vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Published by NTEU ISSN 0818–8068

AURAustralian Universities’ Review AUR Australian Universities’ Review

Editor Editorial Board Dr Ian R. Dobson, Monash University Dr Alison Barnes, NTEU National President Production Professor Timo Aarrevaara, University of Lapland Professor Jamie Doughney, Victoria University Design & layout: Paul Clifton Professor Leo Goedegebuure, University of Melbourne Editorial Assistance: Anastasia Kotaidis AUR is available online as an Professor Jeff Goldsworthy, Monash University e-book and PDF download. Cover photograph: The Sybil Centre, The Women’s Visit aur.org.au for details. College, University of Sydney, NSW. Photograph Dr Mary Leahy, University of Melbourne In accordance with NTEU by Peter Miller. Printed with permission. Professor Kristen Lyons, University of Queensland policy to reduce our impact Contact Professor Dr Simon Marginson, University of Oxford on the natural environment, Matthew McGowan, NTEU General Secretary this magazine is printed Australian Universities’ Review, using vegetable-based inks Dr Alex Millmow, Federation University Australia c/- NTEU National Office, with alcohol-free printing PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia Dr Neil Mudford, University of Queensland initiatives on FSC® certified Phone: +613 9254 1910 Jeannie Rea, Victoria University paper by Printgraphics under ISO 14001 Environmental Email: [email protected] Professor Paul Rodan, Swinburne University of Technology Certification. Website: www.aur.org.au Cathy Rytmeister, Macquarie University Post packaging is 100% Romana-Rea Begicevic, CAPA National President degradable biowrap.

Editorial policy Contributions .Style References Australian Universities’ Review Full submission details are available Download the AUR Style Guide at References to be cited according to (AUR, formerly Vestes) is published online at aur.org.au/submissions. aur.org.au/submissions. APA Publication Manual 6th ed. by the National Tertiary Education Please adhere to the style notes. Use ‘per cent’ rather than ‘%’ in the References in the text should be Union (NTEU) to encourage debate Contributors should send digital text. Use ‘%’ in tables and figures. given in the author–date style: and discussion about issues in manuscripts in Word format to Use ‘s’ rather than ‘z’ in words such King (2018) argues ... higher education and its contribu- [email protected]. tion to Australian public life, with as ‘organise’, ‘analyse’, ‘recognise’ etc. or Contributions should be between an emphasis on those matters of Use a single space at the end of sen- as various authors (King, 2018; 2,000 and 7,000 words, although concern to NTEU members. tences. Markwell, 2007) argue ... longer articles will be considered. Two co-authors should be cited in AUR publishes articles and other Articles should be accompanied by Use single quotation marks. Use the text as contributions, including short com- an abstract preferably not longer double quotation marks for quotes mentary and satire. than 150 words. within a quote. Indent quotes of (Smith & Jones, 2013). more than 50 words. Although some contributions are The author’s full contact details More than two authors cite as solicited by the Editor or the Edito- should be provided, including email Dates thus: 30 June 2020. (Jones et al., 2017). rial Board, AUR is anxious to receive address and phone number. Authors should ensure that the Page references should be thus: contributions independently from material cited in the text matches staff and students in the higher Contributions are sent to a mini- (King, 2018, p. 314). the material listed in the References. education sector and other readers. mum of two referees, in accord- Use page references for direct quo- ance with Australian Government Neither male nor female pronouns Articles will be assessed by inde- tations. requirements for peer blind review. should be used to refer to groups pendent referees before publication. containing persons of both sexes. The reference list should be placed Priority is given to contributions Book reviews in alphabetical order at the end of that are substantial, lively, original Do not use numbered sections. the paper, utilising the author–date Books for review should be sent to and have a broad appeal. Responses system. the Editor. Our policy is to review Do not use underlining. to previously published contribu- books dealing either with tertiary Do not use footnotes, endnotes or For a reference to a book: tions are encouraged. education or with matters pertinent any headers or footers except for Gall, M., Gall, J. & Borg, W. (2003). AUR is listed on the Australian Gov- to issues in tertiary education. page numbers (bottom of page, Education Research: An introduc- ernment’s register of refereed jour- Book reviews should be between centred). tion (7th ed.). New York: Allyn & nals and is included in Scopus. 200 and 1200 words; review essays Avoid use of abbreviations, except Bacon. It is presumed that authors have may be longer. for well-known organisations or For a journal reference: followed the standard scholarly processes. King, D.A. (2004). What different ethical practices involved in seek- Replies and letters countries get for their research ing to have their work published. AUR welcomes letters of response Tables & figures spending. Nature, 430, 311–316. Authors should take their lead from to articles published in the journal. Tables and figures should be incor- the Australian Code for the Respon- For a chapter in a collection: Longer responses to articles are also porated into the text close to where sible Conduct of Research and the McCollow, J. & Knight, J. (2005). encouraged. they are first referred. In general, Higher Education in Australia, in M. Committee for Publication Ethics. ‘tables’ comprise data, and ‘figures’ Responses should be a maximum of Bella, J. McCollow & J. Knight (Eds). comprise everything else (graphs, Subscriptions 1,000 words, and should be received Higher Education in Transition. within a month after the publica- photographs, etc.). AUR is availalbe free to NTEU mem- Brisbane: UQ Press. tion of the journal so that they can Do not refer to position of tables/ bers on an opt-in basis (you need For a web reference: be properly considered by the Editor figures (e.g. ‘above’, ‘left’). to let us know; update your details and the Editorial Board for the fol- Universities Australia. (2017). at nteu.org.au/members). Paid sub- Tables and figures should have lowing issue. Indigenous Strategy 2017-2020. scriptions available for Australian separate numbered sequences, with https://www.universitiesaustralia. titles above for tables, and below and international subscribers. Full Archive edu.au/submissions-and-reports/ details at aur.org.au/subscriptions. for figures. Indigenous-Strategy This issue and all previous issues Figures should be prepared for Advertising can be viewed online at aur.org.au. Do not include retrieval dates for black and white print. Graphs with web references unless source mate- Advertising rates are available on coloured bars are often illegible in rial changes over time (e.g. wikis). application to [email protected]. black-and-white print. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Published by NTEU ISSN 0818–8068 Australian Universities’ Review

2 Letter to the editor 61 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? 3 Letter from the editor Nicolette Buirski Ian R Dobson Doctoral supervisors have been extensively investigated in some regards, but what dispositional qualities of mind and character ARTICLES might enable a supervisor to develop a strong intellectual and emotional rapport with a candidate? Perhaps the rising trend of 5 The challenge for law schools of satisfying mindfulness in positive psychology could help! multiple masters Margaret Thornton 69 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral Law schools have long been unsure whether they were free to education: PhD completion rates and times teach and research in the same way as the humanities or whether (2005-2018) they were constrained by the presuppositions of legal practice. Marc Torka More recently, this tension has been overshadowed by the impact In this study, it is shown that completion rates and times by of the neoliberal turn and government disinvestment. PhD students have changed only slightly over time, and there are differences based on student characteristics, disciplines and 14 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities: The institutions. stories behind the story Martin Andrew OPINION Why did academics really take redundancy packages? How voluntary were these ‘voluntary’ redundancy packages? 83 A program for writing Brian Martin 25 ‘We got a different way of learning’: A message Improved research productivity can emanate from good writing to the sector from Aboriginal students living and habits derived from a regular writing program. Insights into the studying in remote communities benefits and challenges in supporting a new writing habit are Judith Wilks, Anna Dwyer, Sandra Wooltorton & John presented. Guenther Research conducted in remote and very remote Australia with 87 Ways to improve your research profile Aboriginal higher education students and educators enquired David S Waller after their learning and teaching needs, and how the sector could Becoming ‘famous’ in your academic area will make you an support them in their journey into and through university. authority in the field. Through research and writings, you could 39 Student experience at international branch become known in your school, at other universities and overseas. campuses 90 The elusive siloed subjects: Sacrificing humanities Stephen Wilkins to Techno-Tehan International branch campuses rely on the reputation of the Jim Daly parent institution and home country higher education system. What does the Australian education minister mean by ‘siloed Institutions typically claim that the student experience at subjects’? This bizarre concept is examined in this paper. the offshore campus replicates the onshore home campus experience. Does it? 98 The degrading of university education: the failure from within 47 Barriers and Facilitators for Women Academics seeking promotion: Perspectives from the Inside Tim Moore Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz The Government and its motivations for future university funding are wrong, but we should also look at at our universities, Thoughts from within. Barriers to promotion continue to be particularly the ‘administrators’ that have evolved in recent workloads and huge expectations, the multi-pronged promotion decades. process, competition, not being valued, juggling family life and not wanting to risk happiness. These are offset to some extent by facilitators such as mentoring and collaborative nurturing, giving continued overpage... back to others including the university, and flexibility.

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 1 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

105 Post-COVID Australian universities: The need for a new teaching and research vision Letter to the Editor Bob Birrell

COVID-19 has undermined the business model that has evolved in Australian universities. A new strategy based on the Dear Editor, universities’ contribution to making Australian industry more self-reliant is required. I refer to Thomas Klikauer’s informative and entertaining review of Bullshit Jobs (David Graeber, 2019) in Australian REVIEWS Universities’ Review 62:1. 112 On a slow boat to China Few readers would argue with Klikauer’s trenchant China in the World: An Anthropology of Confucius criticism of the inflated managerial ranks in universities, but Institutes, Soft Power, and Globalization by Jennifer it struck me that these ranks are often peopled with graduates Hubbert of departments/schools in fields such as management, HR, Reviewed by Joanne Barker marketing etc. Moreover, did not the wretched neoliberalism 114 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling essentially have its origins in such faculties and schools? alone. (Cats, the musical) That being the case, it seems to me that given Graeber’s Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies – Orality, definition of bullshit jobs, it would be at least arguable that Memory and the Transmission of Culture, by Lynne Kelly. since the overpaid managers in bullshit jobs often come The Memory Code: The Traditional Aboriginal Memory to them with academic credentials in management, HR, Technique That Unlocks the Secrets of Stonehenge, marketing etc, the academics who prepared them for their Easter Island and Ancient Monuments the World Over, by Lynne Kelly bullshit jobs (with the appropriate bullshit jargon) must be, Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory Using the Most at least in part, in bullshit jobs themselves. Might it not follow Powerful Methods and Tools from Around the World, by that preparing people for bullshit jobs is a bullshit job? Lynne Kelly Of course, it could come down to an oft-made comment Reviewed by Neil Mudford by that Emeritus Professor of Espionage, Maxwell Smart, who once observed: ‘If only he had used his HR degree for goodness instead of evil.’

Adjunct Professor Paul Rodan, Swinburne University of Technology.

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020   2 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW Letter from the editor

Ian R Dobson

How quickly things can change! Suddenly, we have a world learning needs. How can universities better support these pandemic and a federal government intent on ‘reforming’ students? Universities need to design operations and Australia’s universities. learning experiences so that they embrace these students’ Looking at the pandemic, in some ways, the Australian strengths! Government’s reaction via a national cabinet has been In a pre-pandemic study, Stephen Wilkins, a British refreshingly effective for much of the time. Sensibly, some scholar based in the Middle East, examines the student of the neoliberal excesses of recent years have had to be experience at offshore campuses. He finds that the offshore wound back. Of course, we haven’t forgotten the sports experience may be comparable, particularly at the larger rorts, Robodebt or the Banking Royal Commission that we off-shore campuses, even if ‘claims of replicability between apparently didn’t need to have! on-shore and off-shore student experience may be somewhat Regarding universities, the Australian Government seems fanciful…’. not to understand the difference between ‘education’ and Lyn Francis and Virginia Stulz found ‘multiple barriers and ‘training’. Many in right-wing politics do not have a clue facilitators still exist... for women applying for promotion’. about history, philosophy or ethics, and they probably weren’t They know this because they asked four focus groups of listening during their economics classes. Why would you female academics. As always, among others, the barriers decide to double fees in the humanities and creative arts, include workloads, expectations, competition, and the knowing that two-thirds of the students are women? Still, process. Collaborative nurturing and mentoring are among should we be surprised about our Lib/Nat rulers’ gender bias, the facilitators. when they can only manage a 26 per cent female representation Then we move onto two papers related to the PhD in in the Commonwealth Parliament (with only 19 per cent in Australia. First, Nicolette Buirski considers an under- the House of Representatives)? (By comparison, 47 per cent examined aspect of PhD supervision: the mindfulness traits of Labor MPs are women). Further, even if training teachers is that enable a supervisor ‘…to develop a strong intellectual one of the Minister’s foci, don’t more than half of our teachers and emotional rapport with a candidate…’. Meanwhile, Marc teach the humanities and creative arts? Now they will pay Torka has used statistical data obtained from the federal even more to become a teacher. education department to look at doctoral completion times to But let us move on! This issue might be described as a see if students have become more time efficient. Even if there ‘bumper’ one, comprising scholarly refereed papers, opinion have been trends in Australia demanding more PhD graduates pieces and book reviews. First up, we have a piece from more quickly, Torka shows that these have improved only Margaret Thornton, Professor Emerita from the Australian slightly over time. Future reform, he says, should be based on National University, covering law as teaching and research, and evidence rather than normative expectations. law as legal practice. In what has become quite common, there This issue’s ‘opinion’ comes from Wollongong’s Brian is less money from the Government, but it demands increased Martin, David Waller from University of Technology, control over teaching standards and research productivity. Sydney, Jim Daly of Monash, Tim Moore of Swinburne, Next up, Martin Andrew from Otago Polytechnic (in and Bob Birrell from The Australian Population Research that COVID-19-free country across the ‘dutch’) considers Institute. ‘voluntary’ redundancy. He asked 12 mid-career academics Brian Martin reports on a writing program based on why they accepted a redundancy package. Are these packages brief regular writing sessions after ten years’ experience with really taken voluntarily? the practice and considers the benefits and challenges in Judith Wilks and her colleagues present a paper on supporting a new writing habit. Continuing the ‘get published’ Aboriginal students from remote areas, asking about their theme, after years of working in academia and publishing vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Letter from the editor Ian R Dobson 3 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

David Waller shares with us ten points to help raise a research books about memory. Neil clearly enjoyed the books, but profile. We need to make the right choices and make the right I can’t remember why. I’ll read his reviews again! We also connections! have a review of a recent book on Confucius Institutes, by Jim Daly has reacted to the so-called ‘reform’ announced Joanne Barnes of RMIT University. Even though the book recently by the Australian Minister of Education. Mr Tehan is American, Joanne has situated her review within the used the term ‘siloed’ to describe humanities degrees, as part Australian context. of a justification for a major change of funding priorities Almost finally, many of you will have enjoyed Arthur for university education. Daly takes the Minister to task. O’Neill’s whimsical observations about our sector over the Similarly, Tim Moore examines the nonsense of the so-called years. Last issue we had such a piece, about the University ‘reforms’ by the Minister, but he also takes the leaders of Central Tasmania ‘building its narrative’. The bad news is of our universities to task. As he notes, ‘…there has been that three editorial amendments failed to get through to the little defence by our “institutional leaders” of the broader published hard copy version. The good news is that these educational mission of universities, leaving them seriously corrections have been included in the revised version of this exposed to the anti-academic, anti-democratic policies now paper on the AUR website, www.aur.org.au. Download it now being imposed.’ and be amused a second time! Meanwhile, Bob Birrell notes that COVID-19 has Finally, many thanks are due to the production and undermined the business model whereby Australian editorial team that work so hard to put AUR together. Thank universities have used the revenue from overseas student fees you to everyone, especially in these times when we all have lots to enhance their international research standing. We need a of other stuff on our plates. new strategy, based on the universities making Australian Until next time! industry more self-reliant. On to the book reviews. AUR Editorial Board stalwart Ian R Dobson is Editor of AUR, and an Adjunct member of Neil Mudford took on the daunting task of reviewing three the Professional Staff at Monash University, Australia.

4 Letter from the editor Ian R Dobson vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters

Margaret Thornton Australian National University

University law schools have been beset with a sense of schizophrenia ever since first established in the 19th century. They were unsure as to whether they were free to teach and research in the same way as the humanities or whether they were constrained by the presuppositions of legal practice. More recently, this tension has been overshadowed by the impact of the neoliberal turn and disinvestment by the state in higher education. Ironically, as government has provided less money to universities, it has arrogated to itself increased control over teaching standards and research productivity. At the same time, the mastery of the legal profession continues to be exercised through the specification of 11 subjects required for admission to legal practice, known as the ‘Priestley 11’. Drawing on Foucault’s idea of the self as a kind of enterprise, it is argued that law students have also assumed an element of mastery over what is taught and how it is taught. It is suggested that all elements of mastery are imbricated with one another so as to reify enterprise and capital accumulation within the neoliberal economy. Keywords: Universities, legal education, teaching, research, neoliberalism

humanities disciplines that are more receptive to the plurality Introduction of knowledge and critique. This problem has been accentuated in Australia because of the close links between legal education Ever since law schools were incorporated into universities in the and the legal profession (Chesterman & Weisbrot, 1987). 19th century, the discipline of law has been haunted by a sense While professional disciplines, such as engineering, accept of dystopia. While Roman law, legal history and jurisprudence predetermined epistemological standpoints, they do not had an ancient lineage within the great universities of Europe appear to be beset by the same degree of angst as law. (Wieruszowski, 1966), the training of lawyers was regarded The hope of enlightened jurisprudes has long been that a as the responsibility of the profession – through the Inns balance between scholarship and practice might be effected, of Court in London and apprenticeships elsewhere. The but such a balance may be unattainable because of the inherent establishment of university law schools set up a tension between tension between the presuppositions underpinning applied the university and the legal profession. The debate concerning legal knowledge and the academic critique of them. The the establishment of Sydney Law School in the latter part of metaphor of the pendulum may be trite, but it captures a sense the 19th century, for example, lasted for more than 40 years of the perennial movement between scholarship and practice. (Martin, 1986; Chesterman & Weisbrot, 1987). When the pendulum swings too close to scholarship, there is The discipline of law is still somewhat schizophrenic about agitation from the practising profession for the injection of whether it should prioritise academic or professional norms more applied knowledge into the curriculum, while a swing (Webber, 2004). The deference by law schools to a set of towards practice impels a plea for a more scholarly stance. professional presuppositions regarding the nature of legal Needless to say, the oscillation of the pendulum is inevitably knowledge distinguishes it from other social sciences and affected by the play of politics and power at any particular vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton 5 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

time, which engenders resentment on the part of those who largest export ‘industry’ behind coal and iron (Universities feel that their power has been attenuated (Brown, 1995). Australia, 2019). To be sustainable, however, the new ‘industry’ I suggest that a constellation of factors arising from the had to be closely regulated, despite the free market rhetoric of neoliberal turn has complicated the simple metaphor of the neoliberalism. ‘Moscow on the Molonglo’ is the witty phrase pendulum swing between the law school and the legal profession devised by economist, Max Corden (2005), with ‘Moscow’ as to who has mastery over legal education. This is not to deny signifying the former Soviet central planning system and the prominent roles that both entities continue to exercise, ‘Molonglo’, the small river in Canberra signifying the Australian but disinvestment in higher education by the state in the late federal government. Nevertheless, government mastery has been 20th century disturbed any notion of balance between them. maintained not so much through punitive Kremlin-like edicts While judges and senior members of the profession continue but by financial inducements (Corden, 2005). to play a key role in ensuring that the law curriculum is geared The Pearce Report (Pearce, Campbell & Harding, 1987), a to serving legal practice through admission requirements, as detailed overview of the discipline of law, had been authorised will be discussed, disinvestment has been accompanied by a by the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission more interventionist and prescriptive role on the part of the (CTEC), but this body was a casualty of the Dawkins reforms. Its state. Indeed, I suggest that the Australian federal government disbandment meant that there was no longer a single regulatory has assumed an influential role behind the scenes in respect body charged with disciplinary oversight of higher education. of higher education policy, including with regard to teaching The Pearce Committee had suggested that there might be one and research that might be likened to that of puppet master. more Australian law school, preferably in Queensland (Pearce Furthermore, legal education has come to be regarded not only ibid.), but the radical shift in regulation led to a dramatic as a source of capital accumulation for government, but also as a expansion of legal education. Moscow on the Molonglo made source of human capital for student/consumers, a role that has no endeavour to restrict the number of law schools in the new endowed them too with an enhanced element of mastery over regime, as the choice of discipline (apart from medicine) was left what is taught and how it is taught. to universities themselves. Vice-chancellors (VCs) of the new universities, many of which were former ‘teaching only’ colleges Government as puppet master of advanced education, were keen to have law schools as law was regarded as a prestigious professional discipline, although Despite the orchestrated transition from an élite to a mass VCs believed it could be taught ‘on the cheap’ through the large system of higher education that emerged from the Dawkins lecture format in order to subsidise the more resource-intensive reforms in 1988 (Dawkins, 1988; Croucher et al., 2013), there parts of the university (cf. Tamanaha, 2012, p. 127). was not a commensurate increase in the funding of Australian The virtually unstoppable demand for law places has resulted public universities. As the privatisation of public goods was a in the number of law schools more than tripling – from 12 to key imperative of neoliberalism (Urciuoli, 2010), a shift from 40 in 30 years – which includes Australia’s first for-profit law free higher education to a system of user-pays occurred. Hayek school (Sydney City School of Law at TOP Education Institute, (1976; 1960) and Friedman (1962), the gurus of neoliberalism, established in 2016). The number of law graduates in established had propounded the view that students in professional schools schools has also increased exponentially as universities have should assume responsibility for the cost of their education endeavoured to survive ongoing cuts to their operating grants. themselves in the belief that they would be the beneficiaries of The corporatisation of universities nevertheless proved to be so high incomes (Friedman & Friedman, 1980). This philosophy lucrative that tuition fees were soon ratcheted up with law in underpinned the transformation of higher education from a the highest band, culminating in the Coalition Government public to a quasi-private good across disciplines (Thornton, proposing in 2014 that university fees be deregulated. However, 2012). The radical reform was effected relatively smoothly due the electorate baulked at the idea of $100,000 undergraduate to the introduction of the income-contingent Higher Education degrees, and deregulation was shelved. Had the initiative Contribution Scheme (HECS), now FEE-HELP (Chapman & proceeded, each university would have been able to set its own Nicholls, 2013). While the user-pays regime ostensibly privileged fees according to whatever the market could bear, a situation private benefit over public good, the state was able to slough that would inevitably have exacerbated competition between off responsibility for a significant proportion of the cost of universities to the advantage of established metropolitan law higher education and profit from its commodification. Indeed, schools and the disadvantage of new and regional universities. enterprise became the ‘third mission’ of the university, along with Equity, however, is accorded short shrift in a regime contingent teaching and research (Shore & McLauchlan, 2012). The income on competition. now generated by this former public good is phenomenal, for it The marketised environment that universities now inhabit added approximately A$140 billion per annum to the Australian nevertheless brings with it risk and uncertainty (Beck, 1992). economy in 2018 and elevated higher education to the third To counteract that risk, everything and everyone is subject to

6 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

audit and accountability (Power, 1997). As a dimension of Degree (Extended) category, the outcomes of which are ‘new public management’ (NPM), which took hold of the specified as ‘specialised knowledge and skills for research and/ public sector as a corollary of neoliberalism, government needs or professional practice and/or further learning’ (AQF, 2013, to be assured that any investment of public funds is put to good p. 13). The LLB (Hons) occupies a position between the LLB use. While ‘management’ is concerned with the conversion and the JD at Level 8. of resources into productive outputs, ‘managerialism’ is an Although TEQSA was developed after Corden coined ideology that distorts the primary function of management ‘Moscow on the Molonglo’, the establishment of this agency by promoting the view that consultation, collegiality and is a dramatic manifestation of government mastery that even academic expertise are unnecessary for solving problems undermines the autonomy of law schools and legal academics (Joseph, 2015). Instead, the measurement of key performance in respect of how they teach and deliver programs. Indeed, indicators through frequent auditing is regarded as the best TEQSA is widely resented for its intrusiveness and lack of way of evaluating risk. Academics can no longer be trusted to detailed knowledge. A former TEQSA employee said it was deliver courses to the appropriate standard unaided, but must disrespectful of universities’ roles and histories. ‘You have be told what to do and how to do it. Hence, senior managers, a bunch of predominantly bachelor-educated people, who or the ‘manageriat’ (to invoke Rob Watts’ (2017) evocative have not set foot in a university for 20 years, telling them they term) have replaced the professoriate as the university élite have to tick this box or that one’ (Ross & Trounson, 2013, p. and are often paid very substantial salaries to reflect the 29). Although auditing of this kind inevitably fosters a lowest inversion of status. Directed by government as puppet master common denominator approach, universities are anxious to in a way that was unknown prior to the Dawkins Reforms, the comply to avoid adverse repercussions. Financialisation is manageriat now plays a major role in orchestrating teaching the key to government mastery, not only in respect of direct and research in order to benefit what is believed to be the contributions to university operating grants, but also in national interest, as I proceed to show. specifying student contributions (fees) according to discipline. While Moscow on the Molonglo does not prescribe how Managerial mastery: Teaching teaching is to be carried out, ‘massification’ has meant that Managerialism encourages standardisation of both curricula small-group teaching is no longer economically viable for and pedagogy through a range of technologies orchestrated most law schools, even though it involves a superior pedagogy by government. Uniformity of product is designed to reassure that encourages interactive learning and a critical approach prospective student/consumers of the quality of a proposed towards orthodox knowledge. To cut costs, there has been degree as the aim is to maximise income, particularly from full- a widespread reversion to the outdated and pedagogically fee and international students. One of the most pronounced questionable large-lecture format (Le Brun & Johnstone, technologies is the quality regime that enables oversight 1994), which favours the transmission of applied knowledge, of degree standards through the Australian Qualifications or knowledge as information. This nevertheless comports Framework (AQF) (2013), which, in the case of higher with the government aim of producing ‘job ready’ graduates education, is administered by the Tertiary Education Quality to serve the new knowledge economy. Money saved from and Standards Agency (TEQSA). TEQSA has adopted the utilising the cheaper large-lecture format in preference to Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) for law programs the more labour-intensive small group teaching can then be endorsed by the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD). expended on research, to which I turn. The primary regulation of the quality of legal education has therefore become the preserve of government even Managerial mastery: Research though government contributes only around 15 per cent of Despite sustained attempts to professionalise teaching a government-funded law place and nothing to international through standardisation, accreditation and awards for and full-fee domestic places. excellence, research far outstrips teaching in the academic TEQSA standards are not discipline-specific but apply to prestige stakes, a gap that is widening and accentuating learning outcomes for degrees at the same level. The LLB the tension within law schools. The typical legal academic falls under Level 7, the purpose of which is to equip graduates was formerly something of a dilettante when it came to with ‘a broad and coherent body of knowledge…to undertake research but, as with other aspects of education in the professional work’ (AQF, 2013, p. 16). The Juris Doctor corporatised academy, the commodification of research (JD), the graduate degree that replaced the LLB as the basic has totally transformed the academic job description. This law degree in the US 50 years ago, was introduced in Australia has occurred in two distinct ways: first, through the direct to circumvent the former prohibition on charging full fees for commercialisation of research and, secondly, through the undergraduate courses (Cooper et al., 2011). Now a popular pressure to produce legal scholarship, preferably of ‘world offering in Australia, the JD falls under Level 9, the Master’s class’ standard or above. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton 7 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

When we turn to the first aim, the commercialisation an institution’s ranking on international league tables has led of research, it is perhaps unsurprising that law fares poorly some Australian law school deans to insist that academics compared with the technosciences. The ideal academic is publish only in northern hemisphere (‘international’) expected to be what Jane Kenway et al. (2006, p. 42) refer to journals. The effect has contributed to a downgrading of as a ‘technopreneur’, whom they define as one who combines Australian legal scholarship, just when it had sloughed off its ‘techno-scientific knowledge…with business acumen’. In a imperial ties and sought to establish its autonomy. marketised environment, academics who pursue knowledge for The auditing of research enshrines competition between its own sake à la Newman (1976) have become anachronistic. individuals, disciplines, institutions and countries, and The neoliberal economy demands that the production of has been entrenched internationally by a plethora of knowledge has direct value for business, society and the international league tables, such as the Times Higher economy (Larkins & Croucher, 2013). Scientists, technicians Education World University Rankings and Quacquarelli and businesspeople are preferred over social scientists and Symonds (QS). League tables are another recent humanities scholars, which include legal academics (Shore & manifestation of competition policy that has emerged as a McLauchlan, 2012). corollary of the corporatisation of universities. Rankings The pressure on legal academics to satisfy the second aim, methodology is invariably flawed as it focuses on standard that is, the production of scholarship of ‘world class’ standard criteria at the expense of distinctiveness, which means that to enhance the status of their university is also problematic for the achievements of regional and relatively young Australian legal scholars as it does not sit easily with the imperative to universities with a commitment to, say, community transmit orthodox legal knowledge to students. While legal engagement, must be compared with elite northern academics may not receive star billing as winners of Nobel hemisphere universities renowned for their research. Like Prizes, they are nevertheless subject to constant pressure to numerical rankings in a football league, metricisation enhance their research productivity through publication, encourages superficial comparisons with no allowance as well as to generate research income through competitive for differences in culture, wealth and positional goods. grants – whether necessary for their research or not. The This includes the time – possibly centuries – over which desire by universities for reputational and positional goods substantial endowments might have been acquired, such flowing from research and scholarly publications is a corollary as in the case of Oxbridge and the Ivy League. Despite the of the competition policy that underpins neoliberalism. For obvious flaws, league tables nevertheless exercise a seductive a law school’s research to be ranked ‘below world standard’ allure for law deans and university managers (Sauder could lead to its collapse and closure. & Espeland, 2009), as well as being likely to influence In order that the benefits of research might be harnessed government funding policies. by government to justify investment in schemes such as The inversion of the ranking of teaching and research has those under the auspices of the Australian Research Council resulted in a propensity for legal academics to buy out the (ARC) (2020), productivity is rendered calculable through teaching component of their workload, preferably through national systems of audit such as the Excellence in Research competitive research fellowships. Casual teachers are then for Australia (ERA). The requirement that grant applicants likely to be engaged to undertake teaching in their stead but satisfy a National Interest Test (NIT) underscores the are not required to be research active. Universities accord insidious way that managerial mastery by the state operates. scant attention to the fact that a sizable proportion of the If the Minister does not believe that an applicant has satisfied academic workforce is trapped in a succession of exploitative the NIT, a grant can be denied, despite having been highly contracts (May et al., 2013; Clohesy, 2019). Indeed, it rated by experts in the field. points to the way that collegiality and equity are likely to be The assessment of research quality takes account of discarded in favour of managerialism and competition in a reputational and impact factors, including competitive grants corporatised context. and fellowships, journal standing and citation indices. The Although TEQSA and ARC are both government ranking of journals is particularly contentious for law as most regulatory agencies, no cognisance is taken of the fact that they branches of legal knowledge are likely to have municipal or are at odds with each other as to the relative significance of domestic, rather than global or universal significance, unlike teaching and research. While the failure to produce excellent engineering and other science and technology subjects. outcomes can result in financial penalties in both domains, Echoing the imperialism that pervades the economy of the prominence of international league tables and citation knowledge more generally (Connell, 2019), journals indices make clear that research excellence is held in higher emanating from the northern hemisphere are invariably held regard than teaching, a factor that carries little weight with in higher regard than those from Australia, as well as those the legal profession, which continues to exercise a central role from the global South more generally. The desire to enhance in the mastery of university law schools, as I now demonstrate.

8 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Professional mastery of companies specialising in document review, discovery and predictive coding were established to undertake work more Following the Dawkins reforms and the proliferation of new cheaply that was traditionally performed by legal associates law schools, uniform requirements for admission to legal (Henderson, 2013). This inevitably began to have an effect on practice were developed in 1992 by the Law Admissions the legal labour market to the disadvantage of those graduates Consultative Committee (LACC). Comprising 11 areas of who expected to obtain a position in practice. knowledge, they came to be known as the ‘Priestley 11’ or, more The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) saw the legal profession colloquially, ‘the Priestleys’, after Justice Priestley, the Chair of embrace technological innovation, which raises provocative LACC. Focusing on doctrinal and technical competence with questions about AI and the role of non-lawyers in undertaking a commercial bias, these ‘core’ areas of knowledge comprise legal work. While such issues have resulted in the emergence approximately two-thirds of the curriculum. They are often of the ‘poly-technical legal entrepreneur’ (Galloway et al., supplemented by ‘advanced’ core-related electives, for which 2019), they have received scant attention from the admitting students may agitate in the belief that such subjects will authorities, although some law societies have begun to address enhance their employability in a competitive legal labour them (Law Society of NSW, 2017; Law Society of WA, 2017). market (James, 2004). Despite ‘disruptive innovations’ (Christensen, 2001) It is notable that the Priestley 11 ignored the broadening of over more than two decades in both legal education and the curriculum that had been occurring with the modernisation legal practice, a review of the Priestley 11 was very slow in of the teaching of law and the embrace of social liberalism eventuating. It was only in 2019 that a revision was concluded from the 1970s onwards (Thornton, 2001), particularly after by the LACC, almost 30 years after the first iteration the Pearce Report (McInnis & Marginson, 1994). Second (LACC, 2019). However, the specified areas of knowledge generation law schools, such as Monash, the University of in the revised version do not differ markedly from the initial NSW and Macquarie, were interested in the study of law in its version. The 11 doctrinally-oriented, largely commercial social context and law as an instrument of social justice (James, areas of knowledge that were specified in 1992 reappeared 2000); they were particularly keen to break away from the ‘trade in 2019 and were reaffirmed as ‘fundamental areas of legal school’ image of the past. However, these trends exerted no knowledge’ for both the LLB and the JD. Most significantly, discernible effect on the LACC. Even non-doctrinal subjects the revolutionary developments in technology, including AI, with a long tradition of having been taught in universities, which Susskind argues are likely to make lawyers redundant such as jurisprudence and legal history, did not appear in the (Susskind & Susskind, 2015; Susskind, 2013), were accorded Priestley 11. The expectation that the primary role of the law short shrift. AI has already made significant inroads into the curriculum was to prepare students for private practice lingered routine legal tasks on which new lawyers have traditionally on (Keyes & Johnstone, 2004, p. 557). cut their teeth and is undoubtedly contributing to the steady Nickolas James (2000) has noted that a critical legal decline in demand for young solicitors (Urbis Pty. Ltd., 2018). education is likely to be viewed with suspicion by the profession The issue of generational renewal does not appear to have because it is ‘“more theoretical” and “less practical”’ than been a matter of concern for the admitting authorities. what is thought desirable for legal practice. The profession While the ‘teaching of new developments in the relevant remains conservatively focused on what makes a ‘good lawyer’, law’ is not precluded (LACC, 2019), the revised Priestley evincing an antipathy towards law schools that have dared to 11 does not envisage a more imaginative, diverse and critical be different. Macquarie Law School, for example, embraced approach to the compulsory areas of knowledge appropriate theory and critique as essential dimensions of an intellectually for the 21st century, let alone the idea that routine aspects of robust legal education from its inception in the 1970s. professional legal knowledge might become redundant as a However, Macquarie was criticised for not teaching ‘law’ result of technological change (Susskind & Susskind, 2015; (Pearce et al., 1987) which reveals just how difficult it is to Webley et al., 2019). Even if a broader approach is adopted, resist the mastery of the profession. any innovation is bounded by doctrinal imperatives, as Even the reform of legal practice itself that occurred soon Galloway et al. (2019) point out. after promulgation of the Priestley 11 was not enough to Although the marked changes in the practice of law exerted alter the perspective of the LACC. The millennial turn saw little effect on the Priestley 11, one might have thought that initiatives such as the incorporation of law firms, listing on the the proliferation of new law schools since 1992 would have stock exchange and globalisation. The effect of these reforms encouraged the LACC to consider broadening its approach. was to ratchet up competition with the aim of maximising What is the point of multiple law schools all being pale copies profits and hastening the shift from legal professionalism of one another? In any case, the overwhelming majority of law to ‘law as business’ (Bagust, 2013). In conjunction with the graduates do not embark on careers in traditional legal practice changes to lawyering, a range of initiatives, such as the creation but pursue a diverse range of careers in the public service, vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton 9 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

the community sector, the international arena, non-profit of law students are engaged in paid employment for a and business organisations, as well as research and teaching. substantial number of hours per week, increasingly in a full- However, the legal profession has chosen to retain its mastery time capacity. In accordance with the consumerist mentality over law schools by means of standardising the curriculum. The of neoliberalism, they ‘need’ consumer goods, such as the Priestley 11 remains a powerful symbol of the assumption that latest iPhone, although the struggle to survive and meet the the primary role of legal education is to serve the legal profession, high cost of living for many students is not denied. More regardless of the reality. As with the unifying propensity that particularly, a job as a paralegal, or even an unpaid intern, emerges from ‘the state as homogeniser’ in its mastery over the will assist in quick starting the student’s career in a highly corporatised university (Marginson & Considine, 2000, p. competitive legal labour market. 176), the admitting authorities have sought to apply the same The trend of expending more time on paid work has propensity through the Priestley 11. The admitting authorities’ significantly impacted class attendance and the opportunity endorsement of the original Priestley 11 almost 30 years after to interrogate and debate the presuppositions of law. Students its first iteration has all the appearances of a rear-guard action expect lectures to be recorded and all resources to be readily designed to retain its mastery over law schools in the face of available online; flexible delivery is claimed to be their disruption and diversity. right as consumers in order to accommodate the competing aspects of their lives. A large empirical study conducted at The student as master: Inverting the norm the UWA Law School in 2019 established a 38 per cent rate of attendance over a semester (Skead & Elphick, 2019). The Conventionally, the student is expected to be docile, that is recording of lectures was noted as the most significant factor teachable (from the Latin docere to teach). Foucault (1995) for non-attendance by both staff and students, although there defined the docile body as one that may be ‘subjected, was a marked discrepancy between them, with a staff estimate used, transformed and improved’. However, docility, or of 60 per cent and a student figure of 17 per cent. Individual teachability, is not the only quality that might be applied to students gave a range of reasons for non-attendance, including the contemporary law student. In subsequently translated work commitments and timetabling, but those in focus work, The Birth of Biopolitics, Foucault (2008) describes the groups placed a more constructive spin on non-attendance, neoliberal subject in more active terms, conceptualising the explaining that recordings allowed them to learn at their self as a kind of enterprise in which individuals are responsible own pace. This justified their desire for flexible delivery for producing their own capital by making meaningful choices and the reason why lectures were passé. As is generally the and decisions. This understanding aptly encapsulates the case, students were more likely to attend classes when their characteristics of the contemporary fee-paying law student. participation was assessed. A user-pays system indirectly emphasises credentialism The prevalence of consumerism, or the student as enterprise, and vocationalism because student customers/consumers has resulted in law schools making courses easier and more are necessarily concerned about a return on their investment. palatable (Thornton, 2012). Anti-intellectualism and short Consumerism has been a crucial factor in not only inducing cuts have become the order of the day because of the increased a swing away from theory and critique in favour of applied focus on credentialism. The demand by enterprising students knowledge in higher education, or from ‘know what’ to ‘know that the law course be made easier for them is graphically how’ (OECD, 1996), but also in vesting students with a illustrated by an incident reported to me, in which students significant degree of power over the content of the curriculum formally complained because the lecturer set an assignment and modes of pedagogy. Foucault’s thesis of the self as enterprise involving independent case analysis that the students deemed is not only clearly evident in the case of the contemporary law to be ‘too hard’. The gist of the complaint was that the lecturer student, but it is also supported by my argument of government expected them to read whole cases, not merely the digests that as puppet master. That is, the imposition of fees places pressure they preferred. Here is a telling excerpt from the lecturer’s on students to prioritise vocationalism over professionalism communication following a meeting with the students that is a (James, 2017). In a neoliberal climate, the aim of government is graphic illustration of Foucault’s thesis of the self as enterprise: not to produce critically aware graduates but a pool of job-ready Students said that if they did need to find a case and its skilled human capital to enhance international competitiveness principles, they would quickly do an on-line search, use a (Purcell, 2008). word-search function to locate the particular word or phrase Student consumers are able to influence modes of mentioned in the lecture and simply cut-and-paste the extract delivery, as well as the substance of what is taught in order to into their notes. They did not read the balance of the case or accommodate the fact that they are time-poor; attaining a law attempt to understand it. Several students said they did this degree no longer commands their full attention. Whether as a because they had attempted to read a case, but it had taken paralegal or in some other capacity, an increasing proportion them almost two hours to understand it; and ‘no-one has that

10 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

kind of time to waste’ – hence the reliance on quick short-cuts LACC’s 2019 revision, it is not exactly encouraged either. [my italics] (Personal correspondence, 2019). Rote learning and regurgitation are more likely to satisfy The students went on to say that during the semester, they job readiness over deep learning because of its short-term were often so time-poor due to work, social and sporting functionality and its ability to satisfy credentialism. commitments, they had to be strategic in their use of time. What is important to the student is the prevailing discourse Commonly, they bought ready-made summaries, such as those of ‘relevance’, which tends to be evaluated in market terms available from LawSkool.com or from previous students. (Shore & McLauchlan, 2012). Through the shaping of the Student mastery may also impact the future career curriculum, we see how the individual aims of the student prospects of lecturers, which has been indirectly authorised as enterprise dovetail with those of the neoliberal state in by government. In 2018, the Australian Government imposed the privileging of ‘know how’ over ‘know what’ in the new an ‘efficiency dividend’ on the Commonwealth Grant knowledge economy (OECD, 1996). Scheme based on a university’s rates of completion, attrition and student satisfaction. Through the element of student Conclusion: Deferring to multiple masters satisfaction, students are able to influence not only what they are taught and how they are taught, but also by whom they In considering the impact on legal education of multiple are taught, as surveys may be taken into account in promotion masters, I began by adverting to the schizophrenic relationship applications, a practice held to be illegal by a Canadian between the academy and the legal profession but argued that arbitrator (Ryerson, 2018). In addition, satisfaction surveys this traditional tension was disrupted by the neoliberal turn. may contribute to grade inflation when a student complains Until the Dawkins reforms, the state played a key role in the to a lecturer about an assessment exercise: ‘It is your fault that funding of public universities but adopted a hands-off approach I didn’t get a High Distinction, because I wasn’t taught well to their governance and internal operations (Jackson, 1999). enough and I propose to appeal’. In the face of such threats, Ironically, this changed with disinvestment, when higher a law school might capitulate to avoid a complaint being education began to be regarded as a source of enterprise and lodged with an ombudsman or other external body that could capital accumulation rather than a public good but, instead of damage the brand name of the school. In this way, incremental continuing to respect the autonomy of universities, government creep can deleteriously affect the calibre of both curriculum assumed a role of mastery over them. I suggested that Corden’s and pedagogy to the advantage of students in such a way as to metaphor of ‘Moscow on the Molonglo’ aptly encapsulated the support the idea of the self as enterprise. contradiction of government providing less financial support The Foucauldian thesis can also be discerned in the way for higher education while simultaneously increasing the extent students are deterred from enrolling in subjects regarded of its oversight and regulation in respect of internal matters, as intellectually demanding in terms of content, mode of such as teaching standards and research policies. assessment or teaching style. Students may feel inclined The historic mastery of the legal profession over legal to turn away from more theoretical subjects, such as education did not weaken in the post-Dawkins era. Indeed, it jurisprudence, legal history or feminist legal theory, on was partly in response to the proliferation of new law schools account of their perceived lack of use value in the market. that the LACC developed uniform admission requirements. Declining demand may cause the more theoretical and critical Once instantiated, the profession was resistant to updating courses to disappear from the curriculum in favour of applied the Priestley 11, despite the tranche of modernising reforms knowledge. The student as enterprise has little interest effected in the profession itself around the millennial turn, in a liberal education, that is, an approach that is critical, as well as the fact that most law graduates no longer entered theoretical, interdisciplinary, comparative or sociolegal, even traditional legal practice. There was no suggestion that there though a liberal legal education may better equip him or her might be variable categories of admission to satisfy different for a broader range of occupations. Law students usually have forms of law-related employment. When the LACC eventually a form of traditional metrocentric legal practice in mind for undertook a revision of the requirements for admission in when they graduate, suggesting a misallocation in terms of their 2019, it produced a virtual replica of the 1992 Priestley 11. A aspirations and where they might make a useful contribution measure of the conventional mastery of the legal profession was (Menkel-Meadow, 2012). In any case, as mentioned, what is that all law schools deferentially accepted and incorporated required by the state for job-readiness is technically skilled the Priestley 11 into their requirements for the award of the human capital, ‘not educated participants in public life’ LLB, and subsequently the JD, regardless of whether students (Brown, 2015, p. 177). The student as enterprise underpins intended to be admitted to legal practice or not. and supports the broader aim of capital accumulation that is a Finally, with recourse to the Foucauldian thesis of the self corollary of the corporatisation of universities. While a critical as enterprise, I argued that law students themselves were able approach to the Priestley 11 is not formally precluded by the to exercise a degree of mastery over law school curricula and vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton 11 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

pedagogy. Having been transmuted into consumer/customers, References students believed that they were entitled to complain about Australian Qualifications Framework Council. (AQF). (2013). the substance, pedagogy and mode of assessment of their law Australian Qualifications Framework: Second Edition. Retrieved from courses. This augmented their power and played a role in http://www.aqf.edu.au/aqf/in-detail/2nd-ed-jan-2013/ directing legal education down an applied path in a way that Australian Research Council. (2020). National Interest Test. Retrieved accorded not only with their own vocational aims but with from https://www.arc.gov.au/national-interest-test-statements. those of the state to ensure that universities’ primary role was Bagust, J. (2013). The Legal Profession and the Business of Law. Sydney to serve the new knowledge economy by producing technically Law Review, 35, 27-52. skilled human capital rather than a critically educated citizenry. Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, trans. M. While many legal academics are doing their best to inspire Ritter. London: Sage. students to become critically engaged citizens through a Brown, W. (1995). States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late liberal legal education, they are constrained by the pressure to Modernity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. be deferential to multiple masters. Their universities require Brown, W. (2015). Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution. them to teach ever larger cohorts of students, particularly Boston: MIT Press. full-fee and international students, in order to maximise Chapman, B. & Nicholls, J. (2013). HECS, in G. Croucher, S. income. They are compelled to teach the compulsory ‘core’ Marginson, A. Norton & J. Wells (eds). The Dawkins Revolution 25 of the curriculum, preferably from a doctrinal perspective, as Years On. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. prescribed by the admitting authorities and legitimated by Chesterman, M. & Weisbrot, D. (1987). Legal Scholarship in Australia. TEQSA. The manageriat also expects them to teach mainly Modern Law Review, 50, 709-724. through the cheaper lecture method, for which students Christensen, C. M. (2001). The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that will Change the Way You do Business (revised ed.). New York: reward them by staying away. While legal academics are Collins Business Essentials. enjoined to be research active, the subjects of their scholarly Clohesy, L. (2019). Resisting the Casualised University. Demos Journal, research tend to be cordoned off from what they are 9, 17-20. permitted to teach. Although they may be able to offer an Connell, R. (2019). The Good University: What Universities Actually Do optional subject based on their research from time to time, and Why it’s Time for Radical Change. London: Zed Books. the centripetal pull of the Priestley 11 may deter students Cooper, D., Jackson, S., Mason, R. & Toohey, M. (2011). The from enrolling in it, and small enrolments could mean the kiss Emergence of the JD in the Australian Legal Education Marketplace of death. This may induce legal academics to turn away from and its Impact on Academic Standards. Legal Education Review, 21, teaching and focus on research, for which the rewards are 23-48. greater. Like students, academics are also neoliberal subjects Corden, M. (2005). Australian Universities: Moscow on the Molonglo. interested in producing their own capital. Quadrant, 49, 7-20. The dystopian effect of having to satisfy multiple masters in Croucher, G., Marginson, S., Norton, A. & Wells, J. (eds) (2013). The the contemporary law school is apparent when a light is shone Dawkins Revolution 25 Years On. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. upon the phenomenon, as I have sought to do. The constituents are imbricated with one another so as to reify enterprise, Dawkins, J. (1988). Higher Education: A Policy Statement (White Paper). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. capital accumulation and promotion of the self within the neoliberal economy and are reflected and normalised within Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. A. Sheridan (trans). New York: Vintage. the corporatised university. Multiple mastery confirms that the Foucault, M. (2008). -versity has indeed become a -versity. The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de uni multi France, 1978-1979. M. Senellart (ed); G. Burchell (trans). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Acknowledgements Friedman M. & Friedman, R. (1980). Free to Choose: A Personal Statement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. This article was first presented as a keynote address at Friedman, M. with the assistance of Friedman, R. D. (1962) Capitalism ‘Satisfying Many Masters: Teaching into Professional Degrees and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. in Law and Engineering in the 21st Century’, University of Galloway, K., Webb, J., Bartlett, F., Flood, J. & Webley, L. (2019). The Southern Queensland, 30 September 2019. The author Legal Academy’s Engagements with Lawtech: Technology Narratives thanks the University of Southern Queensland and Professor and Archetypes as Drivers of Change. Law, Technology and Humans, 1: Pauline Collins for their hospitality. 27-45. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.v1.i1.1337. Hayek, F. A. (1960). The Constitution of Liberty. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Margaret Thornton is an Emerita Professor in the ANU College of Law at The Australian National University, ACT. Hayek, F. A. (1976). The Road to Serfdom. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Contact: [email protected]

12 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Henderson, W. (2013). A Blueprint for Change. Pepperdine Law Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Review, 40(2), 461-507. (OECD). (1996). The Knowledge-Based Economy. Paris: OECD. Jackson, R. (1999). The Universities, Government and Society, in Pearce, D., Campbell, E. & Harding, D. (1987). Australian Law Schools: David Smith and Annie Karen Langslow (eds), The Idea of a University. A Discipline Assessment for the Commonwealth Tertiary Education London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Commission (Pearce Report). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. James, N. (2004). Power-Knowledge in Australian Legal Education: Corporatism’s Reign. Sydney Law Review, 26(4), 587-612. Power, M. (1997). The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification. Oxford: Oxford University Press. James, N. J. (2000) A Brief History of Critique in Australian Legal Education. Melbourne University Law Review, 24, 965-981. Purcell, M. (2008). Recapturing Democracy: Neoliberalization and the Struggle for Alternative Urban Futures. London: Routledge. James, N. J. (2017). More than Merely Work-Ready: Vocationalism Versus Professionalism in Legal Education. UNSW Law Journal, 40(1), Ross, J. & Trounson, A. (2013). Go8 fear Red Tape Overkill. The 186-209. Australian, 7 August, 29. Joseph, R. (2015). The Cost of Managerialism in the University: An Ryerson University v Ryerson Faculty Association (2018). CanLII 58466 Autoethnographical Account of an Academic Redundancy Process. (ON LA). Prometheus, 33(2), 1-25. DOI: 10.1080/08109028.2015.109223. Sauder, M. & Espeland, W. (2009). The Discipline of Rankings: Tight Kenway, J., Bullen, E., Fahey, J. & Robb, S. (2006). Haunting the Coupling and Organizational Change. American Sociological Review, Knowledge Economy. London: Routledge. 74, 63-82. Keyes. M. & Johnstone, R. (2004). Changing Legal Education: Shore, C. & McLauchlan, L. (2012). “Third Mission” Activities, Rhetoric, Reality, and Prospects for the Future. Sydney Law Review, Commercialisation and Academic Entrepreneurs. Social Anthropology, 26(4), 537-564. 20, 267-286. Larkins, F. P. & Croucher, G. (2013). Research, in G. Croucher, S. Skead, N. & Elphick, L. (2019). When the Left Hand doesn’t Know what Marginson, A. Norton & J. Wells (eds). The Dawkins Revolution 25 the Right Hand is Doing: Comparing Staff and Student Perceptions of Class Years On. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Attendance in a Large-Scale Empirical Study. Paper presented at Legal Education Research Conference, UNSW Law, 27-28 November. Law Admissions Consultative Committee. (LACC). (2019). Prescribed Areas of Knowledge. Canberra, Law Council of Susskind, R. (2013). Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Australia, 18 October. Retrieved from https://www.lawcouncil. Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. asn.au/files/web-pdf/LACC%20docs/Redrafting%20the%20 Susskind, R. & Susskind, D. (2015). Academic%20Requirements%20for%20Admission%20-%20 The Future of the Professions: How Oxford: Oxford Subs/657475579_1_657475579.01%20Prescribed%20Areas%20of%20 Technology will Transform the Work of Human Experts. University Press. Knowledge.pdf. Tamanaha, B. Z. (2012). Failing Law Schools. Chicago: University of Law Society of NSW Commission of Inquiry. (2017). The Future Chicago Press. of Law and Innovation in the Profession (FLIP Report). Sydney: Law Society of NSW. Retrieved from https://www.lawsociety.com.au/sites/ Thornton, M. (2001). The Demise of Diversity in Legal Education: default/files/2018-03/1272952.pdf. Globalisation and the New Knowledge Economy. International Journal of the Legal Profession, 8(1), 37-56. Law Society of Western Australia. (2017). The Future of the Legal Profession. Perth: Law Society of WA. Retrieved from https://www. Thornton, M. (2012). Privatising the Public University: The Case of Law. lawsocietywa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2017DEC12-Law- Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Society-Future-of-the-Legal-Profession.pdf. Universities Australia (2019). International. Retrieved from https:// Le Brun, M. & Johnstone, R. (1994). The Quiet (R)evolution: Improving www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/policy-submissions/international/ Student Learning in Law. North Ryde, NSW: Law Book. Urbis Pty. Ltd. (2018). 2018 National Profile of Solicitor. Sydney, Law Marginson, S. & Considine, M. (2000). The Enterprise University: Society of NSW, 17 June. Retrieved from https://www.lawsocietywa. Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia. Cambridge: asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2018-National-Profile-of- Cambridge University Press. Solicitors-Final-Report.pdf. Martin, L. (1986). From Apprenticeship to Law School: A Social Urciuoli, B. (2010). Neoliberal Education: Preparing Students for History of Legal Education in Nineteenth Century New South Wales. the New Workplace in Carol J Greenhouse (ed), Ethnographies of UNSW Law Journal, 9, 111-143. Neoliberalism. Philadelphia: Philadelphia University Press. May, R., Peetz, D. & Strachan, G. (2013). The Casual Academic Watts, R. (2017). Public Universities, Managerialism and the Value of Workforce and Labour Market Segmentation in Australia. Labour and Higher Education. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Industry, 23(3), 258-275. Webber, J. (2004). Legal Research, the Law Schools and the Profession. McInnis, C. & Marginson, S. assisted by Morris, A. (1994). Australian Sydney Law Review, 26(4), 565-586. Law Schools After the 1987 Pearce Report. Canberra: Australian Webley, L., Flood, J, Webb, J., Bartlett, F., Galloway, K. & Tranter, K. Government Publishing Service. (2019). The Profession(s)’ Engagements with LawTech: Narratives Menkel-Meadow, C. J. (2012). Too Many Lawyers? Or Should Lawyers and Archetypes of Future Law. Law, Technology and Humans, 1: 2-26. be Doing Other Things? International Journal of the Legal Profession, Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.v1.i1.1314. 19(2-3), 147-173. Wieruszowski, H. (1966). The Medieval University: Masters, Students, Newman, J. H. (1976 [1852]). The Idea of a University, ed. with Learning. New York: Van Nostrand. introduction and notes by I. T. Ker. Oxford: Clarendon. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The challenge for law schools of satisfying multiple masters Margaret Thornton 13 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Behind voluntary redundancy in universities The stories behind the story

Martin Andrew Otago Polytechnic

At a time when universities internationally participate in continual processes of restructuring, repositioning and reprioritising, calls for ‘voluntary’ redundancy among teaching and learning staff become frequent events. Australian and New Zealand academics, whose stories inform this study, have, particularly, been made subject to severance, voluntary or otherwise, at a time when the modernised university has become the managed, neoliberalised university and, over time, the ‘ruined’ or ‘toxic’ university. This study is a narrative enquiry aiming to capture, re-present and examine the stories of mid- and late-career higher education teaching professionals during this unsettling period of disturbance and flux. In the light of studies on ‘voluntary’ redundancy and scholarship critiquing the mechanisms of power and repression of the corporatised university, this researcher asked 12 mid-career academics why they really took redundancy packages with a view to exposing the experienced truth behind the official institutional story that academic professionals ‘chose’ voluntary redundancy packages. Keywords: academic identity, narrative enquiry, neoliberalism, toxicity, voluntary redundancy, Max Weber

Introduction and framework redundancy. I will speak more explicitly about the epistemological and ethical components shortly. My This study brings forward possible and likely truths that reference to ‘truths’ needs contextualisation. It comes from lie behind tenured academics’ decisions to take voluntary my reflections on the methodological anti-positivism and redundancies despite their jobs involving edifying, rewarding resolute interpretivism of the anti-capitalist sociologist, Max and ‘passion’ work. In other words, the legality of the severance Weber (1864-1920). I was drawn, particularly, to his 1915 agreement stresses a voluntary motivation, a choice; but the description (in The Methodology of Social Sciences, trans. actuality behind the decision points to a range of histories, of 1949, p.176) of ‘the skeletal structure of causal attributions backstories. This researcher asked 12 mid-career academics and truths’ (das feste Skelett der kausale Zurechnung). Such why they really took redundancy packages. Their stories ‘attributions’, he maintained, lie behind the ‘facade’ of reveal a raft of themes now commonplace in the literature of narrative history and their presence differentiates a work of the ‘ruined university’. This paper aims to develop the theory knowing from a fiction. that what appears at an institutional level to be voluntary is in This led me to wonder how these fabrications, based on fact as far from a choice as imaginable. the superficial story (the facade), become the official stories. It is risky to speak of ‘truths’ when my methodology is In other words – and it is not possible to paraphrase without that of an interpretivist narrative enquiry into individuals’ calling Foucault to mind – official history is fabricated by decisions to leave tenured positions via ‘voluntary’ the legalistic stories of the powerful. This historical process

