An infiltration of corporate culture in universities, which includes a rush to fulfil certain KPIs as well as unethical practices culminating from such work culture, has been cited as among reasons for the decline of public universities, a prominent critic of the Malaysian academic field says in the wake of a renewed debate on the quality of Malaysian tertiary education.
Syed Farid Al-Attas, a Malaysian sociologist attached to the National University of Singapore (NUS), gave some examples of such “corporate culture” which he regards as not suited to the world of academia.
They include the practice of clocking in for work, as happens at any government office.
“I think almost all universities have this culture of clocking in,” Farid told MalaysiaNow.
“When they will be on campus, from what time to what time, like office hours – this doesn’t happen at high-ranking universities abroad.”
He said it was more critical to show the results of their work.
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