Academic identities and sense of place: A collaborative autoethnography in the neoliberal university. Issue 2 (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nordbäck, Emma; Hakonen, Marko; Tienari, Janne
• Is Part Of: Management learning. Volume 53:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 331
• Page End: 349
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: Academic identity -- collaborative autoethnography -- identity -- neoliberalism -- place -- university; Industrial management -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Executives -- Training of -- Periodicals; Organizational learning -- Periodicals; Knowledge management -- Periodicals; 302.35
• DOI: 10.1177/13505076211006543
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-7307

Abstract

Neoliberalism, precarious jobs, and control of work have multiple effects on academic identities as our allegiances to valued social groups and our connections to meaningful locations are challenged. While identities in neoliberal universities have received increasing research attention, sense of place has passed unnoticed in the literature. We engage with collaborative autoethnography and contribute to the literature in two ways. First, we show that while academic identities are put into motion by the neoliberal regime, they are constructed through mundane constellations of places and social entities. Second, we elucidate how academic identities today are characterized by restlessness and how academics use place and time to find meaning for themselves and their work. We propose a form of criticism to neoliberal universities that is sensitive to positionalities and places and offer ideas on how to build shared understandings that help us survive in the face of neoliberal standards of academic "excellence."