Bad leadership

Academy as a workplace has many advantages, but not all is well. Now that I have worked in higher education institutions for 35 years, it is perhaps time to summarize some of my biggest disappointments.

The text is based on experiences from various higher education institutions in several different countries. Rather than focusing on specific individuals and universities, I write as if it is the culture I am disappointed with, of which I myself am a part. But there are certainly some who embrace this culture more than others. Should anyone feel particularly affected by something I write, so be it.

In the spirit of academia, I suggest further research into the disappointments. More systematic studies could shed further light on the problems identified.

1. Disappointment with a culture that prioritizes easily measurable achievements.

Rankings, accreditations, impact factors, citation numbers and publication points are what count. These types of achievements determine the value of both the institutions and the academics, rather than the less visible achievements, such as supporting colleagues.

Those who focus on teaching are often forgotten, except in cases where they win awards as “best teacher” or when they are considered to be able to live up to the requirements of a "merited teacher".

The most ignored are often staff groups with tasks other than teaching and research, such as cleaners, librarians and study counselors, to name just a few examples. They are rarely if ever praised, and they tend to only receive attention when their efforts do not adequately facilitate those who publish.

A suggestion for further research is to measure the effect of recruitments where the number of publications in highly ranked journals is the central selection criterion. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a recruitment strategy for a higher education institution, for the students and for the work environment?

2. Disappointment with a culture where competition is prioritized.

I have certainly had the privilege of having very good colleagues, where humility, kindness, consideration and warmth have characterized the work environment. Collaboration has been prioritized over competition.

But at times the work environment has been more like a sports arena, where the only important thing seems to be to jump higher, run faster or throw farther than your colleagues. At times I have even experienced the work environment as a jungle, where you have had to look over your shoulder to avoid being attacked by a predator.

A suggestion for further research is to try to find out what is required for a good and warm work environment where the work tasks simultaneously are being performed with good quality. Perhaps this can be done by identifying good examples and studying them in detail.

3. Disappointment with a culture that is highly trend sensitive.

Higher education institutions, like many other organizations, tend to follow trends. This means that all universities and colleges tend to be quite similar to each other, which makes one wonder who benefits from it.

I have worked at more than one business school that tried to appear “unique” by focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation (for the uninitiated, these two concepts have been central to almost all business schools in recent decades).

Sustainability is now the main thing, which is of course difficult to argue against. However, trend sensitivity risks leading to good ideas being abandoned when they are no longer trendy. There is also a risk that higher education institutions follow less positive trends. As a colleague once pointed out: There was a time when racial biology was in fashion…

The biggest problem with trend sensitivity is probably that good and demanding ideas — like sustainability — are used to create legitimacy without having any noticeable effect on what higher education institutions actually do.

It would be interesting to see if there are higher education institutions that dare to be genuinely unique, that go their own way and believe in themselves without following almost every trend. If so, I would be interested in reading such a case study.

Another study could find out the advantages and disadvantages of uniqueness. For example, would this be better or worse for the students, the staff and the nation in which the higher education institutions operate than if the universities were all the same and offered the same educational opportunities?

4. Disappointment with a culture where it is easy for higher education institutions to ignore rules.

Let me take recruitment as an example. The legislator's requirement for equal treatment can be circumvented by referring to a local paragraph or norm that was "forgotten" when the job advertisement was formulated, for example that a criterion in the announcement should be downgraded or even neglected.

If no such local norm is available, higher education institutions always have the option of downgrading undesirable applicants by referring to a deficiency in a generally formulated "personal suitability" in the announcement. No expert assessment in the world can win over such arguments.

There are certainly examples of correctly executed recruitment processes within Norwegian academia, but I am very skeptical of generally portraying them as "orderly", as Ingvild Reymert seems to do (https://www.khrono.no/avviser-uryddige-prosessar-rekrutteringa-i-akademia-er-grundig-gjennomsiktig-og-fungerer-godt/874589).

A suggestion for further research is to deepen the insight into the "orderliness" of academic recruitment by studying cases that do not appear to have been particularly "orderly", such as those previously reported in Khrono.

5. The disappointment of a culture where critical views are so rarely translated into action.

I fully understand that not all suggestions can be implemented, especially at public universities where democratic principles must be upheld.

It is far more difficult to understand the apparent lack of listening to suggestions that sometimes characterizes higher education institutions. Who in academia has not attended development days at their university or college, where it is promised that all suggestions for improvement will be taken into account, only to end up in a big nothing.

The disappointment also includes colleagues who, in their research, promote very relevant, often sharply critical views on the activities of higher education institutions, but who tend to behave just as badly as those they previously criticized, when they themselves gain a position of power. Or avoid supporting colleagues who put forward criticisms, when the injustice that the colleague criticizes benefits them.

As someone with a strong interest in organizational learning, I would find it interesting to study the apparent lack of learning that sometimes characterizes higher education institutions. How should this be understood? Can the reluctance to learn be seen as a legitimate way to protect democratic values, or is it better understood as a fear of change, omnipotence, or even laziness?

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Unfortunately, I am no saint myself. I have treated support staff like servants, I have flattered my manager to obtain benefits in an uncollegial manner, and once I even participated as a committee member in a recruitment where both the process and the outcome must probably be considered unethical, if not illegal (I protested, but unfortunately this did not lead to any change).

As an individual, showing remorse and regret can be a good first step, but improving academia requires cultural changes. A research question might be what makes people who highly respect the idea of academia, its critical approach and openness to dissent, participate in maintaining a culture that in practice at least partly speaks against this.

With probably less than ten years left of my working life, I want to do what I can to influence academia — which I fundamentally hold in high regard — in a positive direction. There are those who suggest that I keep quiet and hope for improvements instead of fighting for them myself.

But if I followed their advice, I would have to add another disappointment to my list — the disappointment with myself and that I did nothing even though I saw what was happening.

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(the above is my own, using Google Translate, translation of my text “Akademiske skuffelser” that was published in Khrono 27th July 2025: https://www.khrono.no/akademiske-skuffelser/985762)