Virtue ethics as a means of mitigating perverse effects in academia

Research evaluation systems that rely on bibliometric indicators are intended to enhance the quality of academic work. Increasingly, however, the relevant literature shows that they often produce the opposite effect. Scholarship on academic governance, management, and administration documents these unintended consequences, which stem largely from poorly designed performance indicators. We argue in this article that virtue ethics is a promising tool to counteract such dysfunctions. In particular, academic virtues such as practical wisdom (phronesis), courage, pre-emptive foresight, and a healthy sense of shame can help remediate these problems. To illustrate how virtue ethics can guide responses of the academic community to new regulatory frameworks, we present the likely reactions of a practically wise scholar, including the ways of dealing with ethical dilemmas that arise when values come into conflict. We also propose a practical exercise, called character stereotypes, designed to cultivate the virtue of pre-emptive foresight. Together, these approaches aim to support the academic community by fostering virtue and reducing the harmful effects of misaligned evaluation systems.