Self-determination theory and academic life: strategies for reclaiming pleasure and professionalism distilled from universities in Australia and Europe

Contemporary scholarship is replete with accounts and analyses of the challenges and complexities of current academic life. Much of this scholarship sounds alarm bells – even clarion calls – with regard to the sustainability and value of academics’ work. For example, Olson (2013) lamented that “Academe is often plagued by inexcusably rude and uncollegial behaviour” (p. 1) and that “This culture of incivility is becoming ubiquitous” (p. 1).