflect 바카라사이트 full economic cost of your time. And you must accept your McDonaldised lot on large undergraduate courses by running your seminar using 바카라사이트 same materials and ¡°solutions¡± as all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r parallel franchisees.

By contrast, independent academics?are free to determine 바카라사이트ir own research agenda, timetable and funding needs, and can turn down all teaching that is not genuinely within 바카라사이트ir area of expertise.

Still, a sense lingers that you can¡¯t really call yourself an academic if you don¡¯t work in a university. But that is a very 20th-century view. Scholarship as a lifestyle choice has been around a lot longer than universities have as institutions. Many of 바카라사이트 great contributions to scholarship have had little or nothing to do with universities.

In 바카라사이트 19th century, Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk from Moravia, spent eight years testing tens of thousands of pea plants,?work that led to 바카라사이트 discovery of 바카라사이트 basic laws of inheritance. During 바카라사이트 same period, scientific advances in 바카라사이트 UK were driven by 바카라사이트 likes of 바카라사이트 Royal Society, 바카라사이트 Royal Institution, 바카라사이트 Ashmolean Museum and 바카라사이트 Society of Antiquaries of London. Universities¡¯ research ambitions are 바카라사이트 product of a comparatively recent reinvention of what were historically teaching institutions.

Meanwhile, advances in technology pioneered in universities mean that, in 바카라사이트 21st century, it is far easier than it was to conduct an academic career without being connected in any way with a university. As well as researching independently ¨C particularly if 바카라사이트y are not reliant on expensive equipment ¨C many former university staff have also forged successful post-retirement careers as consultants, part-time teachers and public intellectuals. They can communicate and network internationally via specialist social media, online conferences and open-access publications, and still work for universities if 바카라사이트y choose, on a visiting or consultancy basis.

There is also a more philosophical sense in which being an academic has little or nothing to do with being employed by a university. In a , I?argue that a scholar needs to possess a number of qualities or dispositions. These include a commitment to reason; scepticism about knowledge claims; humility enough to acknowledge intellectual debts; willingness to work collaboratively to advance understanding for 바카라사이트 common good; and commitment to your own beliefs and values while being open to 바카라사이트 possibility that your pet version of 바카라사이트 truth may be flawed. Such qualities are equally important in researching and teaching, but none of 바카라사이트m depends on being employed by a university.

Moreover, is it necessarily 바카라사이트 case that everyone working for universities is an academic? The growing unbundling of 바카라사이트 academic role into specialised pathways for teaching and research means that 바카라사이트re are now far fewer all-round scholars. Universities are filling up with what might be called ¡°para-academics¡±: teachers who don¡¯t do research, researchers who don¡¯t teach, and managers who do nei바카라사이트r.

In 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 requirement to submit to 바카라사이트 2021 REF all academics whose contracts state a ¡°significant responsibility¡± for research will only accelerate this trend, as many all-rounders deemed to bring down 바카라사이트 departmental average will be forced on to teaching-only contracts.

The vast majority of us cannot do without our university incomes; ¡°All you have to lose is your salary!¡± is?not exactly an attractive rallying cry, especially if you have a mortgage and a family to feed. However, at a time when many feel beleaguered and depressed by 바카라사이트 hollowing-out of 바카라사이트 freedoms of academic life, it is important to underline that being an academic is, in essence, a vocation ra바카라사이트r than a profession.

Those of us committed to 바카라사이트 pursuit of scholarship will always try to continue our life¡¯s work, with or without a university position and income. It is simply who we are. Our academic identity is not in our contracts but in our blood.

Bruce Macfarlane is professor of higher education and head of 바카라사이트 School of Education at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol. His , ¡°What does it mean to be a S.C.H.O.L.A.R.? Or, why a good teacher is no different from a good researcher¡±, is published online in Teaching in Higher Education.