The neoliberal university and the neurotic academic: A textual analysis of ITV drama Cheat

ABSTRACT

Through a textual analysis of four episodes comprising the ITV 1 psychological thriller Cheat, this paper explores depictions of the English Higher Education [HE] landscape and of the lived experiences of being an academic in the television drama. We achieve this through a focus on the fictional HE institution where the drama is set – St. Helen’s College – and the central character, university Lecturer: Dr Leah Dale; who is employed on a fixed-term contract and is applying for tenure. This paper engages with the following themes: Emotional Labour; Precarity of Fixed-Term Contracts; and Imposter Syndrome. Insight gleaned through the textual analysis contributes to the understanding of how academics might be navigating and negotiating the neoliberal university. In particular, we highlight the implications of contractual precarity in HE and the fragility of identity which is experienced by some academics. As such, this paper goes some way towards remedying the deficit of scholarship on the lived experiences of being a contemporary academic.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional labour
• contractual precarity
• fixed-term contracts
• imposter syndrome
• neoliberal university
• television
• textual analysis

Acknowledgments

To all academic staff on precarious short-term contracts: We understand. It will not always be this way and things will improve. United we can make academia a better place for staff and students alike. We are in this together and together we are the change yet to be seen in academia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Browne Review was a review to consider the future direction of higher education funding in England. It was launched in 9 November 2009 and published its findings on 12 October 2010.

2. This is an approximate calculation from Taylor (2011) based on £9000 tuition fee, divided by the average number of contact hours per week multiplied by the average number of teaching weeks in a year: i.e. £9000 Tuition Fee ÷ (22 Teaching Weeks × 3 Contact Hours per Week) = £136 per Hour Lecture, per Student.

3. Kinman (2016) draws on Siegrist’s (2001, 55) definition of ‘overcommitment’ as: ‘a set of attitudes, behaviours and emotions that reflect excessive striving in combination with a strong desire of being approved and esteemed’.

4. Although the age of the characters is not shared with viewers, Leah’s character was played by actress Katherine Kelly, who at time of airing was 39; and Adam’s character was played by Tom Goodman-Hill, who was 50.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catherine Wilkinson

Catherine Wilkinson is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Liverpool John Moores University. Prior to this, Catherine worked as a Lecturer in Children, Young People and Families in the Faculty of Health and Social Care, Edge Hill University. Catherine also previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Durham University in the School of Education. Catherine completed her PhD in Environmental Sciences at University of Liverpool, funded by an ESRC CASE award. Catherine works at the intersection of a range of research approaches, including: mixed methods, ethnographic and participatory research. Catherine’s primary research interests are children’s health experiences; young people and identity; community radio; and innovative methods. Catherine has an established reputation for making cutting-edge contributions, conceptually and methodologically, to research ‘with’ children and young people and uses this research to inspire teaching she delivers.

Sergio A. Silverio

Sergio A. Silverio first trained in Psychological Sciences (Clinical & Health Psychology) at the University of Liverpool and is an academic Psychologist with a research interest in women’s mental health over the lifecourse. He has worked within various academic departments, most notably as a Research Assistant in Qualitative Methods at the University College London’s Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health where he is now an Honorary Research Fellow, and now as a Research Associate in Social Science of Women’s Health at the Department of Women & Children’s Health at King’s College London. Most recently, he has been made an Honorary Fellow at the University of Liverpool’s Department of Psychological Sciences, was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and has read for a Master’s in Psychological and Psychiatric Anthropology within the Division of Anthropology at Brunel University London. Having worked on various research projects, with mainly qualitative data, he has become an experienced qualitative researcher with particular expertise in in-depth interviewing on sensitive topics and inductive analytical methodologies. He regularly lectures and provides supervision on qualitative methods, methodologies, analysis, and writing as well as consulting widely on qualitative research.

Samantha Wilkinson

Samantha Wilkinson is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Youth studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK; prior to this, she was a Lecturer in Human Geography at the same institution. Samantha holds a PhD in Human Geography, an MSc in Environmental Governance; and a BA (Hons) in Human Geography, all from The University of Manchester, UK. Her research expertise includes utilising a combination of conventional and innovative qualitative methods to conduct research on a range of themes, including: hair and identity; Airbnb; young people and alcohol consumption; and home care for people with dementia.