What’s in a Name? Being an Academic in Higher Education
Note to readers: This is a submission for a module under UTM Baseline Competencies for Differentiated Career Pathway (BC4DCP), called Soul of Academia in Higher Education (code: AEA102).
3 September 2019. It’s the last day of training for us, a group of newly appointed UTM academics. Since 13 August 2019, we have been attending the Baseline Competencies for Differentiated Career Pathway (the acronym being BC4DCP, still a mouthful to read!), a 4-week training programme that exposes us to the fundamentals of being an academic staff in higher education.
We had quite a ride: from philosophising about education, to the overarching framework shaping how higher education is delivered in Malaysia; from the active learning techniques to deploy in the classroom, to measuring what counts at the end of the day; from writing research grants and maintaining a network for collaboration, to publishing highly-cited journal articles; and from conducting community engagement activities, to pitching our ideas and building a business out of it, and being an academic leader…
All of us sat through sessions with professors and university leaders, and rush through assignments at the end of each module, day in and day out.
As such, it was rather a nice gesture by the organiser to include a final session that lets us do some soul searching on why we are here in higher education, and how to sustain ourselves in the profession for the next 20–30 years. The session speaker was Prof Rose Alinda Alias, a professor in information systems at my university, and a renowned academic administrator in Malaysia.
So what does an academic in higher education do?
I believe the university anthem, Keunggulan Terbilang (English translation: Distinct Eminence) gives a good reminder to the new academics on the five core tasks they have to do: teaching (pengajaran), research (penyelidikan), publication (penerbitan), consultancy (perundingan), and service to the community (perkhidmatan kepada watan).
Prof. Shelda Debowski, a visiting professor to UTM last September 2018 (still my favourite visiting professor!) wrote in her book “The New Academic: A Strategic Handbook” the four key indicators of a successful academic:
- A strong research track record,
- Educational excellence,
- International and national collaborations, and
- Leadership of groups.
I also love what Prof Rose and her team did with the University Transformation Programme (UniTP) Orange Playbook, a guide issued by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education Malaysia on the role of academics in Malaysia. According to this guide, an academic may choose to specialise in one of four career pathways:
- Institutional leader,
- Eminent researcher,
- Teaching and learning, and
- Specialised practitioner.
Based on the above, it seems like the typical academic wears multiple hats. He/she needs to teach, do research, and service the community and industry. He/she also needs to lead, inspire, and motivate others. On top of that, he/she has to manage his/her own commitment as father/mother, husband/wife, and son/daughter…
That’s a lot to do, isn’t it?
With so many things to accomplish, how do I survive academia?
This is a question that has been on my mind for a while now, even before I attend Prof Rose’s session.
Joining academia is a choice and one which I’d never regret till this day. My first semester with my students had been a joy; being with students gives me a sense of delight and accomplishment that is different than having a paper published, a research question answered, or a complex project solved.
That said, academia is a cut-throat environment where numbers do matter. These days, we are metric-driven and reputation-centric; everything that we do counts, and each of them has to be counted, either through indicators on international and national rankings, publications and grants, or visibility within the global community. One has to thrive and play catch-up if he/she doesn’t want to be left behind.
Another trend that got me uncomfortable is the use of social media within the academia. I am not one to show and tell, particularly on social media; however, it seemed like one has to be visible on the social media platforms, in order to be “seen” doing something, or being “heard” in terms of opinions, thought pieces, and the likes. I had always thought that actions speak louder than words; in this time and age, the actions have to be complemented by shout-outs and postings on social media, which is too public for my liking.
The third and final aspect which I am deeply concerned is managing time and energy as an academic living with chronic illness. While time and energy management do get tasks moving on a day-to-day basis, I could not help but envy those who are able-bodied and are able to spend more time to do more research, travel to more conferences and international events, as well as publish more papers and books.
Just as the inner voices of pessimism became louder, I was reminded of a quote from a public lecture heard years ago.
Datuk Yasmin Mahmood, the current non-independent and non-executive Chairman of Pos Malaysia, was appointed as an adjunct faculty by the university back in 2016 under the CEO @ Faculty programme. It is a programme that intends to bridge the gap between the academia and industry. In conjunction with her appointment, Datuk Yasmin gave a lecture to UTM students and staff on the topic “Towards Empowering Malaysian Women in Technology”.
I didn’t manage to attend the full lecture as I had other prior commitments to attend to. However, I managed to catch the last few minutes of the lecture, where participants were invited to interact with Datuk Yasmin through a Q&A session.
One of the participants asked Datuk Yasmin to share tips on managing her career and family. Datuk Yasmin responded by saying that she could not possibly be the best in all the roles that she needs to play — a mother, wife, leader — but what she could do is to be the best that she can be, for a role that she has to play at a particular point of time.
In other words, if she has to spend time with her children as a mother, she would be the best mother for her children; similarly, if she is a leader at the workplace, she would be the best leader for everyone in the organisation.
I found the quote meaningful, and very useful. All of us have multiple hats to wear. We couldn’t possibly be the best in every role that we have. It’s tiring, and selfish not only to the self, but to others around us. However, we can strive to be the best of one role, at a point of time, every time.
So what’s next for Doria as an academic?
This might be a controversial view: I don’t have a long-term plan. When speakers of our training modules were talking about professorships, becoming institutional leaders, and renowned experts in their field, I was thinking about completing my medications, staying happy and healthy, as well as taking care of Mom, and providing for her as much as I can, for as long as I can.
I am contented with what I can do best today — delivering the best lesson I can to my students; writing the best section of a journal article for a reputable journal; supporting my superiors in their administrative work as much as possible.
Living with a chronic illness has taught me that I have to make the best of my time, no matter how short and uncertain it may be.
I do know that, in the near future, I would like to teach more classes, obtain a professional qualification (most likely the Certified Associate in Project Management or CAPM), and pursue more research and consultation projects on higher education. I am also interested to intern at the Parliament of Malaysia as a research officer, hone my skills as a HRDF-certified trainer, and become a visiting researcher in a foreign university. I am also keen on becoming editor for books and journals, a domain that plays well into my love of books and the written words.
I may not have critical goals to pursue in my career, but there is one thing that I value most as an academic in higher education, which I will hold on to for a long time: the ability to make a difference through knowledge.