14 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

leaves behind the potent versions of truth embodied in the Literature stories of the disempowered. Foucault (1980) argued that knowledge and understanding are constituted and socially The ruined university constructed under conditions of power. The production of Writings about leaving ruined universities are omnipresent. knowledge reproduces particular discursive practices, such Studies are plentiful (Joseph, 2015; Bottrell & Manathunga, as those of compliance and performativity in universities, 2019). Some book titles are The Ruined University (Readings, which become indicative of individuals’ various alignments 1996), The Toxic University (Smyth, 2017) and Whakademia with social groups, including those of, variously, the powerful (Hil, 2012). Barcan (2013; 2019) investigated why academics and the resistant. leave; she identified the generation most at risk of lose-lose: These reflections on Weber are relevant because those of us those in their late ‘40s to ‘50s. In studies of the academic recording stories of what happened, in my case the backstories identity, loss is a huge theme (Smith et al., 2016). The umbrella to voluntary redundancies in higher educational contexts socio-political terms in the literature of ‘the ruined university’ in Australia and New Zealand in the late 2010s and early are rationalisation, intensification, privatisation, marketisation, 2020s, strive to write in the spaces of history while it is still metricisation (Barker, 2017) – and responsibilisation. Unfurling raw. Weber believed we can understand the occluded but true since the 1980s, ‘academic capitalism’, interested primarily in stories by interpreting the actions of ‘ideal types’, figures who brand management, world ranking and competitive market represent the many or the collective. This study retells the share, has long been disenfranchising educators of integrity. stories of ideal types, typical personages marginalised in the The master-discourse of the marketplace has laid waste to the larger story of the neoliberal occupation of higher education. halcyon language of researching, teaching, learning and service. The stories foreground the accidental, irrational, emotional Readings (1996, p.188) warned the university would become and socio-political factors absent from the powerful master- ‘an autonomous collective subject who is authorised to say ‘we’ narratives. Weber might suggest these are the kind of factors and to terrorise those who do not, or cannot, speak in that “we”’. that might truthfully contribute to a reconstruction of the We can now see that the powerful royal ‘we’ of the master- human narratives behind historic events. These are the stories narrative has terrorised the ‘we’ who speak in my narratives into behind ‘the story’. voluntary redundancy. The stories, alongside the metanarrative of this article Scholars concur that business model jargon imported that curates them, throw light on the reflective strategies includes ‘compliance’, ‘performance measurement’, enacted by those leaving academic positions. This study ‘performativity’, ‘productivity’, ‘transparency’, ‘accountability’, fleshes out the skeletons, a metaphor for naked truth, ‘engagement’, ‘audit’ and ‘metrics’ (even ‘qualimetrics’). within the stories. Tearing away the facade, we discover the Further, key weasel nouns of the master-discourse include story that these redundancies were voluntary is in fact the ‘efficiency’ (countable ‘efficiencies’), ‘excellence’, ‘merit’, official master-narrative maintaining that people chose to ‘quality’ (as in ‘quality assured), ‘impact factor’ and ‘ratings’, exit. The truth is that people certainly made decisions but along with the institutionally-required warrior qualities: they did not have the choices the concept of ‘voluntariness’ ‘resilience’, ‘flexibility’, ‘agility’. Lorenz (2012) believes that suggests. ‘new public management’ ‘parasitises the everyday meanings I mentioned 12 mid-career academics, and 12 contributed of (its) concepts ... and simultaneously perverts all their written or verbal data. My method was based on principles original meanings’ (Lorenz, 2012, p.600). The weasel words of reflectivity: write or speak about the following question, of the ‘official’ discourse, while unmoral, still become the Why did you take voluntary redundancy from your university dominant discourse in faculty meetings and other sites of position? I wanted to understand underlying thinking and Foucauldian control. Our increasingly ephemeral work is motivations, push and pull factors, processes of reasoning defined in relation to managerialist master-discourse terms and strategies for survival. I wanted to know what informed such as: ‘business model’, ‘best practice’, ‘innovation’, ‘renewal’, their decisions. The 12 academics created texts, either a ‘restructure’, ‘benchmarking’, ‘output’, ‘operational plan’, ‘grant page of text or an equivalent voice recording. However, the capture’, ‘commitment’, ‘change management’, ‘viability’ and, process of remembering and, hence, reliving, led half my in an impure form, ‘sustainability’. If you feel bombarded participants to texts they knew had to be withdrawn. Their by jargon, the effect is purely intentional. (Faculty Meeting words were ‘too close to the bone’, ‘bringing back ghosts’, Bingo cards may now be downloaded as a ‘sanity saver’). ‘best to let bygones be bygones’ and ‘let sleeping dogs With these words, the institutional story of voluntary lie’ – and I had permission to use those quotes in lieu of redundancy is told. ‘The bullshitter’, Lorenz (2012) tells us, narratives. I now have six texts. I retell their reconfigured ‘is only interested in effects and does not necessarily believe stories after surveying relevant literature and clarifying the in what he states himself ’ (p.560). Those who embrace methodology. this lexicon became, Giroux (2002) wrote, ‘competitive vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew 15 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

self-interested individuals vying for their own material and academic identities’ (p.957). These discourses, represented in ideological gain’ (p.429). Those whose consciences could not the jargon above, obfuscate transparency, foster unsustainable endure the hidden truth behind this ‘facade’ language became untruths about excellence and accountability and choreograph sick, engaged in acts of resistance, or left, either ‘voluntarily’ or a logic of marketisation. This is important because it also of their own freewill. To use the metaphors of the scholarship, suggests institutions have a master-narrative, circulated and they become the ‘ideal types’ of ‘ninjas’, ‘zombies’ or ‘nervous normalised discursively ‘the story’ of my title. The danger of wrecks’ (Barker, 2016; Ryan, 2012), the latter suffering ‘the story’ is that ‘the rhetoric of managerialism can change survivor guilt (Sutton, 2019). Foucault would see the ninjas the way academics see themselves’ (Joseph, 2015, p.158), as compliant but self-regulated individuals, leveraging power leading them away from self-belief and self-care. Sowing seeds by embracing the entrepreneurial possibilities of corporate of self-doubt is a key strategy of managerialism (Vaillancourt, organisational cultures. The zombies are co-opted subjects, 2020); so, too, is the imposition of imposter syndrome. Joseph surviving repression by a sacrifice of integrity but unable to (2015, p.139) demonstrates that the costs of management do otherwise as they are captured by academic capitalism. The imposing their will to ‘win at all costs’ consist in a corrosion nervous wrecks recognise that they have been both branded of valuable aspects of academic work: collegiality, relational and repressed. Survivor guilt comes from the self-knowledge networking, trust and information-sharing. Instead are toxic that they may have betrayed themselves and embraced fear and hyper-competitiveness. Within the discourse of VR, repression, while others have regained power through exit. individuals were still targeted. The game of bad faith involved Although nervous wrecks are ethically torn, their choice to ‘cheating’ and was a ‘sham’ (p.158). The stories I provide in remain perpetuates the systems of repression. this paper offer instances of these phenomena. The slippery concept of voluntariness deserves scrutiny, Voluntary redundancy though its legal and philosophical subtleties can only be Studies of voluntary redundancy (VR) as a phenomenon acknowledged here. Like the jargon italicised above, voluntary are still rare, apart from several in Australia. Those that exist is a word that was migrated from its pastoral, ethical and belong to Industrial Relations. Turnbull (1988, p.32), for philosophical associations of good work, care, absence of instance, identified the fact that VR was seldom voluntary: coercion and freewill to become a term of moral ambiguity ‘the voluntary element refers only to the process whereby those as in such collocations as ‘voluntary committal’, ‘voluntary to be dismissed for redundancy are selected, rather than the euthanasia’, ‘voluntary liquidation’ or ‘voluntary severance’; decision on the need for redundancy’. He adds parenthetically, where, in each case, the degree of voluntariness differs and the ‘the latter remains the cornerstone of managerial prerogative’. position of agency in the backstory changes. In such cases, as This is prophetic because in Australia in 2015 law changes Clarke’s (2007) critique stressed, the imperative of financial gave employers freedom in how they dealt with VR (Joseph, incentive creates an appearance of democracy (it’s offered to all) 2015), and it is this freedom, coupled with the imperatives and kindness (money’s good, right?) not found in compulsory of managerialism, that provides the analytic contexts for this severance and enables a time for reflection. An offer of voluntary narrative. redundancy is also not the same in all contexts or at all stages During the more neutral period of the 2000s when the of life. This may be why impacts are greater on mid-career discourse revolved around ‘retrenchment’ and ‘downsizing’, professionals in universities (Barcan, 2013; 2019). This study Clarke (2007) presents voices of both ‘victims’ and ‘survivors’ excludes those who took an early retirement option or novice in themes, the first of which is ‘Just how voluntary?’ One academics leaving believing the grass is still green. However, in participant ironically notes, ‘I love the way they’ve labelled the ruined university, for those mid-career folk impacted, offers it voluntary redundancy. It just seems to be a nice name to of ‘voluntary’ severance appear to result either in a health- put on the fact that they’re booting someone out and they prioritising decision or a moral decision to draw a line under don’t really have a choice’ (p.81). Here we see the facade (‘nice a vocation which has changed so much that it has become name’) of voluntariness in the official narrative contrasted morally and psychologically unbearable. To stay, like the three with the experienced truth: lack of choice and displacement. ideal types described above, is, in fact, the Faustian bargain Ball In Clarke’s study, regret, income loss and low morale emerged (2003) described: you become the self-promotional ‘ninja’, the as themes. His study sees VR as attractive in contrast to other subject completely and willingly colonised by Neoliberalism; or forms of retrenchment – so long as it is managed strategically. you live on (an aspect of the ‘zombie’) or wring your hands in Two studies focus on the university (Joseph, 2015; guilt (Ryan, 2012). Watson, 2011). Watson examines how ‘dominant discourses As Watson (2011) and Joseph (2015) argued, ‘voluntary’ are operationalised in the university through everyday in ‘voluntary redundancies’ is a sham because its message is communications, which serve to construct an institutional brutal, coming from the standpoint of the business model identity, and how, in turn, this impacts on the development of despite pretence to user-friendliness (Clarke, 2007). The

16 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

process begins with a rationale about ‘the size and efficient use interpret facets of the study, including the experiential and of staffing required to meet objectives or financial constraints’, human components. This interpretivist nature appears in my to quote Oxford University’s (typical) Redundancy procedure interest in such social constructions as language, consciousness (2019, online). The next stage, identifying the redundancy and the question of invested, privileged power perspectives in pool, is where problems lurk because metrics are used and what pretends to be shared discourse about academic work. metrics are never neutral. Rather, they are fraught with power This work is transactional since I have experience of the games, nepotism, favouritism and post-truth politics. Next, phenomenon of voluntary redundancy among mid-career because this rationale demands a quantity of severances, that academics, both personally and as an observer. These factors quantity will be met, ‘voluntarily’ or not, and the university validate the study because of the trustworthiness and honesty begins a new game: ‘Fair’ selection of staff for redundancy, of the data as well as the participatory nature of the study, and, with ‘fairness’ based on more metrics manufactured and interestingly, the ‘not-data’ is also functional, as described interpreted by somebody powerful; i.e. not fair after all. In an above. The approach is naturalistic as it relates both to its issue of Queensland Nurse (Anonymous, 2012, p.30) we read: selection of participants from the world of the enquiry and its ‘Emails from departing health workers saying their goodbyes initial method of data collection, in this case a single-question to colleagues tell the real story behind the so-called ‘voluntary interview elicited either as a written piece or a spoken word redundancy’. Accessing emails offers an ethical and logistic document for transcription. This choice of modes relates challenge to researchers; here I to how participants might access similar backstories from prefer to reflect on, access and elicited narratives. The article These discourses ... obfuscate transparency, record stories of their recent continues: ‘Many clearly feel foster unsustainable untruths about history which may still contain they have been backed into excellence and accountability and embedded trauma. a corner and have no better choreograph a logic of marketisation. This work draws on work option – hardly “voluntary”’ in narrative enquiry and (p.30); the stories retold here ethnography in that its ‘truth’ also follow this trajectory. comes from the authentic stories of lived experience of those Voluntary redundancies are, Academics Anonymous (2018) close to the phenomenon over time, understanding how the wrote, ‘in reality compulsory redundancies with a severance individual and the cultural are interconnected (Clandinin & package’ (online). Academics Anonymous are a community of Connelly, 1994). The social reality of the narrator becomes practice in Australia meeting underground outside the surveying the object of enquiry. Narratives, Clandinin (2013) argued, eye of the Foucauldian panopticon. Sutton (2019) reports that start in and resume in the middle of experience and need to David Hunter was made redundant from Flinders University foreground participants’ temporality, sociality and places. My (Adelaide) because a restructure left no teaching specialist stories can be regarded as a data set, since their stories address position in his field: ‘The redundancy is not voluntary in the my enquiry, and also align with Bruner’s (1985) ‘narrative actual sense of the word’. He reapplied in a related discipline knowing’. This means, as Polkinghorne (1995) echoes, that but was rejected: ‘It’s voluntary in the sense that if somebody these stories, presented as narrative analysis – that is, the puts a gun to your head and says, ‘give me all your money’, it’s stories themselves as data – reflect, or sometimes refract, a a voluntary choice to do so rather than get shot by a gun’. In knowable reality, set within a framework of my curation. what is arguably the definitive modern philosophical critique The 12 participants came forward voluntarily as the result of freedom and voluntariness, Pink (2016) argues voluntariness of a call at an international education conference in Australia, is a power of the will or of motivation to get us to act as willed. where attendees were given fliers. This act of purposeful Importantly, ‘will’ has a non-voluntary component. This is sampling limited the respondents to some extent to those important because this motivation to get people to act as willed linked to education, yet three participants came from divergent points to the lack of choice in ‘voluntary’ redundancies among disciplines. There was an equal spread of genders, and their academic professionals; those cited above and those whose age range corresponded with the information in the call, and stories follow. ended up being 47-63, with all participants having been in higher education for at least a decade, and all but two for 20 Methodology years or more. There were no participants who identified as Indigenous, and I acknowledge this as a limitation. This study functions as a broadly constructivist narrative The six participants, who agreed that I could use edited enquiry written in alignment with an interest in Weber’s versions of their stories, are attributed here with pseudonyms subjectivist methodological individualism. It is interpretivist and identifying details have been fictionalised or substituted because, as the creator of this metanarrative you read, I with lacunae or critical incidents from my own story. These vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew 17 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

six retold stories are, hence, valid representations of their a pedagogical negotiation with mentors. The number of hours experiences, and as the researcher, I can state that similar tales shared by supervisory cohorts had been slashed to what I were told in the six suppressed stories and in those of colleagues knew was an impossible number of hours, fewer than 50. The not part of the study whose stories mirror those retold here. words ‘student’ or ‘learner’ were absent. The insights from a The six participants who withdrew did so for reasons of health national grant-funded research program I had overseen and and safety, but they did not need the counsellor I had made which were to have been implemented were ignored. There available. Rosenwald (1992, p.275) observed, “not only does were ‘accountabilities’, expected outcomes, performance the past live in the present, but it also appears different at indicators and matrices for how these would be evaluated, and every new turn we take’. Mine is a topic where ghosts and their new software to ‘facilitate’ everything, for which there would ancestors still have their mark. be compulsory training sessions. I now (re)present the stories of ‘ideal types’, whose language I had loved working closely with postgraduate students foregrounds the power struggle between the ‘skeleton’ and they were grateful for the support. My passion came and the ‘facade’. I ask the reader to discover reasons behind from my direct work with learners, as an enabler, facilitator, participants’ voluntary redundancy, in the process considering experienced supervisor-in-chief. I brokered those ‘a-ha’ what may or may not be ‘voluntary’ about their decisions. moments where students experienced the removal of a blockage or made a realisation that made a difference. It was 1. Diana (59), Former Dean of Research clear that none of these activities played any part in what my (Suburban Australian dual-sector university) position had become. I set aside the document to reread in the evening after or during a wine. By the time I had finished This was the fifth restructure in six years, and my team in the my second reading, I knew instantly that the person specified research and development area had dwindled from 12 to 4. was certainly not me. The travail of the three months until the The fifth restructure brought with it the dread of the voluntary redundancy was to become active is a ‘hero’s journey’ story of redundancy, for which we had to apply as an ‘opportunity’. As its own, and I just might get around to writing it. a senior academic, I had been accustomed to being consulted during times of change, but I had lost, last round, three key 2. Carl (56), Former Senior Academic colleagues in arms. They fell on their dignified swords in an (leading urban New Zealand university) early retirement option. These colleagues had esteemed me and my lifelong work, and I was left in a division suffering from I write an experience-based reflective piece describing cultural amnesia. No-one was left to acknowledge the decades the backstory of my, and, unavoidably, my colleagues’, of recognised excellence and experience I had in supporting voluntary redundancies. In my experience, 1986 was the year graduate students through their increasingly complex and neoliberalist reforms began what we now experience in 2020 bureaucratic candidatures. The work I had done in uniting as a process of devastation, ruination. It was also the year my eclectic staff and creating professional development programs university work began, and my grades, passion and ‘habitus’ and curating conferences was forgotten and irrelevant. as a scholar promised a great career. In 2018, I watched The crunch came when I was told to apply for my own distinguished academics get hand-picked for redundancy job as Dean of Research, this time with ‘Executive’ in front. in music and humanities at two local universities. In 2016, As a well-published professor with a strong on-campus and I’d observed a more negotiated, but agonising, process of national reputation, I felt indignant, insulted, affronted. academic-redundancy-making at another university within The position description had changed. Its freight was heavily the same disciplines, and in 2018-19 administrative staff faced managerialist and quantitative outcomes-focused: numbers of rationalisation. Earlier in 2013 and 2015, I’d witnessed acts completions, revenue for completions, budget management of obscenity and bullying masquerading as change plans at a for the centralisation of postgraduate outputs. The list of KPIs major local university, first for administrators and then for caused anxieties I thought my hardened experience would have academics. In 2011, I’d watched the rationale behind turning protected me from: six committees; accountability for stricter a multi-campus cross-regional university into a centralised timeliness and for reducing leaves of absence; responsibility one with a linear marketing strategy involving going online. for ensuring annual quality reports and supervisory audits, Much has been written on the battles against social sciences, managing candidature milestones, which had doubled in languages and humanities; liberal, fine and educational arts, number and paperwork. I had to break it to staff that research wrought by interest bodies within the wider institutions supervision was now effectively ‘by committee’ with feedback applying, misapplying, artificial, indeed invalid, measures coming primarily from milestone feedback from assessors that fail to capture the fineness and criticality of such forms who had played no role in the personal learning journeys of of endeavour. They speak of margins and viability, numeral students, and that research supervision was increasingly less of factors that may show a few years hence, yet we believe

18 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

education is a life-long process. No-one ever considers an invitation to become management. It had become clear, the impacts on learners and their learning processes when in this climate of change for change’s sake, that the only universities undergo multiple consecutive restructurings. way to ensure promotion and a degree of stability was by Negotiations on behalf of areas such as my own always begin becoming management. Academic promotion processes with a fight and with hope but end with despair. The clear virtually demanded management experience, regardless of message? Neither you, your life experience, your research- your teaching record, acts of community engagement and informed talent, your community engagement, nor your your list of quality assured publications with 50 citations each subject are relevant here in the modernised university. You according to Google Scholar. I went and joined them. lose us money. I attended in-house training sessions, ranging from the I have to paint the story of my experience in an abstract way. banal (running budgets, explaining the new travel policy) to The stories created by universities are never what they are made the faintly inhuman (enacting student and staff discipline to appear; there is much spin, propaganda, false good news. But and complaint processes, keeping explicit audit and evidence the stories of individuals heard and shared reveal the intrigues, trails). Sent as a manager to training on bullying policy (or did manipulations, briberies, agendas and multiple forms of they call it anti-bullying?), I was taught how far you can push bullying that ultimately are silenced by contracts of redundancy. people before it’s considered bullying. I was told to monitor, Those overseeing change, restructurings, rebrandings, survey, watch, slow process down, record. I had access to data curriculum renewals, re-anythings, create opportunities for about how long people were signed into Outlook or the LMS consultancy that are not heard, e-discussion boards that go [Learning Management System] and how long it took them unread, preacher-style meetings where critical debate has no to respond to internal emails. I was taught never to use ‘dear’ possibility. They hire puppets with the good news agenda in emails; that continually cancelling meetings keeps people in of helping people through change; but then those puppets their place. I had been effectively taught how to bully. report back to management, and suddenly you are faced in a Before I ‘joined’ them I had watched the progress of meeting with a revelation given in confidence. Consultation peers, working their way up the ladder to higher ground and is a pretence, a sham. If you dare to speak, let alone propound becoming favourites at the throne. I envied their ascension. a point, you are ‘vexatious’. True debate is shut down. First, three co-workers had attained the rank of Associate Management’s many faits accomplis offer no reply and even Professor (AP) following their emigration to management. reject findings from independent internal reviews that don’t They now performance-managed former peers, and I now accord with their agenda and line up with what has already see that they had become privy to their aspirations and been decided. vulnerabilities. In time, they would use this knowledge, shared They create a bastard language that spoils perfectly good in deep confidence, against them. At the time of the interviews words, especially, ‘leadership’, now a psychopath’s or a narcissist’s with their ‘reports’, they cast themselves as supportive, charting term of self-aggrandisement that almost never does as it courses of appropriate professional development. I’d watch claims. You’re not ‘flexible’ if you baulk when your position is underlings flock around them. unsustainable, and you’re not ‘resilient’ when you don’t trust Second, a prominent member of the union had become a market forces to resituate yourself. There is no doubt that high-level manager and was thriving. I viewed him as a case ruined universities target individuals like hunters lining up study. Could I have a career trajectory like his? Inwardly, ducks for a kill and pretend it is random. This is not a natural I wondered how someone so ‘left’ could turn so ‘right’ and, Darwinian process where the slowest antelope becomes dinner. as time went by, I came to wonder how he could live with It is, in fact, a set of deliberate frame-ups. A number of heads himself. He had gone from fighting for the downtrodden to must roll, so the torture instruments are rolled out, and the representing those I call ‘the down-treaders’. This, too, had instruments of efficiency, accountability and transparency find happened to the APs, and I wondered why it seemed true that, ways to make excellent people appear mediocre and quality to cite Sir John Dalberg-Acton, ‘Power tends to corrupt, and work appear unimportant. ‘Toxic’ doesn’t cut it. This process absolute power corrupts absolutely’. I kept an open mind; but of sustained alienation exemplifies the trajectory that leads realised that I had been invited to the dark side. In a nightmare people, such as myself, to take redundancy, and it is as far from recollection of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, I saw that a pod voluntary as murder is from euthanasia. had been prepared for me; all I had to do was fall asleep. At this point, as a trusted manager, I was given the authority 3. David (49), Former Senior Academic to tell my ‘reports’ that there was to be a further redundancy (Lower-tier urban Australian university) round to accommodate a new, improved modular delivery model. Last year there had been a plea for dead wood to I had been a Senior Lecturer for many years when I applied self-identify and take early retirement, or for those who the saying ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ and accepted had enjoyed long careers to heroically pass the baton. Early vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew 19 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

retirement packages were available to those 55 years or above. output and quality so stealthily, often and obscurely that it There was an element of let the younger ones have a chance. became impossible to follow. This year there was no cut off point; it was open to all. • Surreptitiously created criteria to eliminate the research- Attractive packages. Apply at your convenience. work of some individuals from ‘what counted’ in terms This announcement led to an atmosphere of toxicity. of gaining credit towards conference travel and gaining Corridor conversations suggested that some individuals points in the university’s research activity measure without were targeted and named as redundancy victims. I recalled rationale or explanation. my managerialist training: how far you can push people before • Generated multiple new and revised policies and principles, it’s bullying?, and also the vulnerabilities and areas for future claimed they were openly available but ensured they were learning that ‘reports’ (colleagues) had shared in confidence only accessible in the most inaccessible servers guarded by with performance managers. It became clear that the rumour triple firewalls. mill was effectively coercing individuals to volunteer for • Implemented the annual strategy of raising the minimum redundancy by circulating people’s vulnerabilities. Then I number of seat-bums that can make your class viable: 15, learned that my role was to go. It had been a glass cliff all 17, 23, 30, infinity. along. • Annually number-crunched your weekly fulltime teaching Bullying is insidious, and you often only realise you’ve been hours: 12, 17, 23, 27; declined your applications to attend a bullied only when you reflect; when you’re living it, it feels like conference, even with a paper accepted, because your track due process and you deserve it. I now see myself as suffering record is not good enough. from a Stockholm Syndrome inside another Stockholm • Regarded you with suspicion if you are a member of a SIG Syndrome. I was so captured and captivated by becoming (Special Interest Group), a community of practice or a management that I could not see that I was a hostage. To add union and forced collective activity underground. insult to injury, we all received beautifully printed letters on • Reminded you continually to stick to ‘core’ business, which high-grade paper telling us that our applications had been you thought was teaching and learning, but investing in this successful. function gets you nowhere. • Told you year after year that no matter how high your 4. Marta (51), Academic learners achieved or how excellent your evaluations were, (Mid-range Urban Australian university) you were not ready for promotion. I had been a Lecturer B for 20 years. I was, for two decades, a lecturer at a mid-range urban • They insisted that you took your professional development university. There came a time when I was no longer an in in-house sessions related to new and improved software educator and educationalist; I had turned into a glorified necessary for managing lectures recording technology, administrator. Keeping marks was burden number one. I had recording and reporting student attendance, ensuring to maintain assessment records in three forms: one on various consistency of assessment processes, self-evaluation as a LMS; another in an online institutional aggregator that component of performance management, recording and ‘talked to’ the central system, and once on the designated Excel evidencing expenses and travel claims, learning what is spreadsheet that had always been set up with the incorrect different in the latest versions of Word, Excel and Outlook. weightings, requiring repeat work. Moderation processes I craved the opportunity to develop my thinking and led to burden number two. For every internal assessment pedagogy in my own area. activity, I kept a paper trail of a pre-event moderation process; When I heard that another redundancy round was evidence of peer-level input into the assessment activity itself, imminent, I realised that this is what I had to do. It was time and a detailed set of papers examining post-event moderation to end it all. procedures, so that we could improve the assessment for the next delivery. This was called a culture of continual 5. Mira (57), Former Academic improvement; it felt like a culture of endless paperwork. (Urban Australian and UK universities) I could list many more burdens and try to excuse myself from not having time to generate research, grant applications, I entered university life in 1992 as a junior, blissful to have promotion applications, award applications or even to keep been granted entry into the academic community. For the my CV up to date. I’m going to bullet-point some of the next decade, university life was good. Teaching workloads and other irksome things that made me realise that I had lost my class sizes were designed for the benefit of students and staff; passion and my soul. From my perspective, it seemed that research allocation was inclusive and more-or-less equally management... distributed; progression through the ranks was transparent, • Changed the instruments of measurement of research and departments were collegial.

20 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

But now, 28 years later, I despair at what being an academic weekends) and to publish in credible journals. We must now entails and at the state of the ‘Academy’. I have left, via VR, publish in journals deemed to be prestigious by external early, without the benefit of being financially secure into old bodies. Anything less is a waste of time. Further, many of the age. I left early, mourning for a part of my life I had loved. ‘prestigious’ journals are a closed shop, where members of the Did I tire due to my age, simply bored with a profession that editorial boards publish each other’s work. no longer carried the challenges I embraced as a neophyte? The saddest thing is that academic departments are no No. I left early in a state of despair because the job of an longer collegial. Academics now work behind closed office academic bears no resemblance to the one I entered. Granted, doors (unless they’ve been shunted into an open office all jobs change over time. But over the last decade or so the setting), they are pitted against each other for the scarce work and work conditions within universities have become resources of research time, sabbaticals, conference allowances so increasingly degraded that the job of being an academic is and promotion. Collegiality is nearly completely dead. barely recognisable. I can say universities in the plural, since As academics, our hard work spent in accumulating the I’ve worked at seven universities including three in xxxx and knowledge of our discipline is no longer regarded as of value. four in yyyy. I kept leaving one university for another, thinking Our ‘knowledge labour’ has been replaced by the emotional the issues I was observing and experiencing were located in labour characteristic of basic customer service environments. each individual institution I had chosen. It is an altogether different burden. On reflection, there is one clear theme: The Commodification And so, I have fled. I mourn having felt the need to flee. I of Education. The rhetoric within government and university mourn my dead profession. I mourn the loss of what I once management revolves around the language of students regarded as my true vocation and purpose, and I mourn my loss as consumers. Students are seen as customers and higher of identity. But even though I have fled and am in mourning, I education institutions as ’education product’ providers. know that what I have done is the right thing for me. Universities are part of an economic supply chain geared not to encourage the flourishing and production of an educated, 6. Helena (52), Senior Academic (Multiple well-rounded society, but to advance the interests of industry. urban and suburban Australian universities) The neoliberal agenda rears its foul head. It is against this background that problems emerge. The same year I was promoted to professor, I accepted a Since a failed student is not a satisfied customer, especially voluntary redundancy package. While I admit I had personal a foreign failed student paying full fees, how and why students push factors, the push factors were extraordinary, exemplifying are awarded marks becomes an issue. I strongly feel that managerialism gone feral. the covert downward slide of what once were considered At the heart of the issue was tall poppy syndrome. I was a acceptable university-level submissions render academics highly published author, in demand as a plenary speaker, and mere stooges in the awarding of degrees. The discretion of I had accepted a job at a low-ranked university whose research academics to award marks according to the true quality of culture needed a shake-up. However, my body of work was work and evidence of a student’s critical knowledge acquisition deemed to be too radical and grounded in wicked problem- has been eroded. solving. Although in my interview it was a given that I would The management-espoused emphasis on ‘the student sit on, or even chair, the faculty research committee, I was experience’ is a farce. Now following a business model, ultimately not given a place and had to fight to get one. The universities are competing for students while (stupidly) battle for inclusion had begun. It was clear that I was a threat being in cost reduction mode. Student classes are ever- both in terms of the rigour of my work and its implications. expanding while universities are cutting staff, resources, career It was clear that they had hired an activist, and a person who progression opportunities, and salaries. The squeeze on staff fought for her own rights and those of others. My short is at odds with the production of a conducive environment tenure is a sad tale of how they tried to rectify their error of in which ‘customer service’ can be provided. Academics are judgement. bearing the brunt of such shit poor management. Stress levels It quickly became apparent that the job I accepted was are soaring; burnout is rampant. University management not the job I got. Researcher development was to have been responds by having ‘Staff Wellness Days’ where nothing my job and my core reason for accepting the position, but a actually happens to fix the toxic level of work intensification. restructure saw that plan scuttled and the faculty divided Universities are also in the game of reducing the time into so-called Discipline Groups, which turned out more allocated for research activity. Research is now largely to be about conveying information about processes and something academics are expected to do in their own time, administrivia, about change propagandising, than about since the week time is for the provision of continuous researcher or professional development of any kind. These quality ‘customer service’. It is not enough to research (on groups were not special interest groups or communities of vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew 21 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

practice; they were Discipline Groups (capitals intended). necessitate analysis of narrative (Polkinghorne, 1995); that The emphasis on ‘discipline’ was not lost on those of us with is, to pull out the themes signalled in the early parts of the a Foucauldian bent. article. As Ryan and Bernard (2003, p.88) state, ‘themes Despite the managerialist agenda, our group elected to come both from the data (an inductive approach) and from become a critical discussion group, critiquing real issues in the investigator’s prior theoretical understanding of the our overlapping disciplines. However, within the group were phenomenon under study (an a priori approach)’. My trust spies, powerful because they had the ear of the powerful. in the reader assumes the a priori approach. This approach Members of the group were constantly rejected for personal is appropriate because each story has a different main writer, and study leave, conferences, opportunities to submit grants from the business-like Marta to the metaphorical Helena, and promotions. Their research outputs were recoded to and different strategies are used to narrate still-painful topics, seem aligned with different groups, and no credits were given as in David’s conscious lacuna (...), Marta’s bullets or Carl’s to the researchers as a result. The theses they supervised to abstraction. Thus, by making narrators’ thought processes completion were also coded to appear as if they had been the explicit, I ‘think narratively’ about the phenomenon, namely fruit of another group. These strategies of theft turned out to ‘voluntary’ redundancy (Connelly & Clandinin, 2006) and be just two of many ploys to render active researchers research the factors underpinning it. inactive. It seemed to the group that they had become a target. Themes come from acts of readerly scrutiny. I present just During the next year’s restructuring, the number of groups six stories so the constant comparison or cutting/sorting was reduced and mine eliminated. I felt like the victim of a methods hardly fit. My scrutiny lies in actions applicable to toxic McCarthyist witch-hunt. Self-care was needed. narrative: seeking repetitions and echoes in key words and I took a year of absence to work on research and concepts, attributing meaning to narrative devices, considering extended the time away with multiple conferences. This was connotations or what meanings lie behind the surface (analogy immeasurably valuable, and set me in a safe place for my or allegory) and finding recurrent metaphors. In relation to return, when I, together with my colleagues, faced voluntary the latter, Helena spoke of her participants not wanting to redundancy. Resuming our community of practice ‘illegally’ write ‘war stories’, but to write in the Freirean spirit of hope; and ‘underground’, my group of scholars planned conferences but what I have here are narratives of war, and Helena’s story and outputs about their experiences of being bullied in uses cold war metaphors and speaks of battles, underground multiple ways due to their perceived political alignment as movements, spies and managerialism’s propagandist tactics, Communists. Instead of writing war stories, they chose to while Diana speaks of ‘colleagues in arms’ and ‘swords’ as produce stories of hope and resistance. images of old school valour. Imagery of being disciplined and My fatal flaw was my trust in democracy. Comments in an punished (David, Marta, Helena) and hunted (Carl, Helena; email addressed to and intended for the group were leaked David is ‘captured’) is aligned, as is Mira’s image of academics to management leading to disciplinary action against me, being forced behind closed doors. forcing me into a vexatious and stacked kangaroo court. It The metaphor of espial, war and hiding infuses was a strategy to wear me down. My email history was seized, these narratives, and functions to speak to the tenets of and I was tried as a witch. Many of my colleagues had decided temporality, sociality and locality that Clandinin (2013) on redundancy, some with an ironic ‘take the money and run’ said mark narrative enquiry. The term ‘resistance’ (Helena) approach, but, at the time of my writing this, few of them have not only connotes activism, but also those who helped the recovered their careers because they were disenfranchised victimised during World War 2. The theme of residual and disillusioned. A stolen generation. It was their collective powerlessness can be inferred from the absence of resistance despair that led me to know that the only dignified ending in other narratives as resistance is a form of empowerment. was voluntary redundancy, though deep down I feared that Instead, they all enact inevitable downward spirals with the this meant that they had won. The lunatics had finally claimed narrator as a victim of the managerialist traps Vaillancourt the asylum. (2020) details, including accidentally circulating emails (Helena) or other personal information (Carl); pushing Data analysis as discussion people over glass cliffs (Diana, David, Helena), sowing seeds of doubt (all narratives) and slow micromanagement I presented the six stories as narrative analysis (Polkinghorne, (Marta). Diana even writes that she is the put-upon 1995) so that the stories could speak to the reader for protagonist in the archetypal hero’s journey narrative, while themselves in light of my introductory material. Stories, David’s experience evokes a political horror allegory where Polkinghorne maintained, pull varieties of events and the genuine are replaced by the neoliberalised. Powerlessness actions that occur in human lives into thematic patterns is omnipresent: ‘Underlings’ surround the powerful (David); and narratives. Yet the demands of writing a discussion academics become ‘stooges’ (Mira).

22 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

We see fresh critique of how new managerialism works source of anxiety: a change from true quality to the quality as only in Carl’s narrative; what we see instead is a sense of the something quantifiable sets the background for the narratives. horrific opportunities it offers those in power to skewer Commodification is seen as the root of evils; for instance, the powerlessness, and the loss of humanity and collegiality academics are made to pass unworthy students because they involved (all narratives), in the case of Diana, because they are customers (Mira). Similarly, evaluations are meaningless as have all been picked off one by one leaving no-one except a measure of an individual’s contribution and quality (Diana, bastard leadership. It is not neoliberalism that dehumanises, Carl, Marta, Mira). As for voluntary redundancy, the six but rather the corrupted individuals who uphold it. References survivors detail narratives of exit. In all cases, the job ceased to criminality appear but, ‘theft’ aside (Helena), the crimes are to be viable or bearable. The four clearest themes are: sense seldom named, perhaps because they are symbolic violence of injustice; perception of fraud/deceit; loss of identity, glass of invisible and impenetrable cast; perhaps because the fear cliffs and bullying/scapegoating. of being accused of libel hangs over everyone, or perhaps because they have all, after all, signed final agreements at the Conclusion point of accepting ‘voluntary’ redundancy (Carl). Words shared in confidence become gossip and weaponry (Carl, The main reason this study exists is to record and include David, Helena); collegiality dies (Diana, David, Mira) or is the occluded voices and perspectives of academics who took forced underground (Helena). It is not the ideology but the voluntary redundancies in the late 2010s and early 2020s people, the ‘shit poor management’ (Mira) who bastardise in case this is important to history. Further, it provides and suborn the term ‘leadership’ (Carl) who are the villains. lived narrative data to support the autoethnographies of Marta goes as far as to bullet-point their ‘crimes’. The motif of Joseph (2015) and Watson (2011) and leaves little doubt madness recurs (Mira, Helena), arguably as a strategy to try to that injustice, theft, fraud, bullying and scapegoating are understand the obscene (Carl). Hence, so, too, does the theme instruments of neoliberalism in times of change. The absence of appearance versus reality, epitomised by Carl’s description of strategic management, so vital to the success of VR (Clarke, of managerialism’s tactic to make ‘excellent people appear 2007), cries out from the stories. We also have seen that the mediocre and quality work appear unimportant’. official story of technically legal voluntariness belies lived In seeking repetitions, we see recurrent words including stories of micromanaged coercion, structured unfairness ‘despair’ (Carl, Mira, Helena) or Diana’s ‘travail’, ‘toxic’ (Carl, and inequity, unmanaged toxicity, policed entrapment via David, Mira, Helena) and ‘vexatious’ (Carl, David, Helena). technologies of surveillance and suborning the mechanisms References to degradation and death are pervasive (David, of audit to create convenient truths (actual falsehoods) that Marta, Mira) including the death of passion (Diana, Marta). cast apparently targeted individuals unfavourably in relation Carl takes to violent images of decapitation and murder. The to non-targeted individuals. People are made to act as willed narratives appear on the brink of punning on ‘discipline’ until (Pink, 2016); they are not volunteers. Helena finally goes there. As to the ‘so what and who cares?’ (Connelly & Clandinin, Dominant themes include the furtive forms that bullying 2006, p.52), there are some who mock the experiences of takes (all stories); the absence of transparent or fair change overprivileged academics. The so what? is simply that life management strategies in universities (all stories); loss of goes on as Barcan (2013; 2019), Rustin (2016), Bottrell and value/identity (Diana, Carl, Marta, Mira) and the deceitful Manathunga (2019) and others have shown. What is done tactics of that faceless, nameless but all powerful entity, cannot be undone. But it is also historically and morally ‘management’, often named simply as ‘they’ (all stories). instructive about what happens to human beings forced Common narratives include barriers to promotion (Marta, into unnaturally individualised hyper-competitiveness over Mira) or the poisoned chalice that comes with it (Diana, community-oriented cooperation and collaboration, a theme David, Helena); the tedium of in-house training as substitutes of topicality in the wake of COVID-19 where kindness has for genuine professional learning (Diana, David, Marta) and become a political principle. This article preaches to the the slow death by Excel (Marta). converted: those interested are likely to see themselves or their There are four stories that include the theme of jobs peers in my mirror. There may be resonance. This is a so what? changing: Diana’s rewritten person specification wrote her Such readers care, and hopefully, so too, will scholars in the out; David found that becoming management compromised future, retrospectively understanding the historical moment his moral compass; Marta lamented her admin load prevented like Nuremberg judges re-evaluating war crimes. her from attaining a rewarding academic identity; Mira The study also reveals details of the toxic and vexatious detailed how the work of an academic simply is not the passion behaviours that bureaucratic organisation allows and fosters job it once was; Helena found the work she was given radically (Smythe, 2017; Vaillancourt, 2020). The experienced truth differed from what had been promised. Numbers are another of the accidental, irrational, emotional and socio-political vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew 23 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

factors Weber (1915/1949) valued is discovered; another so Giroux, H.A. (2002). Neoliberalism, corporate culture and the promise of , Harvard Educational I have used Weber to create a methodological analogy: Higher Education: The university as a public sphere what? Review, 72, 423-463. my descriptive historical metanarrative as a means of showing Hil, R. (2012). Whakademia: An insider’s account of the troubled the ribs of the skeleton, the truth behind the master-narrative/ university. Sydney, NSW: University of Sydney Press. official/corporate story. I acknowledge Weber, too, (1946, Hooghe, L. (2011). The European Commission and the integration of cited by Hooghe, 2011, p.40) in my final quote: ‘bureaucratic Europe: images of governance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University organisation has always been its purely technical superiority Press. over any other form of organisation’. It is easy to point the Joseph, R. (2015). The cost of managerialism in the university: an finger at an ideology, but far harder to name its abusers. autoethnographical account of an academic redundancy process. Prometheus 33(3), 139-163, https://doi.org/10.1080/08109028.2015. Dr Martin Andrew is a liberated academic who served some 1092213 time at two Australian universities and is now a doctoral Lorenz, C. (2012). ‘If you’re so smart, why are you under surveillance’? Universities, Neoliberalism, and New Public Management, Critical mentor in the Doctorate of Professional Practice at Otago Enquiry, 38, 599-629. Polytechnic, Dunedin, New Zealand. Oxford University (2019). Redundancy procedure (online). Retrieved Contact: [email protected] January 1, 2020 from http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/media/ global/wwwadminoxacuk/localsites/personnel/documents/ References endingemployment/redundancyprocedure/PDF1_-_redundancy_ procedure.pdf Academics Anonymous (2018). Voluntary severance at my university Pink, T. (2016). Voluntariness and the freedom of the will. Oxford, has damaged staff morale. The Guardian (23/11/18) https://www. UK: Oxford Scholarship Online. DOI:10.1093/acprof: theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/23/voluntary-severance-at-my- oso/9780199272754.003.0014 university-has-damaged-staff-morale. Polkinghorne, D.E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative Anonymous (2012). Not-so-voluntary-redundancy. The Queensland analysis. In J.A. Hatch & R. Wisniewski (Eds.), Life history and Nurse (April), 30. narrative (pp.5–23). Washington, DC: Falmer. Ball, S.J. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity, Readings, B. (1996). The university in ruins. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215-228. University Press. Barcan, R. (2013). Academic life and labour in the new university: Hope Rosenwald, G. (1992). Conclusion: Reflections on narrative and other choices. Farnham, UK: Ashgate. understanding. In G. Rosenwald & R. Ochberg (Eds.), Storied lives: The Barcan, R. (2019). Weighing up futures: Experiences of giving up an cultural politics of self-understanding (pp.265–289). New Haven, CT: academic career. In D. Bottrell & C. Manathunga (Eds.), Seeing through Yale University Press. the cracks of neoliberal universities: Vol II: Prising open the cracks (pp. Rustin, M (2016). The Neoliberal university and its alternatives. 43-64). London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Soundings 63(3), 147–176. Barker, D. (2016). Ninjas, zombies and nervous wrecks? Academics in Ryan, S. (2012). Academic zombies. A failure of resistance or a means the neoliberal world of Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, Sport, of survival? Australian Universities’ Review, 54(2): 3-11. Education and Society, 22(1), 87–104, https://doi. org/10.1080/13573 322.2016.1195360 Ryan, G.W. & Bernard, H.R. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15(1), 85-109. Bottrell, D. & Manathunga, C. (Eds.) (2019). Resisting neoliberalism in Higher Education; Volumes I & 2. London & New York: Palgrave Smith, J., Rattray, J., Peseta, T. & Loads, D. (2016). Identity work in Macmillan. the contemporary university: exploring an uneasy profession. Rotterdam: Sense. Bruner, J. (1985). Narrative and paradigmatic modes of thought. In J. Bruner (2006). In search of pedagogy. The selected works of Jerome Bruner. Smyth, J. (2017). The toxic university: zombie leadership, academic rock Vol. 2. (pp. 116–128). New York: Routledge. stars and Neoliberal ideology. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Clandinin, D., & Connelly, F. (1994). Personal experience methods. Sutton, M. (2019). Flinders University restructure has left surviving In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research staff overworked, academics say. ABC News, 2/4/19. (pp.413–427). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Turnbull, P. (1988). ‘Leaner and possibly fitter’: the management of Clandinin, D. (2013). Engaging in narrative inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: redundancy in Britain. Industrial Relations Journal, 19(3), 210–213. Left Coast Press. Vaillancourt, A. M. (2020). 5 ‘dirty tricks’ common in campus Clarke, M. (2007). Choices and constraints: individual perceptions of administration. The Chronicle of Higher Education (14/01/2020). the voluntary redundancy experience. Human Resource Management Watson, C. (2011). Accountability, transparency, redundancy: Journal, 17(1), 76-93. academic identities in an era of ‘excellence’. British Educational Research Connelly, F.M., & Clandinin, D.J. (2006). Narrative inquiry. In J. Green, Journal 37(6), 955-971. G. Camili, & P. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in Weber, M. (1915/1949). The methodology of social sciences, transl. E.A. education research (pp.477-487). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Shils & H.A. Finch. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: selected interviews and other writings 1972-1977. Brighton: Harvester press.

24 Behind voluntary redundancy in universities Martin Andrew vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

‘We got a different way of learning’ A message to the sector from Aboriginal students living and studying in remote communities

Judith Wilks Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia (Broome) & Southern Cross University

Anna Dwyer & Sandra Wooltorton Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia (Broome)

John Guenther Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame Australia (Broome) & Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

‘First know your students’, is a well-known saying in teaching. But do Australian universities really know their students? In this paper we present findings from research conducted in remote and very remote Australia where Aboriginal higher education students and educators were asked about their learning and teaching needs, and their views on things the sector could do to better support them in their journey into and through university. They shared with us experiences and thoughts about their ways of learning in face-to-face and online contexts, in particular the role of cultural security; community partnerships; Aboriginal knowledges; pathways and transitions; and student assessment and support strategies. The depth and richness of the skills, knowledges, and capacities of Aboriginal learners, and indeed of the communities in which they reside and study are vital foundations for participation, retention and completion. However, respondents related that in the main, these attributes are not acknowledged by metropolitan-based course designers nor university administrations. We conclude that learning experiences and university operations that are designed to embrace these students’ strengths and to work in and with their communities, are more likely to retain Aboriginal students and facilitate their participation and success, enabling beneficial outcomes for all university students and ultimately society as a whole. Keywords: Indigenous students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students, rural and remote students

Introduction and background characterising the higher education learning experiences of Aboriginal students living and studying in ‘remote’ and ‘very The authors of this paper acknowledge and pay their deep remote’ locations of Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, respects to the Traditional Owners and Elders past and 2018). The researchers, through interviews and focus group present across Australia, and in particular on the lands upon discussions, engaged Aboriginal tertiary education students which we live and work. We acknowledge the Gumbaynggirr from remote areas who attended a campus for blocks of people, the Larrakia people, the Karajarri people, and the intensive work, or who remained in their communities for Yawuru people. This paper reports on findings of research online learning with occasional visits from university teachers, initiated to investigate challenges and opportunities and/or combinations of the two approaches. Their teachers, vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 25 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

the majority of whom were non-Indigenous, were also of applications from Indigenous Australians decreased by interviewed. The student participants were enrolled through 5.2 per cent from the previous year. Furthermore, compared one of four Australian universities, three of which were dual with 2017, there was a 3.3 per cent decrease in offers made to Indigenous applicants in 2018 – the first fall since data were system (vocational education and training (VET) and higher originally reported in 2010. (2019, p. 37). education). In 2014 a broad survey of the learning experiences of The report acknowledged however that while there has Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students across 32 been a positive improvement in the number of Aboriginal and universities (Kinnane et al., 2014, p. 105) found that: Torres Strait Islander students enrolling in higher education, • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students living in ‘there is still significant work to be done’ (Universities remote communities across Australia believed not enough Australia, 2019, p. 4): was being done to engage, support and retain them in their Bachelor’s degree completion rates for Indigenous students university studies. remained poor compared to non-Indigenous students. While • In addition to being geographically removed from most Indigenous students typically can take longer to graduate, Australian university opportunities, many Indigenous nine-year completion rates for Indigenous students remain students experienced the impacts of lower socio-economic around 47 per cent, significantly below 74 per cent for status on educational attainment. non-Indigenous students. Significant improvement in success • Very low numbers of rural and remote students transitioned and completion rates must continue to be a priority for … the to university education, and although higher proportions sector as a whole (p. 17). of rural and remote students accessed VET, there were Further, an area of significant concern continues to persistently low subsequent transitions from VET to be the higher education Indigenous student cohort who university. live and study in remote locations (Behrendt et al., 2012; • Block, on-campus teaching (by all universities across Guenther, Bat, et al., 2017; Kinnane et al., 2014; Pollard, Australia) was only financially viable in a small range of 2018; Universities Australia, 2019; Wilks, Wilson, & disciplines, such as nursing, teaching and community Kinnane, 2017). Through the work of those who are development. researching, teaching and living in remote areas a more • Limited equipment and internet coverage hindered the nuanced understanding of the learning experiences of these accessing of external studies programs. students is being revealed. However, as outlined in this paper, • Outreach to Indigenous people in remote regional remote students are still facing significant challenges to being areas, being costly, was progressively being cut back, not able to experience what the sector likes to call ‘successful’ expanded, with the result that students had less chance of participation in higher education, that being: transition into experiencing university prior to attending it, for example, higher education; retention; engagement; and graduation. through orientation programs. Prior research has demonstrated that, to be effective, education In the intervening six years Australian universities have should reject narratives of Aboriginal deficit (Hogarth, 2017) worked hard to address disparities between Indigenous and recognise Aboriginal narratives and definitions of success and non-Indigenous higher education student numbers (Guenther, Disbray et al., 2017). The notion of ‘success’ from and experiences of higher education. A recent Universities an Indigenous standpoint is revisited later in this paper. Australia report (2019) outlined this progress in a review of its In view of the above, what is currently known about the Indigenous Strategy 2017-20 (Universities Australia, 2017). actual number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who are living and studying in remote locations, and Sector-wide enrolment figures have been positive at around triple the rate of annual growth of non-Indigenous students additionally, in what modes are they studying? Are they on in recent years – and on track to meet one of the key targets of campus, online, or a mixture of both? These data can be very the UA strategy. In 2017, the first year of the strategy, Aborig- hard to access as most reporting subsumes data for remote inal and Torres Strait Islander enrolments grew by 8.3 per cent students under the ‘RRR’ category (Regional, Rural and – almost four times higher than the growth in overall student Remote), with the effect that their needs are often hidden numbers of 2.1 per cent (Universities Australia, 2019, p. 6). with this much larger category of students (Pollard, 2018). However, utilising DET Undergraduate Applications, In this respect, a useful statistical snapshot of the Aboriginal Offers and Acceptances 2018 data, the National Regional, and Torres Strait Islander remote student cohort has been Rural and Remote Tertiary Education Strategy Final Report provided through Pollard’s (2018) Equity Fellowship work found that these data revealed: (National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education and University of Western Australia) associated with Aboriginal ...a decline in both university applications from, and offers being made to, Indigenous students. In 2018, the number and/or Torres Strait Islander students. In 2016 these students were:

26 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

• 9.59 per cent of the higher education remote student cohort where being, thinking and valuing take different forms from • 3.27 per cent of the higher education regional student those assumed by higher education and tertiary education cohort providers (Guenther, Disbray, et al., 2017). The challenge • 1.18 per cent of the higher education metropolitan student arises from a hegemonic power imbalance such that entry into cohort the halls of the academy means giving up something of self to • 9.00 per cent of remote higher education students studying be what the academy prescribes. online • 10.00 per cent of remote higher education students whose Research objectives study is campus-based • 11.00 per cent of remote higher education students who The research reported here aspired to contribute a more study in mixed mode. nuanced understanding of the lived experiences of Aboriginal Additionally, the recent National Regional, Rural and and Torres Strait Islander higher education students studying Remote Tertiary Education Strategy Final Report (2019, p. 35) in remote and very remote locations. Through listening to stated that in 2016 the average attrition rate for ‘Indigenous these students’ [and their teachers’] insights into the cultural Remote’ higher education students was 29.5 per cent. and community contexts of their learning; their suggestions This can be contrasted with 23.1 per cent for Indigenous for systemic and practical change; and their everyday students in major cities and with 13.3 per cent for all students experiences as higher education students, we were aiming to (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) in major cities. identify further ways of strengthening learning and teaching for these students. The research addressed on-campus, online Remote ‘red dirt’ contexts and higher and/or remote to campus student learning contexts and education included VET courses and bachelor level and postgraduate Framing our research is the geographical or ‘official’ [ABS] research. However, the main emphasis of this paper is the concept of remote, and remote Australia. Yet ‘remoteness’ can findings related to the higher education rather than vocational also be viewed as a construct used by people in metropolitan education sector. areas to describe places which are a long way away from them. Central to the research design was the inclusion of the The language of remoteness connects to disadvantage in the voices of Aboriginal students, and of their ‘knowledges’. The metropolitan discourse, which in turn translates to ‘Indigenous term ’knowledges’, as used in this paper, refers to knowledge disadvantage’ (Guenther, Bat & Osborne, 2013) in measures and lived experiences of Aboriginal people. Likewise, the and indicators designed to explain deficits in a euphemistic term ‘cultural security’, as used in this paper, denotes the way (Guenther, Halsey & Osborne, 2015). People who live in application of cultural understandings to produce effective ‘remote’ places do not describe themselves in this way but are practice. We prefer to use cultural security over cultural safety, often forced to use the metropolitan descriptors of deficit to consistent with an understanding that security infers a level justify funding or a policy response that recognises their place of systemic and policy action support, while safety implies a in the world. more limited response based on individual non-systematised ‘Red dirt thinking’ came out of research conducted in action (Coffin, 2007). Cultural security has not only provided central and northern Australia where red dirt is as ubiquitous a theoretical framework for this research but has framed how as the blue sky. Whereas blue sky thinking captures a sense it was designed and undertaken. Cultural security involves of the utopian dream, ‘red dirt thinking’ is grounded in the meaningful two-way communication; deep listening and reality of context while also expressing something of the hopes yarning; giving proper respect and cultural recognition. and aspirations that emerge from people who live in what It involves the use of appropriate protocols and the highest we earlier defined as ‘remote’ places (Osborne & Guenther, ethical standards to ensure all elements of the encounter are 2013). The ‘red dirt thinking’ metaphor can be used as a understood in such a way that all participants benefit fully way of decoupling deficit discourses from the realities of life (Kickett-Tucker et al., 2017). in those places which are full of riches: culture, language, The key research questions guiding the research were: landscapes, history and diversity. It does not represent a way 1. How do remote Aboriginal students experience studying of working (methodologically), as might be the case with at or via a university campus? ‘both ways’ (Ober, 2009) approaches to education, but rather 2. What are the key enablers and constraints to students’ it represents ways of thinking (epistemologically). successful participation and engagement with VET, We recognise that the pathways into and through higher education and post graduate study in remote tertiary education can be challenging, not because of locations? the communities’ perceived deficits but because of the 3. What strategies, identified by Aboriginal students ontological, epistemological and axiological differences, and educators, might assist Aboriginal students living vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 27 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

and studying in town-based and remote locations, were invited to participate in an individual interview or take to transition successfully through VET, into higher part in a focus group. education and/or through postgraduate education? Nineteen Aboriginal tertiary education students were interviewed or participated in focus groups. The students Approach and methodology were a mixture of undergraduate and higher degree by research, and vocational education students. All student Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers conducted participants resided in locations classified as ‘remote’ or ‘very this research. It was designed to contribute knowledge and remote’ (ABS, 2018). understanding to the ongoing development of a culturally The student focus groups in the remote communities were secure and culturally informed approach to the design conducted by an Aboriginal interviewer/facilitator from that and delivery of higher education learning experiences for community. This process enabled the transmission of ideas Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living and in traditional languages and cultural acknowledgement and studying in remote and very remote locations in Australia. security for the participants (Kickett-Tucker et al., 2017), Such an approach seeks to: i) promote community and and allowed for the use of dialogue and narrative (Wain family awareness and engagement in these students’ learning et al., 2016). However, whilst the literature maintains that experiences, ii) strengthen student support, and iii) improve ‘yarning’ or focus discussion group methodology is preferred learning opportunities and enhance student engagement; the for Aboriginal students because it is most amenable to combined effect of all three being to improve educational the implementation of cultural security (Kickett-Tucker outcomes of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students et al., 2017), students on the university campus elected to living and studying in remote locations (Guenther, Bat, et al., participate in individual interviews as this enabled them to 2017). choose the time of day that was of most convenience to them. To understand the range of Aboriginal student learning These interviews were conducted by an Aboriginal researcher experiences, the research methods were designed so as to located at that campus. decolonise research practices (Williams et al., 2018). The Twelve educators also participated in the research and overall design situated Indigenist/interpretive research were likewise given the opportunity to take part in either (Hogarth, 2017; Nakata, 2007a; Rigney, 2017) within a critical an individual interview or a focus group. All chose to realism metatheory (Archer et al., 2016; Bhaskar, Danermark, participate via an individual interview. The research focus & Price, 2017; Hockey, 2010), enabling a historical frame for educators was to elaborate their teaching experiences in for the research. Critical realism is an interdisciplinary remote locations. metatheory aiming to comprehend unobservable mechanisms The range of research locations facilitated a variety of that explain particular social outcomes, particularly where different views and perspectives of remote higher education there are historical or socio-political relations that influence learning experiences. All students who participated in the or govern behaviours. research were drawn from cohorts enrolled in 2018. Interviews This research was conducted with ethics approval from the and focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed, or Human Research Ethics Committee of the lead university detailed notes were taken. The data were analysed thematically in June 2018. Research followed the Australian Institute of with the aid of NVivo qualitative data analysis software. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Guidelines for Ethical Research with Indigenous Peoples, and What we found the NHMRC Values and ethics: Guidelines for ethical conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. It was Strongly represented in both the students’ and educators’ consistent with the protocols in the Nulungu Way (Nulungu responses was the expressed need for learning involving Research Institute, 2016). A Reference Group of Aboriginal culturally embedded experiences, and for teaching practices and/or Torres Strait Islander people helped to guide the that do likewise. Respondents offered a number of ways research design and implementation. in which Western-framed learning and teaching strategies Aboriginal students available on one institution’s campus in remote higher education settings might achieve this. during a randomly selected fortnight were invited to They ranged across elements such as cultural security; participate in the research. Also, students living and studying community partnerships; Aboriginal knowledges; pathways in two remote communities were selected for research and transitions; learning in face-to-face contexts; learning participation, and an invitation was sent to them and their in online contexts; and student assessment and support workplace educators. The Aboriginal tertiary education strategies. The following canvasses our findings in relation students were enrolled in courses at four universities, which to the complexities of studying remotely beginning with the included dual sector institutions. Students at each location element of cultural security.

