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Reviews
Johnson thoughtfully considers the norms, tensions, and rules governing commercialization of research in academic settings, as well as the effects of commercialization on scientists' reputations and identity within the institution and profession. Academic scientists would be advised to take Johnson's interview protocol (included in the appendixes) to determine their own identity.
Professor Johnson's very readable volume addresses debates about university-industry linkages from the under-explored perspective of the moral orders and identity work of academic scientists... While debates about the commercialization of university research tend to assume the traditionalist ethos is fragile in the face of commercial interests, this book provides an important antidote by showing the strengths of the traditionalist ethos even in the presence of commercialist peers... The book also provides several policy discussions about how to structure funding, university careers and resource allocations, graduate training, and university-industry relations. One hopes that this conversation will be taken up, especially as we are observing a cohort shift from those trained in the traditionalist mileau toward an increasingly commercialist-embedded cohort, making this a critical time for revisiting the roles of each of these camps in the university and the research system more generally.
David R. Johnson advances the literature on academic capitalism by examining how scientists understand commercialization and how it shapes their scientific work and careers. His approach foregrounds culture and professional ideologies more than other research in this area, which tends to favor structuralist theories and emphasize macrolevel changes in the organization of science and higher education systems. A Fractured Profession is full of rich qualitative data that connect these large institutional changes to the practices and reasoning of scientists themselves... A Fractured Profession makes important contributions to research on academic capitalism. Professors, students, administrators, and policy makers would all benefit from reading it carefully.
Contrasting the value patterns and work orientations of scientists who conduct research funded by business and industry with those of scientists who conduct research to advance knowledge, A Fractured Profession is an original contribution based on sound qualitative methodology.
Many have opined about the impact of commercialism on science, but few have gone to the source: scientists. Bringing Merton into the twenty-first century, David Johnson masterfully unpacks the value conflicts between traditionalist scientists—still the majority—and an influential minority focused on commercial impact.
In this excellent book, David Johnson takes us into the lives of commercially prolific academic scientists and their 'traditionalist' peers. The result is a fascinating and richly detailed account of money, power, and conflict in science. This book is essential reading for scientists, university leaders, and higher education scholars.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
192
ISBN
9781421423531
Illustration Description
1 line drawing
Series
Table of Contents
List of Tables and Figure
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Normative Tension in Commercial Contexts
2. The Reconstruction of Meaning and Status in Science
3. Embracing and Avoiding Commercial Trajectories
4
List of Tables and Figure
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Normative Tension in Commercial Contexts
2. The Reconstruction of Meaning and Status in Science
3. Embracing and Avoiding Commercial Trajectories
4. Identity Work in the Commercialized Academy
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
References
Index
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