On the Composition of Academic Work in Digital Times

Abstract

Over the last two decades, a sense of awareness has arisen that universities are facing important challenges. This article focuses on the challenge that could be broadly termed as ‘the digitisation of academic work’, yet without assuming that this digitisation would be an explanatory factor clarifying the precise nature of contemporary academic work. On the contrary, and adopting a relational actor-network theory (ANT) approach, this article stresses the concrete composition of academic work without making any general presumptions regarding how the university looks at present. Furthermore, by introducing a specific interview technique as methodological approach and different visualisations as (qualitative) analytical approach, this article offers a threefold exploratory textual and visual analysis of academic practice in the making. The article concludes, firstly, that it makes not much sense any more to talk about academic practice in terms of humans or non-humans, material or digital, etc. Instead, perhaps it makes more sense to speak of actors in academic practice as being humandigital. Secondly, the article concludes that sociomaterial approaches might constitute a fruitful addition to more traditional research about the university that is inclined to focus on epochal changes that are suggested or expected to alter the position of academics and the university.