28 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Cultural security Aboriginal people are very superstitious especially with the The students’ need for cultural security was a strong theme houses on campus. Those houses I know they have been across the findings. One practical representation of this was smoked before; Aboriginal students they get really nervous sleeping in them houses. I know for a fact because I know it the need for an Aboriginal support place on campus. This myself, I have experienced this, like a spiritual thing happened emerged as a compelling student priority, with educators also to me, like I know a lot of people don’t believe in these things, expressing strong support for the creation of such a place. At but I believe in it and it happened to me and to my knowledge the very minimum, an on-campus support place would be a other students too…I had to drag my mattress and sleep in the cultural and social centre for Aboriginal students to meet, lounge area with others, because when you sleep altogether relax, feel supported and facilitate access to services such with family, in one you then feel safe and comfortable. And as computers. Such places exist in one form or another at for me I think that staff really need to get the right people to most universities in Australia (Universities Australia, 2017, smoke the place out. Someone who knows and who is very 2019; Kinnane et al., 2014) where they perform a vital role much right into that belief system [Student]. in Aboriginal student support but are nonexistent at many Clearly evident in both the student and educator feedback remote campuses. Architecture and landscaping design of was the need for educators to be provided with professional these centres is important for Aboriginal students who would learning for cultural security. Educators need to possess very feel welcome and ‘at home’ and can, when done well, make good knowledge and understanding of the complexity of an important contribution living remotely in very small to students’ health and well- communities and towns, being, especially when on The students’ need for cultural security was however as one educator campus. a strong theme across the findings. One framed it, ‘finding culturally From a student perspective practical representation of this was the need aware/trained staff is really such a place on a remote for an Aboriginal support place on campus. hard’. campus might ideally involve: Another educator expressed their concern that there is Like a social club or a place where our Aboriginal students could sit together, because at ‘no appreciation that Aboriginal people do not have a level the moment when you go into the hostel there, everybody playing field when they come to study’, and from the data else uses the facilities, you got staff and you got everyone, and there appeared to be significant justification for teaching staff sometime Aboriginal people, like they get a little bit shame development around knowledge of: because sometime they like to be by themselves [Student]. • Aboriginal history and cultures relating to the location of And another: the university. • Colonisation and its continuing production of colonial Having a little cultural centre where, if Aboriginal students like me would want to go to sit down and you actually feel it relations. comfortable without it being so clinical, you know it looks • Decolonising agendas. hard to like go into to the library because it looks really nice, • Trauma-informed practice, anti-racist teaching. but it is daunting, so make it more relaxed and more so an • Aboriginal teaching/learning strategies and culturally inviting space. I reckon we would enjoy the space [Student]. responsive frameworks. • Remote teaching induction. From an educator’s viewpoint: • Aboriginal English and culturally secure communication. • Culturally respectful practices. Having a space for them (students) to just decompress, to connect with other Aboriginal learners, have conversations Aboriginal cultural security along with the Aboriginal with support staff, use the facilities that (don’t) cost heaps history of localities and regions and its intergenerational of money to print, photocopy and do all those things … also context can form the foundation of a well-integrated even a space to … bring … kids on campus [Educator]. professional development program. As illustrated by Coffin and Green (2017), the idea is to begin with knowledge of Another facet of cultural security related to the students’ respectful ways of working in cross-cultural spaces, then plan expressed need for cultural care of buildings such as the hostel to take action for a culturally secure way of working through facilities used to accommodate students whilst on campus protocol development and implementation, and in a manner during ‘blocks’ [this term refers to concentrated teaching and that is both sustained and sustainable. learning periods that take place on university campuses or in remote communities] that may need cultural treatment, such Partnerships with communities as smoking, ahead of student arrival: Due to their different histories, communities reflect a range of cultural backgrounds, languages, colonial experiences, vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 29 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

population sizes and contemporary narratives of development Aboriginal knowledges and skills for success or otherwise. The research found that in remote higher One of the things frequently mentioned by respondents in education contexts, strong individually negotiated school- terms of building students’ skills for success were enabling community-university-workplace partnerships are the basis or bridging courses offering university preparation skills for well-communicated higher education pathways from for students entering university, along with programs and workplace and/or school and university – and beyond. specially designed face-to-face models of support. These Each community reflects vastly different contexts across courses were believed by the educators interviewed to be a each higher education dimension from Information and potentially ‘huge thing’ for any remote campus to be doing for Communication Technology (ICT) provisioning and skills, the local community in terms of building students’ confidence including establishment of places where students can study in themselves as learners and thereby strengthening student with tutoring support, to community-based support of retention. tertiary education on the basis of previous lived experience in In higher education much mention is made of ‘student the community of higher education engagement. success’ around the elements of enrolment, retention and When asked: ‘If the university had big funding, what would graduation. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, you want them to do with the money?’, one student replied: success can be understood as a multi-layered construct which affects many dimensions of their lived reality, including: To get other people studying – looking into our community we don’t have many people studying, but they are all clever ‘cultural identity, voice, self-realisation, self-acceptance and in one way or another. We should have a sign-up session. To pride’ (Fredericks et al., 2017, p. 130). In 2014, Kinnane provide students with university information and pathways… et al. found that success in Indigenous education contexts they could lay out a program for the community, to see if needs to be defined in both individual and collective terms: anyone is interested. I know they want to learn something, be ‘Collectively, success is not measured by the successful someone [Student]. transition of one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander student Family stresses can result when one family member … and may actualise anywhere between enrolment in a chooses to study. The benefits of study need to be more university, retention in a course, or successful completion .. widely understood in communities, and good community/ ‘success’ can also include failure and … does not necessarily university partnerships can increase awareness of the costs mean passing all units in the first year but is about ‘sticking and benefits of higher education study over time. As one with it’ even when a student fails to pass units (Kinnane et educator put it, there needs to be ‘a voice out there … in the al., 2014, p. 6). community …(but) at the moment we’re “Education” and Student personal qualities such as resilience and the we sit outside of it’. Clearly communities play a vital role enormous capacity to ‘stick with it’ despite many challenges in identifying courses that will address their needs, and are were acknowledged by educators as traits engendering success: relevant to their contexts, for example practical courses with …if an Aboriginal person is a student here, they have to have a focus around Cultural and Natural Resource Management tenacity because they’ve had to overcome a lot of things to (CNRM) to bridge TAFE graduates into University level actually get here in the first place. [Educator] Courses. All communities are different in terms of their educational In Indigenous contexts, success in/at learning is as much and collective lived experiences; thus all remote education a collective outcome as an individualistic one. In traditional contexts are unique and have differing priorities. In effect what communities, information is shared, negotiated with others, this means is that every remote community needs pathways and is passed down from Elders. Traditional learning is to higher education that have been negotiated with and are important learning, and Indigenous learners prefer to understood by community-based Aboriginal organisations work collaboratively, valuing community and kinship, and and schools. The complex nature of pathways from remote eschewing individual isolation (Wilks et al., 2017; Calma, community to the place of higher education, and the benefits 2009; Mayhew et al., 2005; Rao et al., 2011; Stoessel, et al. of higher education, need to be clearly defined and accessible 2015). for students and communities alike. Aboriginal higher Aboriginal students bring with them many skills and education students are important role models for education in knowledges presenting a strong foundation upon which to their community. As they progress through their degrees and construct Western knowledges and professional frameworks become more knowledgeable about policies, legislation and and learning at university. Aboriginal students from remote professionalism, or just through sharing their positive stories locations bring sophisticated cultural knowledges and skills in about their university experiences, they are promoting higher communicating in one or more Aboriginal languages, as well education in the students’ community network through as English for education and professional purposes. Educators stories of success. however noted the missed opportunity of providers to build

30 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

upon this cultural knowledge in the design of learning activities well-served by a staff and Aboriginal community of practice and materials (the latter described by students at one campus professional learning approach (Burgess & Cavanagh, 2016; as ‘the ugly books’: bereft of colour, symbols and imagery). Coffin & Green, 2017; Heckenberg, 2016). This equates The tendency of institutions has been to import training with Nakata’s notion of cultural interface that engages with materials that are text-dense and visually uninteresting, and the complexities and paradoxes of working with Aboriginal foreign in content, vernacular, and appearance. knowledges (Nakata, 2007b). Even in this age of continuing colonial impact, due to extraordinary resilience, cultural, linguistic and landscape The value of face-to-face teaching knowledges remain in individuals, communities and places Another strong theme to emerge from this research was (KALACC, nd; Kinnane & Sullivan, 2015). Aboriginal that face-to-face teaching is regarded by both students and knowledges underpin Aboriginal strength, cultural continuity educators as vital in remote Aboriginal higher education and survival and its historical omission has resulted in a contexts. The data were rich with references to this, most diminution of science in Australia and the world (Ball, especially in relation to the opportunities face-to-face teaching 2015). Additionally, Aboriginal students benefit when presents for the development of good relationships between Aboriginal knowledges are part of university courses and students and students; staff and students; and communities central to the academy (Buckskin et al., 2018). It should be and places of higher education. In remote contexts most face- noted however that the majority of universities did not have a to-face teaching takes place in blocks. formal Indigenous graduate attribute at the time of the survey Students and educators alike expressed the desire for more collection (Universities Australia, 2019, p.51). This involves face-to-face teaching. Students reflected time and time again teaching and learning frameworks that recognise Aboriginal that that is the way they like to learn, as the following student worldviews, epistemologies, ontologies, axiologies, aspirations responses exemplify: and voices, as they acknowledge validity and strength in They also should make it more cultural friendly especially for Aboriginality, relationship to country and pedagogies the Aboriginal students and be aware of…how…like we got grounded in these ways of working (Bodkin-Andrews et different way of learning…and…our way of learning is face-to- al., 2017; Yunkaporta & McGinty, 2009). Recognition of face [Student]. Aboriginal knowledge as prior learning (Frawley, 2017) and of the cultural interface and Indigenous standpoints at all Our biggest strength [as Aboriginal learners] is … everyone working as a team, so if someone is stuck, we will ask about levels is essential to good educational practice (Nakata, 2007a, each other questions and stuff, then we will go over it as a 2007b). Of key importance is the discourse of Aboriginal group, there isn’t much weaknesses in my class [Student]. recognition, autonomy and respect. For Indigenous knowledge take-up, universities must go I’d be interested in doing more block release. I want to learn beyond dualistic thinking ‘to inclusive possibilities so that more, get more experiences, interact with others so it helps Indigenous and non-Indigenous graduates can interact me with my studies. It’s good meeting the others to expand productively and creatively across cultural boundaries, and our experiences [Student]. engage meaningfully and constructively with each other And from an educator’s point of view: and with the academy’, enabling respectful both-ways There was certainly a memorable number of students who dis- learning to take place (Frawley, 2017, p. 77). In connecting engaged completely but then I might have seen them around with Aboriginal identity, worldviews and research, those and just managed to have a conversation with them and that who wish to work with Aboriginal communities must be brought them back in. …You try emails, you try phone, but if transparent about their own ways of knowing and how this you saw somebody and you had a conversation I found that can bias their learning and actions (Bodkin-Andrews et they did come back in [Educator]. al., p.19, 2017). This is because complexities of Aboriginal Students stressed the need for trusting, caring relationships axiology, ontology and epistemology have been limited by with their lecturers and support staff who would ideally also Western ways of knowing. For example, ‘pan-Aboriginality’ maintain close contact with them when they returned to their simplifies and reduces diversities. Simplistic reductions of communities. When relationships are strong, Aboriginal peoples, cultures and communities can work to maintain students feel supported and confident in meeting their study colonisation – an ongoing war on peoples, communities and goals. For instance, here is a student’s description of her block cultures. week experience: In 2017 the Universities Australia Indigenous Strategy The best thing about it [the block week] was that the lectur- (p. 30) signalled that by 2020, all universities will have plans ers really wanted us to complete our assignments before we that incorporate Aboriginal cultural content in all courses of leave for home, so during the workshop, so they would spend study. Such a whole of sector transformative strategy would be vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 31 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

a lot time with us you know, making sure [we knew] that they Having support from families is vital for students. Among wanted things done, so we don’t have to worry about it when the cultural considerations at play when students take part we went home [Student]. in campus blocks is the need to ensure that families are Face-to-face teaching/learning is conducive to good comfortable with university facilities for these on-campus teacher-student relationships, ensures clarity of purpose, weeks, for example not mixing female and male students, administrative effectiveness and good communication respecting kinship relationships and the need for distance and structures. It enables a range of teaching/learning strategies separation, and in some cases providing accommodation for preferred by the Aboriginal students in this research. These the families of students with young children. Sufficient staff include strategies such as social learning, networking, peer resources need to be allocated for these cultural dimensions teaching, and discussion and yarning circles along with of student learning: simulation or other hands-on engagement in learning. Without personal contact students can fall through the Peer teaching was regarded also by educators as a particular cracks due to the impact of things such as Sorry time and strength of Aboriginal students, and both students and family crisis and all those types of things; there needs to be educators noted the value of face-to-face learning in as much recognition that especially when students first start that a as it creates opportunities for students to provide peer support percentage of staff time needs to be for student contact [Edu- for each other whilst on campus. This helps to build student cator]. confidence, commitment and motivation and the quote below describes the value of yarning circles to their learning The educators and students in this research also pointed in this respect: out the value of strategies that encourage families at home in communities to engage with the campus through such We would all just have a big yarning group when we had our breaks… we will talk about it; we sit together, and we would activities as open days or family days for block weeks or other talk about it like what we didn’t understand. Have a group campus engagements. The use of multimedia resources was tutoring together, I reckon you would get more out of it, also suggested where it is impractical for families to visit. because some people might be a little quiet asking this ques- Aboriginal support officers also play an important role in tion, thinking it is silly, but if you were in a group would be providing student support, with one student sharing that: helpful, because I know if I worked in a group it would really help me [Student]. …. having the Indigenous Support Office team on ground makes a big difference for all of us especially coming from Teaching blocks based in the remote communities enable community [Student]. community-university-workplace partnership maintenance and renewal through regular community visits by travelling Similarly, from an educator’s perspective: university educators. Students stressed that University staff …that idea of having someone to walk beside them is impor- need to be responsive to community needs and be prepared tant particularly in their 1st and 2nd years; to mentor and find to stay longer with them. For example, it is important for links into the profession; and patience is important [Educa- educators to accept that local visits are limited around sorry tor]. business and ceremonial times, and sometimes change of seasons such as flooding or cyclones. Basic, practical things For many universities, the standard amount of cultural such as stationery, pens and paper, digital devices, or just a leave for students to take part in traditional activities quiet place to study can be in short supply for these students. associated with sorry business and ceremonial time is around three days. Yet these students often require three to four Aboriginal cultural commitments and family weeks away from their studies, and during this time there networks can be considerable social pressure and stressors coming from Many students have significant community demands on them families on the students. Therefore, students must not be which makes it difficult to sustain their studies, resulting distracted from cultural commitments and responsibilities in students getting ‘sucked out’ of university (Kinnane et by way of their studies. One strategy to redress the impacts of al., 2014). Remote Aboriginal students engaged in higher family, cultural and community responsibilities on their study education studies are impacted by factors such as: deaths in may be to accommodate Aboriginal students who need to the community; cultural obligations; family and community take lengthy breaks for these reasons in the same manner that responsibilities; and often poverty and ill-health in elite athletes and defence reservists are accommodated in the communities. High priority is placed on these responsibilities higher education system (Commonwealth of Australia, 2019, and these commitments take precedence over university p. 52). Although a practical and worthwhile idea, it does requirements such as assignment submission dates (Kickett- not take into account the significant and at times seemingly Tucker et al., 2017; Wilks et al., 2017; Kinnane et al., 2014) insurmountable, amount of catching up to be done by

32 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

students following an absence of a couple of weeks. If students of technical access is further compounded by the need for take lengthy breaks, when they return they will need tutorial students to be able to afford, maintain, and be willing to use support and an equivalent extension of assessment due dates a webcam and microphone in order to take part in online to enable them to participate equitably. classes. Most students cannot afford such equipment, and many are not comfortable using them even if they possess Reflecting language and culture in assessment one for reasons of shyness, concerns about images going into design digital space, and avoidance of certain relationships according Expressed student preference for traditional ways of learning to kinship in group situations. came through often in their responses. Building on Aboriginal Some of the students we interviewed were well provided knowledges in the design of assessment of student learning for in terms of technology and facilities, whereas others outcomes bestows recognition of cultural backgrounds and had very few well-resourced places to access the internet prior knowledges as student strengths (Buckskin et al., 2018; and technology. This finding suggests that individual ICT Frawley, 2017). It was clear from the feedback received from arrangements need to be negotiated for each particular the educators that universities and education providers in community and/or student workplace. Differential abilities remote locations need to be way more flexible and creative in terms of students’ ICT skills were also apparent: in the ways in which learning is assessed, so that students are Because of the remoteness and the lack of internet a lot of not impacted by language restrictions, for instance, when the students aren’t very computer literate e.g. scanning and demonstration of other-than- uploading assessment tasks is language learning outcomes challenging. Online learning are required. Similarly, cultural Some of the students we interviewed were is a whole other world [Edu- strengths need to be enabled well provided for in terms of technology cator]. by the assessment, so that and facilities, whereas others had very few students can demonstrate their well-resourced places to access the internet Educators discussed the learning in a holistic way, for and technology. importance of on-campus pre- example orally, rather than teaching session orientation subjected to the limitations around ICT, as opposed to just of Western knowledge frameworks where so much is based letting the students ‘fumble about at home’ in the first critical on written assessment. Innovation would also be welcome in weeks of the teaching session: the arena of cross-curricular assessment design in terms of the Students respond very, very well when there is someone there grouping of skills required across the suite of units comprising to assist them like myself or the trainer, or the tutor. But when a course. In so doing, students would be assisted to develop a left to their own devices and don’t have a history of learning, better overview of how all the elements of their courses come they often don’t know what to do. The biggest problem they together and build progressively over the years. have is not with the materials, it’s with the support [Educa- Flexibility is also required in terms of assessment submission tor]. practices, especially in communities with inadequate internet connectivity and the uploading of assessments can Educators proposed other solutions to issues of access to be interrupted or even not possible at a critical time. It was connectivity, computer hard and software, and of students’ suggested by one educator how ideal it would be for students ICT skills levels: to have ‘someone on the ground to go to’ in communities at There are a lot of Aboriginal people with mobile phones critical points such as submission deadlines, to help them [but there are very few with iPads or computers who came to sort out technology issues, and to liaise with the education study] … the phones could be used for giving more pastoral providers should difficulties arise around assignment due support [Educator]. dates and times. I would like to see all the students having a smart phone - ICT support we need to look at how learning can be enhanced through mobiles, that’s probably the key for very remote Australia (as In education contexts ‘reliable internet access is immediately opposed to online) as they can get all that can be transferred recognised as an equity issue’ (Pollard, 2019, p.41), and to small screen [Educator]. connectivity issues are significant for remote communities and particularly for students studying online in remote locations. Connectivity is our biggest barrier, so to address this we put Another commonly cited challenge for these students is the the material onto USBs and give that to the student for exam- level of their technical skills (Anthony & Keating, 2013; ple a video of ourselves going through the material [Educa- tor]. Rao et al., 2011). Wilks et al. (2017) found that the paucity vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 33 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

It should be remembered that some students have ICT The comment reflects the significance for students of caring, problems simply because they cannot afford the equipment, supportive relationships: and one student suggested universities might like to consider It made me feel like, they wanted me to complete my course long-term hire of equipment. and just knowing there was someone (at university) to help you, it made a huge difference so you don’t feel like you’re so Student Support Services on remote campuses alone. Since I have come home (remote community) they Every remote community is unique and the nature of higher have been calling me to see how I am. They you know also education student support will vary. Arrangements need to be care about your wellbeing. They will always phone and check negotiated and made clear with each individual and/or group up on you and see how you’re going and where you’re at, so of students for effective communication and administration. It that’s important for me [Student]. is important for higher education providers to recognise that Practical arrangements for services such as childcare, child- each remote student is supported by a remote community, and friendly accommodation, food on campus and local transport when there are administration errors it is not only detrimental in town is an essential consideration for many students for a student it is also detrimental for the community’s coming from remote communities. Where this is organised by relationship with the university. For many students in the university or education provider, it is greatly appreciated remote communities, simply the experience of attempting to by students who may otherwise feel lost and struggle. It means communicate with their course teachers by phone, email or students can concentrate on their studies instead of having to other means is hugely challenging given telecommunications worry about their family: unreliability in remote locations. I had little kids and if I needed to bring them to uni while I Students in remote locations are seeking greater reliability studied, maybe I had a tute, maybe I needed to write an assign- in communication in another sense, which is that of course ment, I could bring them there. We don’t really have that here organisation: (Remote Campus) [Student].

I feel what should be improved is definitely better commu- [When on campus] …if they have some sort of support net- nication and sitting down with the students and explaining work for [childcare], at least to bring their little ones down properly about what to do. When we go on campus you don’t with them, then I know that you will have more successful know who your tutor’s going to be and nothing is said to you students actually graduating and going through things [Edu- to say ‘oh you going to have this tutor while you’re here’, sister cator]. you know what I mean. It makes you weak [Student]. And an educator’s frustrations in this respect is evident in the following response: Key future directions for the sector There have been some situations where the system just doesn’t support them, and being really upfront about that saying, As one participant educator put it, ‘you can’t put a dollar ‘No, we’ve got to get this student here no matter what’ or, ‘No, value on education in considering a student’s life chances’. we’ve got to get the unit that this student needs, can we pull Universities must realise the potential positive impacts of together enough heads to figure this one out?’ so really advo- higher education in improving individual lives, communities cating for Aboriginal students. They would bring me to tears and societies, and actively promote this concept in Aboriginal [Educator]. communities. Participation in higher education can open To address some of these concerns one educator identified up people’s life chances offering graduates the possibility the importance of having a single contact person to support of achieving their aspirations through moving beyond remote students, and where necessary take student grievances historically restrictive lived experiences and beliefs. However, forward on their behalf; ‘someone to hold it all together’: to disregard Aboriginal culture is a form of epistemological racism, one that is embedded in academic institutions through A direct line of communication and that person to be able to meet with lecturers and everybody on campus… Like who the privileging of Western knowledges and the stereotyping of they (students) can call straight up like if they couldn’t get the the epistemologies of Aboriginal and other minority groups lecturers or wasn’t sure how to communicate properly. I think as inferior (Bodkin-Andrews & Carlson, 2013; Fredericks, to have that middle person would be better [Student.] 2009; Larkin, 2015; Moreton-Robinson & Walter, 2009). While often less obvious than other forms of overt racism, Educators and students stressed the importance of it alienates Indigenous students and impacts their ability to maintaining relationships through phone and other means, succeed academically by the very fact that knowledges are particularly back in community preceding and subsequent western-framed. to the block week or visit. Below, this student is referring to Systemic change principles for organisational trans- returning to her community after an on-campus block week. formation towards integration of Aboriginal knowledges and

34 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

ways of working include community-based approaches that is that infrastructure is either unaffordable or unavailable are anti-racist and trauma-informed, apply culturally secure hampering access to higher education learning opportunities Aboriginal pedagogies and utilise Aboriginal leadership. (Park, Freeman, & Middleton, 2019). Universities should Applying these principles in remote campuses paves the way work towards overcoming these issues, rather than working for collaborative design and co-implementation of teaching around them or avoiding them altogether. and professional learning programs. Whole of system Increasing the numbers of Aboriginal staff was a priority approaches have had the most impact, where Aboriginal described by almost all participants in this study as they offer recruitment and leadership programs, cultural respect training an enhanced capacity for support through epistemological, for all staff, cultural redesign initiatives, anti-racism policies ontological and axiological mediation of the students’ and local community engagement work together to produce educational experiences (Buckskin et al., 2018; Nakata institutional transformation (Paradies, 2017). et.al, 2018). Increasing the numbers of Aboriginal staff is a The significance of building effective university-remote decolonising strategy, meaning one that recognises Aboriginal community relationships and partnerships cannot be over- rights, knowledges and ontologies (Buckskin et al., 2018). emphasised. Remote higher education students belong to Committed, effective teachers, tutors and mentors who are communities, and through the principles of cultural security caring, concerned, knowledgeable, trustworthy and available universities must develop visible, meaningful pathways can have huge positive impacts on student achievement. to higher education through partnership activities with Suitably qualified, trauma-informed staff can develop trusting, remote Aboriginal communities. Solid partnerships between caring relationships able to support students impacted by racism universities and remote communities are the basis for well- and trauma. We need a collaborative approach to sectoral designed strategies to enable community members to consider change based on Aboriginalisation principles so that the whole higher education, to take part in courses that are relevant to university - from the level of the chancelleries to the levels of community needs and frameworks, and to support them once faculties and courses - becomes an Aboriginal place to be they make the decision. As Smith et al. (2017, p. 42) assert, (Raciti et al., 2017). This demands learning and change on the a paradigm shift is needed in the ways university-community part of administrations, leaders, educators and students. It also engagement takes place, towards a more culturally respectful involves a willingness to implement the strategies enunciated in and responsive framing. Partnerships need to be in place a number of recent sectoral reports and reviews (e.g. 2019). for community-initiated proposals to the university to be To achieve this the sector must engage with decolonisation designed and implemented, rather than the initiative always and its meaning. (In a forthcoming paper we have examined being from the university on its terms. In remote settings in how the notion of epistemological racism might be applied particular this means involving Elders and other community to a further exploration of our findings). Universities that leaders in leadership and advisory activities to foster are willing to embark on core transformational activities, and community and family support, and to ensure that the courses implement processes that incorporate Aboriginal definitions being run are of value to remote communities and recognise of success; that value Aboriginal knowledge and identity; that their needs and perspectives. feature local Aboriginal knowledges and ways of working; that Recently the National Regional, Rural and Remote embrace cultural revitalisation; that work towards Aboriginal Tertiary Education Strategy (2019) made a number of empowerment; and collaborate in culturally secure ways by recommendations of relevance to important future work including Aboriginal families, communities and Elders, are for the sector in increasing participation, and improving the likely to be supportive of all learners (Coffin & Green, 2017; experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students Guenther, Disbray, et al., 2017). living and studying in remote and very remote locations. These It will be important for the higher education sector included the need for more flexible course delivery involving to develop a shared sense of the Aboriginal history of its programs ‘on Country that are designed and co-implemented many university campuses, to follow up the stories of the with the local Indigenous community’ (p.39). This strategy Aboriginal students who have completed, to ensure they also identified the need to accommodate students who may become part of the campus story to be celebrated, and for an need to take lengthy breaks from their studies to respond to ongoing relationship with them and their communities to be family and community events ‘similar to support available for maintained. We need those stories to become part of who we elite athletes and defence reservists’ (p.52). are as the higher education sector. One of the key issues we found in our interviews with both staff and students, related to ICT. To a large extent, Conclusion universities based in urban areas can take digital inclusion for granted—where this means having access to reliable Educators and remote Aboriginal tertiary students in this infrastructure and tools—the reality in many remote locations study have urged the need for campus transformation towards vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 35 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

culturally secure and culturally informed education pathways, John Guenther is Research Leader, Education and Training, education provision, and university-community relationships. Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. Likewise, learning experiences and university operations that Contact: [email protected] are thus designed are more likely to retain Aboriginal students and facilitate participation and success, enabling beneficial References outcomes for all university students and ultimately society as ABS (2018). Australian Statistics Geography Standard (ASGS) a whole. Remoteness Structure. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ Respondents described with a great degree of consistency websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/remoteness+structure. the conditions and services Aboriginal students need in order Anthony, S. & Keating, M. S. (2013) The difficulties of online learning to make good progress through their courses. Aboriginal for Indigenous Australian students living in remote communities – it’s students need stability and predictability in their places of an issue of access. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 16 higher education. They need to understand their learning (2), 1-10. pathways, and to ‘know’ the ways towards and along these Archer, M., Decoteau, C., Gorski, P. S., Little, D., Porpora, D., Rutzou, pathways, including all steps in the transition through T., . . . Vandenberghe, F. (2016). What is critical realism? Perspectives: a newsletter of the ASA theory section, December 23, np. Retrieved from university to completion. They need cultural security http://www.asatheory.org/current-newsletter-online/archives/12-2016 along the way: to know that their cultural needs will be Ball, R. (2015). STEM the gap: Science belongs to us mob too. AQ - understood, so that they can anticipate how their learning Australian Quarterly, 86(1), 13-19. will be organised, and then find their needs met once they Behrendt, L., Larkin, S., Griew, R., & Kelly, P. (2012). Review of Higher are enrolled and comfortably working through their courses. Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural security and culturally responsive approaches are People: Final Report. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/ NOT underpinned by notions of deficit or gaps, they are system/files/doc/other/review_final_report_2012.pdf instead predicated upon acknowledgement of history and Bhaskar, R., Danermark, B., & Price, L. (2017). Interdisciplinarity and recognition of the depth of skills, knowledges, perspectives, wellbeing: a critical realist general theory of interdisciplinarity. London: Routledge Ltd. and capacities which Aboriginal learners bring to the learning task, and to Australia’s future. Bodkin-Andrews, G. and Carlson, B. (2013). Racism, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities, and higher education: reviewing We do not underestimate the challenges raised by our the burden of epistemological and other racisms. In R. Craven and respondents in this research, particularly when university J. Mooney (Eds.), Seeding Success in Indigenous Australian Higher resources are stretched. However, what we have seen is that Education (pp. 29-54). USA: Emerald Publishing. there are practical solutions to many of the problems raised, Bodkin-Andrews, G., Bodkin, F. A., Andrews, G. U., & Evans, R. U. that would have a significant positive impact on the equitable (2017). Aboriginal identity, world views, research and the story of the delivery of higher education to remote Aboriginal and Torres Burra’gorang. In C. Kickett-Tucker, D. Bessarab, J. Coffin, M. Wright, & M. Gooda (Eds.), Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development: Strait Islander students. fostering cultural security (pp. 19-36). Cambridge, UK;Cambridge;Port Melbourne, Vic;: Cambridge University Press. Acknowledgements Buckskin, P., Tranthim-Fryer, M., Holt, L., Gili, J., Heath, J., Smith, D., . . . Rhea, Z. M. (2018). Accelerating Indigenous higher education: The research team extend thanks to the Advisory Committee: consultation paper. Report for the Australian Government Department of Education and Training to accelerate education and employment Stephen Kinnane, Clive Walley, Maria Morgan and Vennessa outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the higher Poelina. Thanks to Kamesa Sibodado for her contribution as a education sector. Retrieved from: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/123520/1/ research assistant, and to Dr Kathryn Thorburn and Dr Susan NATSIHEC_%20AIHE_FinaL_%20Report%20Jan%202018_ Wilks for their advice. updated_031218.pdf Burgess, C., & Cavanagh, P. (2016). Cultural Immersion : Developing Judith Wilks is Adjunct Associate Professor, Nulungu a Community of Practice of Teachers and Aboriginal Community Members. Australian journal of Indigenous education, 45(1), 48-55. Research Institute, The University of Notre Dame, Australia, doi:10.1017/jie.2015.33 and Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Education, Calma, T. (2009). Social justice report 2008. Retrieved from: https:// Southern Cross University, Australia. www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait- islander-social-justice/publications/social-justice-report. Anna Dwyer is a Senior Researcher & Associate Lecturer, Coffin, J. (2007). Rising to the challenge in Aboriginal health by Nulungu Research Institute, The University of Notre Dame creating cultural security. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Australia. Journal, 31(3), 22. Coffin, J., & Green, C. (2017). Decolonising Australian community Sandra Wooltorton is Senior Research Fellow (Education), development tools. In C. Kickett-Tucker, D. Bessarab, J. Coffin, M. Wright, & M. Gooda (Eds.), Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame.

36 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Development: fostering cultural security (pp. 73-90). UK: Cambridge governance-evaluation-2016-1.pdf University Press. Kinnane, S., Wilks, J., Wilson, K., Hughes, T., & Thomas, S. (2014). Commonwealth of Australia, (2019). National Regional, Rural and ‘Can’t be what you can’t see’: The transition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Remote Tertiary Education Strategy: Final Report. Retrieved from Islander students into higher education. Retrieved from https://www. https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/national_ notredame.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2882/SI11-2138- regional_rural_and_remote_tertiary_education_strategy.pdf OLT-Final-Report-FINAL-Web.pdf Frawley, J. (2017). Indigenous knowledges, graduate attributes and Larkin, S. (2015). Critical race theory and indigenous higher recognition of prior learning for advanced standing: tensions within education: Towards a remaking of the Univeristy. In H. Huijser, R. the academy. In J. Frawley, S. Larkin, & J. A. Smith (Eds.), Indigenous Ober, S. O’Sullivan, E. McRae-Williams, & R. Elvin (Eds.), Finding a Pathways, Transitions and Participation in Higher Education: From Policy common ground: Narratives, provocations, and reflections from the 40-year to Practice (pp. 65-80). Singapore: Springer. celebration of Batchelor Institute. (pp.46-54). Batchelor: Batchelor Press Fredericks, B. (2009) How the whiteness embedded in health services Mayhew, M. J., Grunwald, H. E. & Dey, E. L. (2005). Curriculum impacts on the health and well-being of Aboriginal peoples. In B. Baird matters: Creating a positive climate for diversity from the student & D. Riggs, (Eds.) The Racial Politics of Bodies, Nations and Knowledges perspective. Research in Higher Education 46(4), 389-412. doi:10.1007/ (pp.11-27) UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. s11162-005-2967-0 Fredericks, B., Kinnear, S., Daniels, C., Croft-Warcon, P., & Mann, J. Moreton-Robinson, A., & Walter, M. (2009). Ingienous methodologies (2017). Perspectives on enabling education for Indigenous students in social research. In M. Walter (Ed.), Social research methods: An at three comprehensive universities in regional Australia. In J. Frawley, Australian perspective. (pp.1-18)Melbourne: Oxofrd University Press S. Larkin, & J. A. Smith (Eds.), Indigenous pathways, transitions and Nakata, M. (2007a). An Indigenous Standpoint Theory. Canberra, A.C.T: participation in higher education: from policy to practice (pp. 119-132). Aboriginal Studies Press. Singapore: Springer. Nakata, M. (2007b). The Cultural Interface. The Australian Journal of Guenther, J., Bat, M., & Osborne, S. (2013). Red Dirt Thinking Indigenous Education, 36(Supplementary), 7-14. on Educational Disadvantage. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 42(Special Issue 02), 100-110. doi:doi:10.1017/jie.2013.18 Nakata, M., Nakata, V., Day, A., Martin, G., & Peachey, M. (2018). Indigenous Undergraduates’ Use of Supplementary Tutors: Developing Guenther, J., Bat, M., Stephens, A., Skewes, J., Boughton, B., Academic Capabilities for Success in Higher Education Studies. Williamson, F., Dwyer, A. (2017). Enhancing training advantage for The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 1-10. doi:10.1017/ remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners (9781925173840). jie.2017.39 Retrieved from Adelaide: https://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/ publications/all-publications/enhancing-training-advantage-for- Nulungu Research Institute. (2016). The Nulungu way. Retrieved from remote-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-learners https://www.nd.edu.au/research/nulungu/the-Nulungu-way Guenther, J., Disbray, S., Benveniste, T., & Osborne, S. (2017). ‘Red Ober, R. (2009). Both-Ways: Learning from Yesterday, Celebrating Dirt’ Schools and Pathways into Higher Education. In J. Frawley, S. Today, Strenthening Tomorrow. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Larkin, & J. A. Smith (Eds.), Indigenous Pathways, Transitions and Education, 38, 34-39. Participation in Higher Education: From Policy to Practice (pp. 251-270). Osborne, S., & Guenther, J. (2013). Red Dirt Thinking on Aspiration Singapore: Springer. and Success. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 42 (Special Guenther, J., Halsey, J., & Osborne, S. (2015). From paradise to Issue 02), 88-99. doi:doi:10.1017/jie.2013.17 beyond: Geographical constructs and how they shape education in the Paradies, Y. (2017). Overcoming racism as a barrier to community bush. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education [Special development. In C. Kickett-Tucker, D. Bessarab, J. Coffin, M. Wright, issue: What next for rural education research?], 25(3), 62-79. & M. Gooda (Eds.), Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development: Heckenberg, R. (2016). Learning in Place, Cultural Mapping and fostering cultural security (pp. 169-185). UK: Cambridge University Sustainable Values on the Millawa Billa (Murray River). The Australian Press. journal of Indigenous education, 45(1), 1-10. doi:10.1017/jie.2015.23 Park, S., Freeman, J., & Middleton, C. (2019). Intersections Hockey, N. (2010). Engaging postcolonialism: towards a critical realist between connectivity and digital inclusion in rural communities. Indigenist critique of an approach by Denzin and Lincoln. Journal of Communication Research and Practice, 5(2), 139-155. doi:10.1080/2204 Critical Realism, 9(3), 353-383. doi:10.1558/jcr.v9i3.353 1451.2019.1601493 Hogarth, M. (2017). Speaking back to the deficit discourses: a Pollard, L. (2018). Remote student university success: an analysis of policy theoretical and methodological approach. The Australian Educational and practice. Retrieved from https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/ Researcher, 44(1), 21-34. doi:10.1007/s13384-017-0228-9 uploads/2018/08/LouisePollard_FellowshipReport_FINAL_Small. pdf KALACC. (nd). Welcome to KALACC. Retrieved from http:// kalacc.org/ Raciti, M., Carter, J., Gilbey, K., & Hollinsworth, D. (2017). The ‘university place’: how and why place influences the engagement and Kickett-Tucker, C., Bessarab, D., Coffin, J., Wright, M., & Gooda, M. retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. (2017). Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development: fostering cultural E-booklet. Retrieved from Canberra: https://ltr.edu.au/resources/ security. UK: Cambridge University Press. SD15-5165_FinalReport.pdf Kinnane, S., & Sullivan, P. (2015). An evaluation of the Kimberley Rao, K., Eady, M. & Edelen-Smith, P. (2011). Creating virtual Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC) Cultural Governance classrooms for rural and remote communities. Phi Delta Kappan 92 (6), Program 2013-2015: Repatriation of sacred objects and ancestral remains 22-27 doi:10.1177/003172171109200605 to the Ardyaloon (One Arm Point) Community. Retrieved from Broome: http://kalacc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/kalacc-cultural- Rigney, L.-I. (2017). A Design and Evaluation Framework for

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. 37 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Indigenisation of Australian Universities. In J. Frawley, S. Larkin, & Wain, T., Sim, M., Bessarab, D., Mak, D., Hayward, C., & Rudd, C. J. A. Smith (Eds.), Indigenous Pathways, Transitions and Participation (2016). Engaging Australian Aboriginal narratives to challenge attitudes in Higher Education: From Policy to Practice (pp. 45-63). Singapore: and create empathy in health care: A methodological perspective. Retrieved Springer Singapore. from https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/ s12909-016-0677-2 Smith, J. A., Larkin, S., Yibarbuk, D., & Guenther, J. (2017). What Do We Know About Community Engagement in Indigenous Education Wilks, J., Wilson, K., & Kinnane, S. (2017). Promoting Engagement Contexts and How Might This Impact on Pathways into Higher and Success at University Through Strengthening the Online Learning Education? In J. Frawley, S. Larkin, & J. A. Smith (Eds.), Indigenous Experiences of Indigenous Students Living and Studying in Remote Pathways, Transitions and Participation in Higher Education: From Policy Communities. In J. Frawley, S. Larkin, & J. A. Smith (Eds.), Indigenous to Practice (pp. 31-44). Singapore: Springer Singapore. Pathways, Transitions and Participation in Higher Education: From Policy to Practice (pp. 211-233). Singapore: Springer. Stoessel, K., Ihme, T., Barbarino, M. L., Fisseler, B. & Stürmer, S. (2015). Sociodemographic Diversity and Distance Education: Who Williams, L., Bunda, T., Claxton, N., & MacKinnon, I. (2018). A Drops Out from Academic Programs and Why? Research in Higher Global De-colonial Praxis of Sustainability – Undoing Epistemic Education, 56 (3), 228-246. doi:10.1007/s11162-014-9343-x Violences between Indigenous peoples and those no longer Indigenous to Place. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 47(1), 41-53. Universities Australia. (2017). Indigenous Strategy 2017-2020. Retrieved doi:10.1017/jie.2017.25 from Deakin: https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and- Events/submissions-and-reports/Indigenous-Strategy Yunkaporta, T., & McGinty, S. (2009). Reclaiming Aboriginal knowledge at the cultural interface. Australian Educational Researcher, Universities Australia. (2019). Universities Australia Indigenous 36(2), 55-72. doi:10.1007/BF03216899 Strategy First Annual Report. Retrieved from Canberra: https://www. universitiesaustralia.edu.au/ArticleDocuments/1060/20190304%20 Final%20Indigenous%20Strategy%20Report%20v2.pdf.aspx

38 ‘We got a different way of learning’ Judith Wilks et al. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Student experience at international branch campuses

Stephen Wilkins The British University in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Many higher education institutions now have offshore campuses in foreign countries. To attract students in the host country, these international branch campuses typically rely on the parent institution and home country higher education system reputations. Institutions that operate international branch campuses typically claim that the student experience at the offshore campus replicates the onshore home campus experience. Such claims are made even though the majority of offshore campuses lack the scale or financial strength needed to invest in physical infrastructure and resources. This article is a consideration of the extent to which claims of replicability may be true. It is concluded that although institution claims of replicability between onshore and offshore student experience may be somewhat fanciful, it may be reasonable to judge the offshore experience as largely comparable, particularly at the larger branch campuses. Keywords: transnational higher education, offshore education, international branch campuses, offshore campuses, student experience

Introduction Monash they can expect the same high-quality education, and their teachers will be leading academics in their field’ (Monash Student experience has become an important concept in University, undated). higher education institutions worldwide. Higher education This article considers the extent to which claims of systems have become increasingly market-based, and students replicability between offshore and onshore student experience have become ‘customers’ that demand a high-quality student may be true. Bhuian (2016) observes that much of the experience. The term ‘student experience’ usually refers to a discourse regarding the dissatisfaction of offshore students is student’s overall interaction with an institution, which refers speculative and based on anecdotes rather than well-designed to teaching and learning activities, non-academic support and empirical research. International branch campuses operate in student life. Most institutions have devised objectives, policies unique contexts, and student experience may be affected by and processes to provide student experience, and institutional the lack of scale or financial resources at branch campuses; the performance is increasingly monitored by governmental commercial objectives of joint venture partners; the problems quality assurance agencies. of recruiting and retaining high quality staff; as well as the Institutions that operate international branch campuses in differing expectations of students in different countries. foreign countries typically claim that the student experience Transnational higher education – also known as cross- at the offshore campus replicates the onshore home campus border and offshore higher education – involves providers experience. For example, promotional literature of Monash and programs crossing national borders. Thus, the term University claims, ‘our education is consistently excellent ‘transnational higher education’ refers to all types of higher – across campuses and international boundaries. It doesn’t education study programs or educational services in which matter where our students start their journey, if they are at the learners are located in a country different from the one vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins 39 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

where the awarding institution is based (UNESCO/Council (2014), and Wilkins, Balakrishnan and Huisman (2012) of Europe, 2001). Traditionally, when students wanted a found that offshore students were largely satisfied with their foreign education, they had to travel overseas as international program; lecturer and teaching quality; learning environment students, typically to countries such as Australia, Canada, the and resources; counselling and academic support; and social United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). life/facilities. Over the last two decades, transnational education Given the contrasting claims about student experience (and provision has mushroomed, and now students can access satisfaction) in transnational education, the purpose of this foreign education in their home country (or in a neighbouring research is to provide a review of documented, reported and country) via franchised/joint programs delivered by claimed evidence related to student experience at international local providers; distance/online programs; international branch campuses. The review reveals the extent to which study centres; and international branch campuses. As one students at international branch campuses enjoy the same of the more conspicuous forms of transnational higher student experience as their home campus counterparts. The education, international branch campuses have received review involved analysis of institution websites and reports; considerable attention from researchers and higher education scholarly papers; practice-oriented articles; newspaper articles; commentators. and the reports of host and home country quality assurance Wilkins and Rumbley (2018, p. 14) define an international agencies. The findings are presented in three sections, related branch campus as, to offshore students’ academic and campus experiences, and the support services that institutions offer to these students. an entity that is owned, at least in part, by a specific foreign higher education institution, which has some degree of responsibility for the overall strategy and quality assurance International branch campuses of the branch campus. The branch campus operates under the name of the foreign institution and offers programming International branch campuses are a fairly recent and/or credentials that bear the name of the foreign institu- phenomenon in higher education. Of the 263 international tion. The branch has basic infrastructure such as a library, an branch campuses operating at the end of 2017, only 33 existed open access computer lab and dining facilities, and, overall, before 1995 (Garrett et al., 2017). In fact, almost half of the students at the branch have a similar student experience to international branch campuses currently operating are less students at the home campus. than ten years old. The countries that host the largest number The concern of this article is with assessing student of international branch campuses are China, the UAE, experience at campuses that fit with this definition. Malaysia, Qatar and Singapore. The largest source countries Like all other higher education institutions, international of international branch campuses are the US, UK, France, branch campuses generally claim to offer students a high- Russia and Australia. quality student experience. A study by Wilkins and Huisman Although there are a few international branch campuses (2019), which analysed the content of six institution websites that have over 5,000 students – such as Monash University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), found that every Malaysia, the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China institution made claims about providing a high-quality and RMIT Vietnam – the vast majority of campuses have student experience. However, Altbach (2010) claims that fewer than 1,000 student enrolments. In terms of physical in terms of breadth of curriculum, quality of academic staff infrastructure, many institutions possess only a few rooms and students, physical environment, learning resources and in an office block, and many of these institutions offer only a social facilities, transnational programs are rarely comparable single qualification, or a very small number of qualifications, with home campus offerings. Some empirical research has while others employ few or no full-time academic staff in supported this view. the host country. While it may be impossible for such small For example, Bhuian (2016) found that students at operations to replicate the student experience that is provided international branch campuses in Qatar were dissatisfied to students at the institutions’ much larger home country with all the major services at institutions, including academic, campuses, it may be reasonable to judge the extent to which administrative and facility services. Bhuian (2016) concluded the offshore student experience is equivalent or comparable to that branch campuses could not meet, let alone exceed, the the onshore experience. service quality expectations of students in any of the core Although a vibrant stream of literature on transnational dimensions of service quality. A comparative study by Shah, education emerged in the 1990s, researchers largely ignored Roth, and Nair (2010) found that offshore students were less international branch campuses. The first collection of articles satisfied with the quality of teachers, student administration, on international branch campuses was published in 2011 library and learning resources than their onshore counterparts. (Lane & Kinser, 2011). It was not until the 2000s that home In contrast, research by Ahmad (2015), Pieper and Beall country quality assurance agencies such as the Australian

40 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and the UK’s Quality As the term ‘student experience’ refers to the totality of a Assurance Agency (QAA) conducted rigorous and systematic student’s interaction with the institution, the next sections of quality audits at international branch campuses. Host country this article are discussions of offshore students’ academic and quality assurance agencies were generally even slower to begin campus experiences, and the support services that institutions quality evaluations of branch campuses. Hence, there is little make available to these students. published research on student experience at international branch campuses before the mid-2000s. As this article seeks Academic experience to report on the quality of student experience at international branch campuses at the present time, and given that it Program quality takes several years for most institutions to develop the scale By their very nature, transnational programs are usually necessary for investment in infrastructure and resources, it was designed in a country other than the one in which the appropriate to focus on reviewing reports and publications program is actually delivered (Wilkins, Balakrishnan, & published during the last decade. Huisman, 2012). Some international branch campuses deliver ‘off-the-shelf ’ standardised programs, which are Student experience irrelevant or inappropriate in the host country context (Donn & Al Manthri, 2010). The dilemma for institutions is that Student experience is important because it may impact some students, parents and employers expect transnational upon student learning and attainment; student motivation, programs to be exact replicas of their onshore counterparts, commitment and satisfaction; and even post-graduation while other students, parents and employers expect programs opportunities in the labour market. The whole range of to be adapted and customised for the local environment. In facilities and services offered by institutions contribute to some host countries, local regulations require students to the student experience. Students who receive a high quality take extra courses. For example, in Malaysia, the Malaysia experience are more likely to be satisfied with their program Qualifications Agency (MQA) requires Malaysian nationals and institution, and satisfied students are more likely to who have not been exempted through earlier studies to take perform better academically (Buultjens & Robinson, 2011). courses in the national language, Malaysian studies, Islamic Satisfied students are also more likely to participate in studies and Moral Education. The University of Nottingham positive word-of-mouth and give higher scores in student Malaysia delivers these additional courses on Saturdays satisfaction surveys, which may improve institution (QAA, 2010). positions in rankings. Programs must equip students with the knowledge and skills Through funding initiatives and other authority structures, (use value) that will enable them to gain employment in local, such as national quality assurance schemes and institution regional and international labour markets (exchange value). rankings, the discourse on student experience in higher A study conducted in Malaysia by Ahmad (2015) found that education has treated students as rational technical learners students generally perceived that their program offered both (Sabri, 2011). Policy makers assume that students have the good use and exchange values. The research participants capacity for free rational choice and are not constrained agreed that their program was intellectually stimulating, by social or cultural background, or financial resources. that it was made relevant to the Malaysian context, and that Furthermore, it is assumed that by collecting, analysing and it prepared them well for a future career. Younger learners disseminating data on student experience, institutions will be often favour transnational education because they regard motivated and empowered to improve student experience, themselves, or want to develop themselves, as global citizens and students will be able to make better choices. (Pieper & Beall, 2014). Compared to public institutions, The concept of student experience typically positions offshore programs often incorporate more opportunities for students as the most suitable stakeholder to define what developing international and intercultural competences, as quality in higher education means, and to determine what well as English language competency. benefits institutions should deliver to students participating Many international branch campuses focus on offering in higher education. However, some students may not have programs in business, management and computer science/ the ability to be objective in assessing student experience, information technology. Such programs are considered to while marketised higher education systems and high levels of be popular with students, and these programs are relatively tuition fees may cause students’ expectations to be unrealistic cheap to deliver, as they do not require substantial investment and unreasonable (Gibbs & Dean, 2014). Such expectations in equipment or resources. Data published by the Knowledge may be particularly common in transnational education, and Human Development Authority (KHDA) reveals where many institutions lack the scale or financial resources that approximately 40 per cent of students in transnational needed to invest in physical infrastructure and resources. education in the Emirate of Dubai study in the field of vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins 41 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

business. In 2011, there were 170 programs in business offered not uncommon for academic staff to have their contracts in the emirate, but fewer than ten science programs. As a result, terminated if they receive poor course evaluations. Badri et al. it is likely that many students in transnational education are (2006) found that in the UAE, student evaluations of teaching not studying their subject of first choice. Furthermore, when were a key factor in determining promotions, merit awards, student enrolments fail to meet targets, or if suitably qualified long-term contracts and contract renewals. Thus, concerns and experienced teachers cannot be found, institutions over complaining students and job security may encourage often fail to deliver courses that were advertised at the time teachers to reduce the academic demands of programs and the student entered the program. In recent years, there has to award marks that are higher than would be given at the been an increase in the establishment of offshore medical institution’s home campus. schools, particularly when host country governments actively Institutions such as Middlesex University Dubai avoid encourage the development of such schools, or contribute to this problem by sending the majority of examinations and their funding. other major assessments to the UK for (first) marking. Other A number of studies have found that offshore students are institutions also send student work to the home campus for attracted to transnational education – particularly programs first or second marking, or moderation. However, when and institutions from Australia, the UK and the US – because coursework and examinations are marked or moderated at they are perceived as being of higher quality than local the home campus, it generally takes longer for students to alternatives (e.g. Ahmad, 2015; Mok, 2012; Pieper & Beall, be informed of their final marks, and this is often a source of 2014; Wilkins, Balakrishnan, & Huisman, 2012). However, student dissatisfaction with the assessment process. these students also believe that transnational programs are Some institutions have campuses in multiple foreign not as high quality as the programs delivered at the main countries. For example, New York University has international home country campuses. In some countries, foreign students branch campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, and Heriot- and expatriates are not admitted into the public institutions, Watt University, based in Scotland, has campuses in Dubai or, even if they are admitted, there is insufficient capacity and Malaysia. It is quite usual for such institutions to to satisfy student demand. In such situations, transnational encourage campus rotation, whereby students change campus education may be the only option for a student who wants for different parts of their program. Most institutions have to study in a particular country. Many of the students at reported greater student flows from offshore branches to international branch campuses are mature ‘second chance’ home campuses than from the home campuses to offshore learners, who study part-time. Offshore providers often offer branches. more flexible modes of program delivery, which satisfy the needs of working students. Teaching and learning experience Wilkins (2017) observes that maintaining quality Teaching is universally acknowledged as the core activity in standards may become problematic when local management higher education. Most international branch campuses focus has autonomy over curricula, assessment, and the recruitment on the delivery of undergraduate programs in the social of teaching staff and students. Issues and disagreements sciences. Offshore teachers need a unique combination of concerning ethics and academic integrity are common. knowledge, experience and skills, which include subject Many international branch campuses are owned or operated expertise; knowledge of the home country and institution’s with a local partner. Conflict between institutions and local systems and approaches to teaching and assessment (e.g. partners may occur because each party may have different interactive, student-centred learning); and the ability to apply and conflicting objectives (Healey, 2015). Local partners may subject content in a way that is relevant for the host country seek to maximise student enrolments by not rigidly enforcing context. Very few international branch campuses engage entry requirements, while institutions may prioritise the in research, but among those that do, the quality of output maintenance of academic quality, often to avoid reputational is sometimes higher than that of the host country’s public damage. Altbach (2010) claims that many students studying universities, and even occasionally the institution’s main home at international branch campuses would not have been campus (Pohl & Lane, 2018). accepted into the same program at the institution’s main Teaching staff at offshore campuses are typically recruited home campus. Very often, students lack sufficient English using three different approaches: (1) recruiting full-time language competency, and it is difficult for such students to teachers, with a high proportion sourced from outside the enjoy a positive classroom experience. host country; (2) adjunct academics employed locally; and Grade inflation is an increasingly common phenomenon (3) visiting academics from the institution’s home campus in higher education globally, but empirical research and (Neri & Wilkins, 2019). Many international branch campuses quality assurance audits have found it particularly prevalent rely heavily on adjunct staff. For example, in the 2019-2020 in some transnational settings. In some institutions, it is academic year, Modul University Dubai’s website revealed

42 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

that its Department of International Management employed Technology use has become popular in higher education only two full-time lecturers (who were both employed as worldwide, to extend modes of program delivery and to assistant professors) and seven part-time lecturers. Prestigious provide learners with new opportunities to gain knowledge institutions previously relied heavily on the fly-in staffing and skills. Some research has generally found that offshore model, but this has been used much less in recent years because learners are mostly satisfied with the information and of the high costs associated with flying in and accommodating communication technology (ICT) facilities provided in visiting staff from the home campus, and the reluctance of classrooms; their teachers’ use of ICT; the availability of academic staff to undertake offshore teaching assignments. computers with appropriate software for personal use; and the A number of studies have found that students are generally provision of online learning resources for independent study satisfied with their lecturers and teaching in their program (e.g. Wilkins, Balakrishnan, & Huisman, 2012). (e.g. Ahmad, 2015; Mok, 2012; Pieper & Beall, 2014; Wilkins, However, Ahmad’s study (2015) in Malaysia, and Nair, Balakrishnan, & Huisman, 2012). However, satisfaction with Murdoch, and Mertova’s study (2011) in South Africa, found lecturers does vary according to their contract type. Both that some students could not gain wi-fi access throughout scholarly research (e.g. Miliszewska & Sztendur, 2010; Mok, the day, while others complained that computer labs had 2012) and audits conducted by quality assurance agencies insufficient opening hours. Most international branch (such as the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency – QAA – and campuses have fairly modest libraries, in terms of their Australia’s Tertiary Education physical size and the number of Quality and Standards Agency items stocked. However, most – TEQSA) have found that In many countries, including the UK, offshore students have access while students are typically assessment and feedback is one of the areas to the same online journals satisfied with the quality of in which student satisfaction is lowest. and electronic resources full-time and visiting academic available to onshore students staff, they are less satisfied with at the main home campuses, the subject expertise and availability/support of adjunct staff. which typically results in the offshore students being satisfied Transnational education is typically delivered according with the overall level of learning resources available to them to the idealised norms in the main Western higher education (Wilkins, Balakrishnan, & Huisman, 2012). systems, e.g. that students are actively involved in their In many countries, including the UK, assessment and classroom learning and that they undertake substantial feedback is one of the areas in which student satisfaction is amounts of learning independently. For students who have lowest. The same tends to apply in transnational education, only previously experienced didactic teacher-led education, and learners are generally less satisfied with the guidance, as is the case in some host countries, this can be challenging. support and assessment feedback provided by adjunct For example, Chinese students often feel anxious when they teaching staff. The vast majority of offshore learners pay are asked or expected to communicate in English in lessons. tuition fees, which are often relatively high in the local In such situations, some academic staff encourage and context, and therefore students commonly perceive that they support the students to adjust to Western styles of learning, are ‘buying’ an education. In some countries, such as those in while other staff may simply regard these students as low the Arab Gulf region, the local culture emphasises social status quality. and reputation. As a result, students and their families often Given that most international branch campuses have fewer expect that students will receive high grades regardless of their than 1,000 students, class sizes tend to be much smaller at ability or effort. Furthermore, Randeree (2006) found that offshore campuses than their home country counterparts. plagiarism is common in the UAE because students are naïve Offshore students are more likely to feel special; receive and view the sharing of work to be simply an act of kindness more attention from academic staff; and generally enjoy and helpfulness, rather than an unethical act. Some offshore more staff interaction (Garrett et al., 2017). However, small programs do not incorporate the compulsory training and cohort sizes may make it more difficult to run clubs and out- testing of student knowledge on plagiarism that exists at home of-class activities. Most institutions have a mechanism by campuses. which students may suggest and establish clubs and societies, both for academic and recreational purposes. Virtually every Campus experience offshore campus has a system for pastoral care, which typically involves each student having a personal tutor, with whom ‘Campus experience’ is a term that is commonly used to refer they meet two or three times each academic year, to review to student experiences that are not directly related to teaching academic progress and to resolve any issues related to study, and learning (which in this article has been referred to as the careers or personal problems/difficulties. academic experience). Student services associated with study vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins 43 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

outside the classroom, careers and personal well-being are South Korea and the UAE. In the UAE, there are two shared referred to as student support in this article. Thus, the campus campuses: Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) and experience is mainly concerned with the quality of the physical Dubai Knowledge Park (DKP). Among other institutions, campus environment as a place to study, undertake sporting and Amity University (India), Birla Institute of Technology and recreational activities, socialise, and possibly live. However, it Science (BITS) Pilani (India), Curtin University (Australia), should be noted that the vast majority of international branch Heriot-Watt University (UK), Manipal University (India), campuses do not offer student accommodation. Murdoch University (Australia) and the University of The main barriers that prevent offshore branches providing Birmingham (UK) are based at DIAC, while Islamic Azad a high quality campus experience are lack of scale and University (Iran), Middlesex University (UK) and the financial resources. In 2014, the UK’s Quality Assurance University of Wollongong (Australia) are located at DKP. Agency for Higher Education (QAA) concluded that only On shared campuses, the infrastructure provider, often a two of the eleven British universities that were operating property developer, may provide the physical structures for in the UAE could be recognised as campuses in terms of dining facilities; sports and leisure facilities; health services; their infrastructure and facilities (QAA, 2014). Because the and student accommodation, which is typically available for vast majority of international branch campuses have fewer use by students of different institutions. Some infrastructure than 1,000 students, they do not possess the scale needed providers also organise recreational and careers events, and to develop purpose-built campuses that offer social and sports competitions. EduCity, a shared campus in Malaysia, sporting activities, dining facilities, student accommodation has a sports complex featuring a 6,000-seat stadium; a 1,500- and extensive library or computing facilities (Wilkins, seat indoor arena; an Olympic-sized swimming pool; student 2018). Many institutions fail to achieve enrolment targets or accommodation; and a common student area for socialising financial break-even, and in these circumstances it is a huge and special events. Despite these facilities, some students have risk investing in campus infrastructure. still complained about the lack of food and beverage options Because it generally takes a number of years before it and entertainment outlets, as well as poor accessibility because is known whether a new campus will be successful and of limited public transport (Wan & Weerasena, 2018). sustainable in the long term, it takes a number of years after It is not only the physical infrastructure that determines campus establishment before institution decision makers the quality of the campus experience. Students who use the will commit to large-scale campus investment. Hence, it facilities available to them and who participate in activities is the campuses that were established before 2010, and – whether sporting, cultural or recreational – are more which now have over 3,000 students, that are most likely to likely to be happy and satisfied with their overall student offer campus experiences that are comparable with home experience. Also, students who identify with their institution campuses. A problem for students when deciding where to may be happier and more satisfied. In particular, many US study is that most institutions claim on their websites and institutions are known to be successful in developing and in their promotional literature that they offer a high quality nurturing student-institution identification, i.e., students’ student experience. Those institutions that have good campus sense of belonging and oneness with the institution. For infrastructure – like Amity University Dubai – will emphasise institutions, the benefits of student-institution identification the fact whenever possible, and those institutions that do not include students and alumni spreading positive word-of- – like Synergy University Dubai – will offer in their website mouth (recommending the institution to others); graduates and publicity materials little or no information about their participating in alumni events; alumni making financial physical infrastructure, and will emphasise instead other donations; and alumni sending their children to the things such as graduate careers (Wilkins & Huisman, 2019). institution they attended. Most offshore campuses have some As an example, Amity University Dubai’s website boasts: sort of student representative body, such as a student council or union, but these vary in influence and effectiveness, often Our 700,000 square feet campus in Dubai International Academic City boasts top-notch infrastructure that inspires because of the host country culture and political regime. anyone who walks through our doors. From our digital class- Texas A&M University at Qatar aims to create in Qatar the rooms and high-tech specialised labs in the academic block, same institutional ethos of the home campus in Texas (Wood, to the world-class residential, recreational and fitness facili- 2011). Students at Texas A&M are commonly referred to as ties, the campus is unmatched by any other in the region. ‘Aggies’. The department of student affairs in Qatar seek to replicate home campus traditions wherever possible. Every One solution available to offshore providers that do not year, an evening of fellowship is enjoyed by current students, possess the scale or financial resources to develop their own alumni and academic staff at the annual Muster held in Texas, purpose-built campus is to operate from a shared campus. Qatar and numerous other locations worldwide. It is an event Shared campuses exist in countries such as Malaysia, Qatar, full of symbolism and traditions. For example, candles are lit to

