Academia is a term used to describe the students and faculty involved in higher education, or even the university system itself. It distinguishes academic professionals from their counterparts in corporate or government positions. Commentators often use “academia” in general public discourse to describe the highly educated, intellectual elite, whether in a positive or negative sense. They sometimes use the term in a dismissive way to describe academics as having little sense of the “real world.”
The word academy originated with the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who instructed his students in an area outside of Athens called the Academy. Later scholars based their systems on Plato’s and retained the word academy to convey a similar purpose. In recent centuries, the term academia came into general use to describe the university system and anyone associated with it. Within the academic system, however, it refers only to faculty and students, not support staff such as administrative or clerical personnel.
The college and university system was established in the Middle Ages and has become an essential part of modern society. Entry into many professions requires educational degrees that are only available through the academic system. Academia sets the standard for how knowledge is found, studied, verified and disseminated. Universities conduct ongoing research in numerous fields of study, including medicine, technology, science and social research.
Academia since Plato’s time has traditionally separated itself from the non-academic world. Academia's tenure system safeguards the jobs of established academic professionals and means they cannot be ousted for expressing unpopular opinions, at least in theory. This was intended to protect academia from being influenced by current politics or cultural whims. Some observers believe this system has been compromised by private funding for academic research projects.
One drawback of such academic isolation is that critics sometimes accuse academics of having little sense of the challenges of day-to-day life. The metaphorical phrase ivory tower describes academics as protected from harsh realities and ignorant of the possible consequences of their research. There once may have been some truth to that belief, but many academics today are also employed in the private sector or otherwise involved outside academia.
Some critics of academia use the word to negatively describe academic professionals as pretentious intellectuals who don't understand life outside the protected walls of their research labs and libraries. The attempt can backfire, though, leaving the critics at risk of sounding like pretentious, out-of-touch intellectuals themselves.