Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland
In studying the performance of academic systems, one often tries to find out—by inspecting some well-defined parameters—how specific changes in the legal system influence the volume and quality of desired outputs, such as publications, patents, or alumni. This mechanistic approach neglects the fact...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231177974 |
| _version_ | 1797815367293206528 |
|---|---|
| author | Zbigniew Koza Robert Lew Emanuel Kulczycki Piotr Stec |
| author_facet | Zbigniew Koza Robert Lew Emanuel Kulczycki Piotr Stec |
| author_sort | Zbigniew Koza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In studying the performance of academic systems, one often tries to find out—by inspecting some well-defined parameters—how specific changes in the legal system influence the volume and quality of desired outputs, such as publications, patents, or alumni. This mechanistic approach neglects the fact that the main actors in this spectacle are not passive, but have their own priorities, and actively self-organize in response to any changes in their professional environment. In this contribution, we investigate such collective social behavior using the data for academic promotions in Poland in the years 2011 to 2020. Focusing on degrees higher than the PhD, we analyzed over 12,500 habilitation (= higher doctorate) and over 3,000 professorship applications, extracting personal data on academic promotion panel membership along with official roles on the panels. These details were then linked with data on the personal make-up of three consecutive terms of the central body overseeing academic promotions in Poland, Centralna Komisja do Spraw Stopni i Tytułów (“Central Board for Degrees and Titles”). As a result, we were able to identify a privileged group of individuals who controlled a substantial majority of academic promotions beyond the PhD degree by virtue of being part of the Central Board. We found that this relatively small group of academics held dominant control over academic promotions by repeatedly serving on promotion panels. Thus, despite the well-meaning intentions of the reformists who had designed it, the Polish system of academic promotions in the past decade can hardly be regarded as based on pure merit. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:21:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-59c239752fcc4dfe8e048a359f200658 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-2440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:21:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-59c239752fcc4dfe8e048a359f2006582023-05-31T08:03:25ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402023-05-011310.1177/21582440231177974Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in PolandZbigniew Koza0Robert Lew1Emanuel Kulczycki2Piotr Stec3University of Wrocław, PolandAdam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, PolandAdam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, PolandUniversity of Opole, PolandIn studying the performance of academic systems, one often tries to find out—by inspecting some well-defined parameters—how specific changes in the legal system influence the volume and quality of desired outputs, such as publications, patents, or alumni. This mechanistic approach neglects the fact that the main actors in this spectacle are not passive, but have their own priorities, and actively self-organize in response to any changes in their professional environment. In this contribution, we investigate such collective social behavior using the data for academic promotions in Poland in the years 2011 to 2020. Focusing on degrees higher than the PhD, we analyzed over 12,500 habilitation (= higher doctorate) and over 3,000 professorship applications, extracting personal data on academic promotion panel membership along with official roles on the panels. These details were then linked with data on the personal make-up of three consecutive terms of the central body overseeing academic promotions in Poland, Centralna Komisja do Spraw Stopni i Tytułów (“Central Board for Degrees and Titles”). As a result, we were able to identify a privileged group of individuals who controlled a substantial majority of academic promotions beyond the PhD degree by virtue of being part of the Central Board. We found that this relatively small group of academics held dominant control over academic promotions by repeatedly serving on promotion panels. Thus, despite the well-meaning intentions of the reformists who had designed it, the Polish system of academic promotions in the past decade can hardly be regarded as based on pure merit.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231177974 |
| spellingShingle | Zbigniew Koza Robert Lew Emanuel Kulczycki Piotr Stec Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland SAGE Open |
| title | Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland |
| title_full | Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland |
| title_fullStr | Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland |
| title_short | Who Controls the National Academic Promotion System: An Analysis of Power Distribution in Poland |
| title_sort | who controls the national academic promotion system an analysis of power distribution in poland |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231177974 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zbigniewkoza whocontrolsthenationalacademicpromotionsystemananalysisofpowerdistributioninpoland AT robertlew whocontrolsthenationalacademicpromotionsystemananalysisofpowerdistributioninpoland AT emanuelkulczycki whocontrolsthenationalacademicpromotionsystemananalysisofpowerdistributioninpoland AT piotrstec whocontrolsthenationalacademicpromotionsystemananalysisofpowerdistributioninpoland |