Is Academia just a version of Downton Abbey?

It was suggested to me a few years ago by a colleague that I might like watching Downton Abbey. It took me a few more years to see season 1 and then a rather large lag to this summer and frankly the last few weekends to catch up to the current season. I had been blissfully ignorant of how easy streaming videos were and I am afraid it is leading me to watch more shows then I had prior.

I am now caught up but had a revelation as the seasons went on and there was a struggle with the old ways of aristocracy and the new "modern" ways of the world, that academia is still living through aristocracy--or at least our version of it. I was asked by one of my students lately about who thought of tenure and then who set the rules. That is an excellent question and I don't know the answer but we certainly continue to do exactly what we are suppose to do and hand that down from one generation to another of our students. We tell them how they should act, how they should talk, how they should present themselves, how to dress, who to speak to and avoid, and we ultimately accept them into our special club or kick them out. When you get to a certain point, you know everyone and invite them to your grand house (the University) for luncheon and a talk.

We have modernized a bit in that we have expanded our club to include more than just old white men (though still the majority). However, much has stayed the way it has been for years. In the most competitive schools you must be successful within 6 years of your Ph.D. or you do not receive tenure. For men and women, this is usually during the years of marriage and childbearing and because they are working, nannies or other child care workers must be hired (just like in the Abbey).

It is all very respectable but why are we still doing everything the way it has always been done? The world changes around us but academia stays very much the same. As part of my sabbatical, I am trying to work with new ideas and methods to use psychological science to make a difference in the lives of those who have given us money in hopes that we would use it wisely. Sometimes, I think these wild ideas are a little too much for our traditional academic world. I push for collaboration of scientists but then I am asked what my contribution is to the science, how do I stand out, do I get special invitations to other grand houses of academia. Even though we won't figure out the problems of the world in just one lab--we must present ourselves as if we do. Is this the modern way of thinking in science and academia?

As the MacArthur Foundation has announced their Fellows (former Genius awards) and the Nobel Prizes are about to be bestowed, one has to wonder if we have moved forward at all in our aristocracy. We will "knight" the great minds of the future and let others know about their greatness but we have to wonder if we are hindered in the speed of art, science, education, and engineering because we spend too much time worshiping our aristocracy and not enough time doing the hard work needed for the people of the "kingdom."