Building Utopia, Part 4: Hierarchical vs Startup Culture.

A series of 6 blogposts where I offer my personal perspective on problems with academic culture from the point of view of a former early career researcher. I make suggestions on how to start combating these problems, based on my professional experience of 12 years in British academia, which included positions at Oxford, King’s College and University College London between 2008 and 2020.

Other Parts in this Series: Part 0 | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5

Problem #4: Hierarchical vs Startup Culture

Problem Statement

An inexorable vertical structure permeates the entirety of the academic establishment. There’s too much hierarchy, not enough freedom and little room for enterprise. This constitutes a choke-hold on innovation and original thinking and the sector would benefit from taking a close look at startups.

Process and Consequences

Group leaders control and manage funding for their group’s research activities and therefore the top dictates what research is to be done, and the bottom (postdocs and students) carries it out.

Group leaders vary widely in terms of how hierarchically they run their groups, spanning the whole spectrum from…