View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Between Delivery and Luck: Projectification of Academic Careers and Conflicting Notions of Worth at the Postdoc Level.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Between Delivery and Luck: Projectification of Academic Careers and Conflicting Notions of Worth at the Postdoc Level.
Authors: Nästesjö, Jonatan1 (AUTHOR) Jonatan.nastesjo@uvet.lu.se
Source: Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy. Mar2025, Vol. 63 Issue 1, p69-92. 24p.
Subject Terms: *Educators, Project finance, Political science, Valuation, Socialization
Abstract: This paper investigates how early career academics interpret and respond to institutional demands structured by projectification. Developing a 'frame analytic' approach, it explores projectification as a process constituted at the level of meaning-making. Building on 35 in-depth interviews with fixed-term scholars in political science and history, the findings show that respondents jointly referred to competition and delivery in order to make sense of their current situation. Forming what I call the project frame, these interpretive orientations were legitimized by various organizational routines within the studied departments, feeding into a dominant regime of valuation and accumulation. However, while the content of the project frame is well-defined, attempts to align with it vary, indicating the importance of disciplines and academic age when navigating project-based careers. Furthermore, this way of framing academic work and careers provokes tensions and conflicts that junior scholars try to manage. To curb their competitive relationship and enable cooperation, respondents emphasized the outcome of project funding as 'being lucky.' They also drew on imagined futures to envision alternative scripts of success and worth. Both empirically and conceptually, the article contributes to an understanding of academic career-making as a kind of pragmatic problem-solving, centered on navigating multiple career pressures and individual aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 183435074
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Between Delivery and Luck: Projectification of Academic Careers and Conflicting Notions of Worth at the Postdoc Level.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nästesjö%2C+Jonatan%22">Nästesjö, Jonatan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> Jonatan.nastesjo@uvet.lu.se</i>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Minerva%3A+A+Review+of+Science%2C+Learning+%26+Policy%22">Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy</searchLink>. Mar2025, Vol. 63 Issue 1, p69-92. 24p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educators%22">Educators</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Project+finance%22">Project finance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+science%22">Political science</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Valuation%22">Valuation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Socialization%22">Socialization</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This paper investigates how early career academics interpret and respond to institutional demands structured by projectification. Developing a 'frame analytic' approach, it explores projectification as a process constituted at the level of meaning-making. Building on 35 in-depth interviews with fixed-term scholars in political science and history, the findings show that respondents jointly referred to competition and delivery in order to make sense of their current situation. Forming what I call the project frame, these interpretive orientations were legitimized by various organizational routines within the studied departments, feeding into a dominant regime of valuation and accumulation. However, while the content of the project frame is well-defined, attempts to align with it vary, indicating the importance of disciplines and academic age when navigating project-based careers. Furthermore, this way of framing academic work and careers provokes tensions and conflicts that junior scholars try to manage. To curb their competitive relationship and enable cooperation, respondents emphasized the outcome of project funding as 'being lucky.' They also drew on imagined futures to envision alternative scripts of success and worth. Both empirically and conceptually, the article contributes to an understanding of academic career-making as a kind of pragmatic problem-solving, centered on navigating multiple career pressures and individual aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=183435074
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s11024-024-09541-3
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 24
        StartPage: 69
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Educators
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Project finance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Political science
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Valuation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Socialization
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Between Delivery and Luck: Projectification of Academic Careers and Conflicting Notions of Worth at the Postdoc Level.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Nästesjö, Jonatan
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 03
              Text: Mar2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 00264695
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 63
            – Type: issue
              Value: 1
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning & Policy
              Type: main
ResultId 1