The formalisation of academic subjectivity under constant performance assessment

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper considers the part played by measuring instruments in academic subjectivity. Higher education in many regions has undergone procedures of marketisation. Because competitive mechanisms entail calculable and comparable data, performance measurement contributes indispensably to procedures of marketisation. This study aims to explore how the neoliberal discourse has been enacted and has eventually overwhelmed Taiwanese higher education as regards academic management and institutional practices. This scenario begins by the issue of promotion evaluations, which is the most important concern for most interviewees, then delineates the ubiquity of performance measurement, demonstrated by Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and principles of accountability, followed by other internal evaluations, university rankings and honours systems. Taking the case of universities in Taiwan, this study illustrates how academic subjectivity, as a locus of power relations, was established in the neoliberal era.