Academic Culture Research Articles

Reaping the rewards with minimal toil: Evaluating the polemics of artificial intelligence in academia and the future of academic writing

The use of Artificial Intelligence in academic writing swings on the edge of revolution and obliteration, where the promise of unparalleled efficiency clashes with the specter of intellectual dilution, which challenges the essence of academic rigor and originality. This paper interrogates the ways in which the two extremes of innovation and traditional writing methods in academia can be integrated. As such, the paper argues that it is essential to incorporate new technologies and modern AI tools with critical and historical aspects of academic culture rather than replacing them. In essence, AI should only augment what researchers are able to do, not replace them. As a result, it is important to set specific guidelines and standards in order to deal with issues, of authorship, data collection, controlled storage, and validation of artificial intelligence products. Lastly, the paper recommends the necessity of training and education about AI tools for academics and scientists in institutions of higher learning. The academic community should seek to implement policies and strategies that allow for the use of AI technologies in the execution of scholarly activities without compromising the quality of academic writing.

The Masculine Figure of a University Rector in the Narratives of Polish Female Academic Leaders

ABSTRACTThere is a growing interest in the underlying mechanisms affecting female leaders in higher education. And this paper examines the problem by focusing specifically on Polish public universities which historically stands out by particularly low number of female university rectors. The core of the study is based on 15 in‐depth expert interviews with female university rectors and vice‐rectors. The paper argues that the large deficit of female rectors has been influenced by the traditional masculine figure of a university rector deeply embedded in the Polish academic culture. We demonstrate evidence that the masculine figure of a rector still strongly affects the perception of who is destined to perform the role.

‘Like to comment on that?’

Abstract Questions are powerful interactional devices which academic lecturers may use to facilitate learning, engage students and add to a lecture’s interactivity. This contrastive and corpus-based study examines student-oriented questions, i.e. those initiating a student response, in British and Montenegrin university linguistics lectures. It aims to answer research questions regarding what forms of this question category are employed; how frequent they are, what functions they commonly perform, and whether there are any similarities and differences in these respects between the two groups of lectures. The data include 12 lectures in linguistics from several British academic corpora and a specially created corpus of 12 Montenegrin linguistics lectures. We combine quantitative and qualitative approaches to arrive at results which point to certain similarities and differences between the corpora. Some of these might be explained by the language differences between English and BCMS (Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian), while others seem to have stemmed from academic lecturing style differences. The findings add to the literature on questions in academic lectures and, together with other contrastive studies, may contribute to revealing the universal and culturally-specific discourse features of academic lectures across academic cultures, as well as be pedagogically useful for lecturers, particularly novices, who are teaching linguistics in English and BCMS.

Cultural Barriers to Women's Progression in Academic Careers: A France-Brazil Comparison Through the Lens of the Queen Bee Phenomena.

Despite significant improvements, women are still underrepresented at high levels in academia. Most research on these inequalities is conducted within a specific national academic system, without taking into account its cultural roots. The aim of the present study was to analyze the extent to which the cultural context acts as a barrier on women's career progression. Specifically, we focused on psychological processes described under the metaphor of Queen Bee Phenomenon that may reflect the ways in which female academics conform to male-gender roles encoded in androcentric social and academic culture. Two samples of women academic, one French (N = 73), the other Brazilian (N = 88), were compared through the lens of two dimension of the Queen Bee Phenomena: self-group distancing and gender hierarchy legitimation. Brazilian women identify more with their female peer group than their French counterparts. French women are more hostile to quotas and more inclined to adhere to meritocratic discourses than their Brazilian counterparts. Both academic contexts tend to perpetuate gender inequalities, but in different ways: by maintaining gender-stereotypical expectations in Brazil and meritocratic ideology in France. The implications for policies to promote a more egalitarian university context are discussed herein.

