Portraits of Academic Life in Higher Education

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-71610-0
Verlag: de Gruyter Brill

Buch, Englisch, 352 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 535 g

The academic experiences and emotions shared in these chapters can be described as thoughtful, courageous, insightful, and worrisome. Collectively, authors draw a troubled higher education landscape that has evolved over the years from, to put it mildly, a “more pleasant” working environment in more generous times, to a less pleasant working environment in today’s more restrictive, more competitive, and more financially difficult times.



However, on a positive note, contributing authors share their understanding of the core purpose of the higher education institution and its mission as purveyors of that purpose through adherence to the university’s stated triad of goals: teaching, research, and service.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Conrad, Dianne

Archer, Walter

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgement

Notes on Contributors

Introduction and Overview: A Kaleidoscope of Careers in Academia

Dianne Conrad

Part 1: Introduction to Part 1: Higher Education, Broadly

Dianne Conrad and Walter Archer

1 “The Talk”: Confronting Uncomfortable Truths about Higher Education and Academic Life

Claire Polster

2 Faculty Unionism: What, Why and Who

Tamara Leary

3 Social Worlds in the Academic Hinterland: Reflections on Strategic Growth at a Small Canadian University

Antony Puddephatt and Chris Sanders

4 The Baffling World of Middle Management in Academia

Lillie Lum and Liza Choi

5 Transitioning to Domestic Academia in the Global South with a PhD from the Global North

Aliya Kuzhabekova

6 The Impacts of “Publish or Perish” on Chinese and Canadian Academics

Shuai Yu and Lei Zhang

7 Supporting an Academic Life of Practice and Service: An Examination of the Third Mission within the Health Disciplines

Victoria Wood and Jude Walker

8 Faculty Experiences of the Changing Academy: A Conversation across Career Paths

Wendy Freeman, Sibo Chen, Afsoon Soudi and Natalia Lumby

9 Embracing Change: Journeys to Learning Design

Nicola Pallitt, Daniela Gachago and Maha Bali

Part 2: Introduction to Part 2: Struggle and Perseverance

Dianne Conrad and Walter Archer

10 Exceptance Letters: Or, What I Needed to Hear along the Way to an Academic Career

Stephanie Mason

11 The Significance Project: Ensuring Alignment in the Academy

Robin Mueller

12 A Caribbean Academic: A Journey of Self-Discovery and Perseverance

Dave V. Cassie

13 Edupreneurship and University: Life in the Groves of Academe

Stephen Murgatroyd

14 And You May Ask Yourself, “Well, How Did I Get Here?” An Unconventional Professorial Journey

Vera Dolan

15 From Third Space Professional to First-Generation Academic: Navigating New Identities

Lee Fallin

Part 3: Introduction to Part 3: In the Rear-View Mirror

Dianne Conrad and Walter Archer

16 Moving Stories

Sandra Acker

17 (When) Did I Sell Out? My Journey from Activist to Administrator to Retiree

Paul Axelrod

18 Reflections on My Social Work Career Journey

Mary Valentich

19 Critical Moments in a Precarious Academic Journey

Ailie Cleghorn

20 A Many-Hatted Career: Lessons in Survival

Dianne Conrad

21 Reflections of a Scholar Gypsy

John Daniel

22 Reflections on Learning to Think: A Researcher’s Path

Janet Gail Donald

Concluding Words: Themes of Academic Life

Walter Archer

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Dr Dianne Conrad is a retired adult educator. Formerly an editor of the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL), she is currently an advising editor for the Journal of Open, Distance, and Digital Education (JODDE) at the University of Oldenburg, Germany.

Dr Walter Archer served for seven years on the board of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, including two years as President. After his retirement, he continues to serve as book review editor for the Canadian Journal of Higher Education.