Abstract

VERA, Héctor. El homo academicus y la máquina de sumar: profesores universitarios y la evaluación cuantitativa del mérito académico. Perfiles educativos [online]. 2017, vol.39, n.155, pp.87-106. ISSN 0185-2698.

This article analyzes the process of quantification of academic merit. The case of the Metropolitan Autonomous University (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana), which was a global forerunner in the use of quantitative evaluation methods for professors, is examined in depth. Data was obtained by examining the listing tables employed by the university to quantity academic products, and by semistructured interviews and a voluntary survey amongfull time professors. The article details the changes in the instruments of evaluation used by the university and the impact that those have had on faculty performance. It also describes how quantitative evaluations allow university administrators to legitimate the evaluations and facilitate the comparability of the evaluated subjects; on the other hand, quantitative evaluations let faculty commensurate their different academic products and give them certainty about the possible outcomes of the evaluation process.

Keywords : Quantitative evaluation; Universities; Metropolitan Autonomous University; Professors; University administration.