Tribù accademiche, mondi accademici: differenze disciplinari nell'università italiana

There is not one single academic world but many. Differences among disciplinary fields are usually underestimated and generalizations about academia are very often misleading. The article tries first to review the main theoretical approaches available in the international litterature: from the ones referring to differences in the epistemological structures of knowledge to the others stressing peculiarities in the social elements of disciplinary communities. The second part uses data from the survey on the Italian professoriate to verify the validity of grouping disciplines into four basic knowledge domains (hard-pure, soft-pure, hard-applied, soft-applied). Some evidences are drawn from the epistemological characteristics of disciplines (in terms of selection and career procedures, attitude toward teaching and research activities, scientific production), some others come from the disciplinary habitus ralated to professors' social background, style of life, and external commitments