Enthusiasm and the effective modern academic

Academics today face an array of challenges to their enthusiasm, including teaching students from diverse backgrounds with wavering levels of engagement with their studies. Furthermore, reform to the tertiary education sector has seen the corporatisation of universities with management increasingly measuring academic outcomes in respect of both teaching and research. This is proving to be problematic, particularly in measuring and recognising good teaching. With these select measurements, academics can feel that a substantial part of their work is not recognised in a meaningful way, which may impact morale, intellectual time and autonomy. This limited recognition can result in academics' enthusiasm, especially towards teaching, waning. This could result in unfavourable outcomes, as an academic's lack of enthusiasm may have an adverse impact on student learning, may also affect their own wellbeing and, ultimately, be detrimental to the institution they work for