Although many Nigerians, including