Journal Articles
Masked resistance in neoliberal academia: Academics’ responses to the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 in Hong Kong
- Masked resistance in neoliberal academia: Academics’ responses to the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 in Hong Kong
- Higher Education Policy, 36(2), 270-288, 2023
- Palgrave Macmillan
- 2023
-
- Hong Kong
-
- 1997.7 onwards
-
- Post-Secondary Education
- The hegemonic wave of neoliberalism in higher education does not eradicate academic freedom in universities one by one. The possibility of resistance necessarily exists within the configuration of contemporary power relations. This study contributes to the theoretical debate on how global neoliberal forces are reproduced with local characteristics by providing a Hong Kong case. Based on interviews with 15 academics, their reactions and responses to a specific research evaluation system in Hong Kong, namely the Research Assessment Exercise 2020, are examined. The findings suggest that academic freedom has survived by adopting different forms of ‘masked resistance’ in the highly performative culture of Hong Kong academia. Such masked acts of resistance include ‘criticisms behind the curtain of conformity’, ‘scepticism and feigned compliance’, ‘cautious acceptance with substantial reservations’, ‘no reaction as an expression of muted dissatisfaction’, and ‘defence without rupture’. The ‘specificity’ of such inconsistent, ambivalent and nuanced responses is discussed by drawing on several local contextual factors: the political–educational culture, the government–institution relationship, and the disciplinary knowledge tradition. This study calls for greater flexibility in assessment regimes to make room for academics’ professional autonomy, which in essence enables, rather than dismantles, accountability in managerial reforms. © International Association of Universities 2021.
-
- English
- Journal Articles
-
- 09528733
- https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/64dccb81
- 2024-07-11
Recent Journal Articles
Learning strategies for Chinese character handwriting by CSL students in international schoolsJournal Articles
Primary school teachers' classroom-based e-assessment practices: Insights from the theory of planned behaviourJournal Articles
Language choice and code-switching in bilingual children’s interaction under multilingual contexts: Evidence from Mandarin-English bilingual preschoolersJournal Articles
Pathways to early science literacy: Investigating the different role of language and reading skills in science literacy among early primary school childrenJournal Articles
Examining the complex connections between teacher attitudes, intentions, behaviors, and competencies of SEN students in inclusive educationJournal Articles
ADPS: A prescreening tool for students with dyslexia in learning traditional ChineseJournal Articles
Advertising a school’s merits in Hong Kong: Weighing academic performance against students whole-person developmentJournal Articles
The effects of generative AI on initial language teacher education: The perceptions of teacher educatorsJournal Articles