44 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

honour Aggies who passed away in the previous year. During offshore campuses, graduates receive limited assistance Gig’em week, undergraduate students, in both Texas and in finding employment, mainly because these campuses Qatar, who have completed 90 credit hours toward a degree, have limited links with employers in the host country. may collect an Aggies ring (usually made of gold), which is However, internships and work placements are becoming an important symbol of Aggie values and ideals. Sports and more common in some campuses. At the University of athletics are important on most US campuses, and students Wollongong in Dubai, ‘Professional Experience in Business’ at the Qatar campus are encouraged to participate both as is an internship subject, which is designed to ensure that players/competitors and spectators. Spectators are expected students engage with work integrated learning. to wear the official maroon coloured T-shirts. Some Aggie Most offshore campuses do not offer health services. traditions are difficult to replicate in Qatar – for example, However, students studying on shared campuses typically students participating in community service and volunteering have access to medical centres, where they can visit a – but, overall, students in Qatar enjoy a campus experience general practitioner or undertake the medical examinations that is somewhat comparable with their counterparts at the required by international students to obtain study visas home campus. (e.g. having a blood test in the UAE). The vast majority of international branch campuses do not have their own student Student support accommodation. Some campuses work with private providers to whom the institution refers students. Shared campuses Most students in higher education enjoy a range of support usually have student accommodation that is operated by services outside the classroom, such as language support; the infrastructure provider, but in some locations the rental personal counselling; careers information and advice; health charges may be expensive. services; and provision of accommodation or assistance in finding accommodation. The vast majority of transnational Conclusion programs are taught in English, and at many offshore campuses English is integrated into the foundation or first Although institutions are tasked with ensuring that year of programs, even though this may not occur at the students have a positive experience, there are aspects of the home campus. For example, the first year of programs at students’ overall experience that are determined off campus. the University of Nottingham’s campus in Ningbo, China is Unfortunately, institutions may have little ability to influence considered as a preliminary year that consists of considerable things like the scarcity and high cost of housing, or incidents English language training. After the first year, further English of racially motivated attacks on students. Furthermore, language support is available, but it is not compulsory. individual students have their own personal expectations, Some institutions, such as the University of Wollongong desires and preferences, and these may even vary over time, in Dubai, position the English language centre in a separate making it difficult for institutions to achieve a high student college that provides pathway programs to higher education experience rating from every student. Perceived student study. Such centres often focus on preparation of students for experience may influence a student’s satisfaction, which may in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) turn influence whether the student completes their program English language test. Language support is also common or withdraws; achieves well academically; and engages in at the offshore campuses that do not teach primarily, if at positive behaviours toward the institution, e.g. recommending all, in English. At Soochow University of Laos, all students it to others. Thus, student experience and student satisfaction must complete a preparatory course in Chinese language are concepts that no higher education institution can ignore, before starting their degree program, and students also particularly when quality assurance agencies and institution receive on-going support in Chinese language during their rankings expect institutions to provide student experience degree program. Although most students at this campus are and achieve student satisfaction. Lao citizens and also ethnic Chinese, some students find it When researchers and quality assurance/regulatory bodies difficult to write in Chinese. evaluate student experience in transnational education, Only a handful of the very largest international branch they typically consider the extent to which the offshore campuses employ full-time staff that offer personal experience replicates the home campus experience and/or counselling or careers advice and support. The most common the extent to which it is equivalent or comparable. Given arrangement for these services is to have specialists who visit that most international branch campuses are much smaller the campus for fixed time periods once or twice a week. than their home campus counterparts, and have far fewer While this may be sufficient for the majority of students, financial resources, it may be unreasonable to expect the personal counselling may not be available immediately to offshore campuses to replicate home campus offerings. a student who needs it urgently at short notice. In most However, the evidence presented in this article suggests that vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins 45 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

most international branch campuses – and particularly the Nair, C.S., Murdoch, N., & Mertova, P. (2011). Benchmarking the student experience: The offshore campus experience. larger campuses – offer a student experience that is largely The TQM Journal, 23(6), 585-597. comparable with that enjoyed by students at the main home Neri, S., & Wilkins, S. (2019). Talent management in transnational country campuses. As offshore campuses continue to grow in higher education: Strategies for managing academic staff at size, and gain more experience of operating in foreign countries, international branch campuses. Journal of Higher Education Policy and it is likely that student experience will further improve. Management, 41(1), 52-69. Pieper, A., & Beall, J. (2014). Impacts of transnational education on host Stephen Wilkins is a professor of strategy and marketing countries: Academic, cultural, economic and skills impacts and implications at The British University in Dubai. He has authored more of program and provider mobility. London: British Council/DAAD. than 80 scholarly works, of which more than 60 are refereed Pohl, H., & Lane, J.E. (2018). Research contributions of international journal articles. Much of his research is concerned with branch campuses to the scientific wealth of academically developing countries. Scientometrics, 116(3), 1719-1734. transnational higher education and international branch QAA. (2010). UK collaboration in Malaysia: Institutional case studies – campuses. University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Gloucester: The Quality ORCID: 0000-0002-0238-1607 Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Contact: [email protected] QAA. (2014). Review of UK transnational education in United Arab Emirates: Overview. Gloucester: The Quality Assurance Agency for References Higher Education. Randeree, K. (2006). Challenges in engineering education in the Ahmad, S.Z. (2015). Evaluating student satisfaction of quality at United Arab Emirates. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: international branch campuses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Gulf Perspectives, 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.zu.ac.ae/lthe/ Education, 40(4), 488-507. lthe03_02_04_randeree.htm. Altbach, P.G. (2010). Why branch campuses may be unsustainable. Sabri, D. (2011). What’s wrong with ‘the student experience’? Discourse: International Higher Education, 58, Winter 2010, 2-3. Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(5), 657-667. Badri, M.A., Abdulla, M., Kamali, M.A., & Dodeen, H. (2006). Shah, M., Roth, K., & Nair, C.S. (2010). Improving the quality of offshore Identifying potential biasing variables in student evaluation of teaching student experience: Findings of a decade in three Australian universities. in a newly accredited business program in the UAE. International Australian International Education Conference 2010, Sydney, October Journal of Educational Management, 20(1), 43-59. 12-15. Bhuian, S.N. (2016). Sustainability of Western branch campuses in UNESCO/Council of Europe (2001). Code of good practice in the the Gulf Region: Students’ perspectives of service quality. International provision of transnational education. Riga: UNESCO/Council of Journal of Educational Development, 49, July, 314-323. Europe. Buultjens, M., & Robinson, P. (2011). Enhancing aspects of the higher Wan, C.D., & Weerasena, B. (2018). EduCity, Johor: A promising project education student experience. Journal of Higher Education Policy and with multiple challenges to overcome. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing. Management, 33(4), 337-346. Wilkins, S. (2017). Ethical issues in transnational higher education: Donn, G., & Al Manthri, Y. (2010). Globalisation and higher education The case of international branch campuses. Studies in Higher Education, in the Arab Gulf States. Oxford: Symposium Books. 42(8), 1385-1400. Garrett, R., Kinsner, K., Lane, J.E., & Merola, R. (2017). International Wilkins, S. (2018). Definitions of transnational higher education. branch campuses: Success factors of mature IBCs, 2017. London: The International Higher Education, 95, Fall 2018, 5-7. Observatory on Borderless Higher Education. Wilkins, S., Balakrishnan, M.S., & Huisman, J. (2012). Student Gibbs, P., & Dean, A. (2014). Troubling the notion of satisfied satisfaction and student perceptions of quality at international branch students. Higher Education Quarterly, 68(4), 416-431. campuses in the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Higher Education Healey, N. (2015). Towards a risk-based typology for transnational Policy and Management, 34(5), 543-556. education. Higher Education, 69(1), 1-18. Wilkins, S., & Huisman, J. (2019), Institution strategy in transnational Lane, J.E., & Kinser, K. (Eds.) (2011). Multinational colleges and higher education: Late entrants in mature markets – The case universities: Leading, governing and managing international branch of international branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates. campuses. New Directions for Higher Education, 155, Fall 2011. Studies in Higher Education, published online 30 July 2019, doi: Miliszewska, I., & Sztendur, E. (2010). Australian TNE programs in 10.1080/03075079.2019.1649386. Southeast Asia: The student perspective. London: The Observatory on Wilkins, S., & Rumbley, L.E. (2018). What an international branch Borderless Higher Education. campus is, and is not: A revised definition. International Higher Monash University (Undated). The Monash Experience. Available from Education, 93, Spring 2018, 12-14. https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/646642/One- Wood, C.H. (2011). Institutional ethos: Replicating the student Monash-Brochure.pdf. experience. New Directions for Higher Education, 155, Fall 2011, 29-39. Mok, K.H. (2012). The rise of transnational higher education in Asia: Student mobility and studying experiences in Singapore and Malaysia. Higher Education Policy, 25(2), 225-241.

46 Student experience at international branch campuses Stephen Wilkins vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Perspectives from the Inside

Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz Western Sydney University

In this paper, we discuss findings from a research project in which barriers to and facilitators for promotion with women academics were explored. Four focus groups of women academics at an Australian university were held. Data including responses to semi-structured questions were analysed and interpreted using coding and thematic analysis. We found that multiple barriers and facilitators still exist in the university sector for women applying for promotion, covering structural, organisational, and individual levels. The barriers for promotion included workloads and huge expectations, the multi-pronged promotion process, competition, not being valued, juggling family life and not wanting to risk happiness. Facilitators for promotion included mentoring and collaborative nurturing, giving back to others including the university and flexibility. Keywords: Barriers and facilitators for promotion, women academics.

levels in Universities (Universities Australia, 2017) and a steady Introduction increase in gender balanced representation on academic board committees, women nevertheless remain poorly represented in Women currently constitute 50 per cent of the population in the top tier roles. Equal gender representation across all levels of Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016), 50 per cent of academia is crucial to ensure leadership and innovation that is the workforce (Workplace Gender Equity Agency, 2017) and representative of the population, inclusive and diverse (Jarboe, 56 per cent of students in Australian universities (Universities 2017). Universities as educators of our future workforce Australia Executive Women, 2018). While the number of leaders have been called upon to set an example in increasing women employed has increased in Australia there remains an representation of women in senior leadership positions yet overall gender pay gap and less than 50 per cent of women in women do not always claim senior appointments, with 84 per senior management positions (Commonwealth Government cent of men claiming senior appointments compared to 16 of Australia, 2017). The presence of women in the academic per cent of women as at 2016. Universities are now targeting sphere has increased exponentially in the past 50 years with academics claiming senior appointments such as professorial and women making up most of the tertiary sector workforce yet senior executive positions by providing mentorship programs their representation in upper level positions in academia and professional development support that will enable women remains underwhelming (Bell, 2016; Dobele et al., 2014; Eddy to apply for promotion and succeed (Universities Australia & Ward, 2015; Jarboe, 2017; Madsen, 2011; Pyke, 2013). Executive Women, 2018). While it is to be applauded, there has been a constant increase Evidence in the literature indicates that, while equal in the number of women representatives at senior management opportunity policies are in place in academia, women are still vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 47 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

not being awarded promotions, regardless of their workload the ideal of fundamental, robust research that is long-lived or achievements (Dobele et al., 2014; Treviño et al., 2015). (Ylijoki, 2013). A 2000-2013 review of the literature suggested a paucity of Women in senior management positions in universities find research in this area and suggested future research focus on the it difficult to balance their roles between management and impact of gender in higher education (Gómez et al., 2016). research. They often provide support and solve other people’s While the literature is expanding regarding gender inequality problems at the expense of having time for their own research in leadership positions, the precipitants and causes of the issue (White, Carvalho & Riordan, 2011). The uneven distribution remain a point of conjecture (Airini et al., 2010; Howe-Walsh given to teaching and research affects career progression & Turnbull, 2014). In higher education, cultures cultivate because teaching is absorbing and highly marginalised whilst networks that exclude women, especially in leadership roles publications and research work is more important for career (Burkinshaw & White, 2019). progression. Research is valued at the expense of teaching. With this project we aimed to identify and explore Workplace relationships contribute to career barriers in barriers and facilitators, as perceived by female academics pursuing success that pertain to a lack of collaboration employed at one university in Western Sydney, New South amongst colleagues working together in research and a Wales, Australia, who are, or have considered, applying for an workplace milieu that promotes competitiveness rather than academic promotion. collegiality (Santos, 2016). Women tend to be disparaging The research questions for this study were: about a shallow performance-driven culture that is heavily 1. What barriers do academic women face when applying regulated and leads to anxiety about ‘production’. Arguably for a promotion? research should be considered as a core activity rather than 2. What facilitators might help academic women in being additional to teaching (Fletcher et al., 2007). applying for a senior position? Women may feel that their intrinsic motivation and academic freedom are being violated if their performance Background is measured by predetermined quantitative as opposed to qualitative measurements (Kallio & Kallio, 2014). There are numerous barriers and facilitators that academic Performance management discourages novelty and women face in their journey towards promotion. These innovation and leads to bland research (Kallio et al., 2016). barriers and facilitators consist of various levels that include Some academics now regard universities as merely other structural, organisational and individual factors. The workplaces that were previously seen as communities of structural barriers that women face include professional scholars. Workload has increased due to previously managed relationships developed in their networking with colleagues administration tasks being transferred to teachers and these and mentoring they provide or receive during their career. deteriorating working conditions lead to reduced levels The organisational levels that women face include issues that of autonomy in work and less academic freedom (Yljoki, are related to women’s harassment, bullying and patriarchal 2005). These administrative tasks include producing self- values that are bestowed upon them. The individual levels assessments, mission statements and strategic plans that are that women face include work and family issues and gender considered futile. As a result, academics have little time to stereotypes that align with the role of women as mothers engage in research (Ylijoki & Ursin, 2013). In Australia, raising families. These multi-factorial levels will be discussed the ongoing discourse of managerialism permeating the in this review of the literature. university executive, is often unevenly distributed within the organisation (Göransson, 2011). Barriers to promotion faced by academic women at the structural level Barriers to promotion related to a gendered organisational culture While universities and the wider community try to increase the female presence, specifically in senior leadership The literature suggests that bullying and discrimination positions, issues continue to arise due to the structures and against women continue to occur in the academic sphere, requirements of universities and ability to secure funding. depleting confidence levels and eliminating supports that Without adequate funding, academics are unable to conduct are prerequisites to promotion (Monroe et al., 2008; Pyke, significant research and subsequent publications, important 2013). A UK study found British Universities continued to prerequisites for senior leadership positions (White, 2015a). have specific social events and outlets which remained off The short turnaround time of spending the revenue related limits to women while new male colleagues were explicitly to the research means that research projects have a fast- invited, consequently providing men with more opportunities paced approach that tends to be of short duration and lacks to develop networks and garner support (Fisher & Kinsey,

48 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

2014). Other researchers have found apprehension about Barriers to promotion faced by academic having women in senior positions within the university women at the individual level system (Afiouni & Karam, 2014) and policies may cement the problems of re-positioning women in more senior positions Significant barriers to promotion for women reported in (Fitzgerald & Wilkinson, 2010). the literature include family responsibilities and career It has been suggested that gender plays an integral role in interruptions such as child bearing and caring for children gatekeeping practices and women are disadvantaged, as it is or ageing parents and trying to strike a work / life balance often men who are in gatekeeper roles (Brink & Benschop, (Monroe et al., 2008; Airini et al., 2010; Devine, Grummell 2014). Barriers have been identified in the promotion & Lynch, 2011; O’Connor, 2011; Pyke, 2013; Bell & Yates, process, for example, gender bias was found in letters of 2015; Morley & Crossoard, 2015). The literature suggests that recommendation for promotion with letters in support family or carer responsibilities cause interruptions in a woman’s of women containing more ‘negativity, hedges and faint career, resulting in a sporadic or intermittent trajectory along praise’ than their male counterparts which was found to their career pathway (Pyke, 2013). Some academic women have an impact on the applicant’s evaluation (Madera et with children feel a heavy burden when they are not always al., 2018 p.11). If women have a greater propensity to enter available for their children and may feel as though they are teaching roles compared with men, they may have a deficit of missing out on their children’s growing processes (Santos, knowledge about research skills 2015). Women’s aspirations compared with men (Fletcher to gain professorial positions et al., 2007). Managerialism Barriers have been identified in the may negatively impact in its conflicted attitude to promotion process, for example, gender bias women’s academic careers as gender equity and diversity, was found in letters of recommendation for domestic expectations are not may in fact, re-emphasise the promotion with letters in support of women recognised (Ozbilgin & Healy, discrimination of women in containing more ‘negativity, hedges and 2004). working towards promotion Importantly, in an (Teelken & Deem, 2013). faint praise’ than their male counterparts... Australian study, Pyke (2013) Some academics will delay found that women who were seeking promotion due to aspiring to apply for promotion the perceived demands of senior leadership positions and to a senior academic level did not have children, their children difficulties in meeting these demands in the context of were older, or their partner played the primary carer role. competing family commitments (Hardy et al., 2016). In fact, Research has further indicated the need for academics to be some women may never pursue academic roles in preference willing and able to conduct research in the international space taking on leadership roles that may occur accidentally or out to achieve promotion, a task made more difficult by family of altruistic reasons through commitment to the university responsibilities (Fritsch, 2015; Hardy et al. 2016) with travel (Acker, 2014). Women are more likely to engage with requirements posing time, energy, resources and financial leadership roles in alignment with changes in universities that constraints. Santos (2016) found that academics defined harbour valuing knowledge, teamwork, inclusivity of various successful careers as being able to establish a healthy work- disciplines and feedback (Blackmore, 2014). life balance and that this was more important for younger Pyke (2013) reported that women who did not aspire to women than men. Alternatively, work life balance can be just promotion identified increased paperwork or workload, as well as difficult for younger men as for younger women, especially as a change in their position as disincentives for promotion when trying to negotiate part-time work (White, 2015b; which would result in them no longer being able to engage in Padavic, Ely & Reid, 2019). enjoyable aspects of their current position. Women are prone to contribute to their own downfall as they are distracted Facilitators to promotion that may assist by conflicting demands on their time (Burkinshaw, 2015). academic women at the structural level Young women have been reluctant to embrace the university organisational culture in order to pursue their academic careers One significant facilitator for promotion identified frequently (Burkinshaw & White, 2017). Interestingly, recent literature throughout the literature is the implementation of mentoring has identified that the notion of the ‘boys club’ is still prevalent (Diezmann & Grieshaber, 2010; Fritsch, 2015; Harris, in universities and may be acting as a barrier for women to gain Ravenswood, & Myers, 2013; Pyke, 2013). Mentoring has promotion to senior positions (Fletcher et al., 2007; O’Connor, benefits of advancing careers and performance and provides 2011; Brink & Benschop, 2014; Fisher & Kinsey, 2014; Morley, a positive contribution to career success (Kirchmeyer, 2005). 2014; Fritsch, 2015; White, 2015a; Santos, 2016). As previously discussed, a lack of networks and support for vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 49 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

an individual can act as significant barriers to promotion so Facilitators to promotion that may assist it follows that a support system that includes mentoring has a academic women at the individual level facilitating effect. Harris et al. (2013) went so far as to utilise a fairy tale metaphor, describing higher positions in universities Young women in Santos’ (2016) study found that they were as the ‘Ivory Tower’ and having mentors play the role of the fairy able to separate their work and personal life as an academic as godmother. Mentoring is seen as important for gaining access to they achieved more flexibility in their hours of work schedule, established research circles and contacts (Fletcher et al., 2007). especially if they had young children in their early careers. One way of attaining excellence for women in their Similarly, Fletcher et al. (2007) also found that women enter academic career is a strategy that involves collaborating with this type of profession as their perception is that family more senior dedicated scholars that enable them to co-publish responsibilities are more successfully managed and flexible. with them resulting in increased citation of their publications. Some academics have immersed themselves in research and Persistence is also a virtue for women who are publishing, and appreciate the time it takes to slowly think and write and this can be a large component of the game of transitioning rewrite as a testimonial to their own dedication, engagement from rejection to publication when addressing editors’ and enthusiasm as a researcher (Ylijoki, 2013). Many academic comments. The rewards of excellence in academia translate to women enjoy their job and the financial security it brings. job mobility, peer esteem and better career prospects (Butler Other academic women have found that mothering may not & Spoelstra, 2012). Women have reported the advantages of be meeting their needs and is exhausting, whereas academic networking with colleagues as a method of integrating into work provides meaning in life, a sense of purpose, autonomy the research culture (Fletcher et al., 2007). However, there and personal achievement (Santos, 2015). seems to be a shift from this collegial way of working to a new managerialist form that resonates with a top down approach Methodology (Göransson, 2011). Promotion models are the norms and rules that guide Four focus groups were undertaken with women academics to academics into their individual choices and career paths and explore challenges and possible resolutions to issues regarding can ultimately change over time. For example, the opportunity promotion for women in academia in one university. Each of applying for a new position at another university to pursue focus group was specific to a particular group based on promotion may also mean tougher competition for that seniority in academia. The aim of running the focus groups position. Some academics who have reflected on their career was to illicit responses to research questions regarding choices refuse to focus their life on publishing, alternatively, perceived barriers to applying / obtaining senior academic emphasise their desire to maintain their work on interesting positions. A secondary aim was to determine what support subjects at a pace that suits them (Dany, Louvel & Valette, might assist in reducing / overcoming obstacles identified. 2011). Focus groups were an ideal and meaningful source of data collection for this research regarding the focused topic Facilitators to promotion that may assist of barriers or facilitators perceived by women interested in academic women at the organisational or actively seeking promotion in academia. Focus groups level were the preferred method for collecting data as groups may give rise to insights of not just the individuals present but Facilitators for promotion for women include supportive revelations and solutions might then be identified by other policies and legislation, aiming to encourage universities participants in the group (Quinn Patton, 2002; Stewart & and organisations to support women in achieving senior Shamdasani, 2015). Focus groups usually entail participants leadership positions (Diezmann & Grieshaber, 2010; who come from a similar cultural and social background or White, 2015a). Equal employment opportunities have been alternately share similar interests or knowledge (Liamputtong, found to be a primary facilitator for promotion for women 2009). Participants in this research often responded to others (Diezmann & Grieshaber, 2010). Indeed, some universities in order to express their own ideas about the phenomena of place more importance on collegial characteristics such as interest providing additional insightful perspectives about listening, consensual-decision-making and people skills that issues regarding promotion (Stewart & Shamdasani, 2015). are traditionally seen as feminine skills, but not recognised as One advantage of holding focus groups for this research specifically feminine (O’Connor & Carvalho, 2015). Women was that a number of participants could be interviewed make positive contributions to university decision-making at simultaneously in the limited time available (Stewart & senior levels of management and are renowned for making Shamdasani, 2015). Focus groups usually include between decisions sensitively, being more pragmatic and fairer in all four and 12 participants (Stewart & Shamdasani, 2015, processes (White et al., 2011). Krueger & Casey, 2015). In this research the size of the focus

50 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

groups varied from two to five participants. In line with other researchers (Minichiello, Aroni & Hays, 2008), we would Textbox 1 – Semi-structured interview questions argue the small groups were effective for the study topics in I am interested in your opinion and/or experiences question, being barriers and facilitators for promotion, as the regarding academic career progression. participants were more likely to emphasise their viewpoint and I’d like to start by asking what motivated you to come not be swayed by others as could be the case in larger groups. along to the group today? The researcher could observe the collaborative sense making What obstacles do you see as being in the way of and the divergence or convergence of expressed viewpoints progressing your academic career? during a focus group (Wilkinson, 2008). The exploration of Tell me more about these barriers? one phenomenon, in this research, barriers and facilitators for What may help to overcome these barriers? promotion in academia, from multiple viewpoints may assist What may assist you to progress/apply for a promotion? in developing a more detailed and many-sided account of that …how can [name of university] provide support? topic of interest and allow comparisons to be made (Reid, How do you feel about your career progression? Flowers & Larkin, 2005). Why aren’t you applying for a senior academic promotion? Recruitment and sample Is there anything you would like to add?

Following approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee (No. H12298) a request seeking interested academics was services including the Employee Assistance Program and an promoted twice on the E-update Daily News. This resulted external provider. Participants consented to the use of recording in over 100 emailed responses, however very few respondents devices following an invitation to ask any questions of the requested further information. Posters inviting participation moderator regarding this research. There were no concerns in focus groups were then distributed across all campuses. or emotional distress reported by academics participating in Following this response, information sheets and consent forms the focus groups concerning their university work, although a were emailed to interested academic staff. Participants self- couple of participants complained about exhaustion regarding selected which campus they preferred, and which focus group workloads. they would attend based on their level of seniority. Although the number of participants was lower than The four focus groups were undertaken at two campuses. anticipated (see Table 1) the focus groups were lively, vibrant Two focus groups were offered to women who were senior level and the rich data provided insight into this relevant topic. academics and two were offered to lecturer level academics Timeframes for focus groups ranged from 40 to 96 minutes. (less senior). Unfortunately, on two of the set dates industrial Demographic questions included age, number of children, action occurred and the numbers of participants was lower years spent in academia and discipline (see Table 2). than anticipated. Due to the limited time and budgetary Table 1 Number of participants in focus groups constraints, further focus groups were unable to be arranged. Semi-structured open questions were asked of the participants Focus Focus Focus Focus with prompts utilised when required (see Text Box 1). Gp 1 for Gp 2 for Gp 3 for Gp 3 for One researcher (the first author) convened (moderated) Senior Senior Lecturer Lecturer the focus groups. Although complete objectivity is not Aca- Aca- Level Level possible (Stewart & Shamdasani, 2015), the moderator demics demics Academics Academics provided an introduction before each focus group affording No of 2 5 3 2 some contextual background. The moderator acknowledged partici- being an Early Career Researcher with prior experience in pants arranging focus groups who was a relatively Table 2: Characteristics of participants recent employee with the university and had an interest in, but was not currently seeking, Age Children No of How many How many What promotion. A supportive leadership style yes/no children years in years at is your (Stewart & Shamdasani, 2015) approach was under 18 academia the current discipline? utilised in the focus groups with a friendly, university? equitable and open approach provided to all 30- 59 8 yes 5 with 2 – 30+ years <1 to 30 5 STEMM group members. years 4 no children (Average years years 7 Non- Additional information was provided at the (Average <18 years in academia STEMM age 45) of age 12 yr) focus groups regarding access to counselling vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 51 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

A summary of findings was emailed to participants who possible categories. Segments of the text were highlighted requested this, with no requests from participants for any and examined in order to determine the underlying meaning. changes. This project was not specifically targeted towards Initial categories / codes were arranged into visual mind academics employed in STEMM (Science, Technology, maps on the NVivo program to assist with synthesis and Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine) fields, however five refining and all codes were defined and named. These were participants represented STEMM areas and seven from non- then further classified, and re-coded as necessary with any STEMM areas. The themes identified for all focus groups duplications identified and preliminary analysis recorded was similar with some differences between the senior and less (Creswell, 2014). Following identification and description senior academics that will be discussed further. All participants of the main themes, the differences and similarities were who attended were interested in seeking promotion in the then compared between the four focus groups outlined in future or were currently seeking promotion. Some of the the findings section, below. This is followed by a discussion participants knew each other but issues of power and control of the main themes / categories in light of the existing were managed as senior and less senior staff were in separate literature (Bazeley, 2009). focus groups (Krueger & Casey, 2015). In order to ensure the confidentiality of participants is protected, no further Findings: Barriers encountered in characteristics of participants are included in this paper. promotion processes by academic women Data analysis Both barriers and facilitators to seeking promotion were A brief literature review was undertaken prior to undertaking identified following coding and thematic analysis of the data. the focus groups with a more thorough search for literature taking place following thematic analysis. Thematic analysis Structural barriers was utilised to identify core themes from the data. The data included full transcripts of recordings in addition to notes and Workloads and huge expectations reflections taken by the moderator (Krueger & Casey, 2015). The escalating levels of workloads that resulted in reduced Riessman (2008) suggests that set standards or criteria should levels of energy and increased levels of stress and burnout be avoided in relation to the validity of qualitative research, was the most prominent theme in this project. Several of the however for research findings to be considered trustworthy, participants had reached their limit and capacity in what they a researcher should be able to demonstrate they followed a could achieve due to excessive workloads which meant that systematic method of data collection and analysis that was subsequently, they avoided applying for promotion. Among guided by ethical considerations and theory. In this research the comments from participants were the following: project the moderator used hand written notes recorded Senior level academic focus group: before (for example, the positions of academic staff around ‘I think that expectation is there, that if you’re going to keep the interview table and placement of recording devices), your job, if you’re going to get the next job, then you have to during (short points of interest and insights) and after each be working all the hours that God gives you…’ focus group that included a recorded reflection, which were all utilised during the analysis process. Cross-checking of ‘Yeah, sacrifice your life essentially.’ themes was undertaken by the second co-author (who was Lecture level academic focus group: more senior than the first author) for this paper. If there was ‘You never catch up.’ any disagreement regarding a theme, the authors discussed their perspectives considering the data. ‘ Yep.’ The process of thematic analysis was assisted by a ‘You’ve never done enough. You’ve never submitted enough qualitative data analysis program NVivo (12) developed by grant applications. You’ve never written enough journal arti- QSR International. NVivo allowed the researchers to look cles. You haven’t done enough research. You haven’t got - and very closely at the data (Krueger & Casey, 2015) in order to it’s - you are never meeting the expectations that people have clarify and categorise themes (called codes in NVivo) that of you. That’s how I feel. I feel like I am so behind.’ were identified by the researchers (Bazeley, 2007; Bazeley, 2009). The transcribed recordings were initially listened Academics said they invested so much time already that to by the moderator with missing parts of the interviews there was no incentive for future application to a higher level or incorrect sections replaced. After the full transcribed of promotion. Some participants feared additional workloads interviews were imported into NVivo the data was read and stress with any promotion process was just far too time several times with notes taken during this process to identify consuming and too difficult to address.

52 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

As one lecturer level academic stated: basis, because men just throw caution to the wind...Just chuck it....and they’re like, I am good enough for this and I’ll go for ‘I was really interested in this research, because, I guess, for me, it, whereas women are like, no, no, no, I need to address this I sometimes sit and reflect and I think am I interested in going specific criterion.... So, we tend to hold back until we’re ready further than where I am now? Do I actually have the capacity and so that’s…like, there’s no way that I’ll meet these criteria…’ to do that? I feel like so much of me is already invested at this level. I just don’t know that I have any more to give.’ The requirements for the promotion process and the need to meet the three levels of achievement i.e. namely teaching, The number of excessive hours being worked was a research and governance was reported as being difficult to common theme identified by many academics. The number of achieve. hours paid versus the number of hours actually worked within As outlined by one senior level academic: an academic’s week was highlighted as a financial conflict, as ‘I think the promotion process and selection criteria is a bar- the 35-hour week often equated to 50-, 60- or 70-hour weeks. rier…Previously you had to show certain levels of achieve- Lecturer level academic: ment across at least two of the three criteria. Now, they ‘...already I’m working 15 hours a week for free. Is it I become want a well-rounded academic. However, we are a teaching a Senior Lecturer and suddenly I’m working 30 hours a week... focused university, but they will still in the back of their for free? So technically I’m actually taking a pay cut to have heads always put the focus on...on your research produc- this position?’ tivity…Then when they question your research productivity and you say it’s because I’ve been doing all this teaching...it’s, well, the teaching can take care of itself now. You should be The risks to health while working long hours was identified doing research. But in what hour of what day...would you by some participants who made decisions not to take on like me to do that?’ additional promotional opportunities. Senior level academic: Competition versus Collegiality ‘I work - I make sure I don’t work more than a 50-hour week otherwise I get health consequences. Lately I’ve tried to keep Participants highlighted that it can, at times, be colleagues it to about 45….’ that pose a barrier in professional progression. ‘Unfortunately, there are people that try and – not block you necessarily, but there’s people that aren’t always supportive to help you The multi-pronged promotion process with that progression…’ It was further indicated that this Most academics considered the promotion process to be competition amongst colleagues was felt more keenly with onerous, unclear and open to interpretation. Several academics colleagues who were women. ‘There’s no collegiality, it just stated that they would need to step out of their current role in seems to me to be, again, intrinsically, a female thing and most which they performed well to attend to roles the university of my mentors in the school are male’. considered more important towards promotion. Academics Academics perceived the university encouraged did not always feel they were acknowledged for the value competition rather than collaboration due to the limited and the effort directed towards their current roles. This is resources available such as grants, ‘there’s all these silos…. this demonstrated in the following comment: university loves this divide and conquer thing, right’. Other Lecturer level academic: academics highlighted that the structure of the university as a multi campus environment that did not contribute to being ‘Not worth it [promotion]… Now that doesn’t mean I’m not open to it, it doesn’t mean that I can’t, but I know it says for able to collaborate. ‘I think the multi campus nature of our [more senior promotion] and what I would need to do to get school… and it keeps expanding and moving. It really dilutes that. At the moment…I couldn’t even keep reading the doc- that opportunity to have that collegial nature.’ ument. I would need to completely change - I would need to On the other hand, some academics worked together in step down from being [in governance role] for starters and I teams with senior staff included in order to obtain grants or know that but that’s what I happen to be good at…To be pro- write publications together and used this towards promotion. moted I actually need to leave that and do some other things As stated by a senior level academic: that the university regards as important…’ ‘…having a Professor has really helped my career, but also actu- Some academics considered they lacked the competitive ally the early career researchers that I’m working with, so we edge to apply for promotion and never felt they had achieved did team together. We’re friends. We said, right, each of us is enough to apply. going to write a grant. We’re going to put everybody on it. Lecturer level academic stated: Each of us is going to write a publication. We’re going to put everybody on it…’ ‘…they’ll say, men get promoted over women on a regular

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 53 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Organisational barriers ‘The other topic that comes up …quite a bit is little cliques of rock stars who seem to have tremendous levels of support and Not being valued, recognised or recognition and they’re almost being groomed by senior staff…I acknowledged can watch this happening in front of my eyes. Some of it is excit- ing and motivating and some of it’s really having a terrible effect Several academics stated that the expectations of working at on everyone else’s motivation because they feel like there are a higher level without being remunerated were off-putting these favourites, they feel like there’s these rock stars.’ regarding applying for promotions. Academics identified little acknowledgement of difficult workloads from managers and felt their individual contributions were not recognised. Individual barriers Senior level academic: Always juggling decision making: Work vs ‘That intrinsic feeling of worth, that what you do is valued, is children felt as though as if it’s a contribution to the university and they see that that’s a good thing. Whereas I don’t think I might - I Some participants struggled juggling work and meeting the do work 12-hour days and it’s just always well why can’t you needs of their children whilst also attempting to meet the do this, we need this done. We need that stat. It’s like what is requirements for promotion and career progression. it? - and I’ve just worked seven days straight like this.’ Lecturer level academics stated: ‘...the natural challenges of juggling motherhood with work- Some academics identified the lack of senior staff ’s ing. Even in terms of things that look good on the CV like recognition and incentivising staff already working at the level international conferences and doing fellowships at interna- for which they would be applying. tional universities or all kinds of international travel, even A lecturer level academic stated: domestic conferences are a challenge.’

‘Just - sometimes I wish that our ‘student feedback on teach- ‘When I’m in the car or at work smashing things out, I’m ing’ (SFT) was actually read by someone who was in a posi- thinking about all the things I should be doing at home with tion to give us that recognition... Who’s actually reading them my kids, but when I’m with my kids, all I want to do is check and going, you know what? This person is consistently doing my emails to see what I’m missing.’ an amazing job. They deserve some recognition.’ Senior level academic: Other academics noted the absence of gender equity in the ‘If you want to be an associate professor or professor, then workplace. you’ll make your kids and your husband book time with you A senior level academic stated: on your days off. But if you want to spend time with your ‘We don’t have any representation, any female representation family, then you need to be content with being at a certain or any gender and equity value.’ level.’

However, another senior level academic stated: Not wanting to risk happiness in current role Some academics did not want to apply for a promotion as ‘Yet this project is being funded by a vice-chancellor’s gender equity fund. So, there are things.’ they did not want to risk no longer enjoying their career. Remaining happy in their career was more important than applying for more senior roles. Grooming the rock-star Senior level academic – There was a perception by several academics that some staff ‘I think a successful career is one where you’re happy. That’s are more valued than others and are provided with additional really important to me. I don’t have that goal to - I’ve got to support and opportunities for both university awards and be a professor to be successful in my career. I just have to be promotions. Some academics suggested that the Dean / doing work that I’m really committed to and feel passionate supervisor decided who would be supported for promotion and happy. ‘ and everyone else was refused the opportunity even if that Senior level academics highlighted the requirements for academic felt they had the same or better qualifications than promotion included expectations that you would sacrifice the person promoted. There were also several comments your family life, happiness and disrupt any work / life balance. regarding favouritism and being groomed for the awards This prevented future promotions as academics chose health and the promotions processes. Some academics were being and happiness over future promotion. mentored and assisted including both men and women while ‘...if you want to push your name forward, as in get ahead, then others doing their work are ignored. As one senior level you almost have to....accept that you’re going to be working in lecturer states:

54 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

the evenings and you’re going to be working on the weekends ‘I think making an impact, making a difference is definitely to be able to get yourself - your name on as many things as you important for me…To society or whatever your field is, what- can, and that’s not for me...(different academic) ‘Well, yeah, it’s ever your area of interest is…To the stakeholders in your field. not healthy. So for me I chose not to push myself to that extent I’m not talking about policy or whatever it is…. But yeah, to because then I won’t be happy, and that’s the bottom line.’ people in society.’

Senior level academics acknowledged the importance of Facilitators encountered in promotion making a difference and mentoring less experienced staff. On processes by academic women the other hand, lecturer level academics sought more support and wanted more of a work / life balance: Structural facilitators: Mentoring and collaborative nurturing ‘Successful career… Thriving in your position…Allowing to develop… Your work supporting you, so that you can thrive and Participants identified the need for collaboration to undertake develop…Having a good work / life balance, where you can still research and for women academics to support each other thrive. What’s a successful career? Being able - feeling moti- in a collaborative and supportive way and recognised the vated that you can actually get to the next step, to the next level importance of mentors providing support for the promotion up. Yeah, having a balance. The three areas that we have to focus process. on, governance, teaching and research, having a good spread Senior level academic: and actually making a difference in all of those areas.’ I think the fact that we live in this world and have a life ‘So it’s almost like we need that community of women, a community of women that are there to support other women to live, it’ll be nice with a successful career if you have the because only other women can relate to what you’ve just said proper financial payment I suppose. I think finance also and go, oh my goodness, I can absolutely imagine how that defines success. Anything - I mean, academia is probably not would be, to be blocked out when you’re the person leading the best, but again I enjoy the job, so hence...I stay in it. I am this thing. So that sort of feels like that’s a thing that’s needed really satisfied with the job itself, but I guess there’s room for for academics, is other women to support each other.’ movement.’ Several academics identified the need for promotion and specific mentoring programs to assist women academics who Individual facilitators: Flexibility apply for promotion, including the provision of guidance and Other academics at both lecturer level and senior lecturer role support as well as the actual application process. appreciated the flexibility of their work life. Senior level academic: As one lecturer level participant states: ‘There’s the mentoring program, which the university runs, ‘This university has offered me a great deal of flexibility in which is really beneficial and that’s really what helped me to terms of my working arrangements which makes it possi- be confident enough to go for a promotion because I would ble to effectively juggle motherhood and working, which go and talk to my mentor who would look at what I’ve got and so many of my friends who had children around the same go, are you mad? Of course, you should go.’ time haven’t been able to achieve in other work places. I am just so extremely grateful for that. I really, really am. There’s A good mentor identifies your abilities even if you are not no expectation that you have to arrive at nine and stay until aware of them and supports academics to go for promotion five. You can organise your work schedule around what your family needs. On any of the rare occasions when I have to say Senior level academics saw their role as including mentoring to my supervisor, no I can’t make that meeting because there’s unlike lecturer level academics who sought mentoring. nobody else to pick up the children, there’s not an eyelid bat- tered. Despite the fact that she doesn’t have children herself. ‘ Organisational facilitators: Giving back Senior level academics stated there were many factors they Another senior level lecturer commented: enjoyed in their current role and that a successful career also ‘That’s one positive thing is the flexibility around the working meant they could contribute to others including the university. hours.’ This also meant more autonomy and choices regarding where they could go in their career and the following comments reflect this: Discussion ‘Well I think there’s a lot that I’d like to give back to the uni- versity and that’s always been the way I’ve worked. I believe This paper supports existing evidence that there remains that we commit that to our profession – give back to our pro- a multitude of factors that include barriers and facilitators fession, that’s part of what you do as an academic.’ for women applying for promotion in the workplace. These factors are faced by women at the structural, organisational vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 55 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

and individual levels. These findings have been reported in (2011) also highlight the breadth of work across these specific this research study and will be discussed further considering three areas as criteria for applying for promotion. Dobele et the existing literature. Barriers to promotion will be discussed al. (2014) found that junior academics juggle large teaching initially followed by facilitators. workloads that leaves insufficient time and resources to be able to attend to their own research. Barriers to promotion faced by academic Academics identified colleagues as a barrier to career women at the structural level progression and perceived that they were encouraged to The increasing workloads was the most prominent theme work in isolation due to the competitive nature of grants and identified for academics in this study and reportedly resulted in promotions. The geographical locations of the multi campus increased levels of stress and burnout and subsequent reduced sites within the university also made it more difficult to energy levels. Extensive workloads contributed to academics collaborate. This study highlighted that being a community of feeling unprepared to tackle any tasks associated with applying scholars is a possible facilitator, for example, working together for promotion. Similarly, Pyke (2013) found that women were in groups to write grants, promotional documentation less likely to aspire for promotion due to increased workloads. and papers. Research by MacFarlane (2016) suggests that Barrett and Barrett (2011) identified that large schools spend collegiality has been outweighed by the competitive pressure most of the time on teaching and this leaves little time to devote for individual academics to meet performance targets and to research, which often means that women are spending time provide external evidence to support claims for success which after hours working on research. Ideally, universities should also results in academics feeling isolated. allocate workloads equally, so that academic staff working at lower levels should also have the opportunity to expand their Barriers to promotion faced by academic roles into other areas such as research and governance that women at the organisational level will count towards their future promotion. This distribution Academics in this study identified the lack of achievement of work should be equitable to ensure that academics are not and recognition for the substantial workloads that they had working extensive hours past the normal working week and endured. The working culture was identified as non-nurturing. enables academics to work towards a well-rounded portfolio Similarly, Pyke (2013) also identified the work organisational of their achievements (Barrett & Barrett, 2011). Levels of out- culture as being pivotal to advancing career development of-hours academic work has been shown to be high, although and that a lack of support or bullying in the workplace were increased accessibility to technology enables academics to work contributory factors in not progressing further. anytime and may encroach into leisure time (Barnett, Mewburn One of the main themes for this study highlighted gender & Schroter, 2019). inequity as an inevitable component of being unrecognised as Excessive workloads prevented academics from applying women that contributed substantially to their lack of career for future promotions as it was deemed that the time taken development. Fritsch (2015) highlights that women are often to prepare for promotion was not a realistic option. The rapid judged by their personal appearance or behaviour, rather than growth of managerialism in Australia over the past 20 years their achievements or qualifications. Ranieri et al. (2016) has encouraged women towards applying for promotion identify one of the themes in their scoping review of the although they may be railroaded into assuming demanding literature as career discrimination that is based on gender. The governance roles that exhaust them and leave no room or time feminisation debate places women in the minority, but this for important work that will eventually contribute towards will change as women’s participation levels are on the increase their promotion (Teelken & Deem, 2013). Academics in this in universities (Morley, 2011). The continuing gender gap study identified the pressure of never having done enough to in pay poses a significant barrier towards women’s career even consider applying for senior positions and this leads to a advancement (White & Burkinshaw, 2019). Despite the vicious circle of not being able to apply for adequate funding move of universities to introduce policies to eradicate gender to conduct significant research that ultimately leads to the inequity, this has not been translated into achieving just that. inability to procure senior positions which resonates with Academics identified the complete lack of recognition and White’s (2015a) findings discussed earlier. up to the point of being ignored, even if they had performed Most academics considered the promotion process to well in their career, whereas other academics were groomed be unclear, did not feel that they had achieved enough to and promoted all the way, almost being favoured over others’ apply and they would need to step out of their current role reputable achievements. Other research (O’Connor, 2011) in order to work towards promotion. The requirements has found that women do not ‘feel valued’. The supervisor or for the promotion process and meeting the three levels of Dean was instrumental in this process as academics who were achievement, such as teaching, research and governance were nominated for recognition including awards or opportunities reported as a difficult process. Similarly, Barrett and Barrett for promotion were often those who were continually in the

56 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

limelight. Academics being groomed by those above were workloads and longer working hours. Women and men perceived to be given additional support and mentored should be able to work to their potential whilst maintaining towards promotion. This is a finding that has not been work-life balance (Bagilhole, 2013). Academics in this study previously addressed in the literature. identified the risks to health if they continued to work long hours and decided against taking on additional promotional Barriers to promotion faced by academic opportunities which resonates with Santos’ (2016) study women at the individual level which found that academics defined successful careers as Academics felt restricted in applying for promotion due to establishing a healthy work-life balance. family responsibilities. In the past decade, Barrett and Barrett’s (2011) study identified that women’s family responsibilities Facilitators to promotion faced by academic often precluded them from engaging in research and if they women at the structural level were to achieve in that space, this implied doing that work Academics identified the need for collaboration with after-hours. Women’s nature of work was often associated partners to undertake research and supporting each other in with fractional and part-time employment that further a collegial way. Academics also recognised the importance precluded them from applying for promotion (Barrett & of mentoring within the university environment and that Barrett, 2011). In the current climate, family responsibilities a mentor would identify and encourage those skills and such as caring for children or ageing parents still contribute attributes that they were not aware of themselves. Available to this disparity of promotion in the workplace (Airini et al., current mentoring programs need to be enhanced, better 2010; Bell & Yates, 2015; Monroe et al., 2008; Pyke, 2013). advertised and targeted for women seeking promotion. More importantly, travel abroad including lengthy stays in Academics also identified that supporting the application another country also contribute to advancement in promotion process of promotion was an inherent component of to professorial positions (Fritsch, 2015) and this factor could mentoring. The academics in this study also emphasised also prevent women with families and children applying for the importance of senior level academics seeing their role such advancement in their career. This geographic mobility as including mentoring unlike lecturer level academics who has been identified as an essential component of advancement sought mentoring. of careers (Fritsch, 2015; White, 2015b; Zippel, 2017). Ranieri et al. (2016) identified in their scoping review Academics identified that family were aware of their work of the literature that work environments that included responsibilities encroaching into their home and family mentoring had a major positive influence on academics life environment. They identified the dichotomy of family seeking promotion and that a supportive supervisor was also members viewing them as always being at the computer and if important to early career researchers. They also found that spending time with family at home, the omnipresent thoughts the literature focused on the barriers to effective promotion that they should be working and answering emails that they and found a gap in the literature that provided positive had not attended during the work week. Pyke (2013) also incentivisation and motivation to continue in academia reports on the abilities of women being able to seek promotion (Ranieri et al., 2016). In addition, Pyke (2013) identified the that could be restricted by responsibilities of family care, that importance of a having a mentor in the academic working included physical care and emotional well-being of family environment as an integral component of one’s career members. Similarly, Ranieri et al. (2016) also identified work- aspirations. Diezmann and Grieshaber (2010) suggested life balance as one of the themes scoped in their review of mentoring was a catalyst for success for women applying for the literature and identified the imbalance between extreme professorial roles. workloads and the responsibilities of child-rearing with women often challenged in applying for promotion due to Facilitators to promotion faced by academic accommodating children and their husband’s careers (Eddy & women at the organisational level Ward, 2015). Academics in this study showed that a successful career also Academics identified risking their happiness in their meant that they could contribute to others in the university current position if they were to apply for a higher promotion. and that they were providing some unique contribution This finding is unique as other studies have not revealed this back to the university. Similarly, other literature (White et important revelation, although Caprile (2012) alluded to al., 2011) found that women also contributed positively to the choice of life-course factors. Academics identified the their university decision-making. Academics in this study distinction between being available for family when at home highlighted that more autonomy and choices scaffolded and keeping work life separate to family life. The importance their career including support from their supervisor or Dean of work-life balance and happiness surpassed the benefits that has a positive practical contribution for other academics of promotion which they envisaged aligned with higher pursuing their promotion. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 57 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Facilitators to promotion faced by academic that their role included mentoring less-senior academic staff women at the individual level and they saw their role as giving back to the community. Previous studies (Ylijoki, 2005; Ylijoki & Ursin, 2013) Less-senior academics were seeking mentoring specific to have highlighted the lack of autonomy and academic promotion and working in a collaborative way with others to freedom that has been forced upon academics due to high write grants, promotional job applications and publications. intensive administration tasks, and managerialism that The tertiary sector would be wise to consider supporting has reduced senior academics’ power (Göransson, 2011), collaborative mentorship arrangements for staff seeking however senior level academics in this study stated that they promotion as a means of overcoming some of the barriers with valued their autonomy. This study also found that academic more senior staff utilised to formally assist in this role. women appreciated the flexibility of academic life that they experienced that resonates with young women in Santos’ Individual (2016) study being able to juggle young children and work in Women should be provided with more flexibility in their their early careers. Conversely, women who take advantage of working patterns so that they are able to maintain better this flexibility may be caught up in a ‘flexibility stigma’ that management of their family. Offering part-time employment results in their careers being derailed and further embedding should not preclude women from applying for more senior gender inequality and ultimately may lead to different career positions. Consideration should primarily involve the trajectories (Padavic et al., 2019; White & Burkinshaw, 2019). contribution of the woman’s work, rather than how many hours she has worked in her current role. Limitations and future research opportunities The participation rate in focus groups was lower than Conclusion expected. Several reasons provided by academics included industrial action, childcare issues, sick children, illness in There are numerous reasons why women might choose not academics and ‘being busy’. This project only offered live to seek promotion in academia including structural issues focus groups for participants, despite several staff requesting that include excessive workloads and other colleagues, on-line and telephone interviews, that may have increased organisational issues that include lack of recognition and the response rate. Due to time and budgetary constraints gender inequity issues and individual issues that include additional focus groups were unable to be arranged. There family and work life balance. Facilitators for overcoming were insufficient participants to identify differences between barriers to promotion need to be considered for women in the the STEMM and non-STEMM areas regarding barriers and workplace in light of the findings from this study. facilitators to applying for / obtaining promotions. There is an identified need for future research that includes Dr Lyn Francis is currently the Academic Course Advisor in extending the scope of the seeding grant to include interviews the postgraduate Master of Nursing (Professional Studies) with all identified gender groups who are successful senior at Western Sydney University and research areas include academics and professional staff across other schools and domestic violence, gender equity, workplace bullying, health universities in addition to senior management staff in the law and consent. private sector. Comparisons across the sectors can then be explored providing further opportunities to enhance our Associate Professor Virginia Stulz is currently working in a knowledge regarding barriers and facilitators to promotion conjoint position and is currently Chief Investigator on four to more senior positions for staff who are academics or research projects in her district that investigate innovative professional staff members. models of midwifery care and improving birth options for women. Practical implications Contact: [email protected]

Structural References Policies need to address a clear and transparent process of Acker, S. (2014). A foot in the revolving door? Women academics in promotion to ensure that there is no bias toward any academic lower middle management, Higher Education Research & Development staff members. Vol. 33, pp. 73-85. Afiouni, F. & Karam, C. M. (2014). Structure, agency and notions of Organisational career success: a process oriented, subjectively malleable and localized Women academics at all levels need to be acknowledged approach. Career Development International 19, 548-571. and seen to be valued not just when they receive awards or Airini, Collings, S., Conner, L., McPherson, K., Midson, B., & Wilson, promotions. Women at senior lecturer levels acknowledged C. (2010). Learning to Be Leaders in Higher Education: What

58 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Helps or Hinders Women’s Advancement as Leaders in Universities. Creswell, J.W. (2014). Research Design (4th Ed.) Sage Publishing, Educational Management Administration & Leadership 39(1), 44-62. California USA doi: 10.1177/1741143210383896 Dany, F., Louvel, S. & Valette, A. (2011). Academic Careers:the limits Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). 3235.0 – Population of the ‘boundaryless approach’ and the power of promotion scripts. by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2016. ACT: Retrieved Human Relations 64, 971-996. from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/ Devine, D., Grummell, B. & Lynch, K. (2011). Crafting the Elastic Lookup/3235.0Main+Features12016?OpenDocument Self? Gender and Identities in Senior Appointments in Irish Education. Bagilhole, B. (2013). Shaping an Academic Belonging: The Interloper Gender, Work and Organization 18(6), 631 – 649. doi:10.1111/j.1468- Syndrome by Gender and Class, in B. & White, K. (eds.), Generation 0432.2009.00513.x and Gender in Academia, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 46 – 64. Diezmann, C. M., & Grieshaber, S. J. (2010). Gender equity in the Barnett, A., Mewburn, I. & Schroter, S. (2019). Working 9 to 5, not the professoriate: A cohort study of new women professors in Australia. Paper way to make an academic living: observational analysis of manuscript presented at the HERDSA Conference, Melbourne. Retrieved from and peer review submissions over time. British Medical Journal https://eprints.qut.edu.au/41176/1/41176.pdf 367(16460). doi: 10.1136/bmj.16460 Dobele, A. R., Rundle-Thiele, S., & Kopanidis, F. (2014). The cracked Barrett, L. & Barrett, P. (2011). Women and academic workloads: glass ceiling: equal work but unequal status. Higher Education Research career slow lane or Cul-de-Sac? Journal of Higher Education 61, 141- & Development 33(3), 456-468. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2013.841654 155. Doi: 10.1007/s10734-010-9239-3. Eddy, P. L., & Ward, K. (2015). Lean In or Opt Out: Career Pathways Bazeley, P. (2007). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. London UK: of Academic Women. Change: The magazine of higher learning 47(2), Sage Publications Ltd. 6-13. Bazeley, P. (2009). Analysing qualitative data: More than ‘Identifying Fisher, V., & Kinsey, S. (2014). Behind closed doors! Homosocial desire Themes’. Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research 2, 6-22. and the academic boys club. Gender in Management: An International Journal 29(1), 44-64. doi: 10.1108/gm-10-2012-0080 Bell, S. (2016). Ivory Towers and Glass Ceilings: Women in Non- traditional Fields. 109-123. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-0315-8_7 Fitzgerald, T. and Wilkinson, J. (2010). Travelling towards a mirage? Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sharon_Bell4/ Gender, leadership and higher education. Post Pressed: Mt. Gravatt, Qld. publication/309354777_Ivory_Towers_and_Glass_Ceilings_Women_ Fletcher, C., Boden, R., Kent, J. & Tinson, J. (2007). Performing in_Non-Traditional_Disciplines/data/580ab77708aecba934f9689c/ women:the gendered dimensions of the UK new research economy. Ch7-Glass-Ceilings.pdf Gender, Work & Organization 14, 433-453. Bell, S., & Yates, L. (2015). Women in the Science Research Workforce: Fritsch, N.-S. (2015). At the leading edge – does gender still matter? Identifying and Sustaining the Diversity Advantage. Melbourne L.H. A qualitative study of prevailing obstacles and successful coping Martin Institute University of Melbourne. Retrieved from https:// strategies in academia. Current Sociology 63(4), 547-565. doi: womeninscienceaust.org/2014/06/15/women-in-the-scientific- 10.1177/0011392115576527 research-workforce-identifying-and-sustaining-the-diversity- advantage/ Gómez Cama, M., Larrán Jorge, M., & Andrades Peña, F. J. (2016). Gender differences between faculty members in higher education: A Blackmore, J. (2014). Wasting talent? Gender and the problematics of literature review of selected higher education journals. Educational academic disenchantment and disengagement with leadership. Higher Research Review 18, 58-69. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2016.03.001 Education Research & Development 33, 86-99. Göransson, A., (2011). Gender quality and the shift from collegiality to Brink, M., & Benschop, Y. (2014). Gender in academic networking: managerialism, in Bagilhole, B. & White, K. (eds.), Gender, Power and The role of gatekeepers in professorial recruitment. Journal of Management, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 50 – 77. Management Studies 51(3), 460-492. Hardy, A., McDonald, J., Guijt, R., Leane, E., Martin, A., James, A., Burkinshaw, P. (2015). Higher Education, Leadership and Women Jones, A., Corban, M. & Green, B. (2016). Academic parenting: Vice Chancellors fitting in to communities of practice of masculinities. work–family conflict and strategies across child age, disciplines Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. and career level. Studies in Higher Education 43(4), 625-643. doi: Burkinshaw, P. & White, K. (2017). Fixing the Women or Fixing 10.1080/03075079.2016.1185777 Universities. Administrative Sciences 7(30), 1-14. Harris, C., Ravenswood, K., & Myers, B. (2013). Glass slippers, Holy Burkinshaw, P. & White, K. (2019). Networking and gender equality in Grails and Ivory Towers: gender and advancement in academia. Labour academic leadership, in Antoniou, A. Cooper, G. & Gatrell, C. (eds.), & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work 23(3), Women, Business, and Leadership: gender and organisations, Cheltenham 231-244. doi: 10.1080/10301763.2013.839084 UK: Edward Elgar, pp. 159-174. Howe-Walsh, L., & Turnbull, S. (2014). Barriers to women leaders Butler, N. & Spoelstra, S. (2012). Your excellency. Organization 19, in academia: tales from science and technology. Studies in Higher 891-903. Education 41(3), 415-428. doi: 10.1080/03075079.2014.929102 Caprile, M. (2012), Meta-analysis of gender and science research, National Jarboe, N. (2017). WomenCount Australian Universities. Retrieved Hellenic Research Foundation, Brussels: European Commission. from https://women-count.org/portfolio/womencount-australian- universities-2016/ (accessed 7 March 2019) Commonwealth Government of Australia. (2017). Australia’s gender equality scorecard; key findings from the Workplace Gender Equality Kallio, K.-M. & Kallio, T. J. (2014). Management-by-results and Agency’s 2016-2017 reporting data. Retrieved from https://www.wgea. performance measurement in universities - implications for work gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/australias-latest-gender-equality- motivation. Studies in Higher Education 39, 574-589. scorecard-released-0

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz 59 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Kallio, K.-M., Kallio, T. J., Tienari, J. & Hyvönen, T. (2016). Ethos at a scoping review of the literature. BMJ Open 6(10), 1-7 doi: 10.1136/ stake: Performance management and academic work in universities. bmjopen-2016-013523 Human Relations 69, 685-709. Reid, K., Flowers, M., & Larkin, M. (2005). Exploring lived experience. Kirchmeyer, C. (2005). The effects of mentoring on academic careers Psychologist 18(1), 20-23. over time:testing performance and political perspectives. Human Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Relations 58, 637-660. Boston College USA: Sage Publications Inc. Krueger, R. & Casey, M. A. (2015). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Santos, G. G. (2015). Narratives about work and family life among Applied Research, California USA: Sage Publications. Portuguese academics. Gender, Work & Organization 22, 1-15. Liamputtong, P. (2009). Qualitative Resarch Methods (3rd ed.). Oxford Santos, G. G. (2016). Career barriers influencing career success. Career University Press, Melbourne, Australia: Development International 21, 60-84. MacFarlane, B. (2016). Collegiality and performativity in a competitive Stewart, D. W. & Shamdasani, P. N. (2015). Focus Groups: Theory and academic culture, Higher Education Review 48(2) 31-50. Practice, California USA: Sage Publications. Madera, J. M., Hebl, M. R., Dial, H., Martin, R., & Valian, V. (2018). Teelken, C. & Deem, R. (2013). All are equal, but some are more equal Raising Doubt in Letters of Recommendation for Academia: Gender than others: managerialism and gender equality in higher education in Differences and Their Impact. Journal of Business and Psychology 1-17. comparative perspective. Comparative Education 49(4), 520 -535. DOI: doi: 10.1007/s10869-018-9541-1 10.1080/03050068.2013.807642 Madsen, S. R. (2011). Women and Leadership in Higher Education. Treviño, L. J., Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Balkin, D. B., & Mixon, F. G. (2015). Advances in Developing Human Resources 14(2), 131-139. doi: Meritocracies or Masculinities? The Differential Allocation of Named 10.1177/1523422311436299 Professorships by Gender in the Academy. Journal of Management Minichiello, V., Aroni, R. & Hays, T. (2008). Group interviewing:from 44(3), 972-1000. doi: 10.1177/0149206315599216 focus group interviews to consensus groups. In: Minichiello, V., Aroni, Universities Australia. (2017). 2016 Selected Inter-institutional gender R. & Hays, T. (eds.) In-depth Interviewing. 3rd ed. Sydney, Australia: equity statistics. Retrieved from https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu. Pearson. au/uni-participation-quality/Equity-and-Participation/Women-in- Monroe, K., Ozyurt, S., Wrigley, T., & Alexander, A. (2008). Gender universities/Selected-Inter-Institutional#.XIBUMigzYdU Equality in Academia: Bad news from the trenches, and some possible Universities Australia Executive Women. (2018). Best Practice solutions. Perspectives on Politics 6(2), 215 -233. Recruitment Guidelines to Fast Forward the Advancement of Women in Morley, L. (2011). Misogyny posing as measurement: disrupting the Australian University Executive Appointments. Retrieved from https:// feminisation crisis discourse, Contemporary Social Science 6(2), 223-235. www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Case- DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2011.580615 Studies-Best-Practice-Recruitment-Guidelines-19-Dec-2018-1.pdf Morley, L. (2014), Lost leaders: women in the global academy, Higher White, K. (2015a). Are we serious about keeping women in science? Education Research & Development 33, 114-128. Australian Universities’ Review 57(2), 84-86. Morley, L. & Crossouard, B. (2015), Women in higher education White, K. (2015b). Keeping women in science. Melbourne: Melbourne leadership in South Asia: rejection, refusal, reluctance, revisioning, Brighton University Publishing. UK: University of Sussex, Centre for Higher Education and Equity White, K. & Burkinshaw, P. (2019). Editorial, Special Issue of Social Research. Sciences on Women and Leadership in Higher Education. O’Connor (2011). Where do women fit in university senior White, K., Carvalho, T. & Riordan, S. (2011). Gender, power and management? An analytical typology of cross-national organisational managerialism in universities. Journal of Higher Education Policy and cultures, in Bagilhole, B. & White, K. (eds.), Gender, Power and Management 33, 179-188. Management. A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Higher Education, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 168-191. Wilkinson, S. (2008). Focus Groups. In Smith J. (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (2nd ed.), Sage O’Connor, P. & Carvalho, T. (2015). Different or similar:constructions Publications, London, UK. pp. 186-206. of leadership by senior managers in Irish and Portuguese universities. Studies in Higher Education 40, 1679-1693. Workplace Gender Equity Agency. (2017). Australia’s gender equality scorecard; key findings from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s Ozbilgin, M. & Healy, G. (2004). The gendered nature of career 2016-2017 reporting data. Commonwealth Government of Australia. development of university professors: the case of Turkey. Journal of Retrieved from https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2016-17- Vocational Behavior 64, 358-371. gender-equality-scorecard.pdf. Padavic, I., Ely, R. J. & Reid, E. M. (2019). Explaining the Persistence Ylijoki, O.-H. (2005). Academic nostalgia: A narrative approach to of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Socila Defense academic work. Human Relations 58, 555-576. against the 24/7 Work Culture. Administrative Science Quarterly 1-51, DOI: 10.1177/0001839219832310 Ylijoki, O.-H. (2013). Boundary-work between work and life in the high-speed university. Studies in Higher Education 38, 242-255. Pyke, J. (2013). Women, choice and promotion or why women are still a minority in the professoriate. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Ylijoki, O.-H. & Ursin, J. (2013). The construction of academic Management 35(4), 444-454. doi: 10.1080/1360080x.2013.812179 identity in the changes of Finnish higher education. Studies in Higher Education 38, 1135-1149. Quinn Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). California, USA: Sage Publications. Zippel, K. (2017). Women in Global Science: Advancing Academic Careers through International Collaboration, California: Stanford Ranieri, V., Barratt, H., Fulop, N., & Rees, G. (2016). Factors that University Press, Stanford. influence career progression among postdoctoral clinical academics:

60 Barriers and facilitators for women academics seeking promotion Lyn Francis & Virginia Stulz vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision?

