Academic Capitalism and the Changing Doctoral Education Policy in the Life of a Doctoral Student

Authors

• Anna Kouhia Helsingin yliopisto
• Tuure Tammi

Abstract

The recent university reform and the changes in doctoral education have been shaking the academia during the past years. In parallel, capitalistic values seem to have taken their ground in the practices of the academic field. Drawing on the notion of academic capitalism, we reflect on this current demanding situation from a viewpoint of a doctoral student. Argumentation is based on a critical document analysis of a doctoral program account and on our own experiences as young university scholars. Our analysis suggests that besides economic benefit, academic capitalism can also be understood in reference to notions of quality, effectiveness and productivity. We discover that the position of a young academic is challenging in times when market economy values have been pervading the scholarly discourse.