ABSTRACT

Through a narrative analysis of 33 interviews with Vietnamese early career academics, we explore whether a Confucianist/collectivist academic context in Vietnam has a key influence on academics’ identity work, within the embrace of encroaching managerialist practices. We show how these academics from 11 universities negotiated identity alignment and identity tensions between such cultural orientation and managerialism. On the one hand, a Confucianist ethic underpinning higher education in Vietnam is likely to encourage academics to engage in managerialist practices, as it promotes harmony and loyalty to their respective university and its global, ‘excellence’ goals. On the other hand, a cultural underpinning of collegiality can create tension with the individualist nature of managerialist practices. Our recommendations for universities in a similar context are to adapt the more individualistic performative approaches borrowed from the West by crafting their own collegiate, soft managerialist hybrid practices.

摘要

通过对越南早期职业学者的 33 次采访的叙述性分析，我们探讨了越南的儒家/集体主义学术背景是否对学者的身份认同工作产生了关键影响，在侵入性管理主义实践的范围内。我们展示了这些来自 11 所大学的学者如何在这种文化取向和管理主义之间协商身份一致性和身份紧张。一方面，支撑越南高等教育的儒家伦理可能会鼓励学者参与管理实践，因为它促进了对各自大学及其全球“卓越”目标的和谐与忠诚。另一方面，合作的文化基础可能会与管理主义实践的个人主义性质产生紧张关系。