Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 23 Issue 4

© 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue IV Version I 16 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 C Exploring Motives and Strategies in the Production of Knowledge in the University Context by the Example of Academic Career Trajectories speak so openly at work group parties or otherwise, or you get advice, right? The other is Person 7 (writes). And he would tell you afterward: ‘Don't do that’ or ‘that’s good, just do that’ or ‘I’d pursue that’. It’s not like you just live there without communicating, it was just a group, my boss must have had a total of 150 doctoral students, that’s just kind of a network, isn’t it?” (Interview 8, lines 446-452; own translation) The example we cited from interview 8 emphasizes that advice is taken from supervisors as well as from other doctoral students. This takes place in both horizontal and vertical communication. Preference is given to semi-private contexts, such as work circle parties or informal colleague conversations g. This strategy alings with the findings mentioned above published by Kind & Hilber (2006), who, in addition to imitation, defined active requesting of advice or questions as a concrete method of implicit knowledge transfer. Even if the strategies that serve to generate tacit knowledge were initially considered separately from one another, they also were jointly applied in many text passages or were mixed, as the following example illustrates: “[...] I remember a workshop on the weekend with a woman who gave us career advice, so to speak. So there was, so to speak, I still remember, ‘What do we actually want to achieve someday?’, so, for all I know, privately and also professionally, ‘Where do we want to go?’, and so on. That was quite a good thing. We didn’t have that, so to speak, in the Ph.D. colloquia in the narrower sense, but we did it with, so we somehow organized it ourselves, so to speak, with these six women, so to speak.” (Interview 3, lines 175-180; own translation) Here, an exchange about future goals initially took place among equals, which led to independent workshops and colloquia being organized – in this case, among female students. At the same time, however, it was emphasized that advice is gained from experts to participate in the career experiences of other women. Here, three strategies were mixed, namely exchange among equals, learning by doing, and seeking advice from experts. The given examples illustrate that the creation of knowledge is closely linked to the respective field in which such knowledge is relevant. While the motive to gain tacit knowledge seems to be field-unspecific at first, the strategies to implement this motive depend on the structure and the framework conditions of the respective field. In a hierarchical system, such as the university, it is important to be familiar with the field- specific rules to participate in the game for positions, power, and resources ( cf. Bourdieu, 1992 ). Here, the strategies essentially serve to reproduce the system and are primarily based on career expectations ( cf. Bourdieu, 1988 ). The interview passage on the strategy of “seeking personal proximity to supervisors/instructors” illustrates very well the “illusio” ( cf. Balösius, 2011, p. 100 ) of the scientific field. The illusio in fields means that unknowing participants or, in our case, young scientists are under the deception that the university field is only about the field interest itself and that “awarded certificates and titles standardize the chances of access [...] and guarantee corresponding chances of employment” (Barlösius, 2011, p. 100; own translation). In our example, the issue is a promising placement for further career. The deception consists in the belief that the positions in the scientific field are assigned “solely based on scientific excellence, based on unconditional dedication to scientific knowledge, not based on personal gain” (Barlösius, 2011, p. 100f; own translation). This conceals that in science, the struggles for power and position also co-determine scientific careers ( cf. Barlösisus, 2011, p. 100ff .). During such careers, and through various educational institutions, a habitual adjustment is necessary to complete these stages successfully ( cf. Barlösius, 2011 ). Each change of field is connected with “[...] habitual transformations, which are reflected in patterns of perception, evaluation, and thinking, as well as in forms of practice, without, however, fundamentally changing them” ( Barlösius, 2011, p. 90; own translation ). This is also shown in the examples given here. Thus, in observation/imitation, forms of practice or ideas are evaluated and adapted by one’s habitus without fundamentally changing them. On this basis, the social practices within the field are generated, which maintain the field’s existence and contribute to the reproduction of the scientific system. This process requires implicit knowledge about the rules and experiences in the respective field, as our examples show. b) Strategies concerning the motive “to deal with competitors” This motive can be associated with the strategy “to hide knowledge” as well as “prosocial and pro-self motives”. In research, group information exchange is regarded as a cooperative process ( cf. De Dreu et al., 2008 ). But the struggle for positioning in the academic field simultaneously leads to competitive behavior among the actors involved, since in a hierarchical system such as the university, successful and adequate positioning becomes increasingly difficult with increasing qualification. Thus, the following example shows a pro-self strategy that results from the motive to minimize dealing with competitors. 1. “Pro-self” In the following interview passage, competition in the academic world explains the pro-self motive. The pro-self motive is based on a lack of professorships in Germany.