Grensekryssing i yrkesfaglærerutdanningen: Betydningen av studentenes utviklingsprosjekter

This article aims to explore how vocational teacher students’ work with development projects can create coherence between learning in the university and learning in teaching practice. Previous research indicates that students often perceive a lack of coherence between the academic knowledge culture in the university and the experiential knowledge they encounter in teaching practice. The study uses boundary crossing as a theoretical approach, and the results are based on interviews with vocational teacher students. The results reveal that their work with development projects strenghten programme coherence by linking the learning arenas university and teaching practice. The development projects also acted as boundary objects, facilitating the integration of the different knowledge cultures and practices. This study contributes to understanding the potential of development projects to create coherence between university and teaching practice in vocational teacher education. The results suggest the need for closer collaboration between universities and schools in supporting vocational teacher students’ work on development projects to enhance boundary learning.

Challenges in teaching Academic English to EFL students: a case study on writing beliefs

Writing in a foreign language is widely recognized as a highly challenging skill to master. This perspective is grounded in the notion that writing reflects our ‘pattern of thought’ (Kaplan 1966, Connor 2011), and that there are multiple academic traditions of writing, each with its own rules and conventions. As a result, transitioning between different academic writing cultures can be a frustrating and confusing experience for both students and lecturers. This paper investigates the most prevalent challenges in teaching academic English to EFL students at the English Department of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo. The research findings indicate that EFL students lack critical thinking skills and tend to undervalue their own perspectives, leading to an overreliance on quoting and citing authors in their writing. This paper emphasizes the necessity for EAP lecturers to be well-versed in intercultural rhetoric and to effectively guide students in adapting their thinking and writing to a new academic culture./ Keywords: Academic English, intercultural rhetoric, critical thinking, writing

Digital academic platforms: Case studies of CEE (Hungary and Slovakia)

Present study evaluates the prevalence and academic usage of digital academic platforms exemplified by private universities across Hungary and Slovakia, assessing how these platforms are integrated into academic practices and highlighting certain variations in technological adoption within the CEE region. After the setting up of the relevant typology and by utilizing a dual-methodological approach, the regional e-visibility of the leadership of certain faculties is examined, while specific user motivations are also explored in a narrower sense through domestic questionnaire-based studies within Hungary. Firstly, by analyzing the use of certain i) academic social netowrking sites (hereinafter ASNSs); ii) author profiles linked to publishers; and databases without social functions at private universities and juxtaposing these with the experiences of Slovak institutions, the research highlights how these platforms are utilized to enhance research visibility and academic networking. Secondly, findings are meant to indicate that while DAPs are widely valued for facilitating scholarly communication in Hungary, localized academic cultures and individual motivations significantly shape their application.

Campus Life in Contemporary Polish, Slovak, and Ukrainian Fiction

The article focuses on the image of campus life as presented in a selection of novels written in Polish, Slovak, and Ukrainian after 1989. The author presents generic peculiarities of Slavic campus fiction and analyses the theme of (academic) coming-of-age in Slavic campus fiction. The maturation of student characters in Maryna Hrymych’s Yura and Pavol Parkov’s The Legend About the Language occurred in Soviet Ukraine and Czechoslovakia, respectively, around 1968. In contrast, the protagonists of Jagoda Grudzień’s Erasmopeja and Tania Kalytenko’s Antero undergo academic identity formation in contemporary Scandinavian countries as participants in academic exchange programs. While Hrymych and Rankov portray characters navigating totalitarian societies of the past, Grudzień and Kalytenko situate their students within the anxieties of the globalised world, where remembering the past remains crucial. The author concludes that contemporary campus fiction written in Slavic languages addresses the issues significant for the cultural memory of the particular nation. Collectively, these novels contribute to a sense of continuity in academic culture within East-Central Europe.

