Australian Universities’ Review - Enthusiasm and the Effective Modern Academic - Brett Freudenberg & Lisa Samarkovski Griffith University

Oct 15, 2026

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The article examines how academic enthusiasm affects teaching effectiveness in contemporary Australian universities shaped by corporatisation. It argues that managerial measurement of outcomes and difficulties in recognizing high-quality teaching can reduce academics’ morale, intellectual time, autonomy, and ultimately their enthusiasm for teaching. This decline may harm student engagement, learning outcomes, and educators’ wellbeing, with downstream consequences for institutions and the sector. Enthusiasm is positioned as intrinsic to effective academics in the 21st century.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The challenges

Corporatisation

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W Enthusiasm and the effective modern academic Brett Freudenberg & Lisa Samarkovski Griffith University 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’slack 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. Introduction The notion of enthusiasm may seem far removed from the traditional attributes that an academic needs in order to succeed, but in this article we argue that enthusiasm isan important part of being an effective modern academic. Reforms in Australian universities have resulted in the implementation of corporatised management practices including attempts to measure the outputs, and more recently the impact, of the sector (Universities Australia, 2013) . These reforms raise ideological questions about what universities are about, and how and whether it is appropriate to measure outputs and impact. Also, it appears that institutions have placed emphasis on measuring (and rewarding) research as opposed to teaching – which may have more to do with the ease of measurement of research outputs, however problematic (Carr, 2011) . The purpose of this article is not to argue the prosand cons of the modern tertiary sector, but to highlight that this environment can cause an academic’s enthusiasm to wane, especially towards their teaching. The word ‘enthusiasm’ derives from the Greek meaning ‘God (entheo) inside (iasm)’. While Sanders and Gosenpud (1986, p. 52) state that ‘enthusiastic teaching’means simulating, animated, energetic and mobile – it suggested that Ballantyne et al.’s (1999) notion that it extends beyond mere kinetics and includes a love of one’s discipline, the act of learning and the role of being a teacher is more insightful. The waning of academics’enthusiasm should be of concern to everyone in the tertiary sector, as an academic’s enthusiasm towards their teaching has been linked to promoting student engagement and positive learning outcomes (Evans, 2007), which is beneficial for the insti- 22 Enthusiasm and the effective modern academic Brett Freudenberg & Lisa Samarkovski vol. 56, no. 1, 2014 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W tution and the sector overall. Given the demands of the contemporary tertiary sector, academics more than ever need enthusiasm to face the challenges of their teaching. Hence, we argue, an academic’s enthusiasm is intrinsically linked to being an effective academic in the 21st century. The challenges Some of the challenges arising in modern universities include the corporatisation of universities, funding pressures and a changing student cohort, each of which is discussed below. There are also other challenges, such as advances in technology and the modes of educational delivery available to contemporary students, that are beyond the scope of this article. Corporatisation One of the challenges facing modern academics is the corporatisation of universities. Similar to other countries, the tertiary sector in Australia has been subject to reforms based on economic rationalism and related ideological (neo-liberal) orientations

FAQs

Why does the article focus on measuring academic outcomes and its effect on teaching?

Because corporatised management practices increasingly assess outcomes and can fail to measure or recognize good teaching in a meaningful way, which may reduce academics’ enthusiasm toward teaching.

How is waning enthusiasm expected to affect students and universities?

Waning enthusiasm can negatively influence student engagement and learning outcomes, affect educators’ wellbeing, and ultimately be detrimental to the institution and the broader sector.

What is the central claim about enthusiasm in being an effective modern academic?

The article argues that enthusiasm is an important and intrinsically linked component of being an effective modern academic, especially in the 21st century.

Oct 15, 2026

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