The challenges to professional standing among academics

Abstract

In this paper, the author looks at the challenges to professional standing among academics. Using Michael Zweig's contention that, "The challenge to professional standing among academics is not only a question of tenure" (27), the author explores this perspective by examining the state of higher educational institutions and 21st. century trends and factors that affect academic standing across universities and colleges. The author views the changes in human values and profession, global cultural transition, and the changing face of the university from an intellectual to a corporate-oriented model among the factors affecting the professional standing of academics. The transition of the university from faculty-oriented and controlled to administrator-oriented and operated, is seen as a critical factor in this regard as advocated by authors Benjamin Ginsberg and Steven Johnson. Other factors affecting professional standing are related to traits including gender and race as evident from the works of Diggs, Garrison-Wade, Estrada, and Galindo. The author examines the perspectives of several authoritative writers and sources including Ginsberg, Readings, Newman, and Johnson on the university and faculty standing. The author concludes that as colleges and universities are increasingly confronted with new challenges, professional standing among academics will continue to be challenged.