A New Political Economy of Academic Science: Doctoral Students’ Shifted Perceptions of Mertonian Norms within a Marketised University

The integration of markets and universities over the past four decades has changed academic structures, relationships, behaviours, and beliefs – reviving concerns about potentially fundamental changes to the practice of science. Some now posit an imminent abandonment of purported Mertonian norms of collaborative, curiosity-driven research for the scientific good. This study of graduate student experiences explores how doctoral students in the UK make senses of such real and theorised shifts in the academy. Interviews revealed that in many ways, students largely accept market-based perspectives of their doctoral experiences. However, students overwhelmingly value instrumentalised, impact-driven research and expressed discontent with research agendas shaped by fierce funding competition – indicating an expectation of disinterestedness. And, students communicated frustration with feelings of exhaustion and isolation in academia, suggesting that communality was also expected, though similarly unrealised. These grievances demonstrate that some elements of Merton’s norms continue to shape the social imaginary of science, though the realities of the academy have departed from these ideals.