Beats digging ditches

If I ever encounter [collegiality], I’d be sure to comment on it – academia is just a job like any other – some people are pleasant, others aren’t – still beats dig[ing] ditches for minimum wage (which I’ve done).

Non-academics do not understand the staff they employ

While academics value collegiality, universities are increasingly being managed by non-academics who do not understand the staff they employ and/ or the processes that produce most effective outcomes.

Being ‘other’ is a disadvantage

[Collegiality] just doesn’t happen – you have to be a ‘social’ expert to work out the system – majority of people too busy with their own track records and goals to work with others -very difficult to find like minded people – being ‘other’ is a disadvantage – ie female, older adult, rural, lesser ranking in profession – tends to be a lot of elitism.

Collegiality has everything to do with social-intellectual relationships

Not at all clear what the market has to do with it? Collegiality has everything to do with social-intellectual relationships. we search for these within whatever frameworks we work.

Such a lack of collegiality and respect due to my ‘junior’ ranking

As a late starter in the world of academia, it is extremely disappointing that regardless of my vast experience in the  real world, there is such a lack of collegiality and respect due to my ‘junior’ ranking.

Collegiality must evolve as universities are doing

At its best collegiality works very well, but in a rapidly changing environment it needs to be carefully managed and redefined.  The (…) twitter comment reproduced on this questionnaire page that “As a young woman I was excluded from the clubby collegiality of the older men” is a case in point; annoying HR practices like ensuring gender balance on important committees are a (far from perfect) response to this.  And you can still occasionally hear the walrus-like harrumphs of complaint from my fellow mid-50s male academics which show me that they are still necessary!  Collegiality is an important defining characteristic of universities and must evolve as universities are doing.

It is the collegial debating of ideas that colleagues have missed when they exit academia

It is the collegial debating of ideas and the passion we have for honing new ideas and pinning our thoughts down that colleagues have missed when they exit academia. But perhaps I am lucky, we are a small, committed group.

As a young woman I was excluded from the clubby collegiality of the older men

(…) it has become harder to maintain [collegiality], but (…) this is, in part, a good thing. In my early academic life as a young woman I was excluded from the clubby collegiality of the older men who protected themselves from both scrutiny and change. This was immensely frustrating and I argued for greater transparency in decision making, and equitable treatment against open criteria. But this can become a mechanistic and rule-bound approach to academic judgment which can be just as frustrating as the old boys club. Having said that, I greatly value the collegiality of academics who share my interests and ethics – but most of them are not my immediate colleagues. It is based on common values and principles and these have to be sought out and cultivated, they cannot be assumed simply because one works in the same department.

Academic work tends to fuel ego

Oddly I find that academic work tends to work against collegiality in many respects. Academic work tends to fuel ego – those prestige factors of ‘Professorship’ and reviewing favour an ‘I know more that you’ approach. Perhaps it is where I work! I think collegiality is not a natural state and needs to be worked at very hard to engender and maintain. All requiring energy and commitment. See Eckhart Tolle on Ego.

What distinguishes a ‘colleague’ from a ‘friend’?

Is ‘the embodiment of the idea of collegiality’ the same as the realities of collegiality? What distinguishes a ‘colleague’ from a ‘friend’?