The ongoing cycle

It is an image that is ubiquitous – that of the male academic Professor who not only is socially inept, but is very successful. He is mesmerized by notions of grandeur and intoxicated with greed. Not only out of touch with reality and normality, he is absent in mind, though present in state. The ubiquitous image of Professor Male tends to be a balding, aged, glasses-wearing ditherer.

While popular culture and media texts (especially television shows) expound this common stereotype, it is obvious that men are not the only players in academia. It remains that women are distinctly positioned within academia by their actions, commitment, and proven success. But images of the female academic are rarely played out in popular culture texts. They do not rate many mentions as men continue to perpetuate the ‘ditherer’ image.

However, why is it that academics in general are perceived to be out-of-touch? Perhaps it is because we are. We write about our work for other academics and we are deemed successful if other academics cite our work. What impact are we having on the ‘real world’?