Needless bureaucracy and ¡°bullshit jobs¡± are preventing academics from fulfilling their core creative responsibilities and making clinical research an ¡°impossible task¡±, a leading neuroscientist has warned.

, editor-in-chief and professor of neurology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Oxford, says academic institutions are ¡°sleepwalking into a disaster¡± as a result of their increasing corporatisation.

In replicating systems from the private sector which are intended to improve financial security and governance, universities have created obstacles to their core mission and are ¡°destroying academia from within¡±, writes Husain.

¡°In a very short time, we have created not only silly systems of governance and regulation, but are also managing to subvert academic life through the creation of bullshit jobs and, I would argue, bullshit practices.

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¡°Each of the administrative burdens that we are confronted with on a daily basis might seem small on their own but cumulatively they amount to a ¡®mountain of small things¡¯ that is killing academia.¡±

Speaking to Times Higher Education, Husain clarified that he does not view all administrative jobs as ¡°bullshit¡±, but that the processes required of academics have created unnecessary work.

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He criticised the ¡°endless stream of paperwork¡± that academics have to deal with related to health and safety, annual training and even simple processes such as booking travel.

¡°We¡¯re spending more time dealing with that kind of stuff where the university thinks it has to comply with regulatory frameworks than actually doing the stuff we¡¯re paid to do.

¡°The problems are such that we¡¯re now not actually able to do our jobs properly.¡±

He warned that because this administrative burden ¨C often occupying 75 per cent of his day ¨C is duplicated in the NHS, clinical research has become an ¡°almost impossible task¡±.

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Citing Noam Chomsky¡¯s famous 1967 essay on the responsibility of intellectuals, Husain wants academics to use their training and skills and push back against ¡°the calamitous corporatisation of our universities¡±.

¡°We're supposed to have time to think, we¡¯re supposed to be creative, we¡¯re supposed to be the people who are coming up with new solutions¡­how can you do that if you spend all your day filling in forms?

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¡°That¡¯s such a shame from my point of view¡­it¡¯s actually having a bigger impact than just on the daily lives of academics; it has an impact on what society can get from academics.¡±

However, he is keen to point out he is not advocating for Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)-style cuts, but a fight back against the ¡°swollen, administrative processes¡± occurring in universities.

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The major Tickell Review in 2022 highlighted risk aversion as a key factor that contributes to major delays in getting research done. Husain agreed, calling for a change in how risk is managed within academia.

¡°There is a corporate need to keep institutions safe from sanctions ¨C legal, governmental as well as from funders.

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¡°In an attempt to safeguard universities, as well as their leaderships, governance is increasingly extending its talons into the everyday lives of academics in ways that were inconceivable only a decade ago.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com