The Dangers of Academic Bubble Economy from a Young Researcher’s Perspective

In recent years, it is becoming common to apply the metaphor of „economic bubble” to the description of certain phenomena in the academic field. The metaphor is generally used to refer to the difference between the expectable market value of the degree and the investments needed to receive it (see Deresiewicz 2011, Williams 2011, Wood 2011, Reynolds 2012). The analogy is with the economic phenomenon, in particular, the market value of a particular asset, which does not reflect the intrinsic value of that asset. The starting point of the current study is the hypothesis that the situation above gives us the opportunity to reconsider the analogy and to make it specific from the viewpoint of a conversion strategy, where the focus is shifted from economic to cultural capital. Accordingly, we will try to present a possible (Bourdieuian) application of the „bubble” concept, where the postulated sphere of validity is the academic field, in which we will examine how cultural capital is objectified and how objectified cultural capital can be converted into its institutionalised form. The primary focus of this examination will be the presentation of the simulacra of objectivised cultural capital, using different perspectives, touching upon its construction, functioning, and pointing out ways to expose it. We will also deal briefly with a difference in valuation, where the scientific value of objectified cultural capital is disparate with the field value of the institutionalised capital which can be gained through it. Finally, we would also like to address a few pragmatic viewpoints of the creation of cultural capital especially important for a young researcher.