Nicolette Buirski Southern Cross University

A review of the trends in doctoral education reveals that the focus has been on what supervisors should do in supervision and very little on ways of being in the supervisory relationship. A new direction for doctoral supervision foregrounds the importance of mindfulness traits that well-regarded supervisors embody in their highly valued relationships with candidates, that tacitly establish rapport and create a supportive interpersonal environment that is conducive to the candidate’s intellectual insightfulness and developing scholarly identity. These traits are capable of being learned by supervisors, regardless of the disciplinary setting, and may inform the professional development of doctoral supervisors. Keywords: Liminal spaces and threshold concept theory; mindfulness traits of well-regarded doctoral supervisors; doctoral supervisory relationship; supervisor development.

Introduction that may assist candidates to negotiate the liminal space of candidacy. The article begins with an overview of trends in In Australia and most countries, the award of a Doctor of doctoral education in Australia and globally. Philosophy (PhD) generally requires the development of a thesis that scholars will judge for its significance and originality as a Trends in the doctoral education literature contribution to knowledge in a discipline or field of education. Doctoral candidates must negotiate the intellectual and In Australia, interest in doctoral education has been evident emotional challenges commonly associated with meeting the since the early 1980s. Issues of concern in the literature requirements for the award of a PhD. To this end, universities reported at that time included: the quality of doctoral typically appoint one or more supervisors to guide and support supervision (Ibrahim, McEwan & Pitalbo, 1980; Barrett, the candidate. The desired characteristics and behaviours Magin & Smith, 1983); a perceived lack of clarity about of doctoral supervisors have been extensively investigated, doctoral supervisory roles and responsibilities (Moses, giving rise to the identification of a variety of models for best 1984); deficiencies in the research and writing skills of supervisory practice. Less well understood are the kinds of doctoral candidates (Zuber-Skerritt & Knight, 1986); the dispositional qualities of mind and character, which might be lack of recognition given to doctoral candidates for their called mindfulness traits, that enable a supervisor to develop contributions to research (Powles, 1984); and poor retention a strong intellectual and emotional rapport with a candidate and completion rates (Anderson & Johnston, 1983; Barrett within the supervisory relationship. This article suggests that & Magin, 1983; Hill, Johnston & Smith, 1983; Nightingale, there may be lessons from the rising trend of mindfulness in 1984; Powles, 1989). positive psychology, and particularly mindfulness in helping Interest in the quality of supervision intensified during the relationships, for promoting doctoral supervisory relationships early 1990s, particularly as it pertained to improving on-time vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski 61 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

doctoral completions. Moses investigated gender-related respond to national and institutional imperatives to improve and discipline-specific barriers to doctoral completions doctoral supervision in ways intended to achieve increased (Moses, 1990a; 1990b); and the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ efficiency. Committee (1990) examined the progress rates of doctoral Notwithstanding the volume of research produced, there candidates over a seven-year period from 1983. There also was still a lack of a robust conceptual understanding of what emerged an interest in the nature of supervisory quality. doctoral supervision involves (Pearson and Kayrooz, 2004). In Parry and Hayden (1994) investigated doctoral supervisory a similar vein, Grant (2003) noted that while good supervision practices across a range of academic departments at a large was widely considered to be central to the success of a doctoral metropolitan university in Melbourne; and Cullen et candidate, it was a pedagogy that was poorly understood, al., (1994), as part of a research project conducted at the with attempts to generate a unifying theory for supervisory Australian National University, surveyed doctoral supervisors pedagogy still limited. In Grant’s view, supervision was meant and candidates in order to identify characteristics of effective to be an ethical practice in which there were productive power doctoral supervision. A desire to see the research emphasis relations between a doctoral candidate and a supervisor move away from administration, policy, finance, and (Grant, 2003). However, Manathunga (2005), argued that governance also began to be expressed (Lee & Green, 1995). research to date had erroneously portrayed supervision as Green and Lee (1995), building on an earlier assertion by an unproblematic teaching relationship that was understood Connell (1985) that doctoral supervision is a highly advanced to be a rational and transparent engagement between two form of teaching and not simply a technical exercise, identified equally powerful, autonomous individuals. the need for doctoral supervision to be seen as a pedagogy As doctoral enrolments continue to increase, the Australian that involved complex power relations between the discipline, literature on doctoral education has come to accommodate a research and teaching. broad range of concerns. Pearson (2005) argued the need to Later in the 1990s, a Commonwealth Government review link critical developments in research on doctoral education in of higher education financing and policy (West, 1998) Australia with what is happening in the global context in this expressed further concern about lengthy doctoral completion area of research. Manathunga (2005), responding to a trend in times. It saw a link between these and supposed deficiencies Australia and elsewhere for universities to prescribe supervisor in the quality of doctoral supervision. In the policy statement training and development programs, criticised the focus of that followed, the Commonwealth Minister for Education many of these programs, arguing that they were concerned emphasised the importance of universities being responsive to solely with administrative responsibilities and that supervisors the needs, interests, and circumstances of doctoral candidates would benefit more from a pedagogical focus that took (Kemp, 1999). These developments prompted further account of the cognitive and affective demands of doctoral investigation of doctoral student dissatisfaction. Harman supervision. Parry (2007) provided a detailed analysis of the (2003) reported that PhD candidates were largely dissatisfied nature and significance of disciplinary differences and, in the with their supervision due to the high supervisory workloads process, identified the largely tacit ways by which candidates that had become prevalent as enrolments escalated nationally, learn disciplinary conventions. Boud and Lee (2009) together with weaknesses in supervisory practices. Neumann identified the need to frame doctoral education as an area of (2003), drawing upon a large-scale survey of doctoral professional practice that accommodates the various types candidates and experienced supervisors, reported similarly. of doctorates increasingly on offer. Nulty, Kiley and Meyers She found that as many as 12 per cent of the candidates (2009) produced a framework for promoting and recognising surveyed were dissatisfied with their experience of doctoral excellence in supervision. Vilkinas, Leask and Ladyshewsky supervision, and five per cent of respondents expressed serious (2009) articulated a business management approach to grievances (Neumann, 2003). Sinclair (2004) re-examined doctoral supervision. Brew and Peseta (2009) investigated doctoral completion rates and reported marked differences mechanisms for institutional recognition of successful between different disciplinary groupings, a finding that doctoral supervisors. Halse and Malfoy (2010) presented an resonated with earlier reports by Becher, Henkel and Kogan argument for theorising doctoral supervision as professional (1994) in the UK, and by Parry and Hayden (1994) and work, advancing a model that provided a discourse, language, Cullen et al. (1994) in Australia. Ways of improving doctoral and theory to prepare academics for understanding the task supervisory practices were explored, including through and responsibility of supervision. professional development of doctoral supervisors (Pearson & The need to develop more relevant doctoral supervisory Brew, 2002), the creation of models of facilitative supervisory training programs has also been a theme in the related practice (Pearson & Kayrooz, 2004), and evaluating the Australian literature. Hammond, Ryland, Tennant and Boud quality of doctoral supervision (Zuber-Skerritt & Roche, (2010), drawing upon a large-scale empirical investigation 2004). The trend in much of the research at this time was to of existing supervisory training programs in Australian

62 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

universities, identified a need to take account of the changing United States with a view to providing empirical evidence context of research education and of the impact that this that could be used to address the ‘woefully uneven’ quality of change is having on supervisory roles and responsibilities. They doctoral supervision. These researchers found that doctoral argued the need for a more formal and a more professional supervisor responsibilities were diverse: they included helping approach to supervisor training. Kiley (2011a) also identified candidates to be successful, and to develop as researchers this need. Drawing upon national data, including national and as professionals. Supervisory functions were reported to Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire survey include collaborating, mentoring, advocating, and chastising; data over the period from 2002 to 2009 that showed a slight and desirable supervisor characteristics were identified as improvement over time in candidate satisfaction levels with including being friendly, collegial, supportive, accessible and supervision, Kiley argued that although supervisory training honest (Barnes & Austin, 2009). According to Kiley (2011b), and development programs had become better informed by doctoral supervisors in Australia share many similarities with the increased focus on the pedagogy of research education, their American colleagues. there was only slight evidence that the quality of supervision Some pertinent themes and reference points from the had improved (Kiley, 2011a). literature on doctoral education include: how doctoral A more recent development in many Australian universities candidates achieve mastery of discipline-specific conventions has been the requirement to establish supervisory teams for making and reporting knowledge; what the characteristics or panels for each doctoral are of quality communication candidate. Manathunga between doctoral supervisors (2012) argues in favour of Supervisory functions were reported and their candidates; and this requirement, suggesting to include collaborating, mentoring, whether or not there are that it provides better support advocating, and chastising; and desirable tensions arising from the for doctoral candidates and supervisor characteristics were identified power imbalance between their supervisors, particularly as including being friendly, collegial, doctoral supervisors and those in trans-disciplinary and their candidates that have a inter-disciplinary fields where supportive, accessible and honest potential to be disruptive. a broad range of intellectual Important reference points on expertise is required. This these themes include works by development has provided insight into the way the sector has Parry (2007), Wisker et al. (2008), Arnold (2009), Doloriert, responded with relative speed to the perceived needs of higher Sambrook and Stewart (2012), and Jasman (2012). Parry degree research candidates in the rapidly changing context of (2007) investigated the importance to doctoral completion of doctoral education in Australia, and globally. understanding field-specific cognitive and social conventions Parallels exist between the interests of Australian researchers for making and reporting knowledge, which she identified and those of researchers in other countries concerning as being communicated largely by tacit means. Wisker et al. doctoral supervision. One broad area of interest concerns the (2008) identified the heavy reliance of doctoral candidates on requirements for high quality supervision. Wisker (2005), the communication skills of their supervisors, including skills writing in the context of the UK, developed a comprehensive in communicating tacitly. Arnold (2009), building on research list of recommendations for supervisors to follow to provide by Grant (1999), introduced insights from psychoanalysis effective supervision. Lee (2008), also drawing on experience as a means of exploring how doctoral supervisors might in the UK, argued that a more conceptual approach to learn from taking account of the requirements of one- supervision was required in order to add a new dimension to-one relationships between psychotherapists and their to doctoral supervisory relationships. Walker et al. (2008), clients. Doloriert et al. (2012), who investigated the nature drawing upon the results of a five-year project that sought of supervisor-candidate communications, identified the to transform doctoral programs at American universities, importance of emotion and how power within the supervisory reported that students who have had beneficial supervising relationship was managed. Jasman (2012) reported on an relationships often refer to themselves as ‘lucky’, highlighting initiative to make tacit elements of communication practices the almost random and haphazard access to high-quality more explicit in doctoral supervision so that these elements advising and mentoring (Walker et al., 2008). They also could be adequately questioned, reflected on, and changed. observed that ‘... effective teaching and advising of doctoral Doctoral education continues to be an important area for students should not be a matter of luck!’ (Walker et al., 2008). scholarly investigation. Cuthbert and Molla (2015) suggest Pursuing a related avenue of enquiry, Barnes and Austin that governments in many countries are now demonstrating by (2009, p.298) investigated the responsibilities, functions, their policies and auditing requirements that the management and characteristics of exemplary doctoral supervisors in the of the PhD is too important to be left to universities themselves. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski 63 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Governments also have a vested interest in the efficiency and space (see, for example, Trafford, 2008). Becher and Trowler effectiveness of doctoral supervision. In Australia, at least, fees (2001, p. 134) refer to it as a ‘rite of passage to the scholarly life’ for doctoral candidature in public universities are publicly in which the candidate is repeatedly confronted by conceptual subsidised, and public funding is predicated upon expectations challenges that must be addressed in order to make intellectual of timely completion by doctoral candidates. Attrition rates progress. In the liminal space of doctoral candidature, that are too high and completion rates that are too slow are candidates negotiating threshold concepts are prone to routinely identified as being a drain on public resources. experiencing feelings of uncertainty, ambiguity and a lack of High attrition rates also impose a significant personal cost authenticity (see, for example, Parry, 2007). Their intellectual on doctoral candidates. In Australia, as in other developed challenges have emotional correlates, an appreciation of which countries, there has been growth over recent decades in the is important knowledge for doctoral supervisors because of number of doctoral candidates. Associated with this growth, the relevance of emotions in candidature. as noted by Hammond et al. (2010), is an increase in the Doctoral candidates, by virtue of being in an extended diversity of doctoral programs. As documented by Neumann state of liminality, are prone to feeling uncertain and (2003) there has also been an increase in the diversity of the apprehensive about the knowledge-making processes in which backgrounds and aspirations of doctoral candidates. they are engaged. In these circumstances, the ways in which In Australia, doctoral supervisors report increased pressure supervisors relate to and are perceived by their candidates both to assist candidates to complete in minimum time becomes important. According to Spinelli (2005, p. 112), (Connell & Manathunga, 2012) and to supervise in areas there are ‘ways of being’ embodied in a helping professional that lie close to the perimeter of their spheres of knowledge that are conveyed to and perceived by the client. In the same (Manathunga (2012). There are also reports of an increased vein, Becher and Trowler (2001) employ the notion of ‘ways incidence of cultural and linguistic differences between of being’ describing the process in which individual academics doctoral supervisors and their candidates (Hammond adopt a particular way of being, a personal and professional et al., 2010), of pressure on supervisors to accommodate identity, set of values, taken-for-granted knowledge and the increasingly trans-disciplinary and applied nature of recurrent practices. knowledge production (Taylor, 2013), and of an increasing need for PhD programs to be tailored to meet specific labour- Insights from helping relationships market needs (Muller & Young, 2014). These pressures impact significantly on doctoral supervision (Taylor, 2013) Some studies have drawn parallels between doctoral and they have important implications for the professional supervision and the helping professions, which include, for development needs of doctoral supervisors (Hammond et example, coaching, counselling and psychotherapy (see, for al., 2010). Though the circumstances of doctoral education example, Arnold, 2009; Grant, 1999; McMichael & Garry, are evolving, the fundamental need for quality in doctoral 1990). Bartlett and Mercer (2000) argue that many aspects supervision remains. of the doctoral supervisory relationship are to be found in a range of other professional relationships including those Doctoral candidacy as a liminal space in mentoring, personnel management, and supervision between psychoanalysts. Similarly, Wisker et al. (2008) One perspective through which the successful supervisory note that supervision has in common with mentoring, relationship may be examined concerns the notion of coaching and tutoring a one-to-one relationship intended to liminal spaces, a concept that is associated with the threshold support a candidate and empower learning. Further, Arnold concept framework (Meyer & Land, 2006). A central tenet (2009) argues that supervisory pedagogy may benefit from of liminality is that in all disciplines there are conceptual interrogating the pedagogical aspects of psychotherapy, gateways, or threshold concepts, that must be passed through to enable a deeper understanding and richer practising of to arrive at important new understandings (Land, Meyer postgraduate supervision. & Smith, 2008). One way of describing the difficulties of Rogers (1961) drew on his experience as a psychotherapist negotiating conceptual gateways is by likening them to the to argue that people are positive, constructive, moving experience of being in a liminal space, or ‘limbo’, described by towards self-actualisation, and growing towards maturity, Turner (1977, p. 37) as being ‘between established states.’ A and socialisation. Based on this positive view, Rogers (1969) liminal space is a space of transformation, but, as Land et al. advocated a facilitative way of teaching that gave expression to (2008) argue, it can also be a suspended state, or stuck place, three conditions: congruence, where the facilitator is sincere in which understanding approximates to a kind of mimicry rather than inauthentic in the role adopted in the relationship; and lack of authenticity. Various scholars have referred to the unconditional positive regard, where the facilitator experience of doctoral candidature as being akin to a liminal unreservedly accepts the learner without judgement; and

64 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

empathetic understanding, where the facilitator identifies the nature of supportive interpersonal communication in with the feelings, thoughts and attitudes of the learner. the doctoral supervisory relationship. In psychotherapy, Rogers’ perspective provides an insight to the mindfulness for example, important qualities of the therapist in traits of doctoral supervisors. communicating with the client are ‘empathy, warmth, In order to effectively establish a working relationship with congruence, complex verbal skills, approval, supportiveness, a candidate, the doctoral supervisor is required to have a mix optimism and respect’ (Arnold, 2009). Siegel (2010, p. 180) of attitudes, behaviours, and skills in both the educational and refers to these qualities as ‘mindfulness traits.’ Richardson, interpersonal aspects of teaching and learning. Consistent Sheean and Bambling (2009, p. 72) draw attention also with this idea is Grant’s (2003) argument that supervision is to the ethical aspect of the qualities that counsellors and different from other forms of teaching and learning in higher psychotherapists should demonstrate, including: ‘empathy, education because of its peculiarly intense and negotiated sincerity, integrity, resilience, respect, humility, competence, character, as well as in its requirements for a blend of fairness, wisdom and courage.’ Qualities such as these may be pedagogical and personal relationship skills in the supervisor. equally important for doctoral candidates to experience in According to Rogers’ (1961) definition of the helping their interpersonal communications with their supervisors. relationship, the supervisory relationship is a helping Second, each of the helping professions shares a requirement relationship. By this term, Rogers means a relationship for practitioners to have highly developed interpersonal in which at least one of communication skills, together the parties has the intent with supportive attitudes and of promoting the growth, In order to effectively establish a working behaviours, that need to be development, maturity, relationship with a candidate, the doctoral developed and learned by the improved functioning, supervisor is required to have a mix of practitioner in order to achieve improved coping with life attitudes, behaviours, and skills in both the a successful relationship with of the other. Clearly, this educational and interpersonal aspects of clients. Effective interpersonal definition covers a wide range communications skills seem of relationships, including teaching and learning. also to be essential for doctoral the supervisory relationship. supervision, but doctoral It is important to note that supervisors do not always doctoral supervisors are not helping professionals, and innately acquire these skills, and the department, faculty or a supervisory relationship is, therefore, fundamentally institution in which they work may not necessarily require different from a helping relationship, particularly in that it them to receive relevant training. Indeed, supervisors may is not a healing relationship. There may, however, be merit also need to develop emotional management skills. Most in interrogating parallels between the nature of the doctoral Australian universities have mandatory training for novice supervisory relationship and the relationship that typically supervisors that, as Kiley (2011a) observes, are intended occurs between helping professionals and their clients. to raise awareness about candidate expectations, roles and Important parallels between a client-centred approach responsibilities, and about the need to implement effective to the helping professions and doctoral supervision are that supervisory practices. Doctoral supervisors may, however, both relationships typically involve learning conversations; remain relatively untrained in interpersonal communications both are constructed around one-to-one relationships that skills when compared to the helping professions, where, are developed over a long period of time; and both involve according to Richardson et al. (2009), professionals are problem-solving, often in an atmosphere of emotional typically trained in interpersonal relationship-building discomfort and an unequal power balance. Seen in this skills over a number of years. Therefore, just as the helping way, certain responsibilities may be attributed to doctoral professionals are required to be skilled in the interpersonal supervisors in working successfully with individual candidates, dimension of the therapeutic relationship, so, arguably, might including a responsibility to guide and support the candidate doctoral supervisors be required to be skilled in interpersonal in negotiating the liminal challenges associated with doctoral communications in their supervisory relationships. The candidature. importance of training supervisors in interpersonal Useful insights about the quality of supportive doctoral communication skills has implications for the quality of the supervisory relationships can be drawn from the broader supervisory relationship. therapeutic context of the helping professions. First, what A great deal of research over the past three decades has is particularly noteworthy in making the comparison is produced models of doctoral supervision (see, for example, that the qualities in communication required in the helping Cullen et al., 1994), lists of attributes of productive relationship might provide a deeper understanding of supervisors (Kiley, 2011b), and inventories of characteristics vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski 65 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

and behaviours of exemplary supervisors (see, for example, doctoral candidacy as a liminal space characterised by Barnes & Austin, 2009). The purpose of much of this research isolation, ambiguity, and uncertainty, and marked by anxiety has been to establish what doctoral supervisors should know for doctoral candidates, suggests that the doctoral supervisory and should do to be successful as supervisors, particularly relationship is highly important to the success of the candidate. given the pressures on them to accommodate changes in the This article has highlighted the importance of taking lessons context of doctoral supervision. Various scenarios have been from the helping profession, and particularly mindfulness developed, but their reach has not extended to take fully in positive psychology, as a possible useful new trend in into account the importance of the dispositional qualities, or improving doctoral supervisory relationships. To the extent mindfulness traits, of supervisors in establishing rapport in that the elements of tacit communication between supervisors the supervisory relationship. and candidates may be described and documented, it may be The interpersonal communication between a supervisor possible to identify the mindfulness traits of well-regarded and candidate, according to Lee (2008) and Wisker et al. supervisors. Achieving this outcome would shed light on (2008), is critical to developing a high-quality supervisory the ways in which highly valued supervisory relationships relationship. It might be expected that the non-verbal elements develop. Further, it may provide ways to inform the effective of communication play an important role in the development professional development of supervisors. of such a relationship. By their nature, dispositional qualities are communicated mainly by tacit means, as Gerholm (1990) Nicolette Buirski is a lecturer at SCU College - Southern explains. It follows that non-verbal communication plays Cross University, Australia and a consultant to SCPA a pivotal role in how dispositional qualities are conveyed working with PhD students in developing their theses. within interpersonal relationships, including in a doctoral Contact: [email protected] supervisory relationship. According to Wisker et al. (2008), non-verbal communication in doctoral supervision is References experienced by picking up unspoken messages conveyed by Anderson, A. W., & Johnston, D. C. (1983). Students’ reasons for choice of words, emotional undertones, behaviours, and body discontinuing their courses. Research Report. Perth, Australia: The language. Non-verbal communication creates a particular tone Research Unit in University Education, University of Western in the communication between supervisor and candidate. It is Australia. also used to establish rapport in the one-to-one supervisory Arnold, J. (2009). Learning from psychotherapy for postgraduate relationship (Wisker et al., 2008). According to Parry supervision. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 5(2), (2007), the importance of rapport in a successful supervisory 53-75. relationship cannot be underestimated. She noted, though, Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (1990). Code of Practice for that its importance is not given much empirical attention in Maintaining and Monitoring Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Degrees. Canberra, Australia: Author. the literature. Barnes, B. J., & Austin, A. E. (2009). The role of doctoral advisors: Supervisors have been shown to facilitate, largely by tacit A look at advising from the advisor’s perspective. Innovative Higher means, the learning of academic conventions that are rooted Education, 33(5), 297-315. doi: org/10.1007/s10755-008-9084-x in disciplinary norms. An examination of the tacit nature Barrett, E., & Magin, D. (1983). Postgraduate degrees: How long do they of the practices of well-regarded doctoral supervisors may really take? Occasional publication Number 23. Sydney, Australia: provide a means by which such practices can be made explicit. Tertiary Education Research Centre, University of New South Wales. Other than in research by Becher (1989), Parry (2007) and Barrett, E., Magin, D., & Smith, E. (1983). Survey of postgraduate Jasman (2012), there has been little acknowledgement to research students enrolled at the University of New South Wales date of the role and importance of tacit cues, behaviours (Unpublished research report), Tertiary Education Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia. and conveyances of meaning between supervisors and their candidates. A central concern, therefore, is the nature of Bartlett, A., & Mercer, G. (2000). Reconceptualising discourses of power in postgraduate pedagogies. Teaching in Higher Education, 5(2), what is tacitly communicated between supervisors and their 195-204. doi: 10.1080/135625100114849 candidates, while acknowledging that not all elements of tacit Becher, T. (1989). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual inquiry communication may be described (Polyani, 1983). and the culture of disciplines. Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press. Conclusion Becher, T., Henkel, M., & Kogan, M. (1994). Graduate education in Britain. London, England: Jessica Kingsley. This article has presented some trends in doctoral education Becher, T., & Trowler, P. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: over the last few decades showing how the focus has moved Intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, from financing and policy to models of supervision to the PA: Open University Press. professional development needs of supervisors. Framing Boud, D., & Lee, A. (2009). Introduction. In D. Boud & A. Lee (Eds.),

66 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Changing practices of doctoral education (pp. 1-9). New York, NY: Lee, A., & Green, B. (1995). Introduction: Postgraduate studies/ Routledge. postgraduate pedagogy? Australian Universities’ Review, 38(2), 2-4. Brew, A., & Peseta, T. (2009). Supervision development and Lee, A. M. (2008). How are doctoral students supervised? Concepts recognition in a reflexive space. In D. Boud & A. Lee (Eds.), Changing of doctoral research supervision. Studies in Higher Education, 33(3), practices of doctoral education (pp. 126-140). New York, NY: Routledge. 267-281. Connell, R. F. (1985). How to supervise a PhD? Vestes, 2, 38-41. Manathunga, C. (2005). The development of research supervision: “Turning the light on a private space”. International Journal for Academic Connell, R., & Manathunga, C. (2012). On doctoral education: How Development, 10(1), 17-30. to supervise a PhD, 1985-2011. Australian Universities’ Review, 54(1), 5-9. Manathunga, C. (2012). Supervisors watching supervisors. Australian Universities’ Review, 54(1), 29-37. Cullen, D., Pearson, M., Saha, L. J., & Spear, R. H. (1994). Establishing effective PhD supervision. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government McMichael, P., & Garry, A. (1990). Strategies for supervision: A Publishing Service. handbook. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Moray House College of Education. Cuthbert, D., & Molla, T. (2015). PhD crisis discourse: A critical approach to the framing of the problem and some Australian ‘solutions.’ Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2006). Threshold concepts and Higher Education, 69(1), 33-53. doi: 10.1007/s10734-014-9760-y troublesome knowledge: Issues of liminality. In J. H. F. Meyer & R. Land (Eds.). Overcoming barriers to student understanding: Threshold Doloriert, C., Sambrook, S., & Stewart, J. (2012). Power and emotion concepts and troublesome knowledge. (pp. 19-32). New York, NY: in doctoral supervision: Implications for HRD. European Journal of Routledge. Training and Development, 36(7), 732-750. Moses, I. (1984). Supervision of higher degree students - problem areas Gerholm, T. (1990). On tacit knowledge in academia. European Journal and possible solutions. Higher Education Research and Development, 3, of Education, 25(3), 263-271. 153-165. Grant, B. (1999). Walking on a rackety bridge: Mapping supervision. Moses, I. (1990a). Barriers to women’s participation as postgraduate In HERDSA Annual International Conference: 12-15 July. Retrieved students. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publishing 23October, 2012, from http://www.herdsa.org.au/wp-content/ Service. uploads/conference/1999/pdf/grant.pdf Moses, I. (1990b). Teaching, research and scholarship in different Grant, B. (2003). Mapping the pleasures and risks of supervision. disciplines. Higher Education, 19, 351-375. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 24(2), 175-190. Muller, J. & Young, M. (2014). Disciplines, skills and the university. Green, B., & Lee, A. (1995). Theorising postgraduate pedagogy. Higher Education, 67, 127-140. doi:10.1007/s10734-013-9646-4 Australian Universities’ Review, 38(2), 40-45. Neumann, R. (2003). The doctoral education experience: Diversity and Halse, C., & Malfroy, J. (2010). Retheorising doctoral supervision as complexity. Canberra, Australia: Department of education, science and professional work. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 79-92. training. Hammond, J., Ryland, K., Tennant, M., & Boud, D. (2010). Building Nightingale, P. (1984). Postgraduate evaluative study: Report of the research supervision and training across Australian universities: Final working party. Sydney, Australia: Macquarie University. report. Sydney, Australia: University of Technology Sydney. Nulty, D., Kiley, M., & Meyers, N. (2009). Promoting and recognising Harman, G. (2003). PhD student satisfaction with course experience excellence in the supervision of research students: An evidence-based and supervision in two Australian research-intensive universities. framework. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 34(6), Prometheus, 21(3), 317-333. 693-707. Hill, S., Johnston, R., & Smith, E. (1983). An Evaluation of the Parry, S. (2007). Disciplines and doctorates (Vol. 16). Dordrecht, The Commonwealth’s Postgraduate Awards Scheme (Vols 1-3). Canberra, Netherlands: Springer. Australia: Australian Government Publishing Service. Parry, S., & Hayden, M. (1994). Supervising higher degree research Ibrahim, E. Z., McEwan, E. M., & Pitalbo, R. (1980). Doctoral students: An investigation of practices across a range of academic Supervision at the University of Sydney. Vestes, 23, 18-22. departments. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publishing Jasman, A. (2012). From behind closed doors: Making the tacit explicit Service. in research supervison practice. International Journal of Organisational Pearson, M. (2005). Framing research on doctoral education Behaviour, 17(1), 28-41. in Australia in a global context. Higher Education Research and Kemp, D. A. (1999). Knowledge and innovation: A policy statement Development, 24(2), 119-134. on research and research training. Canberra, Australia: Australian Pearson, M., & Brew, A. (2002). Research training and supervision Government Publishing Services. development. Studies in Higher Education, 27(2), 135-150. Kiley, M. (2011a). Developments in research supervisor training: Pearson, M., & Kayrooz, C. (2004). Enabling critical reflection on Causes and responses. Studies in Higher Education, 36(5), 585-599. research supervisory practice. International Journal for Academic Kiley, M. (2011b). The highly productive doctoral advisor: Lessons Development, 9(1), 99-116. to be learned. Paper presented at American Educational Research Polyani, M. (1983). The tacit dimension. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith. Association, 8-12 April, New Orleans, United States. Powles, M. (1984). The role of postgraduates in Australian research. Land, R., Meyer, J., & Smith, J. (2008). Preface. In R. Land, J. Meyer, Report for the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations. Melbourne, & J. Smith (Eds.), Threshold concepts within the disciplines (pp. ix-xxi). Australia: Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Melbourne.

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski 67 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Powles, M. (1989). Higher degree completion and completion times. Turner, V. (1977). Variations on a theme of liminality. In S. F. Moore Higher Education Research and Development, 8, 91-101. & B. G. Myerhoff (Eds.), Secular ritual (pp. 36-52). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, Assen. Richardson, J., Sheean, L., & Bambling, M. (2009). Becoming a psychotherapist or counsellor: A survey of psychotherapy and Vilkinas, T., Leask, B., & Ladyshewsky, R. (2009). Academic leadership: counselling trainers. Psychotherapy in Australia, 16(1), 70-80. Fundamental building blocks. Strawberry Hills, Australia: Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company. Walker, G. E., Golde, C. M., Jones, L., Conklin Bueschel, A., & Hutchings, P. (2008). The formation of scholars: Rethinking doctoral Rogers, C. R. (1969). Freedom to learn: A view of what education might education for the twenty-first century. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. become. Columbus, Ohio: C. E. Merrill. West, R. (1998). Learning for life final report: Review of higher education Siegel, D. J. (2010). The mindful therapist: A clinician’s guide to mindsight financing and policy. Canberra, Australia: Department of Employment, and neural integration. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Sinclair, M. (2004). The pedagogy of ‘good’ PhD supervision: A national Wisker, G. (2005). The good supervisor. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave cross-disciplinary investigation of PhD supervision. Canberra, Australia: Macmillan. Department of education, science and training. Wisker, G., Exley, K., Antoniou, M., & Ridley, P. (2008). One-to-one Spinelli, E. (2005). The interpreted world: An introduction to with students: Supervising, coaching, mentoring, and personal tutoring. phenomenological psychology (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage. New York, NY: Routledge. Taylor, S. E. (2013). Changes in doctoral education: Implications for Zuber-Skerritt, O., & Knight, N. (1986). Problem definition and thesis supervisors in developing early career researchers. International Journal writing: Workshops for the postgraduate student. Higher Education, for Researcher Development, 3(2), 118-138. 15(89-104). Trafford, V. (2008). Conceptual frameworks as a threshold concept Zuber-Skerritt, O., & Roche, V. (2004). A constructivist model for in doctorateness. In R. Land, J. H. F. Meyer, & J. Smith (Eds.), evaluating postgraduate supervision: A case study. Quality Assurance in Threshold concepts within the disciplines (pp. 273-288). Rotterdam, The Education: An International Perspective, 12(2), 82-9 Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

68 Is mindfulness a useful next trend in doctoral supervision? Nicolette Buirski vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education PhD completion rates and times (2005-2018)

Marc Torka University of Sydney

Australia is following a global trend in doctoral education policy to improve PhD completion times and rates. It is widely believed that accurate data on PhD completion are needed to assess the success of reforms and drive changes in doctoral education. In this article, new national completion data (2005-2018) provided by the Australian Department of Education and Training (DET) have been employed to examine changes and continuities in the Australian doctoral education system. The findings demonstrate that Australian completion rates and times have changed only slightly over time, exceed normative expectations and systematically differ by student characteristics, disciplines and institutions. The article suggests that better completions data are needed to guide detailed research into the structural conditions that determine completion. This knowledge would help to base future reforms on evidence rather than normative expectations and to realign expected with actual completion times and rates. Keywords: Doctoral education, institutional change, completion times and rates

than expected may occupy free slots, and overload unpaid Introduction supervisors or coursework capacities (Horta et al., 2019). For funding agencies and governments low completion rates and Completing a PhD has always been a matter of concern, but long completion times are simply an ‘unacceptable wastage of the focus of the discourse has changed over time. Early debates private and public resources’ that undermines the expectation raised the question of whether the completion of a PhD should to gain ‘reasonable return on their investments’ (Kemp, 1999, be a necessary requirement to obtain academic positions pp. 2, 18). As a result of these concerns, PhD completion (James, 1903; Parsons & Platt, 1968). Since the late 1980s, developed from an individual intellectual challenge to an high attrition rates and concerns that many students start but abstract indicator of institutional, organisational or systemic never complete their PhD dominated the discourse (Bourke levels of success. Although the reliability and validity of et al., 2004; Lovitts, 2001). Today the question is how long it this indicator is contested, information on completion rates takes and should take to complete a PhD. It has been argued and times is highly sought after and has been widely used to that low completion rates and long completion times are allocate funding, compare and restructure doctoral programs detrimental to students’ self-esteem, employability and career within and across national doctoral education systems (Geven progress (Lovitts & Nelson, 2000). It is further argued that et al., 2018; Hall et al., 2006; Palmer, 2016; Spronken-Smith poor completion rates and times may damage the reputation et al., 2018). This international trend towards a data driven of institutions and their capacity to attract promising ‘governance by numbers’ (Heintz, 2008) heavily relies on students as well as funding. PhD students who take longer a ‘trust in numbers’ (Porter, 1995). For this reason, higher vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 69 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

education policies around the globe aim to create and use rates and times using a subset of existing DET data. The first more trustworthy data sets to drive change and improve PhD section describes the dataset and critically assesses its quality. completion in doctoral education systems. The second section compares the development of median In Australia, concerns about PhD completion can be traced completion times (MCT) and cumulative completion rates back to the 1960s (Rodwell & Neumann, 2008) culminating (CCR) over time to investigate factors that may speed up or in the Dawkins reforms in the late 1980s. Given the late slow down completion. The data indicate slightly improved introduction of Australian PhD degrees, with the first not completion rates and times, a mismatch between expected awarded until 1948, early reforms primarily aimed to increase and actual completion times as well as remaining differences PhD numbers by creating specific postgraduate pathways, between research field, institution and cohort-specific training programs and funding opportunities to encourage completion rates. These outcomes contradict the common students to undertake doctoral studies in Australia rather notion of a radically ‘Changing PhD’ (Group of Eight, 2013). than overseas (Torka, 2019). Dawkins’ reforms explicitly The conclusion section therefore includes presentations focused on monitoring completion: ‘The Government has on both changes and continuities in Australian doctoral recently asked institutions to develop action plans to improve education and outlines implications of the results for future the present low rates of course completion in postgraduate research and reforms. study. The Government will monitor the implementation and effectiveness of these plans’ (Dawkins, 1987, p. 71). Since then, Data, methods and definitions completion numbers have become a significant performance indicator. They contribute 50 per cent to the formula which When analysing PhD completion and assessing the quality of determines the allocation of Australia’s national postgraduate the underlying dataset we need to know how the completion funding scheme (known as the Research Training Scheme process has been constructed, defined and measured. In this to 2017 and the Research Training Program after) (Kemp, study I have drawn on national DET completion data from 1999, p. 19). Institutional reforms emerged to further drive 2005 to 2018, covering all PhD students, granting institutions timely PhD completion by reducing expected candidature and fields of education in Australia. It only takes ‘Doctorates time from traditionally four towards three full-time years, by Research’ into account and excludes master’s by research introducing new preparatory pathways such as the master’s by students (1,584 in 2018) as well as the small number of research degree, mandatory coursework, supervisor training ‘Doctorates by Coursework’ (119) and ‘Higher Doctorates’ as well as annual progress reviews (Torka, 2019) and creating a (11) compared to 8,647 ‘Doctorates by Research’ in 2018 ‘completion mindset’ (Green & Bowden, 2012) to ‘“speed up” (Department of Education, 2019), thereby focusing on candidature’ (Kiley, 2017, p. 82). While some international the internationally most common Doctor of Philosophy studies show that such reforms can improve actual PhD (PhD). ‘Doctorate by Research’ is the term used in DET completion times and rates (Geven et al., 2018; Kyvik & data for doctorates most similar to PhD. Previous research Olsen, 2014; Skopek et al., 2020), evidence for Australia is about Australian PhD completion has relied on single largely missing. This is why the Australian Council of Learned university case studies and selective disciplines due to a lack Academies’ (ACOLA) most recent review of Australia’s of published national data (ACOLA, 2016, p. 73; Bourke research training system demands better completion data et al., 2004; Hall et al., 2006; Jiranek, 2010; Martin, 2001; to ‘assess’ impacts of these organisational reforms, ‘drive Neumann & Rodwell, 2009; Palmer, 2016; Pitchforth et al., performance improvements in the system’, help ‘students to 2012; Rodwell & Neumann, 2008; Snyder & Forgasz, 2008). make informed choices’ about the best available Australian National completion data allow for comparisons between and PhD programs and enable ‘international benchmarking of generalisations beyond these (at times) more detailed single HDR [higher degree by research] training’ (ACOLA, 2016, case studies. p. ix). Subsequently, the study of completion times and DET uses student IDs and Commonwealth Higher rates has become a priority in current Australian doctoral Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) to track the education policy. A working group established to implement time elapsed between commencing and completing a PhD the ACOLA report recommendations is currently exploring course for each student even if they move between Australian how existing DET completion data and methodologies can institutions. This measurement is commonly known as ‘elapsed’ be used to that end (Department of Education and Training, time-to-degree (ETD) as opposed to ‘total’ time-to-degree 2018b, p. 16). A recent report focuses on completion rates of (TTD)’ and ‘registered’ time-to-degree (RTD) (Bowen & all HDR students including those graduating with doctorates Rudenstine, 1992, p. 113). DET data links ETD to a range of and master’s by research (Department of Education, 2020). student characteristics (sex, age, Indigenous origin, domestic/ To differentiate between these two very different degree international, full/part-time) and institutional factors (field of trajectories, in this study the focus is on PhD completion study, type of university, funding) that are likely to influence

70 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

completion (Bourke et al., 2004; Latona & Browne, 2001). institutions or even doctoral education systems (Hall et al., This enables comparative research into the conditions that 2006). The review of existing research will show mixed results shape the completion process. in almost every dimension of the complex completion process ETD is a widely used, readily available but also an imprecise and this is mostly due to specific definitions, data, methods measure due to common definitional, tracking and reporting and doctoral education systems. In order to deal with always difficulties. DET measures ETD in years rather than months incomplete, imprecise and context specific information on and ETD does not accurately account for previous studies, completion, Palmer recommends using completion time and the time students took off or the dynamics that may occur rate data as ‘raw’ and ‘crude’ indicators to understand the during candidature (Bourke et al., 2004, p. 3). While counting completion processes rather than precise measures of quality periods of leave is likely to increase the measured time to or success. Accordingly, the interpretation of such data needs degree, the institutional strategy of transferring elements of to be informed by additional information about the context the PhD process to preparatory studies may reduce it. Some in which doctoral education takes place (Palmer, 2016). The programs such as the ‘Macquarie Model’ expect students to analysis here follows a ‘pragmatic approach’ (Rodwell & find supervisors, design and carry out some parts of a larger Neumann, 2008) using two descriptive completion measures PhD project during the master’s by research. Not only is the to shed light on contextual factors that influence completion start of a PhD difficult to define and measure consistently, but times and rates. The results of these analyses can be used to so is the completion. According to DET, ‘course completion is inform further investigations and the creation of evidence- recorded when a student has completed all the requirements based institutional support systems. of the course. This is not a prescriptive definition and may The first measure is the length of candidature for exiting be interpreted differently by different higher education cohorts (2005-2017). These data are useful to calculate providers’ (private communication, 11 June 2019). They may and compare median completion times (MCT) over time. report any date from thesis submission, receipt of examiner The second is the study of completion rate, measured as the reports to the final conferral of the title (Palmer, 2016, p. 114). percentage of students of a commencing cohort that has Furthermore, DET data do not accurately track the dynamics completed the PhD in each year since commencement. The of the PhD journey such as changes between full-time and study uses a nine-year scale to account for usually longer part-time roles or between fields of education because, completion times and lower completion rates among part- according to the Department, types of attendance are only time students. Completion rates and times are examined recorded at the beginning or at the end of candidature. This simultaneously by calculating so-called cumulative completion means for example that a student might start in a ‘Sciences’ rates (CCR) (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992, p. 119). Although degree full-time but may switch to a part-time ‘Arts’ degree CCR is actually a summation of rates rather than a rate itself, later. Several studies also found that enrolment status does the article will follow the convention in completion studies to not predict how much students actually work on the PhD refer to cumulative completions as a rate. CCR curves show a leading to the counterintuitive result that part-time students general pattern that is useful to compare different completion are actually faster in equivalent-time terms (Bourke et al., processes by discipline, institution type and student 2004; Neumann & Rodwell, 2009; Rodwell & Neumann, characteristics. In Australia, completion rates tend to leap up 2008). A last difficulty is that, so far, DET data are only rapidly after four to six elapsed years before levelling off towards available in aggregated rather than at a student-level format. the ultimate completion rate (see Figures 1-9). Differences in This means that inter-relationships between variables are the pattern indicate specific conditions that may speed up or difficult to observe (Department of Education and Training, slow down completion. The comparison of completion rates 2018a). Differences in the completion rates and times by over time focuses on 2005 (first available data), 2009 (last year institution, for example, may be due to a myriad of underlying covering the entire nine-year scale) and 2013 that includes the factors such as funding, research culture and environment fifth candidature year (2018 last year covered) in which most or the capacity to attract usually faster international or high Australian students complete their PhD. achieving students. A precise explanation would require access to more fine-grained information to break down and Findings analyse compound factors. While these limitations apply to all PhD students, granting The typical pathway to doctoral studies in Australia is institutions and disciplinary fields equally, they also restrict the to complete either a traditional one-year honours or analysis methods we can use and the way in which we should internationally better known master’s degree following at look at completion data. All completion data should be used least three years of undergraduate studies. Australian doctoral with caution and in context, particularly if we aim to compare education policy traditionally expects students to complete the completion process across different cohorts, disciplines, a PhD within four equivalent full-time years. The aim is vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 71 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Table 1: Candidature length for PhDs awarded in 2005, 2010 and 2017 2005 2010 2017 All Domestic Overseas All Domestic Overseas All Domestic Overseas n = % n = % n = % n = % n = % n = % n = % n = % n = % 5244 4250 994 6053 4456 1597 9054 5525 3529 2 yr & 99 2% 79 2% 20 2% 123 2% 83 2% 40 3% 154 2% 110 2% 44 1% less 3 yr 242 5% 166 4% 76 8% 297 5% 167 4% 130 8% 291 3% 170 3% 121 3% 4 yr 936 18% 688 16% 248 25% 1191 18% 732 16% 459 29% 1586 18% 808 15% 778 22% 5 yr 1422 27% 1,042 25% 380 38% 1849 28% 1,259 28% 590 37% 3310 37% 1,737 31% 1,573 45% 6 yr 937 18% 807 19% 130 13% 1027 16% 797 18% 230 14% 1782 20% 1,087 20% 695 20% 7 yr 593 11% 513 12% 80 8% 551 8% 475 11% 76 5% 795 9% 609 11% 186 5% 8 yr 369 7% 342 8% 27 3% 376 6% 337 8% 39 2% 397 4% 327 6% 70 2% 9 yr & 646 12% 613 14% 33 3% 639 10% 606 14% 33 2% 739 8% 677 12% 62 2% more Median 5.0 5.2 4.4 4.8 5.0 4.3 4.8 5.0 4.5 Source: DET completion data, author’s calculations currently to further reduce completion time to 3.5 or even equalise over time at a low level (4-5 per cent), completion three years (ACOLA, 2016, p. xiii; Group of Eight, 2013, p. times differentiate between domestic and overseas students 41). Postgraduate funding mechanisms (RTS, the Research in the following years. The percentage of overseas students Training Scheme or since 2017 RTP, the Research Training completing in year four and five is significantly higher and Program) that cover up to four years’ tuition fees and three late completions (seven and more years) are rare compared to 3.5 years’ living allowance stipends reflect this normative to domestic students. This pattern indicates that the rising expectation. How long it actually takes to complete a PhD proportion of PhDs awarded to faster overseas students (from in Australia is not reflected in policies and funding schemes. 19 per cent in 2005 to 39 per cent in 2017, see Figure 7) is a This analysis will explore Australian PhD completion times main driver in reducing Australian overall completion times. and rates in three steps. First, the development of median Faster completions among overseas students may be due to completion times between 2005 and 2017 will investigate a range of factors such as visa restrictions, the threat of high the relation between expected and real completion patterns. tuition fees or differences in the overall career situation of Second, the comparison of CCRs by discipline, institution overseas students (see Figure 8). type and funding availability aims to reveal structural While Table 1 does not account for contextual factors that conditions that drive or slow down completion. Finally, the may drive completion, it can be used to address the question of comparison of CCRs by different student characteristics whether the focus of doctoral education policy on completion investigates how social conditions contribute to completion. has enhanced actual completion times. This is only partly the case. The data show a consistent mismatch between the Median candidature length of exiting PhD expected three to four years and actual MCTs for all students. cohorts (2005-2017) The percentage of students who completed their PhD after four or fewer years has even fallen from 25 per cent in 2005 The median candidature length of exiting cohorts provides a and 2010 to 23 per cent in 2017. What has changed is that first overview of how long it usually takes to complete a PhD more overseas as well as domestic students complete after five in Australia. Table 1 shows the distribution of students who to six years and fewer of them in the following years resulting in completed their PhD in 2005, 2010 and 2017 within a set a slight overall decrease of MCTs from 5.0 in 2005 to 4.8 years period of time (1-9 years). in 2010 and 2017. This is certainly due to the higher intake of Most students complete their PhD in the fifth year. The faster overseas students but also to doctoral education policies median completion time (MCT) for all students is consistently for timely completion that apply to all students. Domestic around five years with a slight decrease by 0.2 years since students seem to catch up, as the difference between domestic 2010. Overseas students are significantly faster than domestic and overseas students’ median completion times fell steadily students with a MCT between 4.3 and 4.5 years. While the from 9.6 months in 2005, to 8.4 months in 2009 and six percentage of early completions (three and less years) tend to months in 2013. This preliminary result needs to be further

72 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

examined as the data do not account for differences between timely completion manifest after the expected maximum of full-and part-time roles or other student characteristics and four years candidature. To further detail factors that drive or only applies to exiting rather than commencing cohorts. slow down completion, the next sections compare the overall CCR with structural conditions (disciplines, institutions and Overall completion rates of PhD students funding) and a number of student characteristics. commencing in 2005, 2010 and 2013 Disciplinary differences Comparisons between commencing cohorts are more reliable than between exiting cohorts because students start Most international studies (Abedi & Benkin, 1987; Booth & the PhD under similar institutional conditions. Cumulative Satchell, 1995; Groenvynck et al., 2013; Jiranek, 2010; Rent completion rates (CCRs) of commencing PhD student & Anderson, 1996; Rodwell & Neumann, 2008; Spronken- cohorts are useful to investigate how structural factors Smith et al., 2018; van de Schoot et al., 2013; Visser et al., and student characteristics influence the completion 2007; Wright & Cochrane, 2000) show that ‘completion process. CCRs show the percentage of each entering rates and time-to-degree vary more significantly with field cohort that earned a PhD against the number of years since of study than with any other variable’ (Bowen & Rudenstine, commencement. It is the nature of CCRs that they grow 1992, p. 123). Figures 2 and 3, contrasted with other factors from year to year, but their patterns and pace of growth may in further figures, demonstrate that this pattern is also valid differ due to the conditions under which students pursue in the Australian context. Figure 2 shows the 2009 CCRs a PhD. As mentioned before, Australian CCRs display a for all broad fields of education distinguished in DET data, general pattern. Completion rates tend to leap up rapidly while Figure 3 focuses on selected fields to investigate the between the fourth and sixth years before levelling off development of CCRs from 2005 to 2013. towards the ultimate completion rate. Figure 1 shows the While Natural and Physical Sciences (hereafter CCR of all Australian PhD students commencing in 2005, ‘Sciences’), Engineering, Agriculture, Health and 2009 and 2013. Information Technology are above or at the level of average Overall completion rates have slightly increased between completion rates, all other fields are below with Education as 2005 and 2009. While both cohorts show similar completion an obvious outlier. This pattern is similar in other doctoral rates until the end of year four, they differentiate in years five training systems (National Science Foundation, 2019, p. and six as the 2009 cohort is four to seven per cent above 10) and suggests that differences in the completion process 2005 completion rate levels. Thereafter the rates per year are are attributable to field-specific socio-epistemic conditions roughly equal, as evidenced by the two curves being parallel (Torka, 2018) and related ways of pursuing a PhD (Bowen & from year 6 onwards. This trend may continue as the 2013 Rudenstine, 1992, pp. 123-141). Students in science-related cohort completion rate is again three per cent above 2009 fields, for instance, typically undertake a PhD within highly levels in the fifth year. The steady slow rise of completion rates structured research environments. They are often part of is due to a range of factors including policies that focus on a research team, usually contributing to ongoing research timely completion. The pattern indicates that pressures for and developing their thesis generally within consolidated intellectual frameworks or projects at times predefined by supervisors (van Rooij et al., 80% 2019). By contrast, PhD students 70% in the multi-paradigmatic social 60% sciences and humanities often 50% work alone and are expected to develop individualised PhD 40% projects that may or may not align 30% with the research of supervisors 20% (Manathunga, 2005; Seagram et al., Per cent of completed PhDs 10% 1998). In addition, PhDs in other research fields such as Engineering, 0% 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Information Technology, Health Years elapsed or Education have a much more applied character and often 2005 All 2009 All 2013 All Figure 1: CCR of all PhD students commencing in 2005, 2009 and 2015 contribute to professional work vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 73 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

and reach the highest levels in year seven (76), eight (80) and nine (82 per cent). A reason for this pattern might be that PhD students often depend on a specific lab, cannot leave before completion and they need the title to find a job as a postdoc or in commercial labs. In engineering we find a slightly different pattern. CCRs in Engineering reach the highest levels until year six and level off rapidly afterwards. Engineers seem to either complete in a timely fashion or late. The high proportion of usually fast overseas PhD students in Engineering (32.1 per cent in 2009, see Dobson, 2012, p. 99) and difficulties in combining PhD work with work commitments in Engineering industries after Figure 2: CCR 2009 all Broad Fields of Education funding has expired are the most likely contributors to this pattern. environments beyond academia. Such different settings Management shows a similar influence the PhD process and create characteristic completion pattern and shares some characteristics with completion rate patterns. Engineering. Management had the highest proportion of Most of the 9,884 students commencing a PhD in 2009 overseas students in 2009 (33.2 per cent, Dobson, 2012) and were enrolled in Society and Culture (‘Arts’) (2,244) and prepares students for professional careers that may not allow Sciences (2,070), followed by Engineering (1,390), Health to complete a PhD while working. After seven years, CCRs (1,310), Management (857), Education (669), Agriculture in Management level off and merge with Society and Culture (427), Creative Arts (386), IT (363) and a small number of and Creative Arts patterns that are consistently about five 168 PhD students in Architecture (Department of Education per cent below average. The CCR pattern in Architecture is and Training, 2014). CCRs in the Sciences grow consistently inconsistent most likely due to small PhD student numbers and Education consistently shows the lowest completion rates. A possible explanation could be that students in Education pursue a PhD as a side project, while already working in the education sector. This means more distraction but also more independence from funding systems and the restrictions that come with them. Most students (≥50 per cent) in Education complete their PhD after eight compared to five years in Sciences and Engineering or six years in most other fields. Although CCRs vary considerable between fields, a mismatch between actual and expected completion times Figure 3: CCR by selected Broad Fields of Education 2005, 2009 and 2013 applies to all. To explore whether

