Writing higher education differently: a manifesto on style

According to a recent survey of colleagues across the disciplines, the most effective and engaging academic writers are those who express complex ideas clearly and succinctly; write with originality, imagination and creative flair; convey enthusiasm, commitment and a strong sense of self; tap into a wide range of intellectual interests; avoid excessive jargon; employ plenty of concrete examples and illustrations; demonstrate care for their readers; and know how to tell a good story. Yet an analysis of 100 peer-reviewed articles in six top-ranked higher education journals (including 50 articles from Studies in Higher Education) reveals no more than a handful of academic authors who exhibit any, much less all, of those characteristics. This article offers a spirited manifesto on academic writing, arguing that educationalists have both a practical incentive and an ethical imperative to write higher education differently.