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

© 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue IV Version I 17 ( ) 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 “It was a bit more competition-oriented and not nearly as cozy, as you would say in new German, uhm, as previously. That was the first time I really experienced what competition is, not cooperation [...] we all applied at the same time for the 20 professorships that became vacant in Germany.” (Interview 11, lines 297-304; own translation) In this context, we identify a structurally conditioned strategy, which does not arise from an intrinsic motivation of benefit. 2. “To hide knowledge.” Another strategy for dealing with competition is “to hide knowledge”. The following passage is narrated from the perspective of an individual from whom information was hidden. The hiding consisted of deliberately not communicating information so as not to be suspected of passing on confidential information. "Uhm, yes, well, I have, uhm, I hadn’t even received an application from him to read, uhm, in preparation. I know that at some point he gave me, but it wasn’t no, in another context, I once got to see an application from an established colleague, but that was later, but not in connection with an application. But that is also sometimes related to the fact that I’ve never experienced that here in the company, and that’s also related to the functions that one or the other colleague holds anyway, so that you don’t want to blame yourself because you deliver so many expert opinions yourself, to pass on information accordingly. I later got information sometimes. [...] I never got information in advance. But there are always colleagues in chemistry who don’t do that, right? And, uhm, there may be cases, but then these are often very personal, close relationships between a, uhm, doctoral supervisor and a, uhm, well, or a mentor in the case and a junior scientist and from dependencies are also often the result, right?” (Interview 4, lines 149-164; own translation) The strategy of “hiding knowledge” can be related to the theory of Connelly et al. (2012). As mentioned above, three strategies of knowledge hiding were identified: 1. to pretend to be “dumb” and ignorant; 2. to pass on false information; and 3. rationalized hiding, finding a reason for not having passed on knowledge. In our example, however, there was no clear strategy that fitted the ones mentioned in the theory. In interview 4, Ego simply stated that the information was not shared in advance. In some cases, it was passed on afterward. It is impossible to speak of deliberate deception through false information or playing dumb. The most likely explanation would be rationalized hiding since the information was passed on afterward anyway ( see Connelly et al., 2012 ). Noteworthy in this context is Ego’s statement, according to which information transfer is a) linked to close personal relationships, and b) linked to the position of the person who passes on the knowledge (vertically), so that dependency relationships arise between superiors and junior scientists. Consequently, it can be stated that the strategy of hiding knowledge seems to be related to the strategy of mingling professional and personal contacts. 3. “Prosocial” The prosocial strategy is also a strategy to deal with competition. Prosocial strategies play a significant role in scientific material. This is particularly evident in the context of gender and the goal of being successful. The gendered motive as a prosocial strategy is apparent in the following interview passage. “[That builds up] that builds up there, of course, when two women are then together, who then, so we never wanted to prove that to the men negatively, that’s not what it was about. But maybe rather prove to ourselves that we can do it, right? Uhm, and that, I believe, was a vital decision for us.” (Interview 9, lines 63-67; own translation) In this case, cooperation eclipsed competition. One allies to prove it to oneself. The underlying motive was to minimize competition, while the associated strategy was to help prosocially and join forces. The following example from interview 12 reinforces the fact that collaboration displaces competition. The prosocial strategy to minimize competition is to publish together and carry out joint projects. “Yes, yes. Today, he’s a professor at Location 3, and I think we helped each other a lot in the further steps of our careers. Well, we did various studies, various books together, various papers, our first publications in very prominent American journals, we actually did everything together and, uhm, that was alright, so we were really, now we’re, so we’re still good friends, but of course, we don’t see each other very often, because we’re at different locations now, but so, uhm, let’s say, so that was 2002, so at least until 2010, we really, uhm, did incredibly much together.” (Interview 12, lines 187-204; own translation) According to Dreu et al. (2008) as Steinel et al. (2010), prosocial strategies have to be considered in a differentiated way with regard to the exchange of information. Depending on the respective motivation, strategic decisions are made as to whether and how knowledge is shared. In the passage from interview 12, Ego and Alter supported each other on their career paths by publishing together and conducting several research projects until they reached their goals of obtaining professorships. In the process, the collaboration led to friendship. This blending of professional and personal contacts turn, strengthened the relationship ( cf. Phelps et al., 2012, p. 1124 ). Here, consequently, the two strategies are connected and cannot be separated. Another structural and habitual aspect of the prosocial strategy – the gender effect – is seen in interview 9. The development of the prosocial strategy based on gender sameness is attributed to the prevailing extent of gender inequality in the scientific community. Thus, the two women mentioned above motivated and helped each other to succeed in a male- dominated field. In this context, Engler (2000) described the professorial position as being associated with the