It's Time to Rethink
Join a movement of tourism and hospitality scholars committed to resisting toxic performance culture and prioritizing well-being, integrity, and thoughtful impact.
Over the past few years, the steady shift toward increasing pressure to meet sometimes arbitrary impact metrics in higher education has reached a boiling point. Tourism and hospitality researchers have not been spared from this epidemic. The pressure to perform at unsustainable levels is not only around research; teaching, obtaining grants and contracts, and service responsibilities have also been impacted.
Slowly but steadily, a movement has arisen to push back on the toxic work culture in tourism and hospitality academia. While many have been sharing concerns over the past several years, the movement to revisit integrity, ethics, and what it means for our work to be impactful in a thoughtful and deliberate way was propelled forward by a JTR Letter to the Editor written by Dr. Stephanie Benjamin et al (2024) along with other voices (thank you Professors Sara Dolnicar, Sandro Carnicelli, and Gabby Walters, to name a few).
A Pledge Is Born
The Scholar Mindset Reset Pledge is the culmination of input through a variety of public forums and workshops held at CAUTHE, TTRA, and TEFI, as well as online survey input over the past year and a half.
Over 100 colleagues across several continents have been involved in past workshops, conversations, e-mails, and surveys, including some of you. This independent website includes the pledge and provides an opportunity to sign and include the Scholar Mindset Reset Badge in your email signatures.
We CAN Change the Culture
While the academic machine can sometimes seem overwhelming, you can make a difference! Start by thoughtfully reviewing the Scholar Mindset Reset Pledge and then signing it using the tab above.
- Shine a light on the problem: Download the Scholar Mindset Reset Pledge logo and link and add to your email signature and social media posts.
- Walk the walk: Signing the pledge should not be performative. Take the words seriously. Are you in a position of power? Work to incorporate aspects of the pledge into institutional policy.
- Talk the Talk: Share your experiences (both bad and good) in the Voices in Tourism and Hospitality Academia posts below. Like and reply to those you can relate to and/or support.
- Get educated: Check out the Research, Academia in the Media, and Other Ways to Make a Difference tabs above. Have you found a resource that isn't listed? E-mail the Scholar Mindset Reset Pledge folks with a description and link.
Email us a resource suggestion
Scholar Mindset Reset Pledge
"As a tourism academic committed to meaningful scholarship, I pledge to..."
Uphold Integrity and Ethical Accountability
- ✓Commit to honesty in data, methods, and communication
- ✓Remain transparent and responsible in all scholarly work
- ✓Be accountable for any errors, omissions, or mistakes
Engage in Purpose-Driven, Reflective Research
- ✓Slow down, stay curious, and pursue research that serves a real social or environmental purpose—not just academic gaps or trends
- ✓Commit to research with real impacts on communities, the environment, culture, health and well-being, policy, and the economy
- ✓Value diverse outputs, consider impact beyond academia, and meaningful contributions over quantity and resist the "publish or perish" culture
- ✓Create measurable and accountable career objectives that support these values to include mentorship, Early Career Researcher support, and community impact
Practice Reflexivity and Epistemological Humility
- ✓Stay critically aware of your positionality, biases, and limits
- ✓Respect differing worldviews and challenge academic arrogance
Ensure Fair and Just Authorship
- ✓Claim authorship only when a real contribution is made
- ✓Give credit fairly, challenge unethical practices, and resist prestige-based naming
Use Technology Responsibly
- ✓Refrain from using AI for core scholarly thinking
- ✓Prioritize human interpretation, creativity, and ethical responsibility in research
Center Participants and Regenerative Practice
- ✓Engage in research thoughtfully and empathetically with participants—not on them—by involving them as collaborators, respecting their knowledge systems, and ensuring mutual benefit
- ✓Respect their privacy, ensure voluntary consent and overall wellness
- ✓Avoid extracting data without giving back
Diversify Knowledge and Publication Forms
- ✓Respect and include [but not misappropriate] non-academic, Indigenous, local, and Global South knowledge
- ✓Share research through accessible, non-traditional formats
Promote Fair, Open, Accessible Scholarship
- ✓Support open science by sharing data and outputs responsibly and avoiding gatekeeping or unethical publishing models
- ✓Editors, Editorial Advisory Board members, and reviewers should be fair, honest, and objective when handling reviews
Foster Inclusive Mentorship and Collaboration
- ✓Mentor early career researchers, champion underrepresented voices, and create inclusive, supportive research environments
- ✓Recognize systemic challenges faced by marginalized scholars
Maintain Scholarly Autonomy and Voluntary Commitment
- ✓Ensure that participation in this pledge is voluntary and not performative or prescriptive
- ✓Foster responsible and respectful debate
Join the movement of scholars committed to positive change
Voices in Tourism and Hospitality Academia
How tourism and hospitality academics are working to be the change.
I’m signing because I’ve seen too many brilliant PhD students leave the field due to burnout. We need to measure success by the quality of our ideas, not just the volume of our output.
I pledge to change how I hire. I will look at the 3 best papers a candidate has written, rather than counting their total number of publications.