Emotional Labour of University Teachers in the Context of Academic Capitalism: Therapeutic Ethos and Communication Norms and Practices with Students (Case Study of Two Universities)

Abstract

This paper discusses the influence of therapeutic culture on the emotional labour of teachers at two universities, Higher School of Economics and University of Jena. Drawing on the concepts of emotional labour, academic capitalism, and therapeutic culture, the study is aimed to identify changes in the normative requirements for emotional labour of university teachers and corresponding changes in their professional ethics in the context of the commercialization and managerialization of higher education. The research focuses on the norms and practices of communication between teachers and students at these universities, providing a comparative analysis (Case Study). The research hypothesis is whether the therapeutic ethos, as being part of a westernized, mainly Anglo-­American culture, is more internalized in European (German) academia compared to Russian academia. The pilot study employs a qualitative methodology, consisting of interviews with faculty members from both universities conducted between April 2022 and January 2023 (N = 10). The findings suggest that the emotional labour of faculty members at both universities is closely related to the expansion of commercialization, bureaucratization, and managerialism in the higher education system. The therapeutic ethos acts as a regulator of the emotional labour that results in new emotional norms of communication between teachers and students, rooted in students’ expectations of emotional support from their teachers. Faculty from both universities highlight the need for policies and practices to create a positive emotional environment. I argue that while the therapeutic culture modifies the professional role of teachers and tends to support academic capitalism, it conflicts with the principle of role separation and teacher authority. The findings of the study can be used for further research in the field of university education transformation.