Academic Identities in Higher Education: The Changing European Landscape

Academic identity is continually being formed and reformed by the institutional, socio-cultural and political contexts within which academic practitioners operate. In Europe the impact of the 2008 economic crisis and its continuing aftermath accounts for many of these changes, but the diverse cultures and histories of different regions are also significant factors, influencing how institutions adapt and resist, and how identities are shaped. Academic Identities in Higher Education highlights the multiple influences acting upon academic practitioners and documents some of the ways in which they are positioning themselves in relation to these often competing pressures.

At a time when higher education is undergoing huge structural and systemic change there is increasing uncertainty regarding the nature of academic identity. Traditional notions compete with new and emergent ones, which are still in the process of formation and articulation. Academic Identities in Higher Education explores this process of formation and articulation and addresses the question: what does it mean to be an academic in 21st century Europe?

Linda Evans is Professor of Education at the University of Manchester, UK, and previously held professorial positions at the University of Leeds, UK, and the University of Warwick, UK.