A Treatise on the Jackass in Academe: How Arrogance and Self-Centeredness Destroy the Credibility of Higher Education

Abstract

There have been complaints that higher education is drowning in bullshit. Much of this is due to the various a-holes one encounters in academe. No other word can adequately describe the extremely nasty, abrasive individuals one is likely to encounter in academe who consider themselves superior to others and feel that the rules of civility do not apply to them. These arrogant, self-important tormentors tend to emphasize other’s shortcomings and faults. The venomous people described in this paper fall into many categories: the disciplinary elitist, the egotistical narcissist, the (so-called) expert, the academic workplace bully, academic indoctrinators, and the egocentric college leader. All of them can cause huge problems and create dysfunction in individual academic departments and the entire institution. They have damaged the reputation of higher education.