2025/06/15 by Stacey Mottershaw · 1 voice
Psychology · #Psychology of Development and Education
paper · pdf · doi:10.47408/jldhe.vi36.1610
openalex publication_date 2025/06/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15
Academic misfits: questioned belongings in higher education offers a compelling anthology that delves into the nuanced experiences of individuals who feel like outsiders within the academic world.The book's introduction sets the stage by highlighting the editors' emotional response and sense of kinship upon reading the submitted chapters.It emphasises the pervasive issue of imposterism and the rigid and hierarchical norms that often stifle true academic freedom.Through a collection of diverse stories, the book challenges the conventional image of academia and celebrates the beauty of deviating from the norm.Although the book does not include accounts from learning developers, it addresses experiences relevant to them -given their often complex and misunderstood role at the margins of academia (Stapleford, 2019).The book calls for a deeper understanding of not fitting in and advocates for genuine inclusivity and diversity within academic institutions.A notable theme identified early in the text is the self-awareness demonstrated by the editorial team.As they note in their introduction, 'the academic discipline disciplines us' (p.3).Even without an intent to discipline, the process of editing the collection led to them disciplining their contributors, both through guidelines for submissions and through the exclusion of contributions where anonymity could not be guaranteed.The editors also explained their choice of metaphor-rich categories of contributions, acknowledging that 'oversimplified categorisations hinder us from seeing maybe more elusive patterns in