Discipline-switching through a Bourdieusian lens: Examining the experiences of academics moving into criminology

Abstract This paper examines a widespread yet little studied phenomenon in academia: discipline-switching. Given the sizable in-migration of academics into criminology from other disciplines, this paper examines the experiences of academics moving into criminology. It uses data from 40 interviews and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice to consider why academics move into criminology, and what their experiences of teaching and conducting research are. From a Bourdieusian perspective, we demonstrate that the movement and experience of discipline-switchers are shaped by the interaction between their habitus, the fields and sub-fields through which they move, and the capital valued. We also demonstrate that due to the rules of the academic game, discipline-switchers experience most difficulty post-move when teaching.