On Being a New Academic in the New Academy: Impacts of Neoliberalism on Work and Life of a Junior Faculty Member

Abstract

This paper addresses impacts of neoliberalism on work and life in the post-secondary academy from the perspective of a junior scholar. Although it is not a full-fledged autoethnography, I borrow from that methodological approach to reflect analytically on personal experiences since taking up my first academic position, at a Canadian university. I  am especially attuned to how neoliberalism is affecting my learning and working conditions and the practices that I encounter in the academy. Although I recognize the particularity of my experiences of neoliberalism, because of both my personal background and situation and the sociocultural context in which I live and work, I see neoliberalism as an overarching ideology which increasingly frames academic life globally. My experiences and reflections on them, then, might offer insights into what life and work in the neoliberal academy looks and feels like for novice academics.