The formalisation of academic subjectivity under constant performance assessment

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the part played by measuring instruments in academic subjectivity. Higher education in many regions has undergone procedures of marketisation. Because competitive mechanisms entail calculable and comparable data, performance measurement contributes indispensably to procedures of marketisation. This study aims to explore how the neoliberal discourse has been enacted and has eventually overwhelmed Taiwanese higher education as regards academic management and institutional practices. This scenario begins by the issue of promotion evaluations, which is the most important concern for most interviewees, then delineates the ubiquity of performance measurement, demonstrated by Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and principles of accountability, followed by other internal evaluations, university rankings and honours systems. Taking the case of universities in Taiwan, this study illustrates how academic subjectivity, as a locus of power relations, was established in the neoliberal era.

KEYWORDS:

• Bibliometrics
• key performance indicators
• subjectification
• higher education
• neoliberalism
• governmentality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declarations

This study is part of my PhD project which received the Government Scholarships for Overseas Study from Taiwan.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ming-Te Peng

Ming-Te Peng's research interests focus on knowledge production, university management, higher education policy, and science governance. Having completed his PhD study in the Department of Sociology at Goldsmiths in 2020, his PhD project attempted to illustrate procedures by which academic reality has been established in the neoliberal era.