On the Production Line?: Academics in Modernized Universities

Abstract

In this chapter, a modified Delphi study is used to compile and report on the reflective writing and scholarly writing of the authors of this book. Each author was invited to write a brief response to the question, What does it mean to be a knowledge producer in a modernized university? Their responses were collated and the collection of responses was sent to all authors, who were invited to write a more detailed scholarly response. While initial forms of Delphi studies were designed to arrive at consensus within an expert group, the purpose here is to identify and report on both the commonalities and the differences between academics engaged in a diverse variety of forms of knowledge production. What emerges through the writing is a nuanced account of key dilemmas and themes associated with being a research active academic in a modernized university.