> My complaint about the system being broken is more about the incentive structures and metrics that are used within the academic setting.
We have to keep in mind that those incentives, targets, and metrics were set up by the academics themselves. It is the same in funding agencies and departments.
I'd be a bit hard pressed to agree with this. While I think it is technically correct I do not think it is meaningful. Because anyone working in the academic system is specifically considered an academic. But a researcher is not the same thing as an admin. The truth is that a dean is not the same thing as a researcher even if they previously were.
I'd specify that the metrics were setup by the bureaucrats, which does include overlap between administrators and researchers. I'd also add that just because the metrics were made up by these groups doesn't mean they can't decide to move past them. In fact, it even makes the case of internally solving the problem stronger because we did it before so we can do it again.
We have to keep in mind that those incentives, targets, and metrics were set up by the academics themselves. It is the same in funding agencies and departments.