{"title":"Early Career Academic’s Associations: A Study of Resistance and Empowerment on Social Media","authors":"Javier Mula-Falcón, Sofia Viseu, Rui da Silva","doi":"10.1057/s41307-024-00353-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The current Spanish higher education landscape (characterized by evaluations, overcrowding of classrooms, commitment to internationalization) has social, employment, and health repercussions for Early Career Academics (ECAs). However, this group of academics is often described as passive subjects when it comes to challenging the current situation in higher education. In this study, we sought to understand the attitudes of resistance and criticism in ECAs by analyzing the activity (through NodeXL) and content (through Nvivo12) of the Twitter accounts of two Spanish ECA associations. Twitter (now X) was selected since social media has emerged as a new form of social empowerment and democratization. It is concluded that there are attitudes of resistance among the accounts analyzed. However, for ECAs, criticism of the evaluation system and emphasis on scientific production is relegated to the background, with criticism of their working conditions taking priority. Finally, we highlight the significant and impactful role of associations in social and political struggles.</p>","PeriodicalId":47327,"journal":{"name":"Higher Education Policy","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Higher Education Policy","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-024-00353-4","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The current Spanish higher education landscape (characterized by evaluations, overcrowding of classrooms, commitment to internationalization) has social, employment, and health repercussions for Early Career Academics (ECAs). However, this group of academics is often described as passive subjects when it comes to challenging the current situation in higher education. In this study, we sought to understand the attitudes of resistance and criticism in ECAs by analyzing the activity (through NodeXL) and content (through Nvivo12) of the Twitter accounts of two Spanish ECA associations. Twitter (now X) was selected since social media has emerged as a new form of social empowerment and democratization. It is concluded that there are attitudes of resistance among the accounts analyzed. However, for ECAs, criticism of the evaluation system and emphasis on scientific production is relegated to the background, with criticism of their working conditions taking priority. Finally, we highlight the significant and impactful role of associations in social and political struggles.
期刊介绍:
Higher Education Policy is an international peer-reviewed and SSCI-indexed academic journal focusing on higher education policy in a broad sense. The journal considers submissions that discuss national and supra-national higher education policies and/or analyse their impacts on higher education institutions or the academic community: leadership, faculty, staff and students, but also considers papers that deal with governance and policy issues at the level of higher education institutions. Critical analyses, empirical investigations (either qualitative or quantitative), and theoretical-conceptual contributions are equally welcome, but for all submissions the requirement is that papers be embedded in the relevant academic literature and contribute to furthering our understanding of policy.
The journal has a preference for papers that are written from a disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective. In the past, contributors have relied on perspectives from public administration, political science, sociology, history, economics and law, but also from philosophy, psychology and anthropology. Articles devoted to systems of higher education that are less well-known or less often analysed are particularly welcome.
Given the international scope of the journal, articles should be written for and be understood by an international audience, consisting of researchers in higher education, disciplinary researchers, and policy-makers, administrators, managers and practitioners in higher education. Contributions should not normally exceed 7,000 words (excluding references). Peer reviewAll submissions to the journal will undergo rigorous peer review (anonymous referees) after an initial editorial screening on quality and fit with the journal''s aims.Special issues
The journal welcomes proposals for special issues. The journal archive contains several examples of special issues. Such proposals, to be sent to the editor, should set out the theme of the special issue and include the names of the (proposed) contributors and summaries of the envisaged contributions. Forum section
Occasionally, the journal publishes contributions – in its Forum section – based on personal viewpoints and/or experiences with the intent to stimulate discussion and reflection, or to challenge established thinking in the field of higher education.