Really interesting piece by Prof. Maja Korica in Organisation Studies on her 10 years in management academia. Made me think about my own journey. My sense is that there are really very different experiences in this job. When I was at MIT Sloan, I was part of the elite. I did spend that time at the margins because I was not seen as good enough by my peers. But I did experience it. I also had the experience of being at the lowest rung of business academia: working in a teaching school with zero research funding. Overall, what I would say is that money and prestige helps and matters a lot, but it is not decisive. All of my best work was done while I was teaching 300 hours a year in a teaching school. However, the love of the craft needs to be there. And if it is there, then you can accomplish a lot even if in circumstances far more difficult than others experience.
For those of us fortunate enough to have a research budget, let’s keep our privilege in check and help others as much as possible. Writing with junior academics with no access to funding has been an impactful way that I have been able to do so. Let’s remember to be givers rather than takers and pull others up rather than simply focusing on jumping as high as we can.
