Tensions and vulnerabilities in projectified selves: Exploring gender and projectification in neoliberal academic cultures

In this article, we explore the multiple facets of academic projectified selves, i.e. how academics relate to the culture of projectification in neoliberal society, crafting themselves and their careers. We focus our inquiry on the highly gendered character of projectified selves and uncover differences in how the subject position of the projectified self is invoked in academic work, as well as the tensions inherent in such identity work. Through a qualitative interview study involving senior lecturers, both women and men, in a social science discipline across five Swedish universities, we identify three variations of the academic projectified self. We find that they navigate tensions between individual liberties and organisational limitations; that they experience recognition as transitory and unreliable; and that attachment to work is often located in ‘micro-spaces’ rather than in work as a whole. The analysis emphasises the vulnerability of the academic projectified self – in constant need of achievements, projects, and reputation-building initiatives – and how projectification perpetuates gendered inequalities. The article concludes with a discussion on how the notion of the projectified self can be employed in future emancipatory project studies. • The ‘projectified self’ is an emergent subject position in neoliberal society. • It manifests differently across societal sectors and carries gendered inequalities. • Academic employees are suitable for analysing projectified selves. • Striving for recognition and worth implies existential vulnerabilities and inner tensions. • Recognition and worth are transitory and unreliable. • Attachment to work happens through micro-spaces.