Among Professors: Academic Life, Power & Survival

On permanent positions and the informal rules of academic life Congratulations on your permanent position. The marathon is over — or so I thought.  Welcome to the triathlon. That was my first thought the first time I found myself second marking.  Reading every student essay reviewed by colleagues, writing a report: was their assessment fair and accurate? I didn’t take shortcuts. I read everything carefully and wrote a thorough, honest report. My colleagues were  not amused. There I went again. I had once more missed an unwritten rule.  It wasn’t about the quality of the feedback or genuine checking. It was about ticking a box.  Colleagues would do it like this: "Well done. Perhaps tweak this one up a bit, that one down a bit. Sorted." Everyone knew it was just for show. Except me. And this wasn’t the exception. It was the rule. Again and again, the formal purpose was quality control; the informal purpose was managing impressions. Take student questionnaires. You...

After your PhD comes the job search. And there, too, the unwritten agenda quietly governs what happens. My first position was a temporary teaching contract at another university. The job description was vague. They were looking for someone to replace one of two senior lecturers, in two completely different fields. At the interview, both lecturers were present. It quickly became clear that this was less about my suitability than about an internal power struggle. The question was who would get to offload a teaching responsibility. Of the three shortlisted candidates, two had a PhD in field A. The third had only a master’s degree, but in field B. The next day I received a call. The job was mine, but only if I agreed to teach field B. My expertise was in field A. The message was unmistakable. The lecturer from field B had won the internal battle, but his preferred candidate was not credible. So the position was offered to me, with the quiet expectation that I would decline. That way, they ...