Abstract
Academic careers are social processes which involve many members of large populations over long periods of time. This paper outlines a discursive perspective which looks into how academics are categorized in academic systems. From a discursive view, academic careers are organized by categories which can define who academics are (subjectivation) and what they are worth (valuation). The question of this paper is what institutional categorizations such as status and salaries can tell us about academic subject positions and their valuation. By comparing formal status systems and salary scales in France with those in the U.S., Great Britain and Germany, this paper reveals the constraints of institutional categorization systems on academic careers. Special attention is given to the French system of status categories which is relatively homogeneous and restricts the competitive valuation of academics between institutions. The comparison shows that academic systems such as the U.S. which are characterized by a high level of heterogeneity typically present more negotiation opportunities for the valuation of academics. From a discursive perspective, institutional categories, therefore, can reflect the ways in which academics are valuated in the inter-institutional job market, by national bureaucracies or in professional oligarchies.
Highlights
Against a background in sociological strands in Science and Technology Studies, this paper focuses on the valuation of academic researchers
Academic careers are embedded in ongoing discursive positioning practices which turn around social categories
The observation that the French academic system is characterized by the organizational logics of nation-state bureaucracies and professional oligarchies remains a valid one even after university reforms such as the 2007 reform (Loi relative aux libertés et responsibilités des universités, LRU) claimed to introduce entrepreneurial elements
Summary
What is needed is a perspective which can account for academic careers as ongoing processes of valuating academics in the many arenas in which are active. From a discursive point of view, the question is how, by entering academic discourse, some individuals gain visibility, obtain a stable salary and feel recognized as a researcher, in brief: how researchers occupy academic subject positions which are valued in their communities. In this view, academic careers are embedded in ongoing discursive processes of subjectifying and valuating academics. Academic careers are embedded in ongoing discursive positioning practices which turn around social categories. Empirical part, I will compare the French status categorization system with those in the U.S, Germany and Great Britain with respect to career patterns and discuss what they mean for academic salaries
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