WIPSS Open Discussion: Metrics over Meaning? Academia and social control
Event: Metrics over Meaning? Academia and social control
Date: Thursday 6 November 2025
Time: 17:00 - 18:30
Venue: Faculty of Arts Library, 2nd Floor, Old Humanities Building, University of Malta
Convened by Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino and Dr Dylan Cassar
Special Guest: Prof. Frank Vanclay
Control has extended into all reaches of social life, often under the guise of efficiency, defined as the optimal method for accomplishing a task. Efficiency is one of the four primary components of McDonaldization, as proposed by George Ritzer in his 1993 text.
Academia is not exempt from this creeping practice. Measurements and documentation - metrics, indexes, dashboards, student evaluation scores, all part of quality control - are meant to accompany the professional life of scholars, notionally to improve quality; but also to assure and exercise control. The latter is manifested in behavioural change, when scholars 'game' the system and pursue initiatives that score them 'points' (however defined), which then improves their chances of career progression.
This session proposed to discuss and critique the use of theory, concepts and experience gleaned from standard 'impact assessment' to examine how IA works in/on the academic community and workplace.
Frank Vanclay is Professor of Social Impact Assessment and Management, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He is one of the leading writers about social impact assessment and author of some of the key documents.
Organised by (WIPSS, Faculty of Arts: Convenors: Prof. Michael Briguglio, Francois Zammit, Dr Dylan Cassar, Dr Niki Young)
in collaboration with:
- Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts
- with the support of .
