The University Affected by the Business Sickness: A Performance Story

This study explores the opinions and experiences of academics regarding performance measurement and related processes implemented in universities in Turkey. A qualitative research design was employed. An open-ended questionnaire was administered via email to 34 academics working at nine different public universities, and the data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings reveal that a significant number of academics hold positive views of performance measurement. According to these academics, performance measurement enhances professional accountability, ensures objective evaluation, increases motivation, and promotes quality in academia. Paradoxically, the study also shows that many academics believe performance measurement has destructive effects on academic processes. They argue that performance measurement reshapes the traditional meaning, values, and practices of academia by imposing a competitive, business-oriented mindset. It reduces academic work to quantitative data, thereby subordinating quality. As a result, it generates conflicts in institutional culture and transformations in academic identity. At the same time, academics emphasize that in order to improve professional quality, performance measurement should be revised and sustained, institutional support and opportunities should be expanded, academic recruitment and training processes should be strengthened, the social significance of academia should be underscored, and university governance should be democratized. In light of these findings, we must move away from the business-oriented mindset—which has been shown to have a detrimental impact on academics and the academic world—and embark on a comprehensive effort to improve academics’ working conditions. We must steer clear of quantification practices that are incompatible with the spirit of academic work, and strive to enhance quality whilst taking academics’ views into account.