The academic is dead, long live the academic

The traditional idea of lone academics should give way to a team-based approach, argues Stephen Court.

Is the academic an endangered species? It is increasingly difficult to say that there is a distinct being called the academic. Changes in higher education and society have dramatically altered the way the world sees academics, and the way academics see themselves.

The creation and transmission of knowledge at the level of the discipline, through research and teaching, combined with intellectual rigour and concern for truth, are central to the work and identity of an academic. But a number of factors over the past two decades have been challenging the distinctiveness of that identity: the development of a mass system of higher education; the increased demand for higher education and its products - graduates and new knowledge; and the widespread use of information and communications technology. In addition, a study by the Association of University Teachers provides evidence of the development of a direct contribution to teaching and learning by academic-related staff such as librarians, computer staff and administrators.

About a third of young people go to university. We now have a mass rather than an elite system of higher education. At the same time there has been a growing supply of higher education from other providers. These new teachers include corporate universities and online degree courses. Although they offer higher-level programmes, it is difficult to place them in the same category as traditionally defined academics. Nevertheless, these new providers from beyond the academy have a justifiable claim to a share in the enterprise of higher education.

Neither do academics have a monopoly on research. There is a growing demand for research that can give businesses the edge in the knowledge-based economy. Researchers in universities cannot meet that demand - although in recent years the number of researchers in higher education, as a proportion of all researchers in the UK, has been growing. Companies develop their own research and development staff, or buy in research from non-university providers. While researchers in the private sector cannot claim to be academics - they do not normally teach students - they certainly have a large area of overlap with the core tasks of academics.

The exponential growth in student numbers has been accompanied by the extension of information and communications technology into every corner of higher education. From lectures to library catalogues, and from essay writing to leading-edge research, virtually everything uses and needs the computer. Without information technology, and without the academic input of academic-related staff, it is unlikely that universities could cope with the extra student numbers.

A number of academic-related staff have a growing role in teaching and research, providing services that academics do not have the expertise or time for. Librarians and computer staff train students in essential IT skills, they support web-based study, run help desks, guide students around databases, run demonstration classes, provide self-paced study materials and teach general IT literacy. This involvement in academic work also covers research input, including the design and operation of subject-specific applications.

Many academic-related staff have an important role in providing students with training in the generic skills increasingly required by employers. A subject librarian said: "We provide information skills teaching to all levels of undergraduates and postgraduates, including distance learners. As electronic sources increase, it will become more important to teach students how to evaluate information and devise successful search techniques."

It follows from the development of this direct contribution that the AUT - which represents academic-related staff in the pre-92 sector - is concerned that the employment of academic-related staff should be on an equal footing with academic staff, and that academic-related staff involved in teaching should have access to academic accreditation.

The growth of a direct contribution to learning and teaching by academic-related staff is now being recognised by academics. As one lecturer said: "As more and more modules are taught by computer-aided methods, the presence of computing staff as indispensable partners of the lecturing staff is becoming more and more important."

So, what is an academic? Although the core activities of the creation and transmission of knowledge remain, there is evidence that traditional categories are eroding.

Perhaps the debate should move away from the emphasis on individual identity and focus more on higher education provision as a team-based activity. Perhaps this will mean a stronger and more inclusive academic profession.

Stephen Court is senior research officer at the Association of University Teachers. The report, Building the Academic Team, is published today. See "policy and publications" at www.aut.org.uk