At the Top of the Pyramid, Everyone is Above Average: Self-efficacy and perceived performance of academics in the Nordic countries

Managerialism in higher education has gained prominence in recent decades. One of the crucial elements of this approach is the steering of the higher education sector, including the introduction of multiple forms of evaluation of academic work. Little is known about how academics evaluate themselves in comparison to their colleagues. Therefore, the focus of this paper is on how academics evaluate their own performance in teaching and research. The article uses survey data (2014–2015) from Norway, Finland and Sweden. Professors’ and associate professors’ answers were considered. Our research relies on social-cognitive theory to develop a set of hypothesis. The empirical findings show that academics are likely to perceive their own and their unit’s research performance as higher when compared to that of their peers and similar units. Associate professors consider themselves to be more performative in teaching, whilst professors highlight their research performance. Finally, the gender differences were found to be minimal.