Book cluster: a new approach to explore the evolution of knowledge organization in ancient China

Abstract Chinese ancient book catalogs have persisted for over two millennia, serving as ancient knowledge organization systems and cultural heritage of great academic value. This article introduces the concept of “book cluster,” a novel approach to studying catalog classification evolution, offering a meso-level perspective that bridges books and categories. Drawing from computational methods, we identify clusters of books with similar categorization trajectories, enabling more efficient and intuitive exploration of knowledge organization trends. We review existing research on catalog classification, highlighting the traditional qualitative analysis and emerging computational methods. We then present our data source and processing methods. The concept of book cluster is defined, along with the algorithm for cluster identification and feature extraction. A case study demonstrates the potential of the book cluster concept in analyzing classification changes and knowledge inheritance. Additionally, we introduce an online analytical platform for further exploration. Through computational analysis of book clusters, we gain insights into the evolution of ancient book recording, circulation, and academic contexts. Book clusters offer clues about the content of lost books. This research lays the groundwork for future iterations. By pioneering the study of knowledge organization evolution using book clusters, we enhance our understanding of Chinese history's academic culture and knowledge preservation.

Reducing mental health stigma in academia: Assessing the acceptability of a first-person narrative program.

Academics are more likely to experience mental health difficulties like depression and anxiety. However, stigma remains a key barrier to help-seeking, and limited data exists on stigma reduction for academics. This study examines the acceptability of a first-person narrative-based antistigma program conducted by Dragonfly Mental Health at a large public university. This intervention used a multitiered approach that leverages education and contact strategies to reduce stigma among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and faculty. Personal stories of six local faculty with lived experience of mental health struggles were shown in a short film during three separate departmental retreats, followed by moderated large and small group discussions. This study presents descriptive survey data from academics (N = 149) who attended one of these three programs. A thematic content analysis was conducted on open-ended responses from 86 participants. Overall, the Dragonfly Mental Health program was well-received: 95% of participants found the film beneficial, and over 92% felt the film and discussions reduced stigma. Qualitative analysis highlighted several themes on participants' experiences. Participants appreciated the open, honest disclosures of faculty members in the film but reported that the vague disclosures perpetuated stigma. Participants liked the normalization of mental illness but desired more representation from the mental health spectrum. Participants expressed frustration over an academic work culture that is defined by overwork and burnout. These findings suggest that sharing faculty stories is a powerful mechanism to build connectedness among academics, promote open communication, and foster change in academic culture around mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Pengaruh Supervisi Akademik, Disiplin Guru dan Budaya Kerja terhadap Kinerja Guru SD Negeri di Wilayah Pedurungan

Good teacher performance is needed in managing learning so that learning objectives can be achieved perfectly. The aim of the research is to analyze the influence of academic supervision, teacher discipline and work culture on teacher performance. This type of research is correlational. The research sample consisted of 189 teachers. Data was collected using questionnaire techniques. Based on the research results, it is known that: 1) the correlation between supervision and teacher performance is 0.993. The effect of supervision on teacher performance is 98.6%, 2) the correlation between discipline and teacher performance is 0.893. The influence of discipline on teacher performance is 79.8%, 3) the correlation between work culture and teacher performance is 0.910. The influence of work culture on teacher performance is 82.9%, 4) the correlation between academic supervision, teacher discipline and work culture and teacher performance is 0.994. The influence of academic supervision, teacher discipline and work culture on teacher performance is 98.9%. Thus, the conclusion of this research is that academic supervision, teacher discipline and work culture on teacher performance is 0.994 or 98.9%.

She is so (post)human: doctoral students’ perceptions of response-ability of their becoming-supervisors through caring/careful practices

ABSTRACT In this article, I propose that caring/careful practices of becoming-supervisors are practices of response-ability within neoliberalized academia. These practices, based on a feminist ontology of reciprocity, active co-presence, sensitivity and receptive openness, created a friendly atmosphere where students’ feelings and needs were taken into account and enabled their academic development in a rationalist-individualist competitive context. I present interviews with 15 doctoral students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) regarding their relationship with their becoming-supervisors. The analysis showed that students’ perceptions of assemblage-professors’ caring/careful practices included: post-human treatment, facilitating the research, mentoring, and sheltering. Caring/careful practices allowed the students to be inspired and build trusting relationships. However, care is complex and is co-opted by the neoliberal system, which means that a complete transformation of the academic culture is necessary.

