Academic promotion requires evaluators to translate heterogeneous evidence about a candidate into a single consequential decision. Research has documented which achievements count in this process, but has paid less attention to whether the presentation through which achievements are reviewed conditions their evaluative value. We examine this question using archival data from 361 faculty members who applied for promotion at a Chinese research university. Publication productivity and government grant productivity were constructed from administrative records. A large multimodal model for visual scoring and latent Dirichlet allocation topic modelling measured the visual and textual characteristics of candidates’ PowerPoint presentations, respectively. Logistic regression results show that both forms of research achievement are positively associated with promotion. This association, however, varies with the presentation. Mean aesthetic quality positively moderates the associations of publications and grants with promotion, although the publication interaction is only marginally significant when all interactions are estimated together. Aesthetic fluctuation weakens the grant-promotion association but not the publication-promotion association. Information richness shows an asymmetric pattern: it weakens the publication-promotion association and strengthens the grant-promotion association. Theoretically, the study develops a representation-dependent account of commensuration by showing that presentation characteristics condition how heterogeneous achievements are translated into a common promotion decision. Practically, the findings suggest that candidates should match deck design to the informational demands of their records and that universities should use standardized achievement dossiers and criterion-specific ratings to support comparability.
This article examines how academic authority can be hollowed out without formally abolishing academic leadership. Drawing on 23 repeated interviews conducted over 21 months with the rector of a Polish private university, supplemented by observations and organisational artefacts, I trace how the appointment of a chief executive officer reconfigured the relationship between the rectoral office and the authority attached to it. I develop the concept of symbolic displacement to describe a process in which a formal leadership office remains visible and continues to perform legitimating functions while practical authority over agendas, resources, institutional representation and the academic core increasingly migrates elsewhere. The analysis identifies four mechanisms through which this occurs: spatial reassignment, ritual reordering, representational capture and managerial extension into the academic core. It further shows that displacement does not require passivity: the rector continued to object and invoke academic authority but increasingly lacked the organisational leverage to make that resistance consequential. The article extends institutional accounts of decoupling by locating the separation between formal legitimacy and practical authority within leadership offices themselves. It also specifies the conditions under which hybrid governance may become asymmetrical, allowing collegial forms to remain institutionally visible while managerial actors acquire increasing practical authorship over university activity.
Toxic academic leadership in higher education institutions (HEIs) undermines university teachers’ well-being, education quality, and organizational climate. The shift towards managerialism in private HEIs, with institutions adopting corporate management models, has resulted in more hierarchical leadership forms. Given the context of Indian private HEIs and using the theoretical lens of Leader-Member Exchange Theory and Affective Events Theory, this study explores the profound psychological impacts of toxic leadership on university teachers and their coping mechanisms. The study adopts a qualitative research design in which seventeen university teachers from various Indian private universities were asked to fill reflective journal entries about their interactions with their leaders over a period of one month. Thematic analysis of the entries led to two broad themes – Invisible implicit wounds and Visible explicit wounds. While invisible implicit wounds consist of emotional distress, mental health deterioration, and erosion of self-esteem, the visible explicit wounds consist of depletion of intellectual resources, surge of cynicism, and betrayal of trust and equity. In addition to these, four coping strategies also emerged that included – seeking social support, avoidance and withdrawal, professional disengagement, and active resistance and confrontation. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
This descriptive cross-sectional study explores the levels and dimensions of University Social Responsibility (USR) as perceived by undergraduate students across different academic disciplines at the University of Extremadura. A total of 121 students from diverse fields participated by completing the University Student Social Responsibility questionnaire (RSEU), a validated multidimensional instrument. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify patterns based on gender and fields of study. The results indicate that most students perceived a medium to high level of social responsibility, with Health Sciences students scoring significantly higher in key dimensions such as personal exploration of values, responsibility development during university training, and professional commitment to the common good. No significant gender differences were observed in the overall RSEU score, although some variations were found in specific items. These findings offer relevant insights into the implementation of USR as a cross-cutting institutional strategy and suggest the value of providing opportunities to strengthen social responsibility across academic disciplines, particularly in non-Health disciplines.
Identify the effect of financial problems on students’ motivation to continue in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the Distance Education (EAD) modality. Quantitative, exploratory and cross-sectional research. A survey was conducted with 271 students from an EAD HEI. The questionnaire included scales to measure intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, financial problems, stress, and social interaction. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23, with support from the PROCESS macro for mediation and moderation. Financial problems directly impact students' stress, influencing extrinsic motivation. Social interaction negatively moderates the relationship between financial problems and stress. Regarding intrinsic motivation, financial problems have a positive impact, whereas stress has a negative impact. Explores the existing gap regarding the impact of financial problems on the motivation of distance learning students in Brazil, analyzing the moderating effects of social interaction and mediating variables such as stress. Limitations include the sample being restricted to a single HEI, a non-probabilistic convenience sample (271 respondents out of a target population of 1,403 EAD students, a 19.3
