Publish or Perish?: Voices from Sam

This chapter presents an analysis of Sam’s professional identityIdentity as an applied linguistics teacher and researcher in Mainland China, based on his background, family, prior education, teaching, and research experience. The analysis explores Sam’s construction of multiple identitiesIdentity, such as temporary worker, publishing machine, mentor, warrior, superman, and robot, in response to the shifting higher education reformHigher education reform. Sam’s identity construction is dynamic, contested, shifting, and subject to unequal power relationships due to institutional constraints and the “publish-or-perish” ideology. The chapter discusses how Sam’s teacher identityTeacher identity was challenged by his experiences and interactions with colleagues, and how his identityIdentity as a novice EFL teacher and researcher was shaped and reshaped in relation to his values, beliefs, and feelings.