Do You Read Books on Higher Ed During ‘Normal’ Working Hours?

My job requires that I be a student of higher education. Knowing what to do next is impossible without knowing what came before and what others are doing.

One way to learn about higher education -- to get better at “doing” higher education -- is to read books about higher education.

When do you read books about higher education?

In those rare moments during “normal” work hours when you are not on a Zoom meeting, do you tear yourself away from your screens and sit down with a book?

Are we working if we are not in a meeting, not on email and not teaching -- but are instead sitting and reading a book?

For me, the answer is no. I do not read books about higher education during the “normal” business hours I work in higher education. And I’m wondering if that should change.

Should we collectively shift our academic working norms so that sitting and reading a book counts as work?

Might we find a way to disconnect from our screens for some dedicated book-reading time?

Is reading books from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., an expected and accepted part of work for traditional academics?

Below is a list of books that I’ve read about higher education in 2021. None of these books were read during regularly available Zoom slots. They were read by audiobook during exercise and chores, or by my eyes at nights and on weekends.

These books have contributed more to helping me do my job better than any other method of learning about higher education. Should we be taking time to read them while at work?

Books on higher ed reviewed in 2021:

• The Amateur Hour: A History of College Teaching in America by Jonathan Zimmerman, published in October 2020
• A History of American Higher Education by John R. Thelin, published in April 2019 (third edition)
• How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching by Joshua R. Eyler, published in March 2018
• The Agile College: How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Changes by Nathan D. Grawe, published in January 2021
• For the Common Good: A New History of Higher Education in America by Charles Dorn, published in June 2017
• Higher Education’s Road to Relevance: Navigating Complexity by Susan A. Ambrose and Laura A. Wankel, published in January 2020
• American Higher Education in the 21st Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges by Michael N. Bastedo (editor), Philip G. Altbach (editor) and Patricia J. Gumport (editor), fourth edition, published in March 2016
• How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine … for Now by Stanislas Dehaene, published in January 2020
• Staying Online: How to Navigate Digital Higher Education by Robert Ubell, published in September 2021
• The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe by Josh Mitchell, published in August 2021
• The State Must Provide: Why America’s Colleges Have Always Been Unequal -- and How to Set Them Right by Adam Harris, published in August 2021
• The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students by Anthony Abraham Jack, published in March 2019
• The Inequality Machine: How College Divides Us by Paul Tough, published in September 2019

Have you read any of these higher ed books? When, where and how did you read them?

Any suggestions of other books on higher ed that I should read during normal higher ed working hours?