Favorite Lecturer Characters of Elementary Education Teacher Prospective Students

This research aims to discover the character aspects of lecturers most preferred by Elementary education students and the impacts and implications on the character of prospective teacher students. The method used in this research is qualitative field research with phenomena studies. Primary data were obtained from students through a questionnaire using a form instrument and unstructured interviews with an open pattern. The results showed that of the 13 aspects of lecturer character that were the most favored aspects of prospective Elementary School teacher students mapped from lecturer personality and educational competencies, namely lecturers who were able to place themselves, had high self-confidence, were tolerant, and understood students' character. The impact on students is increased motivation and self-confidence, more positive relationships, increased academic achievement, and development of student soft skills. The implications of the character of a favorite lecturer for the character of prospective teacher students are the formation of an Inclusive Learning environment, increased student psychological well-being, and strengthening of a positive academic culture.

A Conceptual Review of Trust and Knowledge-Sharing Behavior Among Academics in Public Universities

sharing behavior among academicians in public universities. Trust is recognized as a fundamental element underpinning effective knowledge sharing in organizations, crucial for skill development, enhancing competencies, and sustaining competitive advantages. In academic settings, knowledge dissemination occurs through various channels such as teaching, publications, training, and research. Despite the assumption that academicians are actively engaged in knowledge creation and sharing, real-world practices may not always reflect this. This paper reviews existing literature to elucidate how trust impacts knowledge-sharing behavior among academicians, with a focus on Malaysian public universities. The findings aim to offer insights into the dynamics of trust in knowledge sharing and propose strategies to foster a knowledge-sharing culture in academia.

Determination of Competency, Work Discipline and Motivation on employee performance at Universities in Indonesia

How to accept educational staff who lack competence with the level of job satisfaction of staff due to lack of competence and measure the level of motivation that has continued to decline since entering the staff, that the level of staff discipline has decreased. Quantitative research, which is a type of research emphasizing the testing of theoretical theories through measuring research variables with numbers and requiring data analysis with statistical procedures. The measuring instrument for this research is a questionnaire, the data obtained is in the form of answers from staff to the questions asked. based on the research objectives that have been set, this type of research is explanatory. The statistical t value of the effect of competence (KO) on motivation (MO) is 5.29 with a positive structural equation coefficient, that competence has a positive and significant effect on motivation. The more competence of university staff, it will increase employee motivation, otherwise the less competence the university staff has, it will reduce work motivation and can even transmit decreased motivation to other staff so that motivation becomes the main thing that must be owned by university staff. For universities, it is better when recruiting educational staff to have basic competencies so that they can increase the motivation of the staff themselves and form an academic culture that is in accordance with academic rules

Revising academic cultures to improve integrity in Kenyan universities

ABSTRACT This paper reviews issues of academic integrity, focusing on unethical practices in Kenyan universities. The rapid expansion of university education in Kenya, followed by a significant decline in the number of qualified students seeking to join private universities since 2017 have created financial pressures on universities. Some universities have resorted to unethical practices to enrol students and offer programmes that have not been accredited by the Commission for University Education (CUE). At the same time, there is a growing concern among governments, educators, students, and other stakeholders that unethical practices in higher education are spreading, compromising the integrity of academic programmes. This review suggests strategies that can be put in place to improve academic integrity. The analysis considers what motivates individuals to act unethically, even though doing so contributes to damaging the credibility of the sector. The idea of the prisoner’s dilemma is introduced to explain why it remains in individuals’ interest to act in this way. Based on this, we suggest that changes could be made that shift the balance of risk and reward. These changes can include efforts to detect unethical behaviour; discourage it through more consistent penalties; and to encourage and reward positive alternatives. We propose that everyone in higher education could contribute to these changes, suggesting interventions that could be made by teachers in classrooms; by trainers within universities; and by policy makers nationally.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle: Revaluing Academic Labor and Recognizing the Centrality of Carework

