The role of collegiality in academic work

The study explores how the collective imaginary around collegiality in academic work is constructed, maintained, contested, and negotiated, and how it shapes academics’ collective perceptions, attitudes, and approaches to changes in Higher Education sector.

We are now in the phase three of the study. We are interviewing academics who have developed collegial practices in various sites of academic practice, such as research, teaching, and community engagement. Particularly, we are interested in exploring academic practices that involve collaboration or partnership spanning the traditional boundaries of academia, such as academic work involving private and public sectors, disciplinary and transdisciplinary research communities, academic and student communities, and so on. We wish to examine these practices in order to understand how academic collegiality is strengthened or contested in these contexts. We also would like to explore how the broader shifts in the Higher Education landscape affect the future of academic work and universities more generally.

Drawing on the data emerging from the phase one and phase two of the study we have identified the following sites of academic practice we wish to explore:

Academic governance	Chair of an Academic Board Union representative (NTEU)
Research / disciplinary communities	Cross-institutional / international disciplinary research team Multi/transdisciplinary research Mentoring within a research group Journal editor traditional open access
Learning and Teaching	Disciplinary education networks Large first-year course teaching team Casual staff Students as partners
Community / Public focus	Connection to real-world issues Social media persona
Spaces	Library

We welcome your suggestions for other sites of academic practice that could help us examine the role of collegiality in academic work.  Feel free to contact us at giedre.kligyte@sydney.edu.au if you wish to discuss this research with us or participate in this study. You are welcome to forward this invitation to your friends/contacts who you think may be suitable or interested in participating in this study as well.

The study is conducted by Dr Tai Peseta and Ms Giedre Kligyte (PhD Candidate) from The University of Sydney. The research will form the basis of Ms Giedre Kligyte’s doctoral research at The University of Sydney under the supervision of Dr Tai Peseta and Prof Simon Barrie.

To find out more about the study, view the About this study page and/or read the Participant Information Statement. Enquiries can be directed to giedre.kligyte@sydney.edu.au

The following publications are the result of the phases one and two of this study:

Journal articles

Kligyte, G., & Barrie S. (2014). Collegiality: Leading us into fantasy – the paradoxical resilience of collegiality in academic leadership, Higher Education Research and Development, 33(1), 157-169. (PDF available on university repository)

Conference papers

Kligyte, G. (2014). Problematizing collegiality and its usefulness for educational development, presented at International Consortium of Educational Developers (ICED), Stockholm, Sweden, 15 – 18 June 2014.

Kligyte, G., Mårtensson, K., & Roxå, T. (2014). Academic collegiality – fantasy or lived experience? Implications for academic development work, presented at International Consortium of Educational Developers (ICED), Stockholm, Sweden, 15 – 18 June 2014.

Kligyte, G. (2011). Collegiality versus managerialism – the binary that binds us. Proceedings of the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Conference 2011. December 7-9, 2011 – Newport, UK (short paper).