74 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

field-specific patterns have changed over time, we consider Figure 3 which compares the development of CCRs in three contrasting fields. The fields with most PhD students, Sciences and Society & Culture, represent a ‘fast’ and ‘below average’ and Education an exceptional ‘slow’ completion process. All following figures use line tones to indicate commencement years (2013 black, 2009 dark grey and 2005 light grey) and dash types for different groupings. Figure 3 shows that the general pattern of ‘fast’, ‘below average’ and ‘slow’ completion persists from 2005 to 2013, despite increasing enrolment numbers (Total +46) in Figure 4: CCR by types of university Sciences (+47), Society & Culture (+25) and Education (+6 per In the period 2005 to 2013, completion rates improved cent) in all and growing completion rates in most fields. In at all universities. While GO8 universities improved their Education, the rise of completion rates is inconsistent. After completion rates only by about 4 per cent between 2005 and a strong increase of about 8 per cent between 2005 and 2009, 2009, all other universities increased them by seven to nine completion rates tend to fall in the 2013 cohort. These ups per cent in the same period. This indicates that differences and downs might be an effect of smaller PhD numbers or between ‘types of university’ are shrinking and may converge of specific ways how students pursue a PhD in Education in the long run. This development could be a result of as described before. The overall pattern demonstrates an doctoral education policies aiming at timely completion or an ‘elevator effect’ (Beck, 2007, p. 687) in which disciplinary effect of a range of institutional factors that are difficult to differences remain within overall improved completion rates break down on the basis of DET data. International research and times. Improvements occur across disciplines and must be suggests that the quality of the student intake, of the academic due to changes in the general environment in which students environment, and financial support to students are the three pursue their PhD, including policies for timely completion. most important institutional factors that drive completion As differences between fields persist, these policies have not rates (Geven et al., 2018; Skopek et al., 2020; Stricker, 1994). affected the field-specific conditions that may drive or slow These include for example the ability to select potentially faster down completion. Conversely, Australian doctoral education high achieving or international students, to create a beneficial policies and funding mechanisms do not differentiate by research environment with a low student-supervisor ratio disciplines although the field of study explains most variations and intense research training or to attract and offer enough in empirical completion times and rates. postgraduate funding. To estimate the influence of funding, enrolment status and a number of student characteristics on Institutional differences the completion process, the next sections compare specific student groups with average CCRs. Differences indicate that Figure 4 shows the CCRs of different university types. contextual factors impact on completion rates. Although Dawkins (1987) introduced a unified university system in the late 1980s, differences between large research- PhD funding intensive Group of Eight (GO8) and other universities remain. The proportion of PhDs awarded by non-GO8 universities The relationship between PhD funding and completion increased steadily since Dawkins reforms (Dobson, 2012) times or rates is complex even if we focus on direct funding and reached 51 per cent in 2018. This means that the eight for student living expenses rather than implications of general GO8 universities are still the largest PhD producers, but other research and higher education funding. Empirical studies have universities are catching up in size as well as completion rates produced mixed results due to a range of interacting factors and times. (Horta et al., 2019, p. 3). Whether PhD funding generally vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 75 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

years. This might be a selection effect as recipients of stipends are often high achieving students or a long-term normative effect of funding as scholarships always come with the expectation to complete in a timely fashion. The difference between students with and without a stipend has slightly increased from 2005 to 2009. In both years, most scholarship holders (≥ 50 per cent) completed the PhD after five and non-scholarship recipients after seven years. While completion rates of scholarship holders increased by four to six per cent from 2005 to 2009, those of non-scholarship holders remained unchanged (+one or two per cent). These differences Figure 5: CCRs of domestic students with APA and without scholarship indicate that scholarship holders can cope better with the expectation to reduces (Abedi & Benkin, 1987) or extends (Stock et al., complete in a timely fashion and may be subject to enhanced 2011) the time to complete a PhD may depend on the type institutional pressure inscribed in the postgraduate funding (de Valero, 2001; Ehrenberg & Mavros, 1995) and length mechanisms. Although the formula does not directly account of funding (Kim & Otts, 2010; Skopek et al., 2020), as well for completion rates or times, the Government compensates as the research productivity and credentials accumulated institutions only for a maximum of four years’ tuition fees paid during candidature (Horta et al., 2019) to face labour market on completion (Kiley, 2017). CCRs also indicate that incentives conditions (Breneman, 1976). to further reduce completion times are rather weak (King & Figure 5 compares the CCRs of domestic students who hold Dobson, 2003) as completion rates leap up rapidly after four an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) scholarship with years. As scholarship holders usually have more impressive entry those who are not equipped with any scholarship. Overseas qualifications than most other candidates and are expected to students and other funding opportunities have been excluded enrol full-time (Bourke et al., 2004), the impact of enrolment to ensure comparability. Overseas students are subject to status on completion rates needs to be examined in more detail. different conditions such as visa restrictions and high tuition fees (see below) or may have access to international funding Enrolment status schemes not recorded in DET data. Other Australian funding opportunities such as a range of university stipends ‘Completion rates can be strongly skewed by differences in or supervisors’ grants are not considered to control for similar enrolment patterns’ (Hall et al., 2006, p. 5). For this reason, it funding conditions. Domestic doctoral students do not pay is necessary to estimate the effect of the enrolment status on tuition fees and the APA covers a maximum of 3.5 equivalent completion. DET data only track students’ enrolment status full-time years’ living allowance that enables them to focus on at the beginning or end of their doctoral studies. Changes the PhD rather than other work duties. APA stipend award between full- and part-time status during candidatures as well numbers (and rates) have increased from 1,550 (A$ 18,872) as actual time spent in employment are not recorded. DET in 2005, 2,584 (A$ 20,427) in 2009 to 3,500 (A$ 24,653) in assumes that part-time students work only 50% although 2013 (Department of Education and Training, 2016). research has shown that they spend much more time on Domestic CCRs increase significantly if students hold an their PhD and actually complete earlier (Bourke et al., 2004; APA scholarship. Cohorts start to differentiate from three years Neumann & Rodwell, 2009; Rodwell & Neumann, 2008). onwards. In each following year completion rates of scholarship However, Figure 6 demonstrates that the entry enrolment holders are between 16 and 23 per cent higher than those of status strongly influences completion rates and times. students without stipends. Although most APA recipients In 2005 and 2009, only about 50 per cent of part-time and are full-time students and the stipend only lasts 3.5 full-time 73 to 79 per cent of full-time students completed the PhD equivalent years, the curves keep diverging in the following after nine years’ candidature. In the period 2005 to 2013,

76 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

improved consistently, part-time students’ completion rates merge over time. To analyse social conditions that may drive or impede completion rates and times, CCRs of specific student groups will be examined. The analysis is restricted to full-time students to account for enrolment status effects. Changes in the composition of the Australian PhD student population may influence overall completion rates and times. Figure 7 shows overall Australian PhD numbers (left) and how the proportion of female, Indigenous, mature and overseas students developed from 2004 to 2017 (right axis). Figure 6: CCRs full- and part-time students Indigenous figures are plotted as ten times the real figure to completion rates of full-time students increased steadily, while visualise changes despite very CCR patterns of part-time students show ups and downs. small numbers. Completion rates of part-time students fell from 26 to 20 per The proportion of female PhD students is consistently high cent between 2005 and 2009 and jumped to 32 per cent in at around 50 per cent and their completion rates and times 2013 at the five year mark, but tended to level off afterwards only marginally differ from average CCRs (see Figure 9). This most likely due to a high proportion of late completers. indicates that gender does not affect Australian completion While CCRs of full-time students are S-shaped with a clear rates in the observed period. Indigenous PhD students are rush between years four and six, part-timers show constant underrepresented in Australia. Only 0.4 to 0.9 per cent of all rates of completion. Most (≥ 50 per cent) part-time students domestic PhD students are Indigenous Australians, although completed the PhD after nine years, while most full-time students finish after five years. This is consistent with the finding that timely completion policies tend to manifest after four years candidature, with the expectation that part-time students may take twice as long as full-timers as they are meant to work about 50 per cent on their PhD and with the result of previous research that part-timers are actually faster than full-time students in equivalent- time terms. About a third of the part-time students even complete after four to six years like most full- timers do. The comparison of the 2005 and 2009 indicates that timely completion policies may impact on student cohorts differently. While the CCRs of full-time students have Figure 7: PhDs awarded by student groups vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 77 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Domestic and overseas student CCRs have steadily increased over time. Domestic student CCRs are consistently below overseas student CCRs. The difference becomes more pronounced in year five and six before levelling off in the following years. This pattern demonstrates that overseas students elevate overall CCRs and domestic students follow this trend although both groups pursue the PhD under very different conditions. Overseas students face a range of socio-cultural and linguistic challenges (Yu & Wright, 2016) that are likely to slow down completion. Research has also shown that the overall situation of studying abroad Figure 8: Full-time domestic and overseas students drives timely completion (Lin & Chiu, 2014) including high tuition they represent 3.3 per cent of the Australian population. With fees, specific visa and funding some sizable uncertainty, due to the statistically small numbers conditions that expect overseas students to work full-time on involved, Figure 7 shows that the Indigenous proportion of the PhD and leave Australia after completion or enhance their the PhD student population doubled over the 13-year period. career prospects (Harman, 2003). A high proportion of mature age PhD students (40+ years at In the period 2005 to 2009, domestic completion rates commencement) is characteristic of the Australian doctoral and times improved by four to six per cent at a lower level but training system because ‘Contrary to past experience, in many faster than those of overseas students. This is most likely due disciplines it is now unusual in Australia for PhD students to to timely completion policies. Universities currently try to move directly from an undergraduate degree to postgraduate adjust the conditions of domestic to overseas PhD students training’ (Group of Eight, 2013, p. 15). The proportion of by implementing strict submission deadlines, closing existing students who are mature age students decreased from 36.1 loopholes (e.g. withdrawal and re-enrolment) and considering in 2004 to 26.9 per cent in 2017 but is still relevant because financial penalties for domestic PhD students or even completion rates and times of mature age PhD students supervisors. differ considerably from other students (see Figure 9). The strong intake of overseas students is likely to have the Student characteristics strongest impact on overall completion rates and times. Their proportion increased rapidly from 19 per cent in 2004 to 39 Figure 9 shows the CCRs of female, mature age and per cent in 2017 and overseas students usually complete the Indigenous PhD students who are likely to pursue the PhD PhD faster than domestic students (see Table 1). under different social conditions. The completion rates of women closely align with overall Domestic and overseas students CCRs. Surprisingly, possible gender specific conditions such as more care responsibilities, parental or maternity leave only The analysis of median candidature lengths of exiting cohorts marginally influence completion rates and times in Australia. has already established that overseas students complete faster International research on the influence of gender has shown than domestic students, although the gap shrank steadily from mixed results, with some studies indicating no influence 9.6 months in 2005, to 8.4 months in 2009 and 6.0 months in (Bourke et al., 2004; Seagram et al., 1998; Sheridan & Pyke, 2013. International research shows that doing a PhD abroad 1994; Spronken-Smith et al., 2018; Wright & Cochrane, improves completion times and rates in most disciplines 2000), while others have found that women take longer in (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008; Jiranek, 2010; Lin & all (Booth & Satchell, 1995) or only in some fields such as Chiu, 2014; Palmer, 2016; Spronken-Smith et al., 2018; male-dominated or science disciplines (Jiranek, 2010; Stock Stock et al., 2011). The comparison of full-time domestic and et al., 2011) but tend to be faster in the Social Sciences and overseas PhD students CCRs in Figure 8 confirms this pattern. Humanities (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008). The role of

78 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Decreasing completion rates from 2005 to 2013 may indicate problems to keep up with the pressure to improve completion. This result supports the call for ‘a range of actions to overcome these barriers including better acknowledging Indigenous rights and culture, providing better supervision training, providing greater financial support for Indigenous HDR candidates, and introducing system incentives’ such as a higher weighting in the postgraduate funding schemes (ACOLA, 2016, p. xvii). In a more general perspective, the comparison of CCRs has shown that completion rates and times differ largely due to Figure 9: CCRs by full-time student characteristics the structural and social conditions under which students pursue their having children seems to change since older studies suggested PhD. Taking these conditions into account would allow to that completion times rise with the number of dependents better align normatively expected and real completion rates (Abedi & Benkin, 1987), while more recent research shows and times. no negative effect of children (van de Schoot et al., 2013), if they are born before enrolment (Mastekaasa, 2005). Discussion and conclusion Figure 6 shows that the CCRs of mature age and domestic Indigenous PhD students are far below average for very This article utilised national DET data to analyse the impact different reasons. The impact of age on completion times of Australian doctoral education policies on actual completion and rates is not linear and best understood as an indicator rates and times. These policies emerged in the aftermath of late of a PhD student’s specific life circumstances. Some studies 1980s Dawkins reforms and primarily focused on regulatory found no effects (Spronken-Smith et al., 2018; Wright and funding frameworks to ‘“speed up” candidature’ (Kiley, & Cochrane, 2000), while others distinguish between 2017, p. 82). The main finding of this study is that overall fast young students who can focus on their studies, slower completion rates and times can be interpreted as having mature aged, already financially settled or retired students slightly improved over time, while differences between for whom timely completion might be less important and disciplines, institutions and specific student cohorts largely very slow middle aged PhD students who are subject to remain. This means that doctoral education reforms have been often conflicting responsibilities (Department of Education, partly successful but failed to address the specific structural 2020; Kim & Otts, 2010; Martin, 2001; Rent & Anderson, and social conditions, which drive or slow down completion. 1996). The study of national completion data underpins the result Research on American Native PhD students found that of most previous case studies that higher completion rates they usually take longer than other domestic PhD students and faster PhDs can be found in science-based research fields, (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008; National Science Group of Eight universities, among full-time, younger and Foundation, 2019), particularly in the Social Sciences and particularly overseas students. International research suggests Humanities (Kim & Otts, 2010). Australian Indigenous additional predictors such as social origin, first-generation PhD students seem to face similar cultural barriers and a lack university students or study results that are not covered by of political or social support. High variations in Indigenous DET data. To identify and analyse the dynamics between CCRs are due to very small numbers (see Figure 7) and should often hidden and compound factors that drive completion be interpreted carefully. The curves seem to be flatter than more precisely, DET data would need to be more detailed and others and even better in the years up to year four. A reason made available in disaggregated format. might be that a few high achievers can make a big difference The general pattern of policy-driven overall improvements in the small group of Indigenous PhD students. and remaining inequalities can be described as an ‘elevator vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 79 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

effect’ (Beck, 2007). While doctoral education policies expect sets that allow the application of more sophisticated methods all students to complete within three to four equivalent full- to analyse the interacting factors that influence candidature. time years, some cohorts are more likely to keep up with this Moreover, completion rate and time data should be used pace than others due to the conditions under which they to guide qualitative research into the realities of doctoral pursue their PhD. If policies would address these conditions training. Such studies can reveal the different conditions that more specifically, a mismatch between expected and real drive or prevent timely completion and inform the design of completion rates and times is likely to persist. Even the CCRs field- and student-specific support structures beyond ‘one size and median completion times of fast overseas (5.2 years) and fits it all’ models that dominate current discourses. full-time students exceed the expected three to four-year timeframe by far. Completion rates tend to rise after, rather Marc Torka is a sociologist of science, higher education and than before, the fourth year suggesting that current measures the professions at the University of Sydney, Australia. such as Australia’s funding schemes provide weak incentives Contact: [email protected] (King & Dobson, 2003) to further improve completion rates and times, closing existing loopholes or dealing with the time References consuming challenges of doing a PhD. Abedi, J., & Benkin, E. (1987). The Effects of Students’ Academic, What a divergence between expected and real completion Financial, and Demographic Variables on Time to the Doctorate. times means is largely unknown. Some theories predict a Research in Higher Education, 27(1), 3. situation in which patterns of ‘cognitive dissonance’ (Festinger, ACOLA. (2016). Review of Australia’s Research Training System. 1957) and ‘double-bind’ (Bateson, 1973) communication Melbourne: Australian Council of Learned Academies. emerges. This may trigger the already high prevalence of Bateson, G. (1973). Steps to an ecology of mind : collected essays in mental health problems among PhD students (Levecque et anthropology, psychiatry, evolution and epistemology. St. Albans: Paladin. al., 2017); discomfort of supervisors, departments, faculties Beck, U. (2007). Beyond class and nation: reframing social inequalities and universities who are held accountable for but cannot in a globalising world 1. British Journal of Sociology, 58(4), 679-705. guarantee timely completion; statistical tricks of improving doi:10.1111/j.1468-4446.2007.00171.x outcomes by transferring crucial tasks of the PhD process to Booth, L. L., & Satchell, S. E. (1995). The Hazards of Doing a Phd: An earlier preparatory stages or a political climate in which the Analysis of Completion and Withdrawal Rates of British Phd Students in the 1980s. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in realities of doctoral training can no longer be addressed. Society), 158(2), 297-318. doi:10.2307/2983293 A re-alignment of expected and real completion rates and Bourke, S., Holbrook, A., Lovat, T., & Farley, P. (2004). Attrition, times is required, although an ideal strategy is yet out of sight. completion and completion times of PhD candidates. Paper presented The current priority is to adjust the PhD process to expected at the AARE Annual Conference, Melbourne, 28 Nov – 2 Dec 2004. completion times by selecting presumably high-achieving Bowen, W. G., & Rudenstine, N. L. (1992). In Pursuit of the PhD. students and ‘doable’ PhD projects (Neumann, 2007), Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. enforcing research planning and strict deadlines, closing Breneman, D. (1976). The PhD production Process. In J. Fromkin, existing loopholes (e.g. periods of leave, suspending, switching D. Jamison& R. Radner (Eds.), Education as an Industry (pp. 3-52). to part-time roles) and charging high tuition fees or penalties Camridge: Ballinger. for students and supervisors who fail to ‘manage’ timely Council of Graduate Schools. (2008). PhD Completion and Attrition: completion. The results show that this strategy has been Analysis of Baseline Demographic Data from the PhD Completion Project. Washington: Council of Graduate Schools. partially successful to date but it may come at the expense of crucial elements associated with doctoral education such as the Dawkins, J. (1987). Higher education: a policy discussion paper. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. advancement of knowledge, academic freedom, the creation of independent researchers, the overall quality of the PhD de Valero, Y. F. (2001). Departmental Factors Affecting Time-to- Degree and Completion Rates of Doctoral Students at One Land- experience or social justice. The opposite strategy of adjusting Grant Research Institution. The Journal of Higher Education, 72(3), completion rates and times to the real needs of disciplines and 341-367. doi:10.1080/00221546.2001.11777098 students has become almost unthinkable in an increasingly Department of Education. (2019). Higher Education Statistics - Award competitive environment. Although structural differences in Course Completions, 2018. (D19/1363936). Canberra. completion processes are evident and we know that the equal Department of Education. (2020). Completions Rates of Higher Degree treatment of unequal is unjust, it seems frivolous to ask for by Research Students - Cohort Analysis, 2007-2017. (D20/2774). more time and therefore money for a PhD in the humanities Canberra. than in the sciences. Department of Education and Training. (2014). Selected Higher In the absence of a best model, it is reasonable to increase Education Statistics - 2009 Student Data. (D14/83623). our understanding of why completion rates and times differ. Department of Education and Training. (2016). Historical Australian Quantitative studies can be improved by refining available data Postgraduate Award APA annual stipend rates. (ED16/000039).

80 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Department of Education and Training. (2018a). Completion Rates of King, M. L., & Dobson, I. R. (2003). The flawed nature of Australia’s Higher Education Students - Cohort Analysis, 2005-2017: Definition and research training scheme. Journal of Higher Education Policy and notes. Management, 25(2), 195-202. doi:10.1080/1360080032000122660 Department of Education and Training. (2018b). Research Training Kyvik, S., & Olsen, T. B. (2014). Increasing completion rates Implementation Plan Progress Report, July 2018. Canberra: Department in Norwegian doctoral training: multiple causes for efficiency of Education and Training. improvements. Studies in Higher Education, 39(9), 1668-1682. doi:10.10 80/03075079.2013.801427 Dobson, I. R. (2012). PhDs in Australia, from the Beginning. Australian Universities’ Review, 54(1), 94-101. Latona, K., & Browne, M. (2001). Factors Associated with Completion of Research Higher Degrees. Canberra: Higher Education Series. Ehrenberg, R. G., & Mavros, P. G. (1995). Do Doctoral Students’ Financial Support Patterns Affect Their Times-To-Degree and Levecque, K., Anseel, F., De Beuckelaer, A., Van Der Heyden, J., & Completion Probabilities? The Journal of Human Resources, 30(3), 581- Gisle, L. (2017). Work organisation and mental health problems 609. doi:10.2307/146036 in PhD students. Research Policy, 46(4), 868-879. doi:10.1016/j. respol.2017.02.008 Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, Ill: Row, Peterson. Lin, E., & Chiu, S.-Y. (2014). Can a doctoral degree be completed faster overseas than domestically? Evidence from Taiwanese doctorates. Geven, K., Skopek, J., & Triventi, M. (2018). How to Increase PhD Higher Education, 68(2), 263-283. doi:10.1007/s10734-013-9711-z Completion Rates? An Impact Evaluation of Two Reforms in a Selective Graduate School, 1976–2012. Research in Higher Education, Lovitts, B. E. (2001). Leaving the Ivory Tower: The Causes and 59(5), 529-552. doi:10.1007/s11162-017-9481-z Consequences of Departure from Doctoral Study. London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Green, P., & Bowden, J. (2012). Completion Mindsets and Contexts in Doctoral Supervision. Quality Assurance in Education: An International Lovitts, B. E., & Nelson, C. (2000). The Hidden Crisis in Graduate Perspective, 20(1), 66-80. doi:10.1108/09684881211198257 Education: Attrition from PhD Programs. Academe, 86(6), 44-50. doi:10.2307/40251951 Groenvynck, H., Vandevelde, K., & Van Rossem, R. (2013). The PhD track: Who succeeds, who drops out? Research Evaluation, 22(4), 199- Manathunga, C. (2005). Early warning signs in postgraduate 209. doi:10.1093/reseval/rvt010 research education: a different approach to ensuring timely completions. Teaching in Higher Education, 10(2), 219-233. Group of Eight. (2013). The Changing PhD. Canberra: Group of doi:10.1080/1356251042000337963 Eight. Martin, Y. M. (2001). Postgraduate completion rates. Canberra: Dept. of Hall, F., Evans, B. K., & Nerad, M. (2006). Feasibility of international Education, Training and Youth Affairs. comparisons of PhD program times-to-degree and completion rates. In M. Kiley & G. Mullins (Eds.), Knowledge Creation in Testing Times (pp. Mastekaasa, A. (2005). Gender differences in educational attainment: 3-14). Adelaide/Canberra: The Centre for Educational Development the case of doctoral degrees in Norway. British Journal of Sociology of and Academic Methods. Education, 26(3), 375-394. doi:10.1080/01425690500128908 Harman, G. (2003). International PhD students in Australian National Science Foundation. (2019). Doctorate Recipients from U.S. universities: financial support, course experience and career plans. Universities 2018. Arlington: National Science Foundation. International Journal of Educational Development, 23(3), 339-351. Neumann, R. (2007). Policy and practice in doctoral education. Studies doi:10.1016/S0738-0593(02)00054-8 in Higher Education, 32(4), 459-473. doi:10.1080/03075070701476134 Heintz, B. (2008). Governance by Numbers. Zum Zusammenhang von Neumann, R., & Rodwell, J. (2009). The ‘invisible’ part‐time research Quantifizierung und Globalisierung am Beispiel der Hochschulpolitik. students: a case study of satisfaction and completion. Studies in Higher In G. F. Schuppert & A. Voßkuhl (Eds.), Governance von und durch Education, 34(1), 55-68. doi:10.1080/03075070802601960 Wissen (pp. 110-128). Baden-Baden: Nomos. Palmer, N. (2016). Degree Completion as an Indication of Quality. Horta, H., Cattaneo, M., & Meoli, M. (2019). The impact of PhD Paper presented at the Second International Confrence on Doctoral funding on time to PhD completion. Research Evaluation. doi:10.1093/ Education & Training, Lichfield. rev/rvz002 Parsons, T., & Platt, G. M. (1968). Considerations on the American James, W. (1903). The PhD Octopus. Harvard Monthly, pp. 285-292. academic system. Minerva, 6(4), 497-523. doi:10.1007/BF01096545 Jiranek, V. (2010). Potential predictors of timely completion among Pitchforth, J., Beames, S., Thomas, A., Falk, M., Farr, C., Gasson, S., . . . Dissertation Research students at an Australian Faculty of Sciences. Mengersen, K. (2012). Factors Affecting Timely Completion of a PhD: (Report). International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 5, 1. A Complex Systems Approach. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching Kemp, D. (1999). Knowledge and innovation: a policy statement on and Learning, 12(4), 124. research and research training. Department of Education, Training and Porter, T. M. (1995). Trust in Numbers. The Pursuit of Objectivity in Youth Affairs. Canberra: DETYA. Science and Public Life. Princeton, New Jesey: Princeton University Kiley, M. (2017). Reflections on change in doctoral education: an Press. Australian case study. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, Rent, G. S., & Anderson, B. J. (1996). Time to degree: Factors related 8(2), 78-87. doi:10.1108/SGPE-D-17-00036 to years in earning a doctorate. Sociological Spectrum, 16(1), 61-82. doi:1 Kim, D., & Otts, C. (2010). The Effect of Loans on Time to Doctorate 0.1080/02732173.1996.9982120 Degree: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Field of Study, and Institutional Rodwell, J., & Neumann, R. (2008). Predictors of timely doctoral Characteristics. The Journal of Higher Education, 81(1), 1-32. doi:10.10 student completions by type of attendance: the utility of a pragmatic 80/00221546.2010.11778968 approach. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 30(1), 65-76. doi:10.1080/13600800701745069 vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka 81 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Seagram, B., Gould, J., & Pyke, S. (1998). An investigation of gender Torka, M. (2019). Doctoral Education in Australia. Between Global and other variables on time to completion of doctoral degrees. Research Trends and National Traditions. Internationalisation in Higher in Higher Education, 39(3), 319-335. doi:10.1023/A:1018781118312 Education, 4/2019, 35-54. Sheridan, P., & Pyke, S. (1994). Predictors of Time to Completion of van de Schoot, R., Yerkes, M. A., Mouw, J. M., & Sonneveld, H. (2013). Graduate Degrees. Canadian Journal of Higher Education. What Took Them So Long? Explaining PhD Delays among Doctoral Candidates.(Research Article). PloS one, 8(7), e68839. doi:10.1371/ Skopek, J., Triventi, M., & Blossfeld, H. P. (2020). How do institutional journal.pone.0068839 factors shape PhD completion rates? An analysis of long-term changes in a European doctoral program. Studies in Higher Education, 1-20. doi: van Rooij, E., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & Jansen, E. (2019). Factors that 10.1080/03075079.2020.1744125 influence PhD candidates’ success: the importance of PhD project characteristics. Studies in Continuing Education, 1-20. doi:10.1080/0158 Snyder, I., & Forgasz, H. (2008). A study of factors contributing to HDR 037X.2019.1652158 completions and non-completions at Monash University. Melbourne: Monash University. Visser, M., Luwel, M., & Moed, H. (2007). The attainment of doctoral degrees at Flemish Universities: a survival analysis. Higher Education, Spronken-Smith, R., Cameron, C., & Quigg, R. (2018). Factors 54(5), 741-757. doi:10.1007/s10734-006-9021-9 contributing to high PhD completion rates: a case study in a research- intensive university in New Zealand. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Wright, T., & Cochrane, R. (2000). Factors Influencing Successful Education, 43(1), 94-109. doi:10.1080/02602938.2017.1298717 Submission of PhD Theses. Studies in Higher Education, 25(2), 181-195. doi:10.1080/713696139 Stock, W. A., Siegfried, J. J., & Finegan, T. A. (2011). Completion Rates and Time-to-Degree in Economics PhD Programs. The American Yu, B., & Wright, E. (2016). Socio-cultural adaptation, academic Economic Review, 101(3), 176-187. doi:10.1257/aer.101.3.176 adaptation and satisfaction of international higher degree research students in Australia. Tertiary Education and Management, 22(1), Stricker, L. (1994). Institutional factors in time to the doctorate. 49-64. doi:10.1080/13583883.2015.1127405 Research in Higher Education, 35(5), 569-587. doi:10.1007/BF02497088 Torka, M. (2018). Projectification of Doctoral Training? How Research Fields Respond to a New Funding Regime. Minerva, 56(1), 59-83. doi:10.1007/s11024-018-9342-8

82 Change and continuity in Australian doctoral education Marc Torka vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

OPINION

A program for writing

Brian Martin University of Wollongong

A writing program based on brief regular writing sessions can greatly improve research productivity. Ten years’ experience with a program at the University of Wollongong provides insights into the benefits and challenges in supporting a new writing habit.

Introduction suspected that this typical approach of procrastination and bingeing was not very productive. I coordinate a writing program for academics and research Boice also observed a small number of new academics students at the University of Wollongong. The core of the who seemed to be more productive while being less stressed. program is daily writing. Every member is encouraged to They carried out their teaching and research using brief daily write some ‘new text’ – text of an article, thesis, blog, grant sessions. Boice thought that the same approach might help application or diary – most days of the week, spending five to other academics to become more productive and set out to twenty minutes per day at this task. Members are encouraged test this idea. In one study, he compared the research output to keep a log of their writing specifically how much new of three groups of junior academics (Boice, 1989). One group text they write each day and how many minutes this took. was left to proceed in their usual way (procrastinating and They are also invited to send their log to me, as a method bingeing). The second group was instructed to write every day of accountability. In addition to writing new text most days, in brief sessions, while the third group was instructed to write participants carry out their other usual research activities such every day and to report to Boice regularly. as collecting and analysing data, reading, revising texts and The first group, procrastinating and bingeing, had a very submitting articles. low output. The second group wrote several times as much Unlike most other methods used to boost research and the third group was even more productive. Boice’s results performance, the writing program is based on published showed that changing junior academics’ writing habits could evidence. In this article, I describe some of the studies greatly increase their productivity. In another study he showed underlying the writing program and then tell about what I’ve that daily writing also led to greater creativity in dealing with learned over the ten years it has been running. their research topics (Boice, 1983). Although Boice wrote books as well as many articles about Background his studies (e.g. Boice 1990, 2000), I never heard about them until reading a short cogent book titled Publish & Flourish Robert Boice is a psychologist and education researcher written by Tara Gray (2005/2020). Gray, a professor at New who worked at the State University of New York. In the Mexico State University, in her own research confirmed 1980s, he carried out investigations concerning the research Boice’s results (Gray and Birch, 2001; Gray et al., 2018). productivity of newly appointed academics. He noticed that Furthermore, she formulated a multi-step program for most junior academics felt under a lot of stress. They put most higher research productivity. The program is based on of their energy into teaching with the result that their research brief daily sessions. It also has various other steps, including output was low. They postponed writing until they had large seeking comments on drafts from non-experts and then blocks of time or until the pressure became too great. Then from experts before sending polished texts to publishers. they would write continuously for lengthy periods. Boice It is compatible with recommendations from a number of vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 A program for writing Brian Martin 83 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

other authors (Jensen, 2017; Johnson and Mullen, 2007; For a researcher, writing daily is analogous to training daily Silvia, 2007). for an athlete. Coaches these days know that training once a I read Gray’s book in 2008 and was struck by the value of week, no matter how long and strenuous, is inferior to daily her approach. Prior to this, I had a special role in my faculty, training. Runners and swimmers, for example, may vary their ‘publications mentor,’ in which I had free rein to try to routines, but they train nearly every day. Furthermore, this promote research productivity. I had talked with academics daily training drives other aspects of their preparations, for and research students and organised a variety of workshops. example diet and sleep. However, none of this seemed to have much of an impact. After trying out the writing program myself, I next offered Gray’s program offered the prospect of changing habits in a it to the PhD students I was supervising. Only some of them way that would make a lasting difference. However, I soon took it up; those who did thrived. My weekly supervision learned that most researchers find it extremely difficult to meetings with them meant that I could help them fine-tune change their habits. their practice. I also offered the program to colleagues and research The writing program students in my faculty. I held an initial meeting at which I explained the program and then we met for an hour each After reading Gray’s book, I immediately adopted the week, nearly every week of the year, discussing progress and program myself, writing nearly every day and keeping a log of challenges, and reading each other’s texts. the amount of new text I had written and how many minutes this took. Usually I worked on an article or book chapter Strengths of the program following a dot-point plan prepared in advance; sometimes I would write on a grant application, diary entry or letter to I soon learned that relatively few researchers are interested in a friend. Typically, this daily writing session was about 20 changing their habits, despite the promise of a huge boost to minutes resulting in 300 words of text. During this time, I did productivity. Some colleagues were interested and listened not look at other texts or check sources. eagerly at an initial meeting but did not return. I remember The idea behind writing without stopping to edit or check talking to a colleague who desperately wanted to make sources is to tone down the mind’s critical eye and allow progress on writing but suffered from severe perfectionism. I the creative side to come out. Many writers are excessively suggested writing for just five minutes per day. She couldn’t do perfectionistic. Some can hardly write a paragraph or even it, even for a single day. a sentence without obsessively seeking to make it perfect. Just as Boice had observed in the 1980s, most academics Fortunately, I had never suffered this syndrome. Even so, I have developed habits based on procrastination and found daily writing to be a liberation. Instead of slogging bingeing. Writing is seen as unpleasant, even agony, and so is through an hour or more on an article, which was exhausting, postponed as long as possible, until the pressure of deadlines I could stop whenever I liked, even after just five minutes. is overwhelming. Then comes a binge session lasting hours or The amazing thing was that writing just a few hundred even days or weeks. The binge is exhausting and so aversive words per day provided a powerful incentive to accomplish that it leads to another round of procrastination. Brief daily other aspects of my research. After a week of writing, I had writing counters this pattern. However, for many, it doesn’t text to revise, new ideas to follow up, awareness of gaps in my feel productive. It is so brief that it seems like nothing is argument and awareness of areas I needed to follow up with accomplished. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like the familiar new data, sources or theory. agony of bingeing. If it feels easy, the unconscious assumption Writing in brief daily sessions is an efficient way of working may be that it must not amount to much. on research. A bit of writing, unfinished, uncovers gaps and Some participants prefer to follow the program on their weaknesses. In the time before the next writing session, own. They adopt its principles but do not attend meetings. the unconscious mind often addresses these challenges. One assiduous member writes every day and sends me his Often, the solution is available the next day. Regular writing detailed log every week but never attends meetings. maximises mental processing just like regular exercise builds Attendance at the meetings is usually between four and strength and endurance. eight, varying week to week. There are full-time academics, Another saving occurs in time spent on reading. Rather honorary fellows (unpaid PhD graduates) and research than reading everything potentially relevant beforehand, by students. Occasionally we’ve had honours students as starting writing, you learn what you need to know so your members. reading is much more focused. Some books and articles The meetings offer several benefits. Perhaps the greatest can be probed for relevant ideas and others passed over as is being in a group where every member acknowledges the unnecessary. challenges faced in writing. Many scholars suffer the pangs

84 A program for writing Brian Martin vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

of thwarted aspirations privately. Learning that others have after a week or two, and we don’t see them again. Typically, it similar struggles can be liberating. The group is a safe space takes a few months to establish a new writing habit. The most for admitting difficulties and seeking help. Expressing important thing initially is establishing a routine with daily vulnerability is rare in academia, where competition is the writing as a component, even if it is just five minutes per day rule and many scholars suffer from the imposter syndrome, and the writing has nothing to do with research. the fear that colleagues will discover they are not a real scholar. My impression is that research students find it somewhat In the first half hour of each meeting, we share how easier to adopt a daily writing habit than do academics. There we’re going, with special attention to anyone who is having are two plausible explanations. The first is that academics difficulties. This conversation usually centres on the process have been writing for longer and hence their habits are more of writing but can also range across other issues in academia entrenched. The second is that academics no longer think of and beyond. Challenges discussed include being stuck and themselves as learners: already having PhDs and publications, not able to write anything, suffering from a lack of confidence, they assume they are supposed to know how to do research. how to respond to article reviews, what to expect from thesis Boice (2000, pp. 75–80) wrote that when academics examiners, how to organise material in an article or thesis, and were asked about how they can improve their teaching, they how to deal with co-authors. answered that they relied on themselves rather than asking We are mostly from humanities, social sciences or law, for assistance. The same seems to apply to research. Most with occasionally someone from education or business. A academics rely on their own skills and resources and don’t diversity of membership has advantages. When reading each often seek assistance to improve (Baker, 2020). other’s texts, we are usually non-expert readers. No one else In the writing group we mostly support each other in the in the group was knowledgeable about Xiaoping’s research on early stages of Gray’s program, including writing regularly Chinese language learning or Ben’s research on the oral history and commenting on each other’s texts as non-experts. One of Vietnam veterans. Nevertheless, we could read their texts, particular step needs development: seeking comments make suggestions and ask questions. Non-expert readers can from specialists prior to submitting articles to journals. actually be better than specialists in requesting clarification Wright and Armstrong (2008), based on a study showing of terms and logical arguments; experts already know the a low rate of accurate reporting of cited research methods, area and often do not notice omissions and lack of clarity. recommend sending drafts of publications to authors cited Sometimes asking basic questions highlights assumptions for confirmation or clarification of results and methods. Not that need to be articulated. Occasionally our comments, every living author cited needs to be contacted, but certainly coming from a different background, provide unconventional ones whose work is discussed at length and whose methods perspectives. are used. I’ve used this technique myself, sending drafts of Members of the group have had different amounts of texts to authors whose works I discuss, sometimes even in experience with the writing program itself. As well, individuals just a paragraph. Most respond. Who can resist checking have their own personal challenges. This diversity enables us to what others say about your research? In this way my writing provide each other better advice than would be possible from has become more accurate. However, most researchers, any single person, no matter how knowledgeable. Sometimes including ones in our group, seem reluctant to seek feedback newer members provide the most helpful suggestions because from cited authors. they have recently dealt with the problem themselves. For There is a nice connection here. The usual approach to example, one issue raised by some members is dealing with the writing – at least in relation to theory and ‘the literature’ – is challenge of writing while being a mother. Other mothers in to immerse yourself in piles of reading, become familiar with the group, with children at different ages, sympathise and are as much of it as possible, and only then to start writing. When able to offer suggestions. Another is addressing the internal you’ve polished the manuscript, you send it off to a journal. voice that tries to discourage writing, saying ‘This is no good,’ The only formal help along the way is feedback from referees ‘I’ll never finish’ or ‘I’ll never become a researcher.’ Although or, for collaborative work, from co-authors. such thoughts are remarkably common, few writers ever admit The implication is that researchers can greatly benefit to encountering them. The group is a good place to bring such by being willing to ask for help. This applies to many of the obstacles out in the open to be addressed. steps in the writing program. Instead of reading everything relevant before writing, a slogan of Gray’s that we use is ‘Write Challenges before you’re ready.’ In other words, write before you know everything about a topic, and before you feel psychologically For participants, the most common problem is getting started prepared. Help is valuable for this and is available from others with a new habit, in this case writing regularly in relatively in the writing group. Obtaining comments from non-experts brief sessions. Some begin with great enthusiasm but give up and experts also involves seeking help. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 A program for writing Brian Martin 85 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Sending drafts to readers requires time, but it also saves time Unlike competitive sports, in research there is no when readers offer suggestions that can address shortcomings. obvious and repeated test of performance, and so research Importantly, obtaining comments on drafts addresses the support systems have insufficient incentive to promote skill feeling that the quality might not be sufficient because you development. In this context, those few who are able to haven’t read everything. Actually, you can feel more secure. change their habits will gain a great advantage.

Learning skills Acknowledgements

My experience with the writing program has highlighted Thanks to all participants in the writing program, past and a widespread reluctance in academia to give attention and present, for a host of insights, and thanks to Tonya Agostini, support to skill development. At the individual level, most Anu Bissoonauth-Bedford, Zhuqin Feng, Kathy Flynn, attention is oriented to content, namely learning about Xiaoping Gao, Tara Gray, Anneleis Humphries, Jody Watts the topic being researched. In other words, the attention is and Qinqing Xu for helpful feedback on drafts of this article. focused on what is being researched, not on skills to do the research more efficiently. Brian Martin is emeritus professor of social sciences at the It seems that most researchers assume they develop skills by University of Wollongong, Australia. using them. Most researchers treat their skills as fully formed, Contact: [email protected] so they just need to be applied to new topics or applied more diligently. To the contrary, studies of experts show the References importance of practice, in particular practice that is oriented Baker, W. (2020). All You Have to Do Is Ask: How to Master the Most to improving the weakest parts of one’s performance (Ericsson Important Skill for Success. New York: Currency. and Pool, 2016). Boice, R. (1983). Contingency management in writing and the Skill development in areas besides writing is also neglected. appearance of creative ideas: implications for the treatment of writing Most researchers spend a considerable amount of time blocks. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 21(5), 537–543. reading, yet few put in effort at becoming faster and more Boice, R. (1989). Procrastination, busyness and bingeing. Behaviour efficient readers, despite the ready availability of guides on Research & Therapy, 27(6), 605–611. how to do this. Similarly, many persist in two-finger typing Boice, R. (1990). Professors as Writers: A Self-help Guide to Productive rather than putting in effort to become touch typists, Writing. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. something that would save large amounts of time over a career. Boice, R. (2000). Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus. Ways of reading and typing are habits that become deeply Boston: Allyn & Bacon. entrenched, meaning that change requires effort, by oneself or Ericsson, A. & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the New Science of with support from peers or mentors. Expertise. London: Bodley Head. Neglect of skill development is also apparent at the level of Gray, T. (2005/2020). Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar. research policy. Within and beyond institutions, the primary University Park, NM: Teaching Academy, New Mexico State tool for promoting research is incentives: money, grants, University. jobs and promotions. These are incentives to work harder Gray, T. & Birch, J. (2001). Publish, don’t perish: a program to help or sometimes to work on particular sorts of projects, but not scholars flourish. To Improve the Academy, 19(1), 268–284. directly to improve skills. Gray, T, Madson, L. & and Jackson, M. (2018). Publish & flourish: helping scholars become better, more prolific writers. To Improve the Academy, 37(2), 243–256. Conclusion Jensen, J. (2017). Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. There is evidence that writing in brief regular sessions is a path Johnson, W.B. & Mullen, C.A. (2007). Write to the Top! How to Become to greater research productivity. However, evidence alone is a Prolific Academic. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. not enough to alter deeply entrenched habits or to introduce Silvia, P.J. (2007). How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive policies that address inefficient practices. Part of the resistance Academic Writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological to change is related to the idea that scholarly performance is Association. largely based on innate talent. According to Boice, leading Wright, M. & Armstrong, J.S. (2008). The ombudsman: verification of researchers benefit from belief in the primacy of talent citations: fawlty towers of knowledge? Interfaces, 38(2), 125–132. and hence are reluctant to promote adoption of habits and development of skills that would level the playing field.

86 A program for writing Brian Martin vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Ways to improve your research profile

David S Waller University of Technology, Sydney

When I first started as an academic, many, many years ago, I else, or may not fit with the research focus of your school remember chatting to a much older, wiser, senior member of (Thomas 2009). This can be quite disheartening when you staff who was very interested in my newness to the academic realise it. world. When he was asking me about my teaching and After years of working in academia, publishing articles, and research interests, he said that he would give me some advice - being disheartened, I have come up with ten points to help the trick is to ‘get famous’. raise your research profile. I’d also like to thank the colleagues At the time I thought what a dumb thing to say, as I did who attended seminars to help discuss and refine these. The not understand what he was actually saying. This was not points can be grouped into: (1) making the right choices, and advice to become a Kardashian of the academic community (2) making the right connections. but being famous in a particular topic area can be extremely important for your career. By being ‘famous’ you would 1. Choose the Right Topic become the authority in a particular field; primarily through Deciding on the right topic that you are going to be an your research and writings, you would become known, not expert in is extremely important. You must weigh up a only in your school but also at other universities here and number of questions to decide whether you have chosen overseas. the right topic. While it can be interesting personally, is it Therefore, you would be the ‘go to’ person for a specific interesting for other people? So, here are some questions topic. If someone was thinking of who is the best person to to ask yourself: ask about this topic? It would be you. Who would be the best • Is it a ‘hot’ topic? Does the topic hold interest for people person to mark a thesis on this topic? It would be you. Who now, or is it something that is developing for the future? would be the best person to review this article on this topic? • Is it a topic that has enough interest? Not only for you It would be you. personally, but will it be of interest to your colleagues, and So, from an obscure comment a profound idea was being academics internationally? expressed. At least this was more meaningful than just saying • Is it a topic that is of interest to journal editors? Are there “publish or perish” (Miller, Taylor, & Bedeian, 2011). But any calls for papers in this topic? Has there been discussion then the question (or trick) is how do you become famous? about the topic in conferences, particularly in sessions in Of course, it is more easily said than done. However, a major which you can meet the editors? way is to be proactive in improving your research profile. • Is it a topic that has a theoretical underpinning? A topic If you are to look at your research profile, what is it? Do may be interesting, but it is also important for journal you have one? Is there a topic or field that you have written articles that there is a theoretical basis for the discussion of about that other people know you for? If not, what would you the topic. like it to be? • Is it a topic that can get a grant? This can also help you As an early career researcher this can be a difficult work out if there is enough interest in the topic. Obtaining question, or you may have a definite answer with an area a grant can be a valuable way to help build your research which may not be perceived as being important by anybody profile in a topic. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Ways to improve your research profile David S Waller 87 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

2. Choose the Right Projects 4. Choose the Right Journals It is one thing to choose the right topic, it is another to choose The term “publish or perish” has already been mentioned, but the right project. There may be lots of potential areas to study an issue is where should you publish? To some institutions it within that topic but which specific project will be the one is more important to achieve one publication in a top ranked to help build your research profile? Some questions you can A or A* journal than getting several publications in low rank ask are: journals – quality rather than quantity. Also, a growing issue is • What project should you spend your time on? research impact, and a metric used to measure this is whether • Is it your interest or someone else’s? Often if it is based it is in a top journal. Some questions to ask are: on somebody else’s interest it can be harder for you to be • What are the main journals for your topic? Are there any motivated to go the extra mile for this project. associated disciplines related to your topic? • Will it hold your attention/interest for a period of time? • What rank is the journal? • Is anyone else interested in this project? Similar to having • Does the journal have Australian Business Deans Council the right topic that people are interested in, it is also good (ABDC) recognition if it is in the business area? to think if your project is the right one in this topic area. • Is the journal classified as being in your area? For • Will the project attract any funding? Extra money from example, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research grants will help fund the project and can also provide you Classification (ANZSRC) or Field of Research (FoR) Codes. with good feedback from reviewers. • Has the journal published articles in your topic? If so, make • Will external grant bodies be interested? Obtaining funding sure that you cite them in your article. from an external body is usually seen better than obtaining • What is the focus/image of the journal? Some journals internal University grants, especially Australian Research in a particular field may be perceived as being more of an Council (ARC) or Discovery Early Career Researcher industry journal, or an academic or theory-based journal. Award (DECRA) Grants. • Does it focus on qualitative or quantitative methodology? This can influence whether your paper would be of interest 3. Choose the Right Co-author/s to the journal editor/s. While it can be nice to be seen as an independent thinker • Is the journal listed on websites like Google Scholar or who can undertake large research projects and write articles Scimago? This can be a big help for measuring citations or by yourself, there are also valuable lessons to be learnt by showing evidence of impact. being able to undertake research and write with other people, • Can you meet/contact the editor? Sometimes it is good to especially if your co-author already has a name in the topic email the editor to confirm whether your paper is suitable area. It has been noted to me in academic recruitment that to be published in the journal. Also, some conferences have when looking at CVs, it is important to note whether the ‘meet the editor’ sessions where you can hear what the candidate has only written by themselves or only written editors want from papers for their journals, as well as talk with other people. Both situations have advantages and to them personally about your research area. disadvantages. So, you should ask yourself: The first four points were about making the right choices • Can you write alone? in relation to your research topic and output. The following • Are there colleagues or international academics who are points relate to the importance of getting the right connections. interested in your topic? While it is important to build contacts, it is also good to reflect • What academic rank is the potential co-author? There are on where those connections are and what type of connection advantages in co-writing with a senior academic, however, would be helpful to you building your research profile. you have to be careful that they’re not using you without you getting any benefit for your work. Also cowriting with 5. Get Connected to your University a fellow junior academic may cause problems if neither Depending on whether you are a PhD student, recent of you have the necessary skills to produce an academic graduate, or early career researcher, you should be aware of article. what is offered by your University. It can be surprising what • What can the potential co-author bring to the study? You support your University can offer you to help with research want to make sure that one person is not just doing all the projects and assist you in establishing your name in a particular work, so it is important to determine what skills in writing research area. You should try to discover: the literature review, or analysis they can bring to the paper. • What is the School, Faculty, and University doing to • Can you work well with others? It is important to think encourage quality research? about how you can work with the co-author/s, what skills • Is there a newsletter? Research announcements? Sometimes are you bringing? Can you make deadlines? Can you take a short article or information piece can be valuable in criticism? getting recognised at the University.

88 Ways to improve your research profile David S Waller vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

• Are there internal grants or seed funding that you can apply • How does your family life affect your work? for? • Do you have a mentor? • Are there seminars, workshops, or conferences that you can • Or is there someone you can ask questions? attend or even help organise? Personal relationships and your own mental health can suffer if these issues are ignored. 6. Get Connected to a Relevant Assn./Group Outside the University there may be an association or research 10. Get Connected to Yourself group that you can contact that can assist you in developing In some ways this should be considered first. You should be your interest in that topic area. sure to connect to yourself and what you really want to do, and • What is the most relevant association for you? what projects you are comfortable working on. If you are not • Are there any special interest groups (SIGs)? These may be happy personally then you can make yourself feel miserable part of a larger association. about your work which can lead to further career and personal • What information or journals do they publish? problems. Therefore, you should ask yourself: • What conferences do they run? • What are your real feelings about the research topic, projects, writing, analysis, etc? 7. Get Connected to People • Are you comfortable with the current situation? Once you have worked out who is who in the topic area, you • What are your plans for the future? should make yourself known to them. This can be daunting, These are just a few personal reflections on how to raise but it can also be worthwhile. your research profile, and possibly reduce the disappointments • What are the main conferences? Are you prepared to travel that you might face in your academic career. It is important to and present at these conferences? Conferences can be a remember that an academic’s life is more than their research vital way of networking with people who have got the same output. There is teaching, administration, and university interest in an issue as you, and where you can possibly meet service, as well as an opportunity to mix with wonderful future co-authors, or colleagues, or even mentors. people and students who can greatly enrich your life. I hope • Email people to make contact, ask questions, or remind that this will at least get you thinking about your future career them afterwards that you met them at the conference. and potential opportunities, so that it will be a long and • Build connections for potential co-authors, reviewers, fruitful one. referees, and friends. David S Waller is Head of the Marketing Discipline Group 8. Get Connected Online at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. There are several ways to use the Internet to connect to other Contact: [email protected] people online and build your research profile. • What is your university profile page like? Can you add to it? References • Use social media to promote yourself and your research, Miller, A. N., Taylor, S. G., & Bedeian, A. G. (2011). Publish or perish: such as Twitter or a blog. academic life as management faculty live it. Career Development • Are you on Google Scholar, ResearchGate and Linkedin? International. 16 (5), 422-445. Make sure that these are open to the public so that people Thomas, H. (2009) Business Schools and Management Research: A can contact you if they are interested in your research. UK Perspective. Journal of Management Development. 28 (8), 660-667. • Can you develop shortened versions of your findings for the media? You can try to publish opinion pieces or short articles for magazines or outlets like The Conversation. Websites • Build connections with journalists or media companies as Australian Research Council (ARC) https://www.arc.gov.au/. they can contact you for a ‘quote’ to add to their story on the topic. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/au. Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) https://www.arc. 9. Get Connected to Family/Support People gov.au/grants/discovery-program/discovery-early-career-researcher- award-decra. Life is not all about work, so it is important to remember Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com the people closest to you. It is not healthy to be so career or research focused that you forget those who support you no Linkedin https://www.au.linkedin.com matter what. Some things to ask are: ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net • Who is your main support? • How does your work affect your family life? vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Ways to improve your research profile David S Waller 89 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The elusive siloed subjects Sacrificing humanities to Techno-Tehan

Jim Daly Monash University

This article questions the use of the term ‘siloed’ to describe certain degrees or subjects in the Australian university curriculum. Education Minister Dan Tehan used the term as part of a justification of a re-set of funding priorities for university education from 2021 which he announced in June 2020. The Minister partly turned his argument on the floating of an impression that humanities degrees are ‘siloed’. They or, more specifically, units within them, would become more expensive for students since ‘job readiness’ needs to be prioritised. The author analyses the term, its uses and applications to fields of knowledge, and concludes that such a term is neither accurate nor useful. He suggests that focusing on needs arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic might provide a less conflicted and future-oriented way of thinking about the problem rather than making superficial judgments of the merits of particular undergraduate degrees as a foundation for dictating education and education funding policy.

