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RESEARCH PRODUCT

University as a workplace: searching for meaningful work

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Work in academia is changing, and research suggests that not all the changes are desirable. Higher education is developing in a direction heavily criticized, especially in relation to the concepts of neoliberal and academic capitalism. In this article, we explore meaningful work in a university context. Our focus lies on individual lecturers’ positive opportunities to make work meaningful and the university a better place to work for both students and faculty. We examine meaningful work as a relational phenomenon: how meaningfulness is constructed through features such as dialogue, expertise, interaction and sharing of ideas. Our empirical findings are based on analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected in a business school management course deliberately developed to promote cooperation, interaction and shared learning as central tenets of meaningful work. Both faculty members’ and students’ perspectives on meaningful work are discussed. peerReviewed