On Being an Academic
What
differentiates academics from other professions? In some form or another,
academics are associated with knowledge and expertise in a more or less narrow
field of research. There exists the popular stereotype of academics being pure
theoreticians, not being aware of or connected to people’s everyday life and
problems. The metaphor of the ivory tower usually comes up at this point. I
won’t make any judgment about this clearly untruthful perception, but will try
to give my personal view of how we academics sustain this stereotype.
Starting with
the notion that every person (this includes academics!) strives for a positive
self-concept, I assume that academics define a good part of their self-concept
by drawing on their expertise. To convince others of their knowledgeability,
academics tend to give sustained analyses and normative advice when it comes to
a discussion related to their field of research. In my case this is stakeholder
theory and often leads me to act like a real know-it-all followed by a deadlock
in a heated discussion. Let me give you two illustrations:
The first
example is an argument I had with a bank manager about value creation of Swiss
banks for society at large. Trying to present myself as a knowledgeable person
regarding this issue, I was arguing that Swiss banks are destroying societal
trust by engaging in ethically questionable business practices. The result of
this reasoning was, of course, making my counterpart an advocate of the Swiss
banks. My striving to present myself as a competent person ended up by the bank
manager explaining me with a wagging finger how the banking business really
works and that my perspective is a pure academic one.
The second
example is related to a discussion about maximizing profits with a friend of
mine who works as an electrician. Although my friend started the conversation
with the words “You as a theoretician…”, I had no reason to strengthen my
self-concept by taking the role of an academic. The discussion ended with me
having learned quite a bit about how business works for electricians, and him
becoming acquainted with another perspective on maximizing profits.
Having a lot
of experience in the types of interactions given in the first example, I am now
trying hard to establish more discourse-oriented discussions when it comes to
an issue related to my field of research. This is somewhat threatening my positive
self-concept, because I have to drop my own stereotype of academics. Two things
are helping me: First, the quote by Socrates “The only true wisdom is in
knowing you know nothing” and, second, the knowing that in the end, academics
are always right.
Tom Schneider