On 18 July 2020, Federal Education Minister, Senator Dan budgetary point of view: Tehan, announced Government plans for education to be put Universities will play a crucial role in producing the job-ready in place in response to the economic effects in Australia of the graduates that Australia will need to drive its post COVID- COVID-19 pandemic. The main focus of his announcement 19 recovery. Our universities’ response to the Government’s (National Press Club Announcement) was the need for challenge to roll out short courses demonstrated they can be undergraduates to take up degrees which would provide jobs innovative and flexible in skilling and re-skilling Australians. and quickly serve the needs of the economy in a national task We will need to harness that innovation as Australia reshapes of job building and rebuilding. To act in this way would, he the higher education architecture with a greater focus on argued, spur recovery from the recession into which the domestic students – specifically regional and Indigenous Australians – and a greater alignment with industry needs. country had fallen, and, in the process, lead directly to jobs for (Dan Tehan (2020b), ‘Job Ready Graduates’, 19 June 2020) young people (Tehan, 2020a). In the course of his speech (National Press Club Address, One of the main justifications which Senator Tehan in his 2020), Senator Tehan outlined cheaper levels of fees for presentation offered for deciding on such a cost was that the certain courses and dearer ones for others. The cheaper levels humanities subjects are instances of what he called ‘siloed’ included education, IT, medicine and nursing, and STEM subjects: ‘We are encouraging students to embrace diversity (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. and not think about their education as a siloed degree.’ Subjects like law and economics would be dearer. In general, (Tehan, 2020b). fees for the humanities would be 113 per cent higher. Most He argued that if you are going to learn history, you should school leavers and their parents would regard such costs as perhaps learn how to teach history, and be a teacher. Citing intimidating. It seems likely that this is the point of increasing his own story, he argued that if you are going to do economics, costs, in a strategy to enforce what the Government regards perhaps you should learn another language. He confessed that as priorities, a not entirely unreasonable approach from a his lack of a language had limited him earlier in his career in

90 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

obtaining a job. However, many arts degrees are structured thought he was ‘just’ (but usefully) a hospitality worker, so in such a way that there is already a degree of flexibility and was surprised to learn that he was doing postgraduate studies variety across subject areas so that a candidate can choose in Philosophy. I met the second at a postgraduate seminar. from a smorgasbord of subjects and skills, within the degree, He was well into his PhD: expensively, immaculately dressed, some of which might serve the presumed ‘employability’ with a hint of a Toorak accent, and in his thirties I guessed. I criteria. Might. The Minister did not note that many, if not sensed financial independence. He may test or grease racing most holders of arts degrees, go on to obtain some form cars on the weekends in order to earn a crust. I have no idea. of professional postgraduate diploma or degree, and seek But, if so, such anomalies are not unusual. There was recently registration in professional organisations. The degree itself in our department a double PhD working on a musicology may include one or more subjects which offer the possibility of thesis. He is an older man, like me, and a motorbike freak with employability more than others in it. I suspect most students significant skills and accomplishments in the public service, would already embrace within an arts degree the ‘diversity’ in the very relevant field of public transport, nationally and which he encouraged in his speech. University administrators internationally. The point of the stories is rather obvious – across the varied tertiary landscape could provide figures that nothing in life is as clear cut as the incision Dan Tehan attesting to the variety or exclusivity where it exists. has made into the heart of humanities. I suspect that there would There are three questions be few candidates who would which I would like to probe pursue philosophy (only) – The point of the stories is rather obvious into in this article. The first is which the Senator used as a – that nothing in life is as clear cut as the to ask if the term ‘silo’ and its perhaps rather obvious example incision Dan Tehan has made into the cognates is merely analogical – across an undergraduate heart of humanities. and does not accurately degree (if that were possible) describe the nature of many followed by continued, undergraduate arts degrees. In exclusive immersion in philosophy at the postgraduate level. addressing this question, I will move quickly to confine myself Again, it might conceivably be safe to attack philosophy, to the performing arts, an area with which I have familiarity. not just because philosophy is inherently resistant in se, but It is also an area which is an easy target for the Minister’s because the more obvious target, performing arts, is at the pricing. Its apparent ‘siloed-ness’ which can be inferred and time of the Minister’s presentation, being smashed by the might well be implied is, unfortunately, part of the national restrictions brought about by the pandemic, and the public myth. While actors may seem to inhabit some fairy land in has been made only too aware of performers’ plight, even if the eyes of the public, their presence on television is taken for the Government seems to have performed throwing arms up granted almost to the point that the characters they play are in the air and turning deaf ears, despite the announcement of often taken, I believe, by some of the viewing audience to be a competitive application round for funding which is likely real people. I agree that this is a strange phenomenon, and its to assist only the big-end-of-the-town of performing arts explanation would take longer than the space I have available producers; for example, Michael Cassel and his Harry Potter here. Actors might in return believe that, in this fantastic case, production, as mentioned by Arts Minister, Paul Fletcher on it is the viewing audience which is ‘siloed’ away from the lives ABC’s Insiders program (28 June 2020). Clearly, it is all the of actors. The present writing attempts to throw some light on arts subjects in the arts degree which will be penalised in terms the ignorance which informs that view. The second question of cost. It is also clear that the young people he was addressing addresses the implication that the performing arts in the were not the scientists, the architects or the budding teachers, workplace-as-endpoint-of-arts-education is somehow ‘siloed’ but those intending to pursue arts degrees. There was no hint in itself and that such a view leads to a position where high at all in Dan Tehan’s speech that he was encouraging scientists pricing is justified. The third question is whether and to what and mathematicians, for example, to ‘embrace diversity.’ The extent the cheaper, now favoured or sometimes short courses students which he encouraged towards diversification, in a or subjects, are ‘non-siloed’. seemingly heartfelt way, were exclusively humanities students. What does ‘siloed’ mean in relation to the humanities ‘If you are an architect, think about doing choreography. You subjects to which the Minister referred? It may be helpful can learn a lot about the flow of line’ was the kind of specific to remove that image which readily comes to Australian advice which never arrived. minds of a concrete cement thing straddled by a dusty road A short anecdote: I have, oddly, only ever met two and railway line – a tall thing, thick, impenetrable and filled dedicated philosophy students whom I can recall in the last with stuff that is homogenous and mysterious because it is so twenty years. One was a hospitality worker at the Melbourne locked away. There is something emotive about the image. Town Hall where I sometimes worked as a doorman. I On the other hand, the descriptors are not useless. Most of vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly 91 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

them fit with the effects of bureaucracy outlined by Karl A perusal of the literature suggests that the descriptive term Weber (Gerth & Mills, 1946). The height of the silo suggests ‘siloed’ gained currency around 2010. I have not been able to a structure that is strongly present, formidable, a work of determine the exact origin of its metaphorical use. thought, construction and labour. Its thickness suggests the David Ian Willcock (2013) describes ‘silo working’, for barrier that keeps things in, and out. The thickness guards the example, as capital (intellectual, marketable or financial) that the product when people in organisations focus on their own needs and represents. It is impenetrable. There are bodies of knowledge, goals to the exclusion and sometimes detriment of the wider rules, protocols and regulations which make the scoria of the organisation and its aims – a lack of joined up or holistic thing itself. These combinations constitute its opaque life: thinking and behaviour (2013 p. xv). its life is to slow and capture life, something analogous to setting concrete. It moves painfully slowly, like the Australian ‘Silo’ operates metaphorically in all the above contexts, no Immigration Department. It asserts life and the movement that less when an minister of education applies it to university is productive export, but its manifestations can be selectively degrees: some degrees or subjects within them are ‘siloed’, in arcane or lightning fast in its harnessing of technology and use his opinion, and some are not. Perhaps Mr Tehan, indulging in of it: grotesque, effectively, in such hybridity and excess. Being a little expensive philosophy, can conceive siloes as worlds in deceptively unpredictable, it can shock and surprise. It can also relation to other worlds. Each is presumably a particular kind slam on the brakes quickly, keep people out, police them, and of world (with a limited number of combinations/academic track them down and bring them ‘to confront the full force subjects to be studied and/or with limits within them) in of the law,’ if necessary. The matter which the silo contains is greater or less proximity to other worlds (university degrees distinctive and necessary to the purpose of the silo, or the aims or subjects or a great many but finite number of ideas), each of the organisation. The matter may be plucked chickens, state of which, in turn, also has a large, finite set of combinations. security, barley, digitised requests or trading algorithms. Not Such an attitude fits comfortably with late Enlightenment all bureaucracies are thorough-goingly hermetic, but most are. philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey’s concept of what counts for It is difficult to begin to think that humanities could possibly understanding in our world: matter, ideas, psychology, history, be like this. culture, and feelings are part of the world. One may explain A quick Google search throws up some interesting thoughts the natural world empirically, but understanding requires a about silos and workplaces. They both generate a lot of hot air. broader, less ‘siloed’ response, I think he would suggest. Eric S. You can ‘drown’ in them; they stop you breathing and then Nelson (2011, p. 33) comments: you sink, particularly if the silo/organisation is being emptied …Dilthey interprets naturalistic world-picturing to be an (‘going to the dogs’) at the same time. The use of the term expression of a mode of life that, as a life rather than a theory, as a descriptor has been used across a wide range of fields: has its own legitimacy and cannot be refuted. Dilthey argued the nature of organisations (Niemi, 2019; Norton, 2011), that there can be no one unified natural worldview common educational organisations (Barnes, Weinbaum, & Francis, to all humans, but concluded from this that naturalism is one 2012), the nature of work groups; racial or ethnic groupings expressive possibility of life among others rather than impos- (K.M. Gillespie, 2015), animals and others (K.A. Gillespie, sible. Naturalism is one expression and enactment of the 2015), transnational mobile subjects and technology (Gomes, truth for Dilthey and only untrue when it overextends itself and takes on a totalising metaphysical form. A world-view is 2018); the management of data (Choi, 2014), the preservation essentially historical for both Dilthey and Heidegger, but for of laboratory samples (Treene & Grigoryan, 2020); the Dilthey this entails that it is irreducibly individual and worthy complexion of subjects of study: art education (Creegan- of recognition for itself. Quinquis & Thormann, 2017), arts education (Weston, 2019), medical education (Kitts et al., 2011, Weston, 2019), Finding the worlds and defining them may be more integration of Indigenous content into health curricula challenging. I am certain that Dan Tehan in his heart of hearts (Virdun et al., 2013), health systems (McKnight, 2005); the does not believe in the possibility of science, as narrowly being of nations (Mukharji, 2018); the teaching of STEM understood, or language as the end-point of all that we know subjects (Thornburg, 2009; Newhouse, 2017), the teaching of and feel. Where are the barriers or walls of the ideas? Where engineering (Gallegos, 2010); web development project teams do they end? Can we be sure that each idea, discipline, theory, (Dalziel et al., 2018), and groups in long chains of command application can start only in one place? Can we make cuts at (Terziovski & Kanchan, 1991), for example, the army. their boundaries with sharp obsidian blades like the Aztec Although this list is not exhaustive – I have not referenced priest to get to the heart of the matter? Is there more than the siloes that sheath nuclear weapon rockets – it suggests one origin of an idea and so on? As I walk across the world of that ‘siloed’ behaviour can occur in any organisation. The only my loungeroom to the table and pick up The Sunday Age (21 exceptions which I anticipate are anarchist ‘organisations’. June 2020) to check the front page article by journalist Zach

92 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Hope, I hear Ken Done, a successful Australian artist in the reasons, but one is that it opens up that comportment to those artistic and commercial sense, say on the telly in the corner, ‘I who undertake it. There is not a field of interest in human am ever grateful to my parents who let me leave school to go activity which is closed to the emergence of ways of thinking to Art School.’ He partly answers my question. Zach Hope in performing arts. It is a sieve, filter and shaper of all ideas. (2020) opines: Above all, performance characterises all human activity. Inversely, at its most basic level, all kinds of activity occur in The changes announced by minister Dan Tehan last week are intended to encourage students such as Andrew [the school performing or may be the ‘subject’ (or ‘object’) of performing captain at Oakleigh South my insertion] to move away from arts. Performing arts invites and prepares for many things: more nebulous humanities degrees and into ‘job-relevant’ mimesis (copying more or less), demonstration, teaching, studies (p.1). satire, explanation, critique, philosophy, identity, protest, specialised physical activity, contemplation, teamwork ‘Nebulous’. ‘Cloudy’ and ‘airy-fairy’ is the meaning and, par excellence, reading, relaxation, laughter, improvisation, quite possibly, the underlying meaning in the Minister’s use of imaginativeness, design, self-development, physical fitness, ‘siloed’, as Hope implies. It is Hope’s descriptor, not Tehan’s, safety-awareness (stages can be dangerous places), craft, play but it seems to be an attempt to get at the feel and attitude (‘siloed play’ is an oxymoron), aesthetic experience (feeling or of the siloing operation which the Minister imputes to all beauty), co-operation, propaganda, marketing, celebration, humanities students. Note that income-generation, exhibition, clouds are romantically ‘soft’ as re-creation, creation, ritual, in ‘soft subjects’. ‘Siloed’ sounds I do not believe that arts degrees are in any habit, socialising, socialisation. more academic, ‘nebulous’ way siloed since there are always many Performing arts enterprises dismissive, crass and insulting ways to express life offer all types of tasks or by usage. But, for the purpose formal specialised areas of of the argument in favour employment : law, accountancy of putting an impost on the nebulous, at least ‘nebulous’ and business management, marketing, stage design, carpentry, provides a means of contrast with the ‘un-siloed’ subjects welding, mechanical invention or application, electrical which supposedly have ends and beginnings: they are upright knowledge, costume design, properties, sound design, solid-citizen things that belong. They fit and make up the new curation, lighting design, writing, stage management, hard-headed world, the new Rinascimento. They are things computer skills, cleaning, public relations, customer services, that you can pick up and put down, and leave: like banging hospitality, export, booking and ticketing, tourism, casting, in the last nail or whipping out the last catheter at the end small business creation, one-off project creation (repeated/ of the shift, putting the hammer back in the tool box and development). Students who undertake performing arts rubber gloves in the bin instead of having to think about the take up roles and occupations in one or often more of these meaning of ‘education’ (Latin root [language!]: to lead out or activities in myriad projects, including much ‘rough theatre’; to go somewhere) or ‘crisis’(Greek root: gathering together only occasionally on the mainstages familiar to Government and unfolding) or ‘adaptation’(Latin root: moving to another ministers who often get invitations to their orgiastic or magical skill), to a ‘renewed focus’ on types of work as Mr Tehan Slytherin theatricalities. Many of the activities and skills of described the purpose of the new policy. Clouds (L. nebulae) skilled arts workers are transferable, able to walk out the door also have the tendency to make you think of the world and its to other spheres of work. A significant proportion of acting big questions, like how do I belong to the world and how does it graduates leave acting but move into related fields, sometimes belong to me? How do I have it? How does it have me? with additional formal study, and learn additional skills on the Maybe one should not even ask this question about ends job or formally. If the work area of the nebulous arts degree and beginnings and leadings on, because, according to the is somehow also a silo, it is a fertile one, an incubator, and Minister, Philosophy is definitely a siloed subject, and, after all, capable of letting its steamy contents burst out. we’re talking about money for real jobs, money with its more It is hard to see how the learning and work activities which or less clear rules and demands and edges which somehow live, I have described could be termed ‘siloed’ if the term means permeating all, digitised in another sort of cloud. In short, I do ‘cut off ’, ‘disconnected from’, or ‘immured against’ the world it not believe that arts degrees are in any way siloed since there adjoins, abuts or inhabits. It can only be siloed if someone else are always many ways to express life, as Dilthey has proposed. or something else, like a government with funds, cuts itself off I have indicated that I will question whether a performing from it. To ‘silo’ something is thus to use a metaphor to make arts degree can be siloed. It is obvious to all, I would think, a value judgement about something. ‘Silo’ discourse usually that the performing arts bares its breast to all aspects of life. occurs in a negative context, although its possible opposite, Its teaching proceeds in that spirit. The degree exists for many ‘integration’, sometimes attracts criticism, such as the parking vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly 93 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

of history, geography and religion under ‘social studies’ or it concerns the wilful destruction, by political operators and some such. Most educators see knowledge as connected, rent-seekers carving out for themselves (stealing) the land of not something to be sliced and diced, as it has often been in a successful Aboriginal settlement in late nineteenth-century educational settings for different reasons. On the other hand, Victoria. In playing Nicholas II in Tchekov at the House the reverse may be true. Some of the ‘job-ready’ degrees may of Special Purpose (Johns, 2019) at La Mama in 2017 and be victims of ‘siloing’. Thornbury, Neahouse and Gallagos 2019, I was brought to a deeper understanding of a father’s (above) all bemoan the siloing which occurs in STEM caring relationship with his daughters. Although I am a subjects and engineering, study areas which Minister Tehan father of daughters myself, I was able to enter somewhat into bravely implies are non-siloed in contrast to the humanities. experiences which might be useful in understanding even He adds a voice which makes the way up and through the deeper the real-life ‘substitute parent’ role which I can bring intellectual thicket unnecessarily rocky and conflicted. Even to international students in my English language classes, and on less demanding peaks, making one’s way in the world empathise with thoughts and feelings which their parents at requires using the equipment available to us, co-operatively home might have. I am likely to have learned at least as much I would urge. The motto of the Melbourne City Council, as I might have from a psychology textbook. Psychology, ‘Vires acquirit eundo’ catches succinctly the value of learning: it should be noted, is an area of study which will attract a ‘We get stronger as we go along.’ A variety of equipment from reduced fee, as the Minister noted in his presentation. Am I to many store-houses can help. infer that psychology is non-siloed? The kinds of activities which I have listed above are those It seems to be that way. which actually occur in workplaces in which people who have In playing two drunks in Bottomless at fortyfivedownstairs studied in the performing arts work. Students of performing in 2018, I got some sense of the world of the alcoholic and arts may not have studied marketing, for example, as part was able to tap a similar empathetic understanding. And of their degree but may well find themselves having to learn how does sociology stand? Allow me to go back further, about and do it when engaged in a production, especially of to the Kennett years. In Melbourne Workers Theatre’s the alternative or ‘rough’ kind. Forget Potter (even though I large-scale production of The Tower Light at the end of the auditioned for Dumbledore – and I am not envious). This Twentieth Century, I participated in an event which warned is how it works for ninety-five per cent of the five per cent about and presaged much of the misery and venality which of actors who are employed at any one time: three weeks’ has since flowed through Melbourne’s casino along with the rehearsal and one to three weeks of performance (the other tax dollars. I protested at the opening of the casino itself five per cent are doing commercial or mainstage theatre). with members and supporters of MWT, kept by security Finish. Split of the door of $300 to $700 ($33 per day) for at a distance, on the other side of the Yarra. Well-known the whole period, if you are lucky. Back to your day gig, dear actor, Rachel Griffiths, sneakily got herself much closer, actor, as even the Potters will also do eventually. So, yes, be topless, in protest, onto the main door’s red carpet. Siloed? open and unsiloed to learning about, say, statistics or formally With a degree in drama and dance? ‘Catapulted’ might be a study Statistics for the casual few days of the week you work better descriptor. With the same company’s Rapid Response for that superannuation company. Team, I once dressed up as a (53-year-old) baby in a nappy in My second question is to ask whether the type of work Bourke Mall to protest the cutting of childcare subsidies. My in which performers engage post-study is siloed. One does willingness to be involved depended on my understanding of not need to snoop around for too long to discover that this the issue. I may have stood on the tramlined stage bawling, is not the case. I will offer personal evidence from some but not blind. I could offer many other examples in which the work which I have done in the last couple of years in theatre work of actors is intimately connected with, not ‘siloed’ off which demonstrates theatre performance’s open stance. The from, the society in which we live. I have a recurrent feeling Ghetto Cabaret (Klas, 2019) at fortyfivedownstairs (a not- that some politicians would just like us to go away because for-profit theatre in Melbourne) in 2019 entered the pain performing is often a way of asking difficult questions. We of a discriminated group, Jews, in crisis. Jews were forbidden could all become psychologists (lower fees) or philosophers to lecture or study at university thanks in large part to the (higher fees) rather easily. I know several actors who have ideological work of Alfred Rosenberg (Rydell, 2015) and headed off into ‘unsiloed’ psychology where the income is Hitler which infected Nazi Party policy. While the experience higher and more assured than performers’ median income. of the play enabled me to deepen my understanding of the Can you blame them? dark Nazi history, it was a stark reminder about maintaining In order to play certain roles, I have often had to learn vigilance for justice in our own times. Similar attention to some small skills. The range of skills that I have learnt injustice was present powerfully in the play Coranderrk or understandings developed are more closely related to (Nanni & James, 2013) in which I played over seven seasons: psychology and teaching methodology and practice, and

94 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

discourse analysis, subjects which I had studied at times. I have give some of the game away. It (not a pun) is a field in which not yet been in a situation where I have had to learn some of conjunction, ‘the provisional and precarious syntony of the skills contained in some of the degrees and qualifications vibratory organisms that exchange meaning’ (Birardi 2015, which the Minister will make cheaper, and which humanities p. 31) might somehow occur. That hope is likely a vain one. students will subsidise. Some actors have. It is not unusual Siloing will be complete, of course, when the computers are for an actor to have to learn how to cook a particular meal entirely robotic and exercising their own will, and building, or meals during the course of a play. Cooking becomes without payment or reward, other computers to do the same the focus of the work: that is largely the play (for example, thing and gradually remove/silo (v.) the human. Whether Emma: Celebrazione! (Ciccotosto (1996)), performed by we should allow that to occur or not is a matter which only Laura Lattuarda, 1996-97). Other actors have built things, philosophy can answer. like cupboards. During the course of a 12-hour production Another meaningful anecdote: I recently had an interesting of John Gabriel Borkman by Theatertreffen in Berlin in 2012, conversation with an efficient, skilful, funny, and empathetic the space of the proscenium young, Vietnamese nurse in arch was bricked up during the an outer suburban public course of the play (Perkovic I suspected that she had been encultured hospital where I found myself, 2012). I have no idea whether in an educative silo which emphasised the in emergency, for a couple a bricklayer was brought in for empirical so firmly as to encourage her of days. I must say that I was the gig, or whether the actor to express herself solely in terms of science deeply impressed, in fact learnt or was already able to lay and with a degree of automaticity. Her emotionally moved, by the bricks. I would not be surprised professionalism, skill and if either of the latter alternatives performance seemed to indicate a victory of sheer hard work of all the was the case. I have worked Apollo over Dionysus. nurses – without exception. with actor Chris Bunworth I was so impressed that I (2020) who works as a labourer wrote to the Health Minister on ‘job-ready’ building sites when he is not doing a gig, and to convey my experience and to state my belief that we are loves it. It is hard to see how the acting work in which actors doing very well in health education and that we should apply engage exists in a silo. It is not hard to imagine ways in which that attitude to other areas as we move out of the pandemic. both kinds of work cross-fertilise. Chris can play great ocker I asked this nurse how she de-stressed from the pace and types and, job-ready, carry heavy lighting equipment around demands of her work. the stage for the job at hand. The explanation she gave me was almost entirely in terms The third question asks if the (by implication) ‘non- of endorphins: the explanation was empirical and, therefore, siloed’ degrees or subjects are, in fact, silo-free. The concept limited as an understanding of human experience. Historical, suggests something which is not hermetic; it is something emotional, cultural and aesthetic experiences were absent in open, free and dynamic, exploratory, boundary-busting, the account. I don’t believe that this woman de-stressed by world-connected, down-to-earth, pragmatic, practical and feeling the science (naturalism) in such an ‘objective’ way, adventurous, and needed. Since the ‘non-siloed’ are – by but it seemed that she had limited resources, partly but not inference and announcement – nursing, medicine, English or predominantly to do with language, to convey the experience. language (Chinese or… Inuit?), psychology, and IT, I should I suspected that she had been encultured in an educative silo ask if these subjects all fit this description? On the face of which emphasised the empirical so firmly as to encourage it, they all do. Nursing has a place for compassion, humour, her to express herself solely in terms of science and with a teamwork, role-playing (dealing with the schizophrenic degree of automaticity. Her performance seemed to indicate patient, for example), cleaning, writing (reports), knowledge, a victory of Apollo over Dionysus. This despite my overall patient assessment, and other things. The list may not be as high estimation of the nursing education she had apparently long as that found in working in the theatre which I know, received, its pragmatic roundedness, and my observation of but it is not ‘siloed’. It connects with many facets of human some flexibility in her interaction with patients and other life. A similar case might be made for the rest of the list. staff. I expect that if I had continued the conversation with Although IT might be somewhat removed from the flesh, the nurse, I might have been able to encourage her to recount it is not a field in which imagination and empathy should her experience in a freer, broader, more phenomenological go AWOL or be exposed to forces of destruction, although way. It is difficult, I suggest, for humans to be so completely some think as if anything goes. Dan Tehan did not, however, cut off, amputated, from inner and outer perceptions so that urge IT students towards teaching or language learning or the only remainder is the purely measurable and conceptual, choreography in the name of diversity. That would be to as Dilthey believes. Of course, one may be conditioned to vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly 95 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

do so, and maybe that work is better left to robots. In the about the merits of different fields of study: as the Editor of meantime, striving for what humans can do best in all their The Sunday Age (21 June 2020) concluded: richness should not be discouraged. During society’s deepest challenges, from war to recession and I have hinted here that ‘siloed’ is not a useful term to depression, it is so often cultural touchstones such as the arts characterise degrees or the subjects which compose them. that throw up the champions of our age. The government is Knowledge cannot be merely sliced and diced either in right to address the jobs crisis, but it mustn’t throw the baby designing curricula or in teaching methodology, and such an out with the bathwater and jeopardise what helps to make us understanding is hardly new. It might have been better if Dan who we are (p. 22). Tehan had simply said that there will be a need for certain kinds of jobs and the country needs to prepare to meet them. The coincidence that Vera Lynn died on the same day as It would have been more honest if he were to have simply Dan Tehan delivered his speech (18 June 2020) is not lost on said that his Government does not have high regard for the me. The institutions we build should not be the ‘reshap[ed]… humanities (even though I suspect most of the Government higher education architecture’ (Tehan, 2020a) of the tiered members have been schooled in them), and that such studies terraces of Tenochtitlan down which the heart-less corpses should be sacrificed for the greater material and (it seems) of sacrificed humans were let tumble, but open silos of psychological good of the population. Better to say that the fermenting knowledge, skill and bravery. change is a policy of social engineering. I do not wish to convey the impression that I am casting any aspersions on Jim Daly is a veteran Melbourne-based jobbing actor, the intended and useful policy outcomes needed: dealing teacher and academic. He is a trained teacher, holds a BA, with an ageing population and the increased mental stresses a postgraduate diploma and masters’ degrees in educational in society generally, attracting young people into school administration and applied linguistics. He is completing a teaching (which has been a relatively underpaid occupation PhD at The Centre for Theatre and Performance at Monash with high burnout) to deal with the ‘Costello baby boom’ University. numbers (which the Minister admitted), and staffing Contact: [email protected] schools in growing outer suburbs caused by immigration are all matters of some urgency. The greater good also includes, References obviously, the fuelling of the operation of the digital world Barnes, C., Weinbaum, E. & Francis, E. (2012) Cultivating (which has its ‘siloing’ problems, as Choi (2014) and Dalziel connections among research, policy and practice for state et al. (2018) discuss), and the provision of mental health education agencies: social networks and knowledge use. (Draft) services founded on Psychology to deal with anxieties and The Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE). behaviours emanating from recent and anticipated social and Retrieved from https://www.cpre.org/sites/default/files/ meetingpaper/1342_12951246aerabarnesweinbaumfrancis.pdf environmental weakening, damage or collapse. As for the performing arts, we have been here before. In 1960, Birardi, F. ‘Biffo’ (2015). AND: Phenomenology of the End. South Pasadena: Semiotext(e). the time of Menzies’ Science blocks for schools and before Whitlam’s free tertiary education, I was working regularly as a Bunworth, C. (2020). Curriculum vitae of Chris Bunworth. Showreel. BgmAgency website. Retrieved from http://www.bgmagency.com.au/ young actor in the Channel 9 studios in North Adelaide in the details.aspx?type=actor&id=612 pioneering children’s show Southern Stars. I had my heart set Creegan-Quinquis, M. & Thormann, J. (2017). Effective Use of on going into teaching, which I did a couple of years later, and Technologies to Transform Arts Education and Teach Diverse am still doing sixty years later. At the studio, a crew member Learners. Art and Technology. Brill Sense. 45-58. Retrieved from told me after shooting had finished one Sunday afternoon, https://monash.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/tjo511/ catau51422415610001751 ‘There’s this acting school that’s just opened up in Sydney.’ He was referring to NIDA, of course. I had no idea that one Choi, Y. (2014). From Siloed Data to Linked Data: Developing a Social Metadata Repository. Proceedings of the American Society for could make a career of acting in Australia. Most Australian Information Science and Technology, 51(1),1–4. Retrieved from https:// actors had to go to RADA in London to study, and most of doi.org/10.1002/meet.2014.14505101144 them came from families who had the means to support them. Ciccotosto, E. (1996). Emma-Celebrazione. Performed by Laura In the meantime, we Australians have established our own Lattuarda and others. Directed by Rosalba Clemente. Playbox Theatre. way of doing things and have made studying performance in https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/26138 academic or craft institutions a reality to young people of all Dalziel, K., Dussault, J. & Tunink, G. (2018). Legacy No Longer: backgrounds. Regarding such studies as ‘siloes’ or imagining Designing Sustainable Systems for Website Development. Retrieved from them to be so is neither an accurate description nor useful for https://dh2018.adho.org/en/legacy-no-longer-designing-sustainable- systems-for-website-development/ the way ahead. It is a step back to a gone world in practical terms, and a step back to nowhere in perception and judgment Editor, The Sunday Age. Nine Entertainment. 21 June, 2020.

96 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Gallegos, H. (2010). The Education of an Engineer in a Holistic Niemi, H. (2019). Establishing a Master Data Management Process in Age: A Latin American Perspective. In Holistic Engineering Education. a Siloed Organization. Master’s Thesis. Retrieved from http://urn.fi/ Springer, New York, NY, 99-111. Retrieved from https://doi. URN:NBN:fi:aalto-201910135728 org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1393-7_9 Norton, B. (2011). Hyper-Regulation Leaves No Place To Hide. Gerth, H.H. and Mills, C.W. (1946). From Max Weber. New York: Financial Executive, 27 (1), 40–44. Retrieved from https://link.gale. Oxford University Press. com/apps/doc/A247973283/AONE?u=monash&sid=AONE &xid=ca8e168e Gillespie, K. A. (2015). Review of Animal Oppression & Human Violence: Domesecration, Capitalism, and Global Conflict. The AAG Perkovic, J. (2012). True Chaos: Theatre at the Limits. RealTime Review of Books, 3(2), 66–67. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/ (August-September.) 2325548X.2015.1015914 Rydell, A. (2015). The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe’s Gillespie, K. M. (2015). Racial diversity in University of Oklahoma Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance. New York: student organizations: the case for increasing informal interactional Viking. diversity within siloed institutions. Master’s Thesis. Retrieved from Tehan, D. (2020a). ‘Job Ready Graduates.’ National Press Club of https://hdl.handle.net/11244/44940 Australia. Media Release. Retrieved from https://www.npc.org.au/ Gomes, C. (2018). Siloed Diversity: A Concept. Siloed Diversity. speaker/2020/656-the-hon-dan-tehan-mp Palgrave Pivot, Singapore, 65-100. Tehan, D. (2020b) Minister for Education Dan Tehan National Press Hope, Z. (2020). Uni fee hike another blow for class of 2020. The Club address 19 June 2020. Canberra: Minister’s Media Centre, Sunday Age. June 21, 2020, p.1. Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Retrieved from https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/minister-education-dan-tehan- Johns, R. (2019) Tchekov at the House of Special Purpose. Unpublished national-press-club-address. play script. First produced at The Courthouse Theatre, La Mama, Carlton 2017. Terziovski, M. & Kanchan, A. (1999): What makes organisations succeed?: an examination of some of the characteristics of excellent Kitts, R. L., Christodoulou, J. & Goldman, S. (2011) Promoting and visionary companies. Journal contribution. Monash University. interdisciplinary collaboration: trainees addressing siloed medical Research Repository (figshare). Retrieved from https://doi. education. Academic psychiatry, 35(5), 317-321. Retrieved from https:// org/10.4225/03/5934f716aa9f0 doi.org/10.1176/appi.ap.35.5.317 Thornburg, D (2009). Hands and minds: Why engineering is the Klas, G. (2019) The Ghetto Cabaret. Unpublished play script. Premiere glue holding STEM together. Thornburg Center for Space Exploration. Production by Kadimah Jewish Theatre at fortyfivedownstairs, 2019. Retrieved from http://www. tcse-k12. org/pages/hands. pdf. McKnight, W. (2005). Business Intelligence in Healthcare Today. Treene, L., & Grigoryan, Z. (2020). Gut microbiome trends observed Information Management, 15(5), 80. in patients with h. pylori colonization compared with healthy subjects Mukharji, P. B. (2018). Subjects of modernity: time-space, disciplines, at Cooper University Hospital. Retrieved from https://rdw.rowan.edu/ margins. Manchester University Press. 1-3. Retrieved from https://doi. cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=cmsru_capstones org/10.1080/13688790.2018.1440892 Virdun, C., Gray, J., Sherwood, J., Power, T. (2013). Working Together Nanni, G., & James, A. (2013). Coranderrk: we will show the country. to Make Indigenous Health Care Curricula Everybody’s Business: Acton, Australian Capital Territory. Aboriginal Studies Press. A Graduate Attribute Teaching Innovation Report. Contemporary Nelson, E. S. (2011) The World Picture and Its Conflict in Dilthey and Nurse: Issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Care, 46 Heidegger. Humana Mente Journal of Philosophical Studies,18, 19-38. (1), 97–104. Accessed 20 June 2020. Retrieved from https://doi. Retrieved from https://philpapers.org/archive/NELTWP org/10.5172/conu.2013.46.1.97 Newhouse, C. P. (2017). STEM the boredom: Engage students in the Weston, G. (2019). Gabriel Weston: Keeping an Open Mind. BMJ: Australian curriculum using ICT with problem-based learning and British Medical Journal (Online), 365, l2074. Retrieved from https:// assessment. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 26 (1), 44-57. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l2074 Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9650-4 Willcock, D. I. (2013). Collaborating for results: Silo working and relationships that work. Routledge.

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The elusive siloed subjects Jim Daly 97 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The degrading of university education The failure from within

Tim Moore Swinburne University of Technology

The grand villa on the slopes of the Acropolis was confis- that skills in university study can be unproblematically cated not long after the philosophers left. It is clear that prioritised over the learning of disciplinary knowledge. it was given to a new … owner. Whoever this owner was, they had little time for the ancient art that filled the house. The employability agenda Catherine Nixey, The Darkening Age Education Minister Tehan’s recent announcement to double Minister Tehan commenced his dramatic address to the cost of an Arts Degree has been a bombshell like no the National Press Club in June in bold terms: ‘Today, I other in recent higher education policy. Many have rightly announce our plan for more job-ready graduates’. Clearly, seen it as a policy that makes no practical sense – if you want employability was very much on the Minister’s mind; in teachers, as is claimed in the overall policy, you of course need fact he spoke of virtually nothing else. In an address of just a sizeable number of these trained in the humanities. More over 20 minutes, the words employ/employment were uttered concerning though, is the perception that the decision is just 15 times, along with other related terms: work (15 times); another dismal episode in the country’s never-ending culture job (22 times, including the new coinage, ‘job-relevant’ wars, where national policy seems to be driven, as much as study). Notions relating to those pursuits that actually go anything, by a desire to vanquish one’s ideological foes - real on in a university barely rated a mention – learning (three or imagined. times), thinking (four times), the latter used only as part of We should fervently decry this latest plan by the Government a mantra about students needing to ‘think’ about choosing and its motivations. In this piece however, I argue that our the right ‘job-relevant’ degrees. The government, of course, critical gaze should be directed as much at our universities – is intending to assist school-leavers with their ‘thinking’ in or at least at that class of administrator that has come to run this regard by putting the study of certain disciplines out of them in recent decades. In the directions and strategies that financial reach for many. have been pursued over this time, there has been little defence The reviews of the Tehan package have not been flattering. by our ‘institutional leaders’ of the broader educational mission Author Richard Flanagan saw the plan as part of a broader of universities, leaving them seriously exposed to the anti- cultural trend which ‘places ever less value on the creative, the academic, anti-democratic policies now being imposed. critical and the questioning, and which regards conformity I describe two notions that have been key in the directions as the greatest good’ (quoted in Carmody & Hunter, 2020). that have been pursued, and which lie at the heart of the Ian Marshman and Frank Larkins (2020), higher education intellectual enfeeblement of our institutions. The first of researchers at the University of Melbourne, were sure the Tehan these, is the so-called employability agenda, which has plan precludes any notion of ‘a well-rounded education’, or of come to construct higher education in almost exclusively students ‘achieving their full potential and wider citizenship instrumentalist terms; the other, is the highly flawed notion capabilities’ (p. 1). Economist Ross Gittens (2020) was much

98 The degrading of university education Tim Moore vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

more pointed: ‘Our unis are about to become even more like education. The Review’s summary of recommendations noted sausage factories’. the desire of business and industry to see a greater alignment Marshman and Larkins (2020), in their response, go on to between university curricula and industry needs and a ‘greater characterise the Tehan plan as ‘truly radical’, constituting ‘a emphasis’ placed on the development of specific employability major shift in the purpose of Australian university education’ skills (Bradley et al., 2008, p. 209). The Australian Chamber (p.1). But one wonders just how much this is really the case. of Commerce and Industry, for example, called for the Arguably, the employment agenda now so embraced by the instituting of ‘more formal structures… to ensure that students Government has been gestating for a long time, and this are able to build industry-relevant skills’ (ACCI, 2008). has happened as much as anywhere within the walls of our Within academic ranks, the new employability agenda, universities. as well as the increasing loss of institutional autonomy that The road to where we are now has been a long and mainly accompanied it, was met with disdain. Yorke and Knight unedifying one. The first striking out on that journey goes (2006), for example, noted the growing sense of unease from back arguably to the 1990s, with the publication of the within faculties, with such developments viewed as ‘narrowly Achieving Quality report, which first introduced universities conceived, relatively mechanical, and inimical to the purposes to the idea of generic skills and attributes (Australian Higher of higher education’ (p. 567). Writers like Richard Hil (2012), Education Council, 1992). The a regular contributor to the new paradigm ushered in by pages of AUR, have been more this report was characterised As we’ve all come to observe in our forthright, seeing the new as a shift in post-secondary institutions, the benefits of pursuing a ‘career-focused’ agenda having education policy away from a higher education degree are now described its roots in the productivist focus on ‘inputs and efficiency’ almost exclusively in employment terms. demands of global capital, to one of ‘outcomes and quality’ one that typically precludes (Clanchy & Ballard, 1995). ‘anything approaching Whilst this new orientation was to be welcomed in many intelligent civic engagement’ (p. 127). respects, a challenge confronting policy makers was how the But where skepticism has been the order of the day within ‘outcomes’ of the diverse and multifarious nature of higher faculties and departments, this has not been the case at all with education could be adequately described – least of all, measured. the senior management of universities. Far from pushing back Ultimately, the solution to this challenge was a highly (or even wanting to temper these pressures in some way), the reductionist one, with quality and success to be evaluated approach at senior levels over the last decade has generally been almost exclusively in industry-based terms. In time, the a wholesale embrace of the new agendas. Indeed, high-flying indicators of what constituted a quality higher education careers have increasingly been forged out of such allegiances. were reduced to two main metrics: the employment levels As we’ve all come to observe in our institutions, the benefits of graduates; and how satisfied employers were with these of pursuing a higher education degree are now described graduates, as recorded in the growing number of industry almost exclusively in employment terms. We see this in the surveys sponsored by government and other agencies (e.g. advertising slogans (Get the career-ready advantage); in the ACNielsen Research Services, 2000). Marginson and mission statements (We create future-ready learners equipped Considine (2000) saw in all this a significant shift in the for the jobs of the future etc.); in the open day sessions for future role and status of the sector, marking what they described students (Be assured, our Course X has excellent employment as the increasing ‘interpenetration of economic capital into outcomes). Commenting on all these developments, Jackson university education’ (p. 52). A related development were (2013) suggests that universities have become ‘consumed’ by the policies of the Howard Government during this time the employability idea. which sought to refashion the purposes of universities in A key part of this re-orientation has been the creation all almost exclusively utilitarian, economic terms. A significant manner of outside work experience programs in industry moment amid this new milieu was the out-of-process (internships, mentorships etc.) embedded into degrees, an cancellation by the then Education Minister , Brendan approach strongly supported by Universities Australia (2014). Nelson, of a range of ARC grants in the humanities and While such practicum experiences have always been a part of social sciences on the grounds they demonstrated ‘no professional programs (e.g. in training for teaching, medicine national benefit’ (Haigh, 2006). etc.) – and usually undertaken towards the end of the degree Various industry peak bodies and employer groups took – they are now seen as an indispensable component of most their cue from such developments. By the time of the Bradley degrees. Students are often encouraged to think about these Review in the late 2000s, it was clear that such groups expected options from Day 1 of their undergraduate studies. One of the to have major input into the redesign of Australian higher main effects of such developments has been to take students vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The degrading of university education Tim Moore 99 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

away from their campuses – and also away from their lecturers especially the case with those in the management consultancy and fellow students; away from their university libraries and industry, who – with their shared language of strategy and classrooms; away from the social life and rites of passage restructure – have increasingly come to play a role in the that are such a part of this phase of a young person’s life; in governance of our institutions (Moore & Taylor, 2019; fact, away from most of the things that go to make up what Trounson, 2014). is unique about the experience of higher education. In this In the gradual entrenchment of the employability agenda, new paradigm, it is almost inconceivable to imagine a vice university leaderships have also been aided and abetted by chancellor in a welcome to new students saying something a new class of higher education researcher/administrator, like the following: typically those heading up centres of learning and teaching or moving into DVC academic positions. This group have We want you to be here. We want you to take full advantage of this unique and short-lived experience in your life when brought a quasi-religious zeal to the promotion of these you able to immerse yourself in a special world of ideas and new ways of thinking. There is not much subtlety, it must ways of thinking, ones that don’t readily get exposure in the be said, in the nature of their pronouncements. Curricula, outside world. Think of yourself in this special time of your it is thought, should be mainly determined by employers: life as a student and all the opportunities and possibilities ‘[Modes of learning] more focused on the skills employers this brings – intellectually, personally, socially – before you say they want, might be more effective and efficient paths for enter the more regimented world of work and adult respon- a sizeable proportion of undergraduate students’ (Crisp & sibilities. We want the precious time at our university to be Oliver, 2019). What students benefit from higher learning a rich, transformative one, where you will develop powerful is seen almost exclusively in job-related terms: ‘If graduates understandings and capacities – in both your areas of study and the world in general –ones that will carry you through in are to meet their potential, they must learn as students how whatever endeavours you pursue later on in your life. to maintain their future employability through career- long employability work (sic)’ (Bennett, 2019). And in In the current environment, such an account seems almost the irredeemably neoliberal conception of these things, fantastical. But in a time not so long ago, the world – or the students are, of course, viewed as customers – our essential world of our universities – was contracted thus. role as teachers, it is suggested, is to broker the investment The question is how did we come so far, or so low? Clearly the student/customer has made in their education: external forces have played their part – the effects of ever- ‘[Universities] are becoming more adept at supporting diminishing funding and support from government (Tiffen, students to manage their educational investment in their 2020); the increased competition for students; the relentless employability futures’ (Kift, 2019, p, 50). impositions and criticisms of the sector coming from industry In this enthusiasm for ‘reform’, one can’t help also and business interests. But much blame for this abandonment noticing an all-too-ready inclination to run down many of of the higher education ideal has to be directed at the leaders the established qualities and virtues of academic learning of our universities who have led the push in these directions. (see for example, Herrington & Herrington, 2007a). Thus, Raewyn Connell (2019), in her highly-regarded book, traditional university curricula are typically dismissed The Good University: What Universities actually do and why for being ‘bounded’ and ‘constrained’, in contrast to the it’s time for radical change, describes the special cultural and ‘open-ended’ and ‘flexible’ nature of the new industry- psychological qualities that have come to characterise this oriented modes; similarly, the knowledge base of programs group. She notes how the changes wrought in the system in is characterised – or caricatured – as consisting only of the recent decades have seen an older generation of administrators narrow ‘facts’ and ‘information’ of disciplines, as opposed to – ‘steeped in an ethos of public service’ – giving way to a the ‘higher order learning’ of organisations; and established new class of manager who, through the corporate nature of assessment-types like the academic essay or review, once their operations, has become increasingly detached from the valued as genres ideally suited the development of students’ educational processes of their institutions. ‘The isolation skills of analysis and argumentation, become scorned for their of senior managers from the university’s rank and file staff ’, lack of ‘authenticity’ and ‘realworld’ contexts (Herrington & Connell says, ‘is now a key feature of the university scene’ (p. Herrington, 2007b). What’s needed to banish all this artifice 130). Such isolation has inevitably involved a loss of contact from our halls of learning, it is suggested, is a bridging of the with the lifeworlds of faculties and departments and with this, ‘skills gap’ (Analoui 1993) – so that there is as much similarity one senses, a diminished affiliation and commitment to the as possible between tasks and content in the ‘learning setting’ larger disciplinary and civic concerns of university study. In (education) and in the ‘application setting’ (workplace). the increasingly arcane and remote activities of this group, But we need to question the soundness of such notions. it seems that the professional affinities nowadays are much Many scholars – including a number working in the area of more with their counterparts in the corporate sector. This is educational anthropology – are sure that rather than looking to

100 The degrading of university education Tim Moore vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

create convergence of these two domains, we need to recognise fragmented landscape’, where alternative private providers (and also to insist on) their fundamental differences (Dias et – ‘employers, corporates, professional associations’ – would al., 1999). This does not stem from some desire to merely increasingly dominate the sector, and where degree structures preserve existing structures, but rather from a recognition that would be supplanted by ‘learning experiences, ranging the purposes and ‘activity systems’ (Engeström, 2001) of each from micro-certifications to corporate training to industry type of organisation – education and work – are objectively qualifications’ (p. 21). The reality check for all of us in the different. Le Maistre and Paré (2004), for example, explain here-and-now is that such notions were clearly articulated in this in terms of differing configurations of what they call – the different sections of the Tehan statement in June. ‘mediational means’ and ‘outcomes’ of the two domains. Thus, in universities, the ‘mediational means’ are those practices and Skills over knowledge artefacts that are used for the purposes of learning (classes, labs, textbooks, assignments etc.); and the outcomes are Running hand in hand with the employability agenda, as we the discipline-based knowledge and skills students acquire have seen, has been an increasing focus placed on skills – often through these means (i.e. theories, methods, techniques). at the expense of the teaching of disciplinary knowledge. In the move to professional practice, the ‘outcomes’ of Debates about these two notions – skills and knowledge - and university learning become in effect the ‘mediational means’ their relationship go back at least as far as the Greeks, with of the workplace; that is to say, Aristotle’s elaboration on two the new professional draws on distinct types of ‘knowing’: the the outcomes of their learning We also need to be aware of the disturbing ‘knowing that’ (episteme) and to enact a fundamentally implications of the ‘skills gap’ idea – which the ‘knowing how’ (techne). different type of ‘outcome’ (i.e. if taken to its logical ends, would seem to In time, this distinction the provision of professional point towards the ultimate obsolescence of came to underpin a broad services to clients, patients, the university. division within many national pupils etc.). Le Maistre and educational systems – between Paré (2004) argue that it is vocational training on the one naïve to imagine that the two hand, with its focus on the areas can simply be conflated. In fact, we greatly diminish realm of the technical, and higher education, on the other, the power and opportunities of one domain – in this case, with its focus on the epistemic. While we know in practice, education – if we try to force it to assume the characteristics such divisions are far from being clear cut, the conceptual of the other. A similar view is expressed by Simon Marginson. difference has nevertheless, provided a useful way to think As he adamantly states things: “Work and education are about the differing missions of these two institutional strands. qualitatively different social sites, and need to remain so” The increased focus on employability in universities (quoted in Hansen, 2014). in recent years, however, has seen a progressive shift away We also need to be aware of the disturbing implications from the epistemic base of learning. This has been evident of the ‘skills gap’ idea – which if taken to its logical ends, in the growing influence of the so-called ‘21st Century would seem to point towards the ultimate obsolescence of skills’ movement (Griffin et al., 2012). The types of skills the university. Thus, if the aim is constantly to bridge the gap and qualities generated out of the movement are now very between the domains of study and work – to create greater familiar to us all: teamwork, collaboration, communication, and greater ‘alignment’ between them, as the jargon has it – creativity, problem-solving, computer skills, and the like. the ideal situation, presumably, is one where no gap exists at What has also become familiar is the increasingly hyperbolic all. This would be a situation in which the university was in way such skills are now referred to in university documents some sense indistinguishable from the worlds for which its and pronouncements. The following descriptions, taken from graduates were being prepared, suggesting a higher education a Graduate Attributes policy paper at one university, speak to system more or less subsumed into the training regimes of their almost magical potential: businesses and corporations. Such skills are what enable a graduate to arrive ready to ‘hit Such a scenario may seem far-fetched. However, it is not the ground running’ in diverse professional contexts. too far away from the sort of ‘visions’ of higher education now being espoused by a range of private entities. The Future-ready skills are the transferrable skills that enable management consultancy firm, Ernst & Young Australia people to move between diverse professional contexts in the (2018), for example, in a report speculating on the future of future world of work while responding to global problems. higher education – Can the universities of today lead learning This focus on – even fetishising of – skills has been for tomorrow? – predicts, or rather pitches for, ‘a more accompanied by a derogating of the importance of vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The degrading of university education Tim Moore 101 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

disciplinary knowledge. Stephen Parker, a former vice of key quotes from the last 20 years of research in the field chancellor, and now ‘national sector leader’ at consultancy around this idea: firm KPMG, states the case plainly: ‘Our education system Such skills cannot be learned in vacuuo … they must be needs to place greater focus on skills and capabilities, and learned in the context of a specific discipline and body of correspondingly reduce the “knowledge content” of the knowledge (Clanchy & Ballard, 1995, p. 164). typical syllabus’ (Parker, 2017). Others see the specialist knowledge that comes out of degree structures as increasingly A preference for teaching graduate attributes in the context of an impediment: disciplines has been mentioned in the literature often … but it cannot be emphasised more strongly (Chapman, 2004, p. 23). The world of the future is not so fixated on degrees. Employ- ers actually want skills and confidence. [At my university] Educators and policymakers must ensure that content is we’re more into developing skills rather than transferring not shortchanged for an ephemeral pursuit of skills. Skills knowledge (Quester, quoted in Basu & Rohaidi, 2018). are inseparable from knowledge (Rotherham & Willing- ham,2010, p. 18). In a more extreme version of this idea, there is a questioning whether lecturers should concern themselves with content Finkel (2018) too leaves no doubt about the validity of knowledge at all. Universities, it is suggested, should not be such a view: ‘The evidence from every field of knowledge – in ‘the content business’ (Quester, quoted in Basu & Rohaidi, cognitive psychology, education, philosophy, engineering, 2018). The rationale for such a view? ‘The internet does that applied labour economics – [says] very clearly: give up content much better’ – as though a coherent syllabus of study might at your peril’ (p. 29). be created through the simple compiling of an assortment It is worth recounting the rationale and support for such a of YouTube clips and TED talks. Under such a view, we view. On a simple philosophical level, it is impossible to think see growing criticism of the methods by which essential of many of the skills that appear on graduate lists without knowledge is passed on to students. In course and unit review thinking of a content base that gives them meaning and processes, for example, pressure is often exerted on academics substance. Such a notion is rooted in the phenomenological to reduce the reading requirements of their subjects. The axiom – advanced by Brentano a century ago – that ‘thinking lecture format – especially the live lecture – is now under is always of neccessity thinking about something’ (cited constant attack. in Howard Gardner, 1985). In relation to other skills that It is a relief that such ideas are not left unchallenged. One students need to develop – communicating, problem-solving, powerful critic in recent times has in fact been the Australian collaborating etc. – we can say that they too need always to be Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel. In a number of interventions, about something – about some ‘epistemic’ content. Finkel (2018) has expressed his great dismay at the way that And this ‘something’ of its nature must have a specificity ideas about workplace skills have been misinterpreted – or to it. Philosopher, John McPeck (1992), a leading scholar in even deliberately distorted – in the formulation of policy and the area of critical thinking, notes that our critical thoughts curricula. He writes: are never about ‘things in general’, but of necessity are always directed at ‘something in particular’. Indeed, it is the nature of I say: ‘Engage [students] through real-world problems’ – but people hear: ‘Great, let’s toss out the textbooks’. that ‘something in particular’ (its disciplinarity) that generates the distinctive criteria that enable relevant critical judgements I say: ‘Students should be work capable’ – but people hear: ‘I to be made; that is to say, a novel, for example, will be judged need to teach generic skills like collaboration, instead of con- by criteria quite distinct from other disciplinary entities such tent knowledge like chemistry’. as a chemistry experiment or an architectural design (Moore, And on the current obsessions with the development 2011). McPeck concludes that the idea of skills not being of students’ communications skills, Finkel (2018) finds it related to a specific subject X is ‘conceptually and practically inexplicable that ‘so many people [have come to] associate empty’ (1992, p. 54). Finkel (2018) has a similar notion in being a 2lst-century worker with knowing less and talking mind when he queries the value of having students learn more’ (p. 29). separately about the much-hyped skills of collaboration and This is an inexplicable state of affairs, especially given that teamwork: “What’s the use of learning to collaborate”, he the academic literature on this subject is so much at odds bluntly states, “if you actually don’t have anything distinctive with the policies being pursued. Among the various thinkers to contribute?” working in this area, the view is virtually consensual – this Research in this area also confirms two additional principles. is, that the development of any desired skills and attributes One is that the level and quality of skill development appears can only happen in any meaningful way if taught within the to be proportional to the depth of knowledge one has attained context of studies in a discipline. The following are a number in a field. In an influential article by Glaser (1984) ‘Education

102 The degrading of university education Tim Moore vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

and thinking: the role of knowledge’, which reviewed of Australian higher education. There is no space to explore psychological work in this area, the conclusion drawn is that this issue here. However, it does seem far from clear that familiarity and active engagement with content is ‘the crucial our repurposed higher education system, geared, as it is, to difference between individuals who display more or less ability these strongly utilitarian objectives does actually produce the in thinking and problem solving abilities’ (emphasis added, p. positive outcomes so frequently claimed. 97). It is an irony that as universities increasingly spruik their mission to produce graduates ‘equipped to solve complex Conclusion problems in the world’, the policies pursued seem guaranteed to reduce the field expertise necessary for these problems to be When Minister Tehan delivered his address at the National adequately addressed in the first place. Press Club, many recoiled in horror at the drastic nature of The other principle relates to transfer. Thus, far from the plan. But as we have seen, these developments have been confining one to a narrow specialisation, the development of gathering force for quite some time – and, as has also been skills through deep disciplinary learning, it is held, provides a noted, this has happened, as much as anywhere else, from platform for their transfer to new contexts of activity (Perkins within the corridors and boardrooms of our own institutions. & Salomon, 1992; Clanchy & Ballard, 1995). There is no doubt that any campaign to fight the Tehan proposals will need to be directed in the first place at our Such skills – once learned – do not have to be learned totally anew in each new context. Some degree of transfer does occur, political masters in Canberra – who would do such wanton and the most effective learners are those who in fact most damage to our univerities. But, as I have been suggesting, there quickly recognise the relevance of previously learned skills to is also a campign to be fought on the local front – to demand the new contexts and are most readily able to adapt them to much better from our own insitutional leaders, whose actions those new contexts (Clanchy & Ballard, 1995, p. 164). and ambitions over the last decades have failed – in so many ways – our once impressive tertiary system. To return to But as Ballard and Clanchy insist, for this transfer to the archaeology quotation at the beginning of this piece, as occur, the grounding has to be there in the comprehensive the ‘new owners’ of our institutions, these leaders need to be and systematic learning in a field. It is these principles that made to account for the ‘little time’ they have shown to the have formed the basis of university learning for a century, ‘ancient arts that fill our houses’, and which they have allowed and which arguably, have been responsible for the creation of to become so imperiled. both a skilled and adaptable workforce, and an engaged and But all that said, in any campaign going into the future, our intelligent citizenry. Within the highly problematic paradigm greater energies will be best devoted to our students. The task of ‘skills over content’, such foundations seem now to be very here is to persuade them – and also to demonstrate through much at risk. our teaching and support of them during the great challenges Reflecting on such developments, Richard Sennett (2007), of these times – that they really are entitled to a much better the eminent US sociologist of work and employment, warns version of a university education than the one currently on about the dangers of an education system founded more offer, and which shows signs now of only falling into greater on these much vaunted skills than deep knowledge and disarray. understandings. What’s produced out of such regimes, he suggests, is a worrying, ‘superficial’ version of knowledge. Tim Moore is an associate professor in Academic Literacy [This new type of knowledge] ‘involves moving from scene to and Linguistics at Swinburne University of Technology. He scene, problem to problem, team to team. Such work typi- is also Secretary, Swinburne Branch of NTEU. cally … divides analysing from experience, and penalises dig- Contact: [email protected] ging deeper – a state of living in process. To skim rather than to dwell….’ (Sennett, 2007, p. 122) References

ACCI. (2008). Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Among other things, Sennett is sure such an outlook Submission to Review of Australian Higher Education. Canberra, ACT. cannot deal in any adequate way with the quite serious issues ACNielsen Research Services. (2000). Employer Satisfaction with and challenges increasingly faced by our societies and the Graduate Skills. Canberra:Australian Government Publishing Service. environment. Analoui, F. (1993). Training and Transfer of Learning. Aldershot: These are issues for Australia. Indeed, the abject failure Avebury. of so much public policy in the country over recent years, Australian Higher Education Council. (1992). Higher Education: along with accompanying economic malaise, leaves one Achieving Quality. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing wondering whether there might be a connection at some level Service. between this societal decline and the reshaping we have seen vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 The degrading of university education Tim Moore 103 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Basu, M. & Rohaidi, N. (2018). This university wants to boost skills, Herrington, A. & Herrington, J. (2007b). What is an authentic learning not knowledge. Gov Insider 8/02/2018. Retrieved from https:// environment? University of Wollongong. Retrieved from https:// govinsider.asia/digital-gov/university-adelaide-pascale-quester-skills- ro.uow.edu.au/edupapers/897 over-knowledge/ Hil, R. 2012. Whackademia: An Insider’s Account of the Troubled Bennett, D. (2019). Meeting society’s expectations of graduates: University. Sydney: New South Books. Education for the public good. In in J. Higgs et al. (Eds.), Education for Jackson, D. (2013). Business graduate employability – where are we Employability: Learning for Future Possibilities (Volume 1). Brill Sense, going wrong? Higher Education Research & Development 32 (5): 776- pp. 35-48. 790. Bradley, D., P. Noonan, H. Nugent, & B. Scales. (2008). Review of Kift, S. (2019). Employability and Higher Education: Keeping Calm Australian Higher Education. Canberra, ACT. in the Face of Disruptive Innovation. in J. Higgs et al. (Eds.), Education Carmody, B. & Hunter, F. (2020). ‘Gobsmacking’: Writers savage for Employability: Learning for Future Possibilities (Volume 1). Brill Sense humanities fee hike. The Age. 20/06/2020. pp. 49-60. Chapman, L. (2004). Graduate Attributes Resources Guide: Integrating Le Maistre, C. & A. Paré. (2004). Learning in two communities: The Graduate Attributes into undergraduate curricula. University of New challenge for universities and workplaces. Journal of Workplace Learning England. 16(1): 44-52. Clanchy, J., & Ballard, B. (1995). Generic skills in the context of higher Marginson, S., & M. Considine (2000). The Enterprise University: education. Higher Education Research and Development, 14(2), 155-166. Power, Governance and Reinvention in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Connell, R. (2019) The Good University: What Universities actually do and why it’s time for radical change. Melbourne: Monash University Marshman, I. & Larkins, F. (2020). The vocationalisation of university Publishing. education. Campus Morning Mail 21/06/2020. Retrieved from https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/the-vocationalisation-of- Crisp, G & Oliver, B. (2019). Re-imagining graduate achievement and university-education/ employability. In J. Higgs et al. (Eds.), Education for Employability: Learning for Future Possibilities (Volume 1). Brill Sense, 73-82. McPeck, J. (1992). Thoughts on subject specificity. In S. Norris (Ed.), The generalizability of critical thinking: Multiple perspectives on an Dias, P., Freedman, A., Medway, P. & Paré, A. (1999) Worlds Apart: educational ideal (pp. 198-205). NY: Teachers College Press. Acting and Writing in Academic and Workplace Contexts, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. Moore, T. J. (2011). Critical thinking and language: The challenge of generic skills and disciplinary discourses. London: Bloomsbury Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity Publishing. theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133-156. Moore, T., & Taylor, G. (2019). The university of the future: Can the universities of today lead the learning of tomorrow? (book review). Ernst & Young Australia. (2018). Can the universities of today lead Australian Universities’ Review, 61(1), 93-96. learning for tomorrow? The University of the Future. Retrieved from https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_au/topics/ Parker, S (2017). ‘Educating for the new world of work’. KPMG; government-and-public-sector/ey-university-of-the-future-2030.pdf Australia. Retrieved from https://home.kpmg/au/en/home/ insights/2017/06/australia-education-system-for-the-new-world-of- Finkel, A. (2018). Master the foundations and rule a universe. The work.html Australian, 18(07), 2018. Perkins, D. N., & Salomon, G. (1992). Transfer of learning. Gardner, H. (1985). The minds new science: A history of the cognitive International Encyclopedia of Education, 2, 6452-6457. revolution. New York : Basic Books. Rotherham, A. J. & Willingham, D. (2010). 21st Century. Educational Gittens, R. (2020). A hit to nation’s ‘human capital’, The Age, Leadership, 67(1), 16-21. 24/06/2020. Sennett, R. (2007). The culture of the new capitalism. New Haven: Yale Glaser, R. (1984). Education and thinking: the role of knowledge. University Press: American Psychologist, 39(2), 93-104. Tiffen, R. (2020). The four-and-a-half-decade higher education Griffin, P., McGaw, B., & Care, E., (Eds.) (2012). Assessment and squeeze. Inside Story 17/06/2020 Retrieved from http://insidestory.org. . Dordrecht: Springer. teaching of 21st century skills au/the-four-and-a-half-decade-higher-education-squeeze/ Haigh, G. (2006). The Nelson touch: research funding: the new Trounson, A. (2014). ‘Uni consultants make $17m killing’. The censorship. The Monthly, (May 2006), 20. Australian 19/04/2014. Hansen, A. (2014). Universities Australia deal to get students ‘work Universities Australia. (2014). Statement of Intent: Work integrated ready’. 26/02/2014. Retrieved from https:// The Conversation learning-strengthening university and business partnerships. Retrieved theconversation.com/universities-australia-deal-to-get-students-work- from http://cdn1.acen.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/WIL- ready-23719 statement-of-intent.pdf Herrington, A. & Herrington, J. (2007a) Authentic mobile learning in Yorke, M., & Knight, P.T. (2006). Embedding employability into higher education. In: AARE 2007 International Educational Research the curriculum. In Learning and Employability Series. York: Higher Conference, 28 November 2007, Fremantle, Western Australia. Education Academy. Retrieved from http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/5413

104 The degrading of university education Tim Moore vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Post-COVID Australian universities The need for a new teaching and research vision

Bob Birrell The Australian Population Research Institute

Australian universities have used the revenue from overseas student fees to enhance their international research standing. COVID-19 has undermined this business model. A new strategy is required, based on the universities’ contribution to making Australian industry more self-reliant. This outcome will require a national industry policy, such as has been successfully pursued in Israel. Australia’s universities will need to adjust their research activities in order to contribute to this end. The Australian government will have to provide the funds and direction. The universities too, need to embrace this vision. Keywords: COVID-19, overseas students, university teaching and research

Introduction universities prioritised quite contrary objectives. This particularly applies to the Group of Eight (Go8) universities. Pre-COVID, Australian universities had flourished despite They massively increased their enrolment of overseas students very limited growth in Australian government funding. They and, partly to attract these students, focused their research had done so by expanding their overseas student enrolments. effort on work adding to the global stock of knowledge in the Now, in the post-COVID setting, most of the funding from hard sciences. As for domestic teaching it has become a second this source has gone and is unlikely to return to 2019 levels order priority, subordinate to the research effort. This opinion for several years. piece assesses the scale of the financial and reform challenge. Universities are appealing to the Australian Government for additional funding that will cover the likely shortfall. The overseas student focus They are doing so in a context in which the Government Australian universities have long been engaged in a has decided to implement major higher education reforms. competition to expand their research effort. Research output These involve greater focus on job relevant teaching and has been regarded as the key to their overall prestige, but research that addresses Australian industry needs. This is what Commonwealth government funding has been limited. One university leaders claim they have been doing. option, the deregulation of domestic fees, which would have However, in the ominous words of the Minister for augmented the revenue of the more prestigious universities, Education, Dan Tehan: ‘Our reforms are being implemented has been denied. to support universities to strengthen their focus on domestic The Abbott Government presented legislation to students and strengthen the mutually beneficial relationship implement this deregulation in its 2014-15 budget. However, with business and government’ (Tehan, 2020). the legislation was rejected in the Senate. The challenges of this new situation are immense, since The Abbott Government, however, like the preceding in order to promote overseas student enrolments Australia’s Gillard Labor Government, wanted to promote the overseas vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell 105 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

student industry, both as a source of funds to finance research have been customised in order to cope with the limited free from taxpayer reliance and to promote the export English language skills of their overseas students. Around half performance of the overseas student industry. are in the business and commerce field of education, mostly at In the case of the Labor Government, prior to losing office the master’s by coursework level. in late 2013, it had taken action to rectify some of the excesses These courses are relatively cheap to provide. They do not of the industry in the years up to 2010. It introduced reforms usually require additional teaching accommodation because in 2010 and 2011, mainly involving higher English language they can be crammed into existing campus buildings. entry requirements and increasing the funds overseas students What are these students buying? They are attracted to were required to show they could access prior to taking up the Go8 because most are ranked in the top-100 research their enrolment. These initiatives resulted in a sharp decline universities in the world. The Chinese are buying credentials in the number of overseas student enrolments in universities which carry this status and, on this account, are valuable at the at the time. This intervention provoked a sharp push-back elite level in the Chinese job market. from the overseas student industry. Since 2012 successive Australian governments have The Indian subcontinent market reversed the 2010 and 2011 reforms, at least as they affected The second stream of overseas students is primarily recruited the universities. from the subcontinent of India, particularly from India and The tough rules on English language standards have been Nepal. Most attend non-Go8 universities where the course softened. Overseas students do not have to achieve the English fees range from $20,000 to $25,000 a year. They too are levels needed for university-level instruction. mainly enrolling in business courses and to a lesser extent, IT The funds each overseas student must have access to have and engineering courses. been reduced and decisions on the matter have been devolved What is this stream of students paying for? It is mainly from the Immigration Department to the universities. Overseas access to the Australian labour market and the potential of students are only required to establish that they have access to obtaining a permanent residence visa. This is what the post- the funds needed for one year of study and living expenses. 2011 changes to the enrolment rules facilitate. The sub- This means that, for most students, especially those from continent stream dominates the ranks of overseas students the Indian subcontinent (see below) they arrive with the who are in the Australian labour market. They also show the presumption that they will be able to access the Australian highest propensity to take up the two-year post study work labour market in order to meet their expenses. From the visa referred to above. They are mainly employed in low skilled time of their arrival they are permitted to find employment service jobs, as in hospitality, retail, cleaning and the like. (in theory 40 hours of paid work a fortnight). In addition, overseas students enrolled since 2012 and who complete any The result degree level course, can stay in Australia with full work rights for a further two years. As Table 1 indicates, the outcome is an explosion in the level There have been no limits on the number of overseas of overseas student enrolments relative to domestic student students a university can enrol except for a vague and rarely enrolments. It is strongest within the Go8. By 2018 over enforced government statement that such enrolments should 40 per cent of all commencing student enrolments in these not be at the expense of domestic enrolments. Moreover, universities were overseas students. Most of these students universities have been free to charge whatever fee level they came from China. No comparable data are available for 2019, think these overseas students will pay. though this ratio would have increased further because, in Both the universities and overseas students have rushed 2019, overseas student enrolments continued to grow faster to take up the opportunities offered. For the year 2018-19, than domestic enrolments. 216,724 higher education visas were granted. The students For the Go8, this enrolment has delivered a revenue bonanza. are drawn from two major markets. Some 32 per cent were In the case of the University of Sydney, total revenue from from China and around 43 per cent from the Indian sub- overseas student fees increased from $285 million in 2012 to continent (Department of Home Affairs, 2019). $884 million in 2018. By 2018, this overseas student fee revenue These two dominant streams are quite different. accounted for 34.1 per cent of the University of Sydney’s total revenue of $2,589 billion (Department of Education, Skills and The Chinese market Employment, Finance Publication, 2020). In recent years, the Chinese students have been attracted to In the case of Monash University, this fee revenue increased the Go8 universities, where they dominate the enrolments. from $319 million in 2012 to $852 million in 2018, by which They are paying $40,000 plus a year for undergraduate and time it also made up 34.1 per cent of the University’s total postgraduate by course work degrees. The courses themselves revenue. This was $2,498 million in 2018.

