Marginal Academic Labor in the Ivory Tower: Identity Separation and Identity Crisis of Chinese Postdoctoral Fellows

• In Event: Doctoral Student and Postdoctoral Experiences Around the Globe: International Issues in Graduate Education

Abstract

Based on the data survey, it finds that Chinese postdocs are increasingly becoming ‘temporary workers’ inside the ivory tower, and they are facing a crisis of academic professional identity. The total score of postdoctoral academic professional identity in Chinese universities is 3.89, and the overall academic professional identity perception level is not high. The professional marginalization and segregation degree of this group has been deepening, leading them to regard themselves as academic temporary workers and marginal academics. The reason is that it is generated in three stages: the invisible presence of postdoctoral professional identity segregation, the compartmentalized internalization of individual identity and the crisis emergence of professional identity.

Authors

• Guiyou Jiang, Hunan Agricultural University

• Jianing Feng, People's Education Press