In the name of academic research

Friday's Prothom Alo ran an article based on the research findings of a Bangladeshi PhD student at a Canadian University. The report, titled, "Bangladesh's 'rickshaw faculty': a nadir of academic exploitation" appeared in Times Higher Education (THE) in October. The 'knowledge of the researcher' Matt Hussain, we are told, is 'personal' as he 'went to school in Dhaka with the scions' of some of the businessmen who own private universities and banks and have created family dynasties that are instrumental behind the mushrooming growth of a system in which young teachers are exploited and 'zombie' like graduates are produced.

'Husain spent six weeks conducting an ethnographic study of faculty and students in his native Dhaka, in Bangladesh, and what he found makes even the worst cases of academic exploitation in the West look tame in comparison,' the THE report observed.

I guess by the academic exploitation in the West, Husain is referring to the graduate teaching assistantships and research assistantships that are subject to paltry pay. Given his web profile the researcher himself is one such exponent.

Husain mentions that 'some nine in 10 faculty are on short-term contracts and are typically young, recent MBA or bachelor's degree graduates looking to make some money before attempting to pursue a PhD in the West.'

Interestingly, if Matt is right, the final objective of these 'rickshaw faculty' is to get on a plane and become a freshly off boat graduate students as part of their next career move. By Husain's estimate, a young lecturer makes GBP 150 a semester (roughly 13/14 weeks) per course. Even after teaching at four universities, a 'rickshaw faculty' does not have enough money to 'move out' and is forced to stay with his family. Meanwhile, while drifting from one place to another, these lecturers do not make any emotional connection with their students and are 'almost dehumanised.' And they fail on to pass on the excitement of knowledge or they are so indifferent that they allow their students to plagiarise and help the universities produce zombie graduates.

Husain says; 'They are exploited but they feel they can't do anything about it.'

Husain, we are told, worked at the World Bank for six years before becoming a doctoral student, and his web profile declares his lip synching of WB mantra of quality education. The photograph that comes with the story features a tricycle van that is not to be seen in Dhaka. The manufactured image, showing a man in suit and tie rushing off for a second year Stat class, can at best be an example of postmodern kitsch. And our researcher is riding on an ethnic ticket to offer a spectacle. In so doing, he makes the gross mistake of standing between the ethnographer and the reader.

If Matt's intention was to expose the impoverished state of our education system with an aim of improving its quality, I wouldn't have any objection. He violates the ethical standard demanded by any ethnographic study that his research claims to be. Did the participants of the ethnographic research know that they were going to be featured in a mainstream weekly magazine like THE, and in derogatory terms too?

In a country where not everyone has the privileges of riding BMWs that the researcher's cohorts are known for, riding rickshaws cannot be held against a class. I don't think I would ever call my professors in London 'Tube Faculty' or in the US 'bike profs'.

The other problem with the research involves a misrepresentation of facts. The researcher has managed enough citation to scaffold the conceptual frame against neo-liberalism, yet he fails to cite the number of faculty who are employed in the six universities and how many of them are rickshaw faculty. Just like the conclusion of the paper itself, the paper is a strange mix of the World Bank agenda of reducing opportunities for higher education by increasing student contributions and creating a habitus for cultural capital in Bourdieu's term. There is no mention of the actual figures of full-time part-time faculty ratio; teacher-student ratio; or percentage of courses taught by this so-called rickshaw faculty. He interviewed only four young teachers in six private universities to make a tall claim. There is no mention of the criteria for choosing adjunct faculties at a university; only certain focus groups are highlighted to slight the higher education system in Bangladesh.

In the actual research paper published by Sage, Matt's cultural bias is even more blatant. He criticises the food habit of the students of the private universities as 'they prefer to have a sandwich and Coca-Cola over bhat-sabji for lunch and while having lunch or snack, they prefer to check their Facebook updates on their expensive gadgets.' The ethnographic observation also concludes that the private university students who 'drink Coca-Cola and eat sandwiches are participating in Western practices because it serves to mark their elite and privileged status.' He criticises local banks for giving student loans as if it is unheard of in the West. The researcher is evidently perturbed by the wannabe westerners who want to join the bandwagon of higher education.

Matt's portrayal of Bangladesh is so condescending that it probably does not merit any serious response. But what worries me is how an academic paper has permeated into the mainstream and then trickled down to the social media. Why would THE promote a so-called academic piece based on ethnographic observation of a native informant? The answer my friend is blowing in the different admission camps that Western universities occasionally run here, and the different online courses that they are promoting via social media. Let us ask ourselves, who benefits from raising doubts over our system that is feeding the 'insatiable hunger' for higher education? (Hint: a parallel analogue is available in our health sector). Dear Matt, it is not only the local predatory business conglomerates who are after our students; their international cousins are even more lethal in alluring and abusing our students. As for the rickshaw riders, who are yet to earn further education before finding a tenure track, please do some research on the doctorate and graduate students who are abused in the western education system; they are the foot soldiers of a system that is fast looking for international revenue bases.

The writer is Professor of English, University of Dhaka. He is currently on leave to act as the Head of the Department of English and Humanities, ULAB.