Sustaining the academic self: Challenges to the professoriate in a changing higher education landscape

Abstract

Die universiteit is ? grootse instelling wat sy oorsprong in middeleeu se tye in die Christelike kerk gehad het. Sedert die begin van die 21ste eeu is die universiteit se drieledige missie van onderrig, navorsing en gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid egter gereduseer tot dié van primêre ekonomiese enjin van die samelewing, waar laas genoemde se toekomstige welvaart van kennis as bemarkbare kommoditeit afhanklik is. En waar die professoraat histories as die beliggaming van die gedagte van die universiteit beskou is, word sy sosiale en kulturele kohesie toenemend aan druk onderwerp te midde van ingrypende veranderinge in hoër onderwys, beide globaal en plaaslik. Ter bespreking van bestaande temas in die literatuur wat met innovering in hoër onderwys en ? konseptuele raamwerk van sosiale en persoonlike identiteitsteorieë te make het, doen hierdie artikel verslag oor ? kwalitatiewe ondersoek na die ontwikkeling en hand hawing van akademiese identiteit onder professore aan ? groot Suid-Afrikaanse universiteit wat aan die einde van hul loopbane staan. ? Klein steekproef deelnemers is deur middel van doelbewuste steekproefneming bekom, en data is aan die hand van half gestruktureerde diepte-onderhoude ingesamel. Die deelnemers het beskryf hoe hulle hul akademiese identiteit oor ? lang loopbaan gevorm en gehandhaaf het. Die volgende temas het na vore gekom: akademiese identiteit as ? funksie van aaneengeskakelde omge wings; die erosie van akademiese identiteit in verswakte praktyk gemeenskappe; die gebruik van persoonlike hulpbronne om welstand en betrokkenheid by die akademiese wêreld te handhaaf; en die handhawing van akademiese identiteit hul loopbane deur. Die be spreking beklemtoon dit dat die hedendaagse universiteit die volgehoue ontwikkeling van die professoraat in aanmerking moet neem ten einde sy lewenskragtigheid te handhaaf, intellektuele kapitaal te behou, en te verseker dat die instelling sy missie vervul.

The university is an august institution of which the medieval origins are embedded in the history of the Christian church. Since the begin ning of the 21st century, however, the university’s tripartite mission of teaching, research and community engagement has been reduced to that of primary economic engine of society. Their future wealth is seen as dependent on knowledge as a marketable com - modity. Subsequently, where the professoriate was historically considered the embodiment of the idea of the university, its social and cultural cohesion has come under increasing pressure amid incisive changes in higher education, both globally and locally. Against a dis cussion of extant themes in the literature concerning higher education change and a conceptual framework of social and personal identity theories, this article reports on a qualitative inquiry into the development and sustenance of academic identity among latecareer professors at a large South African university. A small sample of participants was selected by means of purposive sampling, and data gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Parti cipants described how they had shaped and sustained their academic identity across a lengthy career. The following themes emerged: academic identity as a function of interlocking environments; academic identity erosion in weakened communities of prac -tice; the use of personal resources to sustain well-being and engage ment in academe; and sustaining academic identity throughout the academic career. The discussion highlights the need for the contemporary university to consider the ongoing development of the professoriate if it is to maintain its vitality, retain intellectual capital and enhance the accomplishment of institutional mission.