Is it time to reconsider the norm that an academic works independently and what he or she produces represents his or her own work? I am not suggesting that we do away with the norm altogether or that we weaken academic standards for research and writing. Rather, my concern is the degree to which the norm of independence can influence expectations in an academic’s other areas of activity. The academic does not just spend his or her time identifying new questions, researching them and then writing an article or book. They may also review the articles and books of others scholars; they may serve on editorial board for journals or sit on fellowship selection committees; they may read applications, review current students, or perform other administrative work in departmental committees; they may direct an area studies center, a research institute, a university program that is sponsored by an administrative unit above the department; they may be invited to give a lecture or be a members of a panel discussion. And they do all of this while teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, supervising theses, advising doctoral students, and mentoring postdoctoral fellows. It is not surprising that the result of an AHA survey found that the single largest proportion of an academic’s time each day was devoted to email.
Before I became a PhD student, I had several jobs both inside and outside of the education sector. I worked as a research technician in a basic science laboratory at a medical school; I was a teacher in private secondary schools; and I worked as a summer intern in a strategy and market research consulting firm. Now that I have entered the post-coursework phase of my doctoral program and become more familiar with the job of a professor (at an R1 institution, I should add), I have been struck by the number of different responsibilities that an academic is expected to juggle in his or her own. I wonder if this state of affairs stems from the norm that the academic works independently and produces things that are his or her own work. It is difficult to imagine a consultant, a lawyer or an executive who has attained a similar level of professional accomplishment as a full professor being asked to manage the number of different tasks that an academic is expected to juggle. A partner or managing director in a firm would have a team of persons who report to them and on whom they would call in the carrying out of their duties. Yes, a similar cadre of persons exist in universities in the form of departmental assistants, coordinators and office managers. But is the division and delegation of labor really the same? Perhaps, they are, but it would be worthwhile to do a comparative study of the demands on university professors and other accomplished professionals in supervisory roles.
