Academic Identities in Higher Education

Academic identity is continually being formed and reformed by the institutional, socio-cultural and political contexts within which academic practitioners operate. Within Europe the impact of the 2008 economic crisis and its continuing aftermath accounts for many of these changes, but the diverse cultures and histories of different regions are also significant factors, influencing how institutions adapt and resist, and how identities are shaped. The accounts that comprise this book highlight the multiple influences acting upon academic practitioners and document some of the ways in which they are positioning themselves in relation to these often competing pressures. At a time when higher education is undergoing huge structural and systemic change there is increasing uncertainty regarding the nature of academic identity. Traditional notions compete with new and emergent ones, which are still in the process of formation and articulation. The prime purpose of Academic Identities in Higher Education is to understand this process of formation and articulation and to address, from the perspective of academic practitioners, the question: what does it mean to be an academic in 21st century Europe?