Richard Hall – Music for Deckchairs

Networked professionals

Kate Bowles June 6, 2016 15 Comments

Ambiguity is always at the centre of an interesting experience because this causes us to question, to wonder why a thing holds our attention. – Bill Henson, Oneiroi How will the professional identity or professionalism of academics be supported, rather than eroded as the University is proletarianised? Richard Hall, ‘On the HE White Paper‘ I can’t pin down when I started to say “professional” so much. Maybe I’m gesturing towards something that might help students think outside of the frame we place around…

Being an academic, Health and healthcare

Unleashed

Kate Bowles March 16, 2016 12 Comments

As international mobility increases, competition for the best academic and professional staff will also intensify. This is why we’re unleashing our staff’s performance, reducing complexity and optimising professional achievements. This week the university that employs me released its new Strategic Plan with accompanying changes to our brand identity, vocabulary and collateral. Tucked into this bundle is a video that I can’t stop watching. There are images and sounds I genuinely don’t understand, and a faintly audible sigh about halfway through. (What…

Being an academic, Change management, University marketing

“Wider lessons”

Kate Bowles December 2, 2014 43 Comments

There’s weeping. And then there’s anger.* For a year, Richard Hall and I have been tracking the ways in which higher education has become an anxiety machine, fumbling our way through this together using the metaphors of cycling, hamster wheels, technologies of pressure, instruments of shame. We’re not alone in thinking any of this. (See especially Melonie Fullick’s sustained critique of productivity from the perspective of mental health, the worm at the heart of academia’s vanity culture.) The rankings instruments that…

Being an academic

Calling it out

Kate Bowles September 10, 2014 5 Comments

Many academics in their 50s might feel that they’re not ready to retire yet – but should they be forced out early? Well, of course, not all of them should. Anonymous, ‘Should Older Academics Be Forced To Retire?‘, The Thesis Whisperer Bullshit. Is this really the world we choose to live in? Is this a system that works? John Warner, ‘Calling BS … BS‘, Inside Higher Education I’m a fan of The Thesis Whisperer (“just like the horse whisperer—but with more…

Being an academic, Casualisation of work

Irreplaceable time

Kate Bowles November 24, 2013 55 Comments

Part one: the hamster wheel The majority of Australians working extra hours or hours outside of normal work hours do so in order to meet the expectations of their job. Almost 60 per cent of respondents report this, with 45 per cent saying that this extra work is necessary often or sometimes. This represents 5.2 million Australian workers who are working extra hours to keep their workload under control and on target. Prue Cameron and Richard Denniss, “Hard to Get…

Being an academic, Cancer, Casualisation of work, Higher education

Business as usual

Kate Bowles June 2, 2013 3 Comments

In an evolving market, the development of sustainable business models is always a challenge but I believe that if we build something great, a whole range of business opportunities could come our way. Simon Nelson, CEO, FutureLearn, Feb 2013 Over the past year, MOOCs have opened the doors of access to quality education, and have captured the attention of educational leaders and students worldwide. Today, we’re excited to announce the next step in our mission to foster student learning without…

Being an academic, Casualisation of work, Edtech and online learning, Rankings

Competitive advantage?

Kate Bowles September 19, 2011 9 Comments

It’s not really my business, but it seems to me that the promise that competition delivers consumer benefits is in the “If I had a dollar for every time … ” category of overuse. Mostly this proposition seems to be based on the assumption that if I’m selling lemonade next to someone else selling lemonade, we’re going to compete for the lemonade market either by offering superior or cheaper lemonade, and either way, the passing parade gets a better deal…

Edtech and online learning, Higher education, LMS evaluation, Risk