Academic Success Beyond Metrics: A Critical Intercultural Framework

By Wàn Zhāng and Fred Dervin

What does 'success' in academia really mean? In this book, two scholars from distinct economic-political, ideological and institutional contexts observe, analyse and interpret the monolithic myth of the 'triumphant academic'. Through penetrating case studies based on autoethnography, ranging from the 'virtuous sage' whose scholarship is deeply creative and morally anchored yet inescapably human, to the 'cuckoo scholar' who climbs to full professorship and leadership on the labour of others, the authors theorise academic success interculturally. Moving beyond simplistic judgements, this book reveals how success is a complex, unstable and often contextually contingent concept. The intercultural dialogue at its core illuminates how specific practices can be adopted, negotiated and resisted differently across global academia. By confronting the gap between performed reputation and substantive contribution, the authors problematise metrics of achievement. This is an essential read for scholars, administrators and anyone interested in higher education studies and academic migration, offering the critical, intercultural lenses needed not to condemn but to comprehend the intricate theatre of academic life and to forge more authentic and equitable paths forward.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3032352436
• ISBN13: 9783032352439
• Release Date: November 2026
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan