Müller, Ruth (Author)
This paper explores the ways in which postdoctoral life scientists engage in supervision work in academic institutions in Austria. Reward systems and career conditions in academic institutions in most European and other OECD countries have changed significantly during the last two decades. While an increasing focus is put on evaluating research performances, little reward is attached to excellent performances in mentoring and advising students. Postdoctoral scientists mostly inhabit fragile institutional positions and experience harsh competition, as the number of available senior positions is small compared to that of young scientists striving for an academic career. To prevail in this competition, publications and mobility are key. Educational work is rarely rewarded. Nevertheless, postdocs play a key role in educating PhD students, as overburdened senior scientists often pass on practical supervision duties to their postdoctoral fellows. This paper shows how under these conditions, postdocs reframe the students they supervise as potential resources for co-authored publications. What might look like a mutually beneficial solution at a first glance, in practice implies the subordination of the values of education to the logic of production, which marginalizes spaces primarily devoted to education. The author argues that conflicts like this are indicative of broader changes in the cultural norms of science and academic citizenship, rendering community-oriented tasks such as education work less attractive to academic scientists. Since education and supervision work are central cornerstones of any functioning higher education and research system, this could have negative repercussions for the long-term development of academic institutions.
...More
Book
Muñoz Muñoz, Ana M.;
(2006)
Presencia y producción científica de las profesoras de la Universidad de Granada (1975--1990)
(/isis/citation/CBB001022353/)
Chapter
Barnett, Ronald;
(2005)
Re-opening Research: New Amateurs or New Professsionals?
(/isis/citation/CBB001000223/)
Article
Jennifer Dusdal;
Justin J. W. Powell;
David P. Baker;
Yuan Chih Fu;
Yahya Shamekhi;
Manfred Stock;
(2020)
University vs. Research Institute? The Dual Pillars of German Science Production, 1950–2010
(/isis/citation/CBB533528425/)
Article
Barnes, Marissa E.;
Greer, Scott;
(2014)
Does the Future Have a History of Psychology? A Report on Teaching, Research, and Faculty Positions in Canadian Universities
(/isis/citation/CBB001214434/)
Book
Helvoort, Ton van;
(2008)
De chemie van de universitaire wetenschapsbeoefening: Een halve eeuw scheikunde in Groningen, 1945--1995
(/isis/citation/CBB001232406/)
Article
Waaijer, Cathelijn J. F.;
(2015)
The Coming of Age of the Academic Career: Differentiation and Professionalization of German Academic Positions from the 19th Century to the Present
(/isis/citation/CBB001550693/)
Book
Lamont, Michèle;
(2009)
How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment
(/isis/citation/CBB001021289/)
Article
Naqvi, Shehbaz Husain;
(2014)
Polymer Science Research in India during 1999--2012: A Scientometric Study Based on Science Citation Index-Expanded
(/isis/citation/CBB001201760/)
Article
Bragesjö, Fredrik;
Elzinga, Aant;
Kasperowski, Dick;
(2012)
Continuity or Discontinuity? Scientific Governance in the Pre-History of the 1977 Law of Higher Education and Research in Sweden
(/isis/citation/CBB001211958/)
Chapter
Webster, Frank;
(2005)
Research, Universities and the Knowledge Society
(/isis/citation/CBB001000222/)
Book
Mirowski, Philip;
(2011)
Science-Mart: Privatizing American Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001210019/)
Article
Elizabeth Frances Caldwell;
(2017)
Quackademia? Mass-Media Delegitimation of Homeopathy Education
(/isis/citation/CBB422293911/)
Article
Evans, James A.;
(2010)
Industry Collaboration, Scientific Sharing, and the Dissemination of Knowledge
(/isis/citation/CBB001034684/)
Article
Vermeulen, Niki;
Parker, John N.;
Penders, Bart;
(2013)
Understanding Life Together: A Brief History of Collaboration in Biology
(/isis/citation/CBB001213643/)
Article
Sarah R Davies;
Bao-Chau Pham;
(2023)
Luck and the ‘situations’ of research
(/isis/citation/CBB796332683/)
Article
Siemsen, Hayo;
(2011)
Ernst Mach and the Epistemological Ideas Specific for Finnish Science Education
(/isis/citation/CBB001032750/)
Chapter
Kneller, Robert;
(2010)
The Changing Governance of Japanese Public Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001420858/)
Book
Groen, Adriaan in 't;
(2009)
De Wende en Humboldts erfenis. De utopie voorbij
(/isis/citation/CBB001024410/)
Article
Logar, Nathaniel;
Anadon, Laura Diaz;
Narayanamurti, Venkatesh;
(2014)
Semiconductor Research Corporation: A Case Study in Cooperative Innovation Partnerships
(/isis/citation/CBB001420877/)
Thesis
Soliman, William Atef;
(2006)
An Examination of Past and Present Influences on University Chemistry Education
(/isis/citation/CBB001561000/)
Be the first to comment!