Abstract This paper examines the often-overlooked yet crucial role of carework within the academic ecosystem. Challenging the dominant paradigm that prioritizes research output, the paper argues for recognizing academic labor as a spectrum where teaching, research, and service hold equal value. Drawing on Rajan's (2023) framework of “academic carework,” the paper demonstrates the inseparable link between care and knowledge, highlighting how carework forms the foundation for knowledge production and reproduction. The analysis situates academic careworkers within the complex administrative landscape of higher education institutions, exploring the challenges posed by managerialism and external pressures. The paper introduces the “Argument from Shared Paradigm,” positing that academics, through their shared experiences and values, are uniquely positioned to advocate for and safeguard care-centered practices in research and teaching. By recognizing carework's essential contributions, this paper calls for a re-evaluation of academic reward systems and a shift towards a more inclusive academic culture.

The Relationship between the Actual Implementation of the "English for Iraq" Curriculum and Teachers' Intentions, and Perceptions in Iraqi EFL Preparatory Schools

This study investigates the intentions, perceptions, and actual implementation of an innovative English curriculum among preparatory school EFL teachers in Iraq. The research recognizes the growing importance of English globally and Iraq's efforts to enhance English language education and implement an appropriate innovative curriculum. However, the implementation of a new curriculum poses significant challenges related to teachers' knowledge, intention, and academic culture. The study focuses on understanding the relationship between curriculum intentions, teachers' perceptions, and the actual implementation of the curriculum. The study also explores how teachers' intention, culture, and other factors influence the implementation of the curriculum. Data were collected through a combination of vignettes, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and follow-up interviews with a random sample of 10 male teachers from 10 preparatory schools in Babylon Governorate during the 2023-2024 school years. The results indicated that teachers are enthusiastic about the new curriculum, but its effective implementation faces many challenges. Teachers recognize the potential of the curriculum, but suffer from insufficient materials and overcrowded classrooms that hinder optimal teaching and learning. The study emphasizes that in order to successfully implement the curriculum, through continuous professional development and strong support systems, there must be ongoing professional development and strong support systems, ongoing training programs can help teachers adapt to the new curriculum, and the provision of resources, teaching aids, and manageable class size can create a more conducive learning environment, leading to better learning outcomes.

Publishing mathematics education research in English: amplifying voices from the field

AbstractIn this paper we investigate the issue of representation within the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (JMTE) and the broader academic publishing landscape, particularly focusing on the underrepresentation of authors from various world regions. A questionnaire, distributed globally, aimed to amplify the voices of the underrepresented, exploring the constraints and affordances of publishing in English-medium mathematics education research journals. The question that guided our investigation was: What do voices from the mathematics education community raise in their responses to questions about publishing in English-medium research journals like JMTE? We used qualitative methods to review the responses and identify common themes. The findings revealed significant barriers and challenges related to language, research location, and institutional support, highlighting the complexities of navigating the global academic community and the academic publishing culture. We propose actionable suggestions to foster a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive publishing environment.

The splendors and miseries of narrativity the virtue of the fragment and the formation of clinicians in XXI century

I review the virtues and limitations of the narrative paradigm in contemporary clinical practice. I contrast ‘episodic’ and ‘diachronic’ forms of life, the former characterised by no particular predisposition to see one’s life in narrative terms and the tendency to experience oneself fragmentarily. After highlighting a progressive decline of storytelling in the current socio-cultural scenario, I show how a number of conditions (borderline-type personality and identity development in adolescence) are marked by reduced ability to organise narratively one’s own experiences. I emphasize a mismatch between the episodic and fragmentary phenomena characterizing these conditions and the prevailing opinion among clinicians belonging to academic culture that values instead the narrative paradigm. In the training of the clinicians, in addition to the necessary skills related to the diagnostic framing of the patient’s symptoms, and in addition to narrative competence, the capacity to embrace all that is fragmentary (that is, what at face value escapes diagnosis and narration) is necessary. I corroborate the approach with a theory taken from contemporary art criticism called ‘aesthetics of post-production’ and its capacity to re-signify the meaning of fragments by recontextualizing them. The personal ‘knots’ in the patient’s experience can be preserved and enhanced only through fragment-oriented listening.