106 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

This is not all. With the imposition of COVID-19-related Table 1: Proportion of commencing onshore* overseas travel restrictions, most Go8 universities face additional losses students to all onshore commencing students, Go8 in revenue from accommodation fees, parking and other universities and all Australian higher education institutions, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018 services provided to overseas students. Losses of revenue of $300-$400 million over 2020- Group of 8: 2012 2016 2017 2018 21, compared to budget expectations for the largest Go8 Melbourne 27.3 36.2 38.7 41.2 universities are in store. Sydney 22.8 39.2 42.9 45.6 Australia’s non-Go8 universities have also become dependent on revenue from overseas students, though to Monash 24.0 36.5 39.8 43.6 a lower degree than the Go8. The proportion of overseas ANU 28.8 36.5 43.1 48.8 student commencing enrolments to total commencing University of 27.4 31.8 37.0 41.8 enrolments across the non-Go8 spectrum was between 20 Queensland and 30 per cent by 2018. For example, in Victoria, Deakin had UNSW 30.2 38.7 42.9 45.7 reached 29.7 per cent, La Trobe 25.9 per cent and Swinburne, Adelaide 28.5 28.3 31.4 33.0 23.2 per cent. Overall, total Australian university overseas student fee UWA 19.1 20.8 25.1 24.3 revenue more than doubled from 2012 to 2018, increasing All Australian 21.8 26.7 28.9 31.6 from $4.1 billion in 2012 to $8.9 billion in 2018. By 2018 this higher ed revenue amounted to 26 per cent of total university revenues institutions Source: Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Selected Higher Education and represented an increase of 117 per cent. Statistics (2020), Table 1.10, Commencing Students by State, Higher Education By contrast, over the same period Australian Government Provider, Citizenship and Residence Status, full year 2018 Financial Assistance increased from $14.67 billion to $17.62 * The term onshore is used to distinguish overseas students being educated in Australia billion, an increase of 20 per cent. from those in Australian campuses set up overseas. The latter are not included in these figures.

What have the universities done with this financed (or have been used as collateral for loans) to pay revenue bonanza? for the campus rebuilding across the sector: in the form of shiny research centres, student accommodation, trophy As the universities have made clear, the expansion in university administration headquarters and grand landscaping. The research activity, which has delivered the Go8’s top-100 funds have also helped pay for the massive expansion in international research ratings, has heavily depended on fee university administrative salaries. These grew from $4.8 billion revenue from overseas students. in 2012 to $6.5 billion in 2018 (Department of Education, While the Australian government pays for much of the Skills and Employment, Finance Publication, 2020). costs of the research workers who receive competitive grants, the universities have to pay for the infrastructure (laboratories, The impact on domestic teaching equipment and the like) needed if the research is to proceed. Because this issue has been given a thorough public airing Overseas student revenue pays for much of this. in the context of government proposals to focus teaching The research itself has focused on that which enhances in vocationally relevant fields of study, I do not offer any the global stock of knowledge in the hard sciences. It is the extended comment. research output that is most likely to find a home in the The universities can, at least, look forward to the fulfilment prestigious international science journals which are the basis of the recent Government promise to expand the funds it will of the global research university ratings. provide for taking on more students and that it will index This research usually has little direct relevance to the needs this funding in order to ‘maintain the real value of funding of Australian industry. It could hardly be otherwise. Even if for domestic students.’ (Minister for Education, 2020). This the universities had wanted to focus on applied research, is not the case, as noted above, for the funding of research the demolition of Australian industry through Australia’s activities. globalisation priorities (detailed below) has denuded the The universities like to claim that their overseas enrolments ranks of the locally based industries able or willing to finance enrich the educational experience for domestic students. This applied research. is a claim that is wearing thin. It is reflected in Dan Tehan’s This is not all. A far bigger financial hole looms. The loss demand, cited above, that the universities need to focus more of revenue from the decline in overseas student numbers on domestic training. threatens the business model on which universities have Indeed, it is obvious that domestic training has become operated over the last decade. These funds have directly a second order priority. The universities’ top priority is to vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell 107 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

maximise their research output. To this end, teaching has course work level, where such overseas student completions been subordinated to research, and is increasingly carried out increased from 3,385 in 2014 to 8,141 in 2018. by casual staff. The Australian Government and the universities have The Government must share much of the blame for this been content to outsource the inflow of IT specialists to outcome. As noted, the only direction to universities has been the immigration program. The number of IT professionals that the overseas student presence should not be at the expense recruited annually, from the temporary entry work visa of domestic teaching. This directive has not been enforced. program alone, is around 10,000 a year. They are mostly In the case of the Go8, domestic commencements (at coming from India. undergraduate and post graduate levels) in the Go8 actually fell, from 87,939 in 2012 to 85,529 in 2018 (Department The COVID-19 calamity of Education, Skills and Employment, Selected Higher Education Statistics, 2020). Whatever capacity the Go8 has Since 20 March this year, overseas students have not been had to increase enrolments has been devoted to overseas permitted to travel to Australia. The universities’ initial students. The number of commencing overseas students at reaction was that this was not a major blow because, as of Go8 universities has increased over the years 2012 to 2018 April 2020, 80 per cent of those holding overseas student visas from 30,320 to 62,423, an increase of 32,103. were in Australia. The Go8 could have increased domestic enrolments However, most of the 20 per cent not here were Chinese prior to the 2017 when the Coalition put a cap on domestic students. Some 67,919 of the total of 177,442 Chinese enrolments. They chose not to do so. citizens holding student visas were not in Australia at the This priority is less evident for the non-Go8 universities. end of March 2020 (Department of Education, Skills and Their overseas student commencement numbers grew by Employment, Research Snapshot, 2020). Thousands of these 53,737 between 2012 and 2018 (from 72,820 to 126,557). are likely to defer or delay their studies in Australia, thus But this increase was not completely at the expense of diminishing the fee revenue Australian universities, especially domestic enrolments, which grew over the same years from the Go8, had budgeted for. 282,375 to 323,841, an increase of 41,466. Relative rates of The revenue crisis will deepen for all universities over the growth were 73 per cent for overseas students, and 15 per cent year 2020-21. This is because normally about half of those for domestic students. taking up higher education student visas do so in the second The Government’s proposals to focus more teaching half of the calendar year. Few will do so in 2020. in STEM and other more allegedly job relevant fields has It seems likely that new offshore enrolments will be slow been widely canvassed. I do not think that the criticism of to pick up in 2021 because of continuing restrictions on the humanities and social sciences implied by this proposed international travel. change is warranted. This is because these fields of education Even if these restrictions are removed, in the case of Chinese offer a crucial enabling skill to those employed as professionals students it is possible that the Chinese Government will and managers. That is communication skills. University level obstruct enrolments of its citizens in Australian universities. training, first in the humanities or social sciences then in This will mainly have an impact on the Go8. postgraduate level vocational skills, is thoroughly justified However, other universities will also be affected. For the from a vocational perspective. next few years, Australia’s attractions for Indian subcontinent However, in this context, the universities are vulnerable to students are likely to diminish because of the increased costs of criticism. I refer to another crucial enabling skill: this is IT studying in Australia (including health insurance in the post- literacy. The universities have sat on their hands regarding this COVID environment) and the weakness of the Australian issue. IT literacy is not a requirement of the humanities, social labour market. Prospective applicants, as indicated, have to sciences or business and commerce fields of education. take into account the money they can make from working The universities are also vulnerable to criticism for their in Australia. This is likely to be less than in the past because limited teaching in the specialist IT fields of study. of the collapse of low skilled hospitality and similar work Between 2014 and 2018 course completions at the opportunities and because a huge number of residents will be domestic undergraduate level in IT in Australian universities chasing similar employment. grew from just 3,208 in 2014 to 4,088 in 2018. This is a miniscule number when measured against the total number Impact on Australian universities of undergraduate completions in 2018 of 139,458. To the extent there was any significant increase in training Australia’s universities face a dire financial outlook. Their in the IT field in Australian universities it was delivered to leaders have made this plain in the course of their appeals for overseas students. Most of this growth was at the masters by government assistance.

108 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

The crisis has prompted several vice-chancellors to take time, given that as Australia’s manufacturing capacity has a pay cut themselves. For example, at Monash the Vice- been gutted over the past two decades, so has Australia’s Chancellor, Margaret Gardner and her senior executives have productivity performance. ‘volunteered’ to take a 20 per cent pay cut. This unprecedented This is because knowledge intensive manufacturing is action is signalling to researchers, teachers and administrators currently the main source of productivity gains in advanced across Monash’s campuses that they too face cuts to staff economies (Birrell & McCloskey, 2020). The potential numbers and perhaps to their salaries. employment and productivity gains from a boost to knowledge intensive industries are enormous. However, for The Government response this to occur will require the establishment of industries that The universities’ appeals to government have been rejected. can apply the accumulated technological advances achieved in They have not even been made eligible for the Job Keeper other advanced economies. allowance that has helped keep thousands of private sector This is why some developing countries like China have firms afloat. generated such rapid productivity gains. China is in the To be eligible, a large organisation has to show it is losing process of transforming from a low to a high technology 50 per cent or more of its ongoing revenue. The universities’ industrial base by drawing on western technology. It has done total revenue in 2018 was $33.7 billion, of which $17.6 billion so by offering inducements to direct investment from western came from the Commonwealth Government. Since the firms and/or by transferring technology to Chinese state or Government has promised that this revenue will be sustained private enterprises in return for allowing foreign enterprises over the next few years, and because the universities ‘only’ access to the Chinese market, or simply ‘borrowed’ without face a sharp contraction in the $8.8 billion they received from authorisation. overseas student fees in 2018, they fall well short of the 50 per If something similar is to occur in Australia, it will need the cent criterion. mobilisation of Australia’s main source of research expertise, The Government has left universities to cover their our universities. It will require the same sort of mutuality COVID-19 losses. This implies that they must continue to between business and academe as features in the research rely on overseas student revenue. Yet, revenue from overseas universities located in the US’s Boston and Silicon Valley areas. students is likely to be depleted for several years. For this to happen, Australia’s universities will need In any case, the core rationale of this business model has government assistance to make the transition from pure to been undermined. The revenue from overseas student fees applied research. This would offer Australia’s universities a helped the universities (especially the Go8) achieve a high new business model. international research standing, and in turn helped promote Of course, given the depletion of Australian manufacturing, overseas student enrolments. this option could only occur if Australian state and federal governments embrace an industry policy in which they A new business model is required invest in knowledge intensive enterprises themselves or assist A radical rethink is required, not just within the universities the private sector to do so. This will require a sea change but in the Government as well. in Australian economic policy priorities. This may seem Without some new source of funds, Australia’s university implausible. However, it could be done, as I illustrate below research capacity will languish. The existing model, based by reference to the Israeli experience. on contributions to the global stock of knowledge is not sustainable, at least not while the Government insists on An unlikely prospect? prioritising industry relevant research. A new focus is required which is consistent with this It may seem implausible because Australian elite opinion is government priority. hostile to industry policy initiatives. This is evident from the The universities need to capitalise on the widespread (if current public discussion as to how Australia might achieve a belated) recognition in government, business and community more self-reliant industrial structure. circles that Australia has become too dependent on overseas This discussion assumes that all that is needed is a manufactured products, especially from China. China, as is reassertion of policy reforms dating to the Hawke/Keating well known, is simultaneously Australia’s main market for era. It was assumed at the time, and since, that once all forms commodities and the main source of knowledge intensive of industry protection are removed in favour of the bracing manufactured goods imports. As a consequence, Australia is effects of competition in the global marketplace, knowledge now highly vulnerable to any disruption of these global supply intensive Australian enterprises would flourish. chains. However, policy makers also assumed that to be successful, A new spirit, prizing self-reliance, is in the air. Not before this removal of industry protection must be accompanied vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell 109 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

by neoliberal measures (referred to by the Treasury since The case of CSL the Hawke/Keating era as ‘micro-economic reform’). This The ABC’s business editor, Ian Verrender, has recently includes the removal of red tape, lower business taxes, ending addressed the now topical issue of how Australia might the centralised arbitration system in favour of enterprise become more self-sufficient in knowledge intensive bargaining, privatisation of public enterprises and removal industries. of welfare incentives that discourage workforce participation. Verrender cites the case of CSL. He says that CSL and Current policy discussions repeat this assumption. They one or two others (including Cochlear) ‘have developed imply that Australian knowledge intensive industries will world-beating medical technologies that are now sold around flourish in an open global economy, but only if another tough the globe’. How did they do it? His answer is ‘the lack of set of micro-economic reforms are implemented. protection has forced them to be innovative and hungry’ The pivotal event in the history of Australian economic (Verrender, 2020). In other words, chalk this one up to the policy when this neoliberal or micro-economic hegemony alleged continuing efficacy of neoliberal policies. took over, occurred in the late 1980s. It happened in 1988 CSL is indeed a striking success. It currently has the highest when the responsibility for industry policy was removed from market capitalisation on the Australian stock exchange, even the Department of Industry to the Treasury. This included bigger than BHP and the Commonwealth Bank. It holds a the transfer of the Industries Assistance Commission (the large chunk of the global market in blood products, with forerunner to the current Productivity Commission) to the research and production facilities in multiple locations, Treasury (Tilley, 2019, p. 208). Ever since, the Treasury’s including Australia. microeconomic priorities which Paul Keating, the Treasurer Verrender does not know, or chooses to ignore, the fact that at the time, embraced have dominated the Australian CSL was not a product of the bracing impact of international government’s economic policy focus. competition. It flourished because it was able to build on This is despite the obvious evidence that, far from the production and research capacity base attributable to delivering a surge of knowledge intensive industries, the Australian industry policy. reverse has happened. Australian manufacturing, including its It is the direct descendent of the Commonwealth Serum knowledge intensive sectors, has been in decline ever since the Laboratory, an Australian government statutory organisation. Hawke/Keating reforms were implemented. By the 1980s, the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory had This micro-economic hegemony has obliterated the become Australia’s ‘largest pharmaceutical enterprise, a fully memory of Australia’s previous successes with industry policy. integrated manufacture (sic) in serum fractionation, human Australia’s industry policy record has been derided as based and veterinary vaccines, antitoxins, antivenoms, insulin, on tariff protection that propped up inefficient and globally antibiotics and diagnostics with some 1100 employees, uncompetitive industries. In fact, it involved much more than 140 research staff and capital investment close to $250 this. It reached its most sophisticated form during the early million’(Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and years of the Hawke Government from 1983 to 1988, under the Engineering, 1988, p. 661). It achieved this status courtesy leadership of the Minister for Industry, Senator John Button. of decades of government investment in its research and Australia-based enterprises were incentivised to invest in new production facilities. capacity in return for targeted tariff protection, government When it was privatised in 1994, CSL was also one of the financial assistance and union promises to initiate workplace largest beneficiaries of the Factor f program. This was one of reform. the industry policy initiatives of the Department of Industry Evidence of Australian success with industry policy has prior to 1988. In 1987 the Labor Government approved the been forgotten (as with the case of CSL Limited, considered Factor f scheme, which paid drug companies a premium price below). So have the successes of other countries with industry (in effect a taxpayer financed subsidy) if they increased their policy. production, R & D and exports from Australia. Israel is a stunning exemplar. Though a small country of The Factor f scheme ran in various forms through to just 8.6 million people it has achieved a niche in the global 1999, during which time it channelled some $1 billion marketplace in the IT field, especially in the cyber security to participating drug companies (Lofgren & de Boer, industry. It has done so on the basis of the advanced research 2004. 2404). It was remarkably successful. Exports of capacity of its universities, its private enterprises and of pharmaceutical products increased by 21.4 per cent a year the Israeli military. The Israeli government has poured between 1990-91 and 2000-01 (Coppel & McLean, 2002, resources into mobilising this research capacity into targeted 3). Factor f came to an end during the 2000s and with it this industries. Such is this success, that all the global information record of exports. technology giants like Alphabet have established research branches in Israel.

110 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Conclusion References

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, The sudden interest in a more self-reliant Australia offers (1988). Technology in Australia, 1788 -1988. Australian universities a potential new business model as the Birrell, B. & McCloskey, D. (2020). Jobs and Growth: Pathway to a low facilitator of new knowledge intensive industries both though productivity economy, The Australian Population Research Institute. their training function and their applied research potential. Coppel, J. & McLean, B. (2002). Trends in Australia’s Exports, Reserve They have been invited to play this role by the Coalition Bank Bulletin, April. Government. It wants the universities: Department of Home Affairs, (2019). Student and temporary graduate To be even more entrepreneurial and engaged with industry. visa program report, June. In the post-COVID world, universities need to re-focus on Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Finance domestic students and offer greater alignment with industry Publication, (2020). Finance data in this article are drawn from Table needs (Minister for Education, 2020). 1, Adjusted statement of Financial Performance of each HEP, 2018 and There is no sign yet that the universities are ready to earlier years. embrace this message. Rather, their focus is on sustaining their Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Selected Higher existing business model. This includes desperate measures to Education Statistics (2020). Enrolment and completion statistics in this paper are drawn from the full year statistics for 2018 and earlier revive the influx of overseas students. years. Retrieved from https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education- It also involves continued assertions that their existing statistics. research achievements will drive the Australian economy to Department of Education, Skills and Employment, (2020). Research a new and more productive future. The hollowness is evident, Snapshot, April 2020. Retrieved from https://internationaleducation. given that this achievement has occurred at precisely the time gov.au/research/Research-Snapshots/Documents/RS_ that Australia’s lack of self-reliance in advanced industry has VisaHoldersMarch2020.pdf. become obvious. Lofgren & de Boer (2004). Pharmaceuticals in Australia’s developments The Commonwealth Government is equally culpable. On in regulation and governance, Social Science and Medicine, 58. the one hand, it has expressed some recent interest in a new Tehan, D. (2020). National Press Club address, 19 June. Retrieved from https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/minister-education-dan-tehan- vision of a more self-reliant industrial outcome. national-press-club-address. It has also recognised that the universities’ present Tilley, P. (2019) Changing Fortunes, A History of the Australian operations are doing little towards this end. It has offered Treasury, MUP. them a new pathway such that they can make a contribution Verrender, I. (2020), Manufacturing can be brought back, but at what to this new self-reliant vision. cost? ABC News 9/6/2020. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/ On the other hand, the Government continues to assume news/2020-06-09/manufacturing-can-be-brought-back-but-at-what- that all that is necessary to achieve this self-reliant outcome cost/12333450. is a further dose of micro-economic reform. It has shown no . interest in industry policy. Nor has it offered the universities the funds needed to redirect their research capacity towards the growth of knowledge intensive industries.

Bob Birrell is the head of The Australian Population Research Institute. He was formerly director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University, Australia. Contact: [email protected]

vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Post-COVID Australian universities Bob Birrell 111 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

REVIEWS On a slow boat to China China in the World: An Anthropology of Confucius Institutes, Soft Power, and Globalization by Jennifer Hubbert ISBN-13: 9780824878207 (hb), University of Hawaii Press, 246 pp., 2019

Reviewed by Joanne Barker

In his recent autobiography, former Prime Minister Malcolm China’s soft power policy in practice through the experiences Turnbull asserts as a matter of fact that ‘the Chinese of the Confucius Institute program of teachers, students, Government seeks to mobilise overseas Chinese, and especially administrators and parents. This book goes beyond examining Chinese students, to support Chinese government policy; this documents and investigates first-hand what happens in the is one of the functions of the UFWD [United Front Work CI classroom and during CI-sponsored activities such as the Department]’ (Turnbull 2020, p.427). This organisation ‘Chinese Bridge’ immersion trips to China. It also examines seeks to quell dissent about China through control of political how the contentious issues in the public debate about China messaging. How are the functions of the United Front Work – particularly the ‘three Ts’ of Tiananmen, Taiwan and Tibet Department enacted through Confucius Institutes? Jennifer – and Falun Gong – are dealt with in Confucius Institute Hubbert’s study of China’s global Confucius Institute teaching and learning activities. program offers a nuanced and carefully crafted perspective Hubbert contrasts her work with previous academic studies through an anthropological lens. which generally present the role of Confucius programs in the While Hubbert’s research is on Confucius Institutes (CIs) US as a zero-sum gain – a perspective which views China’s and Confucius Classrooms in the United States, it is relevant accumulation of soft power as offset by a corresponding in the context of current debate in Australia about the role decrease in America’s power. Hubbert deconstructs this and purpose of CIs in this country. In the middle of 2020, we argument, moving beyond a macro-level perspective, by are emerging from the first wave of a global pandemic which undertaking an ethnographic examination of the Confucius first raised its fearsome head in China. Our higher education Institutes in practice. She treats them not only as objects of sector is in crisis due to the loss of tuition fee income from study in themselves but as places of engagement and exchange international students, vast numbers of whom come from and provides insight into the ‘good versus bad’ binaries which China. And stoushes between the Australian and Chinese remain the dominant framework for understanding CI Governments simmer on multiple fronts including China’s programs, particularly within a political context. recent warning to its citizens about the ‘risks’ of studying in Hubbert describes the Chinese government’s approach to Australia; cyber attacks which may have originated in China, the accrual of soft power as organic, through the products and the recent affray between the University of Queensland and actions of a society rather than a state, and not delivered and an undergraduate who launched a protest on campus as ‘self-promotion’, which would be viewed with scepticism. about Chinese influence. Meanwhile, the Confucius Institutes Hubbert discusses the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai Expo as occupy real estate on Australian university campuses, but key examples of China empowering itself through ‘attraction what do they do there? rather than coercion’. Through these major global events, and The official role of the CI program globally is teaching of through the Confucius Institute program, China seeks to the Chinese language and dissemination of Chinese culture. reveal its ‘true nature’ to the world by providing global access In this way, China seeks to expand its soft power. Citing to its cultural products and values. Joseph Nye, Hubbert has defined soft power as the ability to Hubbert lays out the opposing views but does not dwell ‘get what you want through attraction rather than coercion on the good/bad binaries, offering instead an interesting and or payments’ by relying upon the ‘attractiveness of a country’s original perspective through her immersion in day to day CI culture, political ideals, and policies’ (Hubbert 2014, p.330). activities. Using an anthropological and ethnographic lens, Using both ethnographic and archival research techniques, she participates in classroom activities in high schools in the Hubbert takes an anthropological approach to examine US and chaperones a group of senior secondary students

112 On a slow boat to China Reviewed by Joanne Barker vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

on a ‘Chinese Bridge’ 17-day visit to China. Her fluency teaching, but this doesn’t necessarily apply to every Confucius in Mandarin enables her immersion in the research well Institute. The website for the Confucius Institute at the beyond the level of observation. The visit to China with the University of Adelaide directs prospective Chinese language young Americans reveals a carefully curated tour of luxury learners away from the CI to the University’s Department of car showrooms, glass skyscrapers and other westernised Asian Studies. The same site invites entries for a competition developments, where the attention of the participants is drawn which closed in 2017. Moribund perhaps, but observers offer towards these symbols of China as a twenty-first century anecdotal examples of interventions in Australian universities superpower and diverted away from the slum dwellings on the hosting Confucius Institutes, which may have come from other side of the road. But the students resist, one describing it Chinese diplomats. A public example occurred on the day after as like a ‘jail – bus jail’. Hubbert reveals that the students’ real the 2019 undergraduate protest against Chinese influence at the learning occurs in the evenings when there are no scheduled University of Queensland, when the local Chinese Consulate- activities, visiting the night markets and eating deep-fried General in Brisbane stated that it ‘firmly opposes any words grubs from local food stalls, in an environment which they and deeds intended to split China’ (Condon 2020, p.15). perceive to be the real China, as opposed to the sanitised Clive Hamilton has written that by welcoming a Confucius version presented in the daily bus excursions. Institute on to campus, universities ‘abandon foundational As the ‘Chinese Bridge’ tour ends, Hubbert concludes that principles of university autonomy’ and he provides details of when students perceive structured activities to be inauthentic the close engagement between University of Queensland senior and authoritarian, it feeds negatively into the young people’s management and Hanban (Hamilton, 2018, p.162). Against perceptions of China’s efforts to demonstrate power and this must be balanced at least one review of Hamilton’s book as control. While few of the students expressed an interest in a ‘highly charged attack’ (Podger 2018). In a study of Confucius returning to China, a much larger number stated that they Institutes in Australia, Jeffrey Gil acknowledges accusations of wished to continue learning the language. Hubbert’s work Chinese influence or interference but found ‘no evidence to demonstrates that the acquisition of Chinese language skills support the concerns raised about Confucius Institutes’ (Gil is seen by the students as having important signalling value 2015, p.221). on their resumés and contributing positively to their efforts Malcolm Turnbull’s autobiography exhorts Australians towards admission to prestigious North American universities. not to allow differences with the Chinese government to be The expansion of the Confucius Institute program has portrayed as anti-Chinese. He advocates engagement with been embraced by many host institutions around the world, greater transparency on both sides, defending our sovereignty welcomed for the additional learning resources provided at by responding ‘in a considered and dignified manner [and] a time when domestic budgetary constraints have created never [taking] a backward step’ (Turnbull 2020, p.435). There vulnerability in the range of learning activities which can be can be little doubt that Hanban is closely connected to the provided by universities and schools. But hosting a Confucius United Front Work Department. Clive Hamilton has shown Institute may come at a cost. Hubbert cites several examples these connections in Australia (2018), and Anne-Marie of intervention in American universities by the Office of the Brady has examined how New Zealand is being targeted by Chinese Language Council International, known as Hanban. China’s ‘new influence agenda’ (Brady 2017). China’s soft She relates an attempt to muzzle contentious political views power efforts, including Confucius Institutes, are deeply at Stanford University where a professorship endowed by embedded with Communist Party power structures through Hanban carried a proscription on discussion of ‘sensitive the United Front Work Department and Hubbert doesn’t issues’. When Stanford refused to comply, the matter was argue otherwise. Her study of Confucius Institutes in the US resolved by establishing the funded position as professor of is of value in that it draws attention to the role of Confucius classical Chinese poetry. Others, such as Cornell University, Institutes in Australia at a time when our engagement declined outright the solicitations of Hanban. Hubbert with China is under intense scrutiny at the highest levels reports that the CI program exists (or existed) in 47 of 50 US of government. Jennifer Hubbert’s conclusion about the states and included 81 Confucius Institutes. As at June 2020, Confucius Institute program is generally optimistic, showing the conservative National Association of Scholars website lists that Confucius Institutes (or at least those in which her study 42 Confucius Institutes in the US which have closed since was situated) offer students rich and complex opportunities 2014 or are scheduled to close. for exploration of the changing global order. In Australia, all the original Confucius Institutes in 13 host universities still exist, but some observers regard them Joanne Barker is a PhD candidate at RMIT University as ineffectual or even moribund, and not necessarily because in Melbourne, Victoria. Between 2006 and 2016 she held of Chinese intervention. A core function of the American the position of Director International at the University of CI program in which Hubbert’s work is situated is language Adelaide, which is one of 13 universities in Australia which vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 On a slow boat to China Reviewed by Joanne Barker 113 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

hosts a Confucius Institute. Joanne Barker is supported by the Gil, J. (2015) China’s Cultural Projection: A Discussion of the Confucius Institutes. China: An International Journal, 13(1), 200-226. Australian Government’s Research Training Program. Contact: [email protected] Hamilton, C. (2018) Silent invasion: China’s influence in Australia. Hardie Grant Books, Richmond Victoria References Hubbert, J. (2014) Ambiguous States: Confucius Institutes and Chinese Soft Power in the U.S. Classroom. Political and Legal Brady, A. (2017) Magic Weapons: China’s Political Influence Activities Anthropology Review, 37(2), 329-349. Under Xi Jinping. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Podger, A. (2018). Book review – Clive Hamilton’s Silent Invasion: Washington DC China’s Influence in Australia. The Conversation, 21 March 2018. Condon, M. (2020) The boy who kicked the hornet’s nest. The Turnbull, M. (2020). A bigger picture. Hardie Grant Books, Richmond Weekend Australian Magazine, 30-31 May 2020. Victoria

Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies – Orality, Memory and the Transmission of Culture, by Lynne Kelly. ISBN 9781107059375, Cambridge University Press, New York, USA. 310 pp., 2015

The Memory Code: The Traditional Aboriginal Memory Technique That Unlocks the Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Ancient Monuments the World Over, by Lynne Kelly ISBN 9781760291327, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, Australia. 318 pp., 2016.

Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory Using the Most Powerful Methods and Tools from Around the World, by Lynne Kelly ISBN 971760633059, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, Australia. 306 pp., 2019.

Reviewed by Neil Mudford

In these three books, Lynne Kelly presents the results of her 2. The idea that many of the puzzling ancient monuments research which encompasses two main themes: found across the world, such as Stonehenge in Wiltshire, 1. How people with oral (non-literate) cultures manage UK, are memory palaces built by the non-literate societies, to remember and recall the immense amounts of in times of transition to settled living, to aid the storage, collective knowledge they hold and faithfully pass it on reinforcement and recall of vital cultural memory. to succeeding generations. In particular, Kelly focusses Some definitions are in order. Following Kelly and others, oral on the preservation of practical knowledge necessary for or non-literate cultures are those without writing systems while survival. literate cultures are those with writing systems. I will favour

114 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

the term ‘oral’ here, for the former, as it is far better to describe on writing, photographs, electronically recorded information people by what they are rather than by what they are not. and so on to record, recall and search for information that Illiterate denotes people in a literate culture who cannot read. we probably never stop to wonder how the oral cultures that The ‘Method of Loci’ is a powerful memory storage preceded us, tackled these tasks. The broad answer to this and recall (mnemonic) technique in which a practitioner question is that there is no alternative but to have all knowledge effectively deposits/stores memories in places in the natural or stored and retained in collective human memory and to be built environment. Collections of such memory repositories reliably and easily recalled from it. The knowledge must also be are called memory palaces. Being in the presence of one of transmitted in good condition from one generation to the next. your memory locations triggers the vivid and detailed recall of Though I have written the last paragraph in the past tense, the memory associated with it. The Method of Loci is the pre- there are extant oral cultures here and there around the world. eminent mnemonic technique of the many Kelly investigates. Pre-eminent amongst them is that of the Australian Aboriginal The method has a number of variations and a large proportion people who have maintained their oral culture, in spite of the of the other memory techniques Kelly investigates share many terrible pressures we white settlers have put them under. Kelly features with the Method of Loci. has drawn respectfully, but heavily, on their help and they have made invaluable contributions to the understanding of The three books oral culture richness and intellectual and cultural depth that she reveals to us. The distinctions between the nature and what I assume are Remembering absolutely everything of importance to a the purposes of the three books are as follows. society is a monumental task. Kelly emphasises, from the Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies, referred to beginning, the huge extent, detail and complexity of the here as K&P, is the most academic of the three volumes. The knowledge that must be retained, recalled and passed on in this evidence is presented in a tightly argued form complete with way. Obviously, first and foremost, people of oral cultures must extensive referencing. It is essentially the book form of Lynne retain in their collective memory all the information necessary Kelly’s PhD thesis. for survival such as food and water sources, the behaviours of The content of The Memory Code (MCode here) is a more prey and predator species, how to hunt the former and avoid generally accessible form of K&P designed to present the the latter, how to choose the best seed or seedlings for planting ideas to an audience wider than that for K&P. or the best animals for breeding, the properties and uses of In the third and latest volume, Memory Craft (MCraft here), medicinal plants and substances, and so on. Kelly describes how she acquired expertise in many of the All this is a monumental memory challenge, in itself, but thirty-one memory techniques she tabulates in her Appendix Kelly’s investigations and those of many others show clearly that A. She shows in detail how we can all learn to use the techniques oral cultures hold enormous stores of information in addition ourselves. It is graduated, beginning with the simpler techniques to that required for survival. For instance, it seems universal that and working up to the more powerful practices. oral culture peoples know all the animals and plants in their land I here confess that I started the research for this article irrespective of their utility or dangers; in line with the curiosity intending to review MCraft only but became so intrigued shared by us all, they remember many things just because I had to get hold of MCode to find out more. This alerted they are interesting. Particularly impressive is the retention of me to K&P and, in spite of promising myself I would stop at startling events such as sea level rise at the end of the last Ice MCode and MCraft, I found myself reading K&P as well. My Age, volcanic activity that ceased millennia ago and so on, as favourite is K&P because I do like to know a subject in depth the Australian Aboriginal peoples have done! Kelly makes the and K&P presents the most intensely worked ideas. point that startling events do naturally embed themselves in So here goes with the review! I will summarise some of memory. Also, I am sure there is satisfaction in being able to the many ideas in the books because I find them intriguing say, ‘we know our land intimately; nothing about this country and convincing. I think Lynne Kelly has developed a major escapes our attention’. Life has to be more than survival. re-evaluation and re-interpretation of an otherwise rather Having said that, Kelly places considerable emphasis on the hidden past. practical content of the knowledge. Her reason for this is that earlier research in the area has underemphasised the retention The first theme – the memory powers of of practical knowledge. oral cultures Characteristics of the techniques. Writing is a very recent invention in the context of the whole of human development. All literate cultures grew out of oral So, how on Earth do people remember such encyclopaedic cultures. Most of us in literate cultures are so used to relying bodies of knowledge, even if the task is shared communally vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford 115 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

and therefore mutually reinforced and ‘backed up’, as we on content. Peer review amongst academics is required for would call it now? authoritative publication for the same reason. Social media is The first thing to realise is that committing everything a powerful example of how confused and wrong-headed ideas of significance to memory is not possible with ‘ordinary’ can become in an information free-for-all. techniques alone. By ‘ordinary’ techniques I mean the practices The Aboriginal songlines or dreaming tracks are real paths of our literate culture such as repeating the information over across the landscape. This is a prime example, indeed the and over, composing a song with fixed lyrics and singing leading example, of the ‘Method of Loci’. At intervals along that, having several people remember the same information, those tracks lie special places that ‘hold’ the memories of etc. We all know how hard it is to accurately remember long all that is around that place. That is, the land functions as a lists of items or properties even if the list is important to us. memory palace. Aboriginal people travel along the tracks and Something much more powerful and effective is required. sing, perform and celebrate at the special locations in order to Kelly’s investigations into these memory techniques began implement their custodianship of the land by reinvigorating with studying Australian Aboriginal songlines. By studying the country, reinforcing their memories, re-affirming the these practices, those of other current oral cultures and other Land Law and a raft of associated purposes. sources, Kelly has concluded that there is a suite of clever and A reflexive symbiosis exists here. The people remember the powerful mnemonic techniques that make the task possible. place to go. Being there at the place calls forth their detailed Their implementation on a society scale requires immense memories and these are memories of the place. The memories community effort and strict organisation, but this is a price can be spurred by conjuring up the place in the mind but it well worth paying because the reward is survival and, well seems this cannot continue to work indefinitely; the place beyond that, interest and enjoyment as well. must be visited or the memories fade. A further significant result of Kelly’s research in the first The Method of Loci is well-suited to capturing of her two themes, is that the underlying structures of these encyclopaedic knowledge and it permits amendments to be techniques are universal. They are or were used across the made to the information. Other techniques are suited for world in all the oral cultures Kelly examines. This universality other tasks like remembering lists of properties, for example. is thought to arise from the fundamental structure of the Some involve having physical triggers produced by portable human brain, common to us all and discussed below. Certainly, specially decorated items, such as a stick or carved stone or cultures which have developed separately from each other a board with shells, bumps grooves etc. on its surface. The for millennia nevertheless use almost identical mnemonic device’s owner passes their hand over the item to produce techniques. This universality allows Kelly to infer that the oral tactile stimuli that bring the memory popping into their cultures that predated current literate cultures operated in the consciousness as in the Method of Loci. same way as current oral cultures. In particular, that those ancient cultures used the Method of Loci, described further Storing and recalling the memories – The below. This is a key element in her justification for reaching imaginary beings, song and dance the conclusions of her second theme. Besides the special mnemonic techniques, another universal There are two important enhancements for the Method feature of oral cultures is that the task of holding all knowledge of Loci. One is to have theatrical performances attend in memory is entrusted to a special group of people which, for the retellings or recitations or singing of the remembered generality, I will refer to here as the knowledge custodians. For information. This is most effective if the performances are the Australian Aboriginal peoples, this group is the Elders. bizarre, frightening, highly active or startling as this makes Recognition as a knowledge custodian is gained through long them stick in the mind. The retellings refresh and reinforce training and gradual initiation into the deeper meanings and the memories and educate newer knowledge custodians. The more complex knowledge. This is a vital element to the whole Aboriginal songlines have that name partly because singing memory scheme. The special knowledge is disclosed only to the knowledge, along with dancing and theatrical story telling those who have earned that privilege and have shown they can are key techniques for thoroughly embedding the memories be trusted with it. The main reason for this is to safeguard the and reinforcing them. accuracy of the knowledge. I think the rewards of recognition In case you think that all this is a poor substitute for writing, and respect are also strong incentives for people to devote think about how much more effective, and entertaining, it is themselves to this valuable task. Indeed, part of Kelly’s research, to communicate the call of birds to an audience or to show which I don’t touch on here, is about the influence and prestige in delightful detail how an animal behaves! Anyone who that accrue to knowledge custodians, and rightly so. has consulted a bird field guide will know how the written If your survival depends on correct information, then you rendition of a call only makes sense after you hear the call. Just cannot allow just anybody to be considered an authority watch a Bangarra Dance Theatre performance!

116 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

A second enhancement for all versions of the Method of Kelly has been using her memory techniques, to good effect, Loci is to create in the mind, as the memory is being laid down, in her research and writing. I, without the techniques, have a lively imaginary being and link them, with actions, to the been struggling to hold in my mind, all at once, the mountain memory. When the time comes to recall the memory, the being of information Kelly presents so as to write this review. I am appears in the imagination to act out a brief, lively, startling convinced that I should either study MCraft more closely and story concerning the information. The beings are sometimes become an adept or stick to reviewing one book at a time. animal, sometimes human, sometimes a mixture of the two and sometimes they morph between these forms as the mood takes Neurological foundation of the techniques them or the story or location requires and so on. The very best of these creatures behave in exciting, The method’s power, success and universality are thought startling, rude, wicked or lascivious ways, are extraordinarily to derive from the central role that geographical location beautiful or ugly. Perhaps their appearance or their name can (place) has in our human neurology. The hippocampus, at remind you of the information through a pun or some such. the base of the brain, performs a central role in navigation Kelly has experimented with many of the memory techniques and in memory creation and retrieval. When a ‘clue’, such as and one of her characters, used to remind her of the details being at a special place, excites a site in the hippocampus, it of a wading bird, was a beautiful, very long-legged girl named sets off a cascade along neural pathways, reaching out into Marsha. Groan!, yes, but very effective! Plain facts, presented other areas of the brain, that brings the related memories in mundane and unexciting ways, won’t ‘take’ or come back into the conscious mind. This mechanism is known as easily. To put it simply, ‘make them memorable’! pattern completion (D. Jhaveri, personal communication, The historical evidence shows that these memory February, 2020). techniques continued to be used in Euro culture long after The hippocampus responds more strongly to clues related transition to a literate culture. The Ancient Greeks used the to experiences that excite fear, loathing, awe, etc. and these Method of Loci with streetscapes as memory palaces. They also create more deeply embedded memories than mild also wrote works on the optimal design of memory palaces. experiences. This explains how memory is enhanced by Some sources credit them with inventing the Method of Loci associating bizarre and striking imaginary creatures with the but Kelly’s evidence shows, pretty clearly, that the method was memory to be stored. in widespread use well before their time and that, ironically, In an ironic twist that recalls the imaginary creatures of the their main contribution was to be the first to write about it. mnemonic techniques, the name ‘hippocampus’ derives from In the European cultural stream, use of the method its shape being reminiscent of a sea-horse monster in Greek continued until the Renaissance and even beyond the mythology. introduction of printing to Europe. Why it then died out no-one seems to know. Maybe the people finally became so Wide range of sources of information attached to writing and books that they just let the techniques slide away, just as my young son cannot understand why he Kelly draws her evidence for the existence and nature of the needs to learn handwriting when he is convinced that he will mnemonic techniques of oral cultures from a wide variety of always have a device to type with. extant oral cultures including Australian Aboriginal peoples, One of the implications of Kelly’s work is that we should American First Nations peoples and the Yoruba people of think seriously about introducing these mnemonic techniques West Africa. into the education system for use at all levels. In fact, being Additionally, Kelly draws on written records of oral trained in these things as a young person would be of immense cultural practices and information created by early literate benefit for the whole of life – and it’s fun. Even though we have cultures, such as those of Ancient Greece and Rome for the internet and search engines and all that paraphernalia, example. This sounds a bit contradictory, but it is well- many of the knowledge tasks we face would benefit greatly established that the transition from an oral to a literate from an ability to recall loads of information without having culture involves a long period during which the two coexist. to muck around with a device. For example, exams, open book After all, in the first instance, hardly anyone can read and or not, still require memory. The purpose of an exam is to find write and hardly any knowledge exists in written form. out what you have learned which is, essentially, what remains Therefore, the bulk of the population can be expected to in your memory from your lessons. continue with their oral cultural practices only incidentally An additional benefit is that having many pieces of affected by the literate aspects of their surroundings. information in your mind at once allows you to compare them Consequently, literate people had many opportunities to and to make connections between them without having to go make written records of the oral cultural practices and searching again for one or the other piece. In fact, I am sure content of their own, combined culture. vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford 117 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

On top of this, empire building by literate cultures brought Misunderstandings them into contact with other purely oral cultures and provided further opportunity to record their observations, albeit with Kelly points to a number of inter-cultural misunderstandings whatever biases and misunderstandings they might have in the field. For example, anthropologists and others’ mis- entertained about that culture. For example, Julius Caesar in interpretations of the lively imaginary beings. As you Britain in the 1st Century CE recorded encountering Celtic might expect, reports of Europeans’ first encounters with oral culture specialists with prodigious memory and recitation stories involving these beings were written from a Christian abilities. During the time of their conquest of South America, perspective. Consequently, those reporting were inclined the Spanish wrote describing the Inca practice of encoding to interpret them as ‘gods’ (K&P p. 20) and much of the memory triggers in string creations (khipu), now recognised stories’ contents were consequently categorised as ‘religious’. as a method for remembering stories as well as their long- According to Kelly and other specialists, the Australian recognised use in accounting. Aboriginal peoples stoutly maintain that characters in their tales are not worshiped or prayed to and are therefore not The experimental component gods. Rather, they say that the beings are there to help with the conservation and transmission of knowledge. Additionally, It is appropriate to note that Kelly’s work includes a significant Aboriginal people maintain that it comes down to personal experimental component. With help and advice from taste, disposition or attitude of mind as to whether or not to Australian Aboriginal colleagues, learned practitioners of believe these beings ‘truly exist’. other oral cultures, modern-day memory ‘athletes’ and ancient For the most part, this initial religious classification has and modern written records, Kelly has intelligently and stuck; once a feature of another culture has been popped reflectively mastered a significant number of the mnemonic into the religion pigeonhole, it seems it stays there relatively techniques she tabulates in Appendix A of MCraft. unexamined. Maybe this is another Christian response. With At first, it sounds like such a project would take a lot of, a belief in possessing the ‘true’ religion, there is little stimulus well, almost drudgery but the opposite seems to be the case! to spend much effort examining a ‘false’ religion peculiar to Kelly reports that implementing and developing such skills is the people whose stories they are. great fun. In contemplating mistaking mnemonic characters for Using the Method of Loci, Kelly has turned the streets gods, it occurs to me that there is a reverse line of enquiry. around her home in Victoria into a memory palace containing Kelly reports that these characters feature in the mnemonic a brief complete history of the world from its formation 4.5 techniques of all existing oral cultures and in the early literate billion years ago until the present. Overlaid on that same and medieval periods of Euro cultures. Hence, they must surely streetscape, but always clearly distinguishable from it, she have played a central role in Euro preliterate cultures. Could has another memory collection of what is, essentially, an the mnemonic characters of literate culture’s oral precursors encyclopaedia of the personalities and lives of 130 famous have been the original inspirations for the pantheons of early people. The neighbours’ gateposts, driveways, cracks in the literate cultures? pavement etc. that Kelly uses as triggers for memory recall Consider the gods of Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and are completely untouched by her contemplation of them. No China as well as current Hinduism and Shinto. They bear a properties suffered in the making of these memories! striking resemblance to mnemonic creatures. Both groups’ Kelly doesn’t explain what happens when, say, a pavement members are active and awe-inspiring, are often human/ crack is repaired but I am sure she has a ritual to transfer the animal hybrids and (some) are sky dwellers. They usually have memory from the newly-defunct crack to a fresh location along special duties/associations in the real world such as life and with a whimsical story to facilitate the alteration. It would be death, fertility, crop growth and so on. I am not an expert in something like having the memory’s ‘Rapscallion’, as she calls the field, by any means, but I think it is another implication of her creatures, race up to her on her walk weeping and wailing Kelly’s work that could be followed up. that its home had been destroyed and begging piteously for Kelly argues that, in oral cultures, the knowledge custodians help whereupon Kelly would invent a memorable search to have great prestige and influence on decision-making and rehome the creature. events in their society. Along with this, oral cultures have fairly Beyond just learning much and surprising herself with even distributions of material wealth and little coercive power. what she can now do with her memory, Kelly has successfully This contrasts with settled, literate cultures in which power is competed in the International Association of Memory (IAM) vested in those with high material wealth and coercive power. competitions, becoming Australian Memory Champion in Kelly points out that the role of the knowledge custodians 2017 and 2018. That’s impressive, given that she had not even disappears once the transition from an oral to a literate culture competed prior to 2017. is well advanced. Consequently, the mnemonic creatures

118 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

could also disappear, although their lively natures and likely way irrespective of time, place and cultural variation within broad-based popularity might well ensure their persistence in the human spectrum. This is where the universality of ‘folk’ or other tales. It would be not too large a step from that mnemonic techniques across the extant oral cultures and to have the creatures repurposed as gods who perpetuate their their link to the architecture of the human brain become roles as guides to moral conduct and the law, modified to suit important. Given these commonalities then it would seem the new dominant class, while losing their roles in practical valid to apply the tests to the ancient sites. knowledge retention. Let us quickly consider a few of the criteria and how they relate to Stonehenge. The second theme – ancient constructed memory palaces in the landscape Large investment of labour for no obvious reason In Kelly’s second theme, she advances the idea that many of There is no question that the Neolithic builders expended the puzzling ancient monuments found across the world are huge efforts and resources to build Stonehenge. The largest memory palaces built by oral societies in a time of transition blocks of average mass 25 tonnes were brought from 30 km from a nomadic to a settled existence. away and those of between 2 and 5 tonnes, the bluestones, were I will focus here on Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK, but brought by sea and land from the Preseli Hills 150 km away in Kelly considers a whole range of other sites which she argues West Wales. No mean feat with Neolithic technologies. fit the mould of mnemonic sites. Of these others, the most Clearly, with all the resources poured into it, it must have spectacular are Chaco Canyon (Pueblos) in New Mexico, been extremely important to the people who built it and yet USA, and Poverty Point (Mississippi Culture) in Louisiana, there is no archaeological evidence of the production there of USA. Of course, the interpretations she brings to bear on any tangible product, it could serve no defensive purpose and these grand sites also apply to similar though smaller scale so on. If the product was memory training and transmission sites which, for Stonehenge are the myriad of more modest of vital knowledge, then (a) this would be a valuable but standing stone sites throughout the UK and Europe. invisible ‘product’ and (b) construction of such a site would Kelly’s foray into this area began with Stonehenge. She be worthwhile for its builders. visited the site, partly as a tourist and partly from an interest Satisfaction of this test is, of course, a necessary but not in archaeology, while she was researching Aboriginal and sufficient condition for Kelly’s hypothesis to be true but the other oral cultures’ memory techniques. As she contemplated piling on of many such confirming signs gradually builds the site, it came to her that the structure had many of the confidence in her ideas. features of a memory palace. The serendipity that comes to the prepared hippocampus! Signs of a prescribed order Kelly’s research took an important turn at that moment. The Method of Loci requires a memory palace to have a Excited by the possibilities, she undertook a sweeping structured sequence of memory points so that the user can consideration of ancient, Neolithic sites around the world systematically go from one to another in a prescribed order. examining them to ascertain whether they could have been With a streetscape memory palace, for example, you walk built and used as memory palaces for the preservation, down the street and encounter the special places and features development, education and trade in oral culture memory. as you travel. Initially, she doubted solid evidence could be found in the Posts or stones arranged in circles or spirals, in the fashion archaeological record to test her hypothesis. After all, it is easy of all phases of Stonehenge, satisfy this criterion nicely. As in to appreciate how, by careful examination, stone constructions a contemporary art gallery, the visitor to the standing poles in a river bed can be found to be a fish trap, or how pottery can move from one post to the other, contemplate each in shards with traces of food on them can be rightly considered turn and retrieve the associated memories. The spacing of to have been from a cooking pot but what archaeological the stones and variations in their shapes are also important. traces could be left by people memorising knowledge? Enough spacing keeps adjacent stones out of one’s peripheral Remarkably though, Kelly has built what I think is a solid vision, allowing contemplation of one stone at a time. case for her idea by considering the site features against a Distinguishable fires being the correct memory trigger. series of ten features that an ancient mnemonic memory palace ought to have. An important guide in this regard Acoustic enhancement & visual engagement was the Ancient Greek text book Rhetorica ad Herennuim The Ancient Greeks held theatrical performances in modified which sets down design principles for the optimal memory natural amphitheatres. Rome’s Colosseum is a well-known palace. These are included in her list. This assumes that ancient performance space, many of whose events were all peoples will optimise their memory palaces in the same intrinsically horrifying and gruesome! vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford 119 AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ REVIEW

Recalling the theatrical aspects of the Method of Loci, it of these memory technologies turns out to include some of would be reasonable to expect that a well-designed artificial the largest and most obvious ancient remains. knowledge site would accommodate an audience, would accentuated the spectacle of performances by singers and Further implications dancers engaged in a wild, energetic display and have good acoustics or even produce startling amplified or reverberant To finish off, I see a few more implications of Kelly’s work. acoustic effects. Greek amphitheatres would satisfy similar One is to now view the rise of the Great Civilisations in performance-space requirements. a new light. That is, as more of a natural extension of the In this context, Kelly points to Stonehenge’s encircling sophisticated, well-organised, knowledgeable oral cultures ditches. Being flat-bottomed, they are well-suited as stages that preceded them rather than as a relatively sudden leap for theatrical performances. When new or well-maintained, from a ‘primitive’ to a sophisticated existence that I think their bright white chalk walls would make quite an eye- is the general perception when we talk about the Ancient catching theatre stage backdrop. The walls’ acoustics could Civilisations in Europe and the Middle East, anyway. reflect and possibly focus the sound and even produce Stonehenge exists in our minds as belonging in a ‘mysterious reverberant echo effects. Audiences on the embankments past’ but, if its builders had happened to have writing, its would enjoy quite a show. construction would probably have been seen as heralding the Further support for special acoustic effects at the site comes rise of a new civilisation. Kelly has shown that, while writing from Devereaux (2011) and Devereaux & Wozencraft (2014) is a big change in a society’s methods for knowledge capture whose measurements at Preseli and Stonehenge show that and storage, oral cultures are highly knowledgeable and well the Welsh bluestones are ‘lithophones’, that is they ring when aware, perhaps super aware, of their world. struck suggesting an extra acoustic property beyond those I find it uplifting to think that non-literate cultures of past identified by Kelly. Such lithophones served as bells in times ages led complex lives and managed their lands and existence before the now classic metal variety we see in churches became with knowledge and awareness. That, in fact, they possessed common. There was even some evidence of the bluestones a great deal of knowledge and used it cleverly to live well. having been struck. Not only that but they also had fun and lived complex inner lives just as we enjoy doing. On the other hand, we can never The timing of monument building really know in detail what they knew because those people are now gone. All their knowledge was in their minds and was A telling point in all this is that monument building not passed on down to us or maybe it has but we don’t know commenced in Europe at the same time as the transition to which pieces are theirs. agriculture. The argument in support of Kelly’s hypothesis Having said that, one of the implications that I see flowing then proceeds as follows. Like Australian Aboriginal peoples, from Kelly’s work is the possibility that understanding in European Mesolithic peoples did not need monuments; greater detail how oral cultures preserve memories and how the landscape was their memory palace. The development these are transferred into written form, might allow us to find of agriculture and the transition to a more settled existence out more about ‘prehistory’ than seems possible at the moment. presented them with a problem: the huge collection of vital, Finally, it is clear that our minds are capable of quite remembered information was ‘stored’ in the landscape that astounding feats of memory and recall. The way we use them they were visiting less and less. Travelling the songlines and now, they are just ‘ticking over’ compared with our ancestors refreshing memories in your imagination can only stand in and compared with the Australian Aboriginal peoples and temporarily for real visits, otherwise the memories fade. other contemporary oral cultured peoples. Kelly proposes that the solution was to build artificial memory palaces, to stand in for the landscape no longer being Neil Mudford is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the visited. University of Queensland. There is no shortage of competing ideas about Stonehenge’s Contact: [email protected] principle purpose. These include as an astronomical observatory, a burial ground, a ceremonial site, a religious References centre or a healing centre. All of these are plausible and none are Devereaux, P. (2011). Stonehenge Rocks: A Preliminary Report on the precluded by Kelly’s memory palace argument but all of them Incidence and Distribution of Lithophones on Cran Menyn, Preseli, have only weak or no supporting evidence for being the central Wales. Time and Mind, 4(2), 217-224. purpose. For example, if it was primarily a burial site then it Devereaux, P., & Wozencraft, J. (2014). Stone Age Eyes and Ears: A contains remarkably few graves for its 1500 years of active use. Visual and Acoustic Pilot Study of Carn Menyn and Environs, Preseli, So, ironically, the archaeological record pointing to the use Wales. Time and Mind, 7(1), 47-70

120 Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. (Cats, the musical) Reviewed by Neil Mudford vol. 62, no. 2, 2020 Have you logged into your benefits website yet? To log in for the first time, simply click request new password and enter your email address. Then click the link in the email to activate your account!

Save hundreds all year-round with benefits including: • Lifestyle & Leisure • Travel & Automotive • Health & Wellbeing • Insurance & Financial

nteu.memberadvantage.com.au

For more information, email: [email protected] or call: 1300 853 352.

Since 1958, the Australian Universities’ Review has been encouraging debate and discussion about issues in higher education and its contribution to Australian public life.

Want to receive your own copy of Australian Universities’ Review (AUR)?

AUR is published by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) twice a year. NTEU members are entitled to a free subscription. However, this subscription is on an opt-in basis, so you need to let us know. If you are an NTEU member and would like to receive your own copy of AUR, send us an email at [email protected].

Subscription rates for non-members are available at www.aur.org.au.

If you would like to become an NTEU member, contact the local Branch office at your institution, or join online at www.nteu.org.au/join. www.aur.org.au Love UniSuper? Your family can too!

We’re passionate about helping our members save for an exceptional retirement. And now your family can join our award-winning* fund too. A UniSuper Personal Account offers your family great value for money with a range of investment options, low fees, excellent service, flexible insurance and a national financial advice team. See what’s to love at unisuper.com.au/personal.

Prepared by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd (ABN 91 006 961 799, AFSL 235907) on behalf of UniSuper Limited (ABN 54 006 027 121, AFSL 492806) the trustee of UniSuper (ABN 91 385 943 850). This information is of a general nature only. Before making any decision in relation to your UniSuper membership, you should consider your personal circumstances, the relevant product disclosure statement for your membership category and whether to consult a qualified financial adviser. *SuperRatings awarded UniSuper 2019 Fund of the Year. Chant West named UniSuper 2019 Fund of the Year. Visit unisuper.com.au/awards for more information.