“A question of integrity”: academic values torn between organizational affiliation, national competitiveness and the global academic community

Values of higher education, as supported by the IAU, are grounded in the belief systems and behaviour of the individual researchers/teachers and the academic community more generally. Although these values are influenced from the outside by educational policies and economic considerations, and although they also encompass societal views on science (e.g. trust in science), it is academia itself that has to uphold, and sometimes defend, the inner principles of higher education. Individual academic freedom and values, however, are under pressure from different quarters. On the meso-level, higher education institutions, due to increased competition and accountability, have moved over the last 70 years from being “organized anarchies” to organizations that are fully administered, demanding loyalty from their members. On the macro level, especially in the context of the knowledge society or knowledge economy, higher education (HE) is now regarded as a significant part of a nation’s innovative competitiveness, with important impacts on internationalization strategies, for example. In this essay, I would like to develop some ideas on the interplay of these three levels, and how academic values can be maintained in this field of tension.