Turkish academics say recruitment reforms are needed to?fix?academic ¡°inbreeding¡± and the nepotistic ¡°abuse¡± of?a newfound institutional autonomy.?

A?new study by Engin Karada??and ?erife ?ift?i, a husband-and-wife team from Akdeniz University in Anatolia, looks at how the practice of universities hiring their own graduates as staff plays out across?Turkey's?fast-growing academic sector.?

Looking at Web of Science data from 88,162 doctorate-holding faculty members, they?found that 22 per cent had spent their entire undergraduate, postgraduate and working careers at a single institution. ¡°It is one of the highest rates obtained in the context of an entire country,¡± said Professor Karada?, adding that the study was unique?in covering all academics in Turkey.?

Controlling for other factors, the authors found that a 1 per cent increase in the number of ¡°inbred¡± academics?led to a 1 per cent fall in the total number of articles the institution?published.?Individual publications, citations and project management experience were also significantly lower among those who kept to their alma mater.?

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¡°Recruitment processes in Turkish academia have not been merit-based for many years; nepotism and other formal and informal barriers to open and meritocratic recruitment continue to exist,¡± Professor Karada? said.?

He said government reactions to political turmoil in Turkey over the past 40 years were also to blame.?

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A successful 1980 coup d¡¯¨¦tat led to a clampdown on institutional autonomy, while the academic purges after a failed 2016 coup attempt led to a loosening of the reins two years later.?¡°Turkish university administrators, who have not been accustomed to autonomy for years, abused this autonomy by employing their own graduates and this situation still continues,¡± said Professor Karada?.?

He suggested that it would be ¡°necessary to carry out recruitment processes centrally until the formation of academic autonomy and scientific culture¡±.?

Duygun G?kt¨¹rk, professor of educational administration and planning at Middle East Technical University in Ankara,?said:?¡°Recruitment processes should be open and transparent, institutional mobility opportunities should be provided to researchers [and] governmental and institutional regulations to limit academic inbreeding should be considered.¡±

ben.upton@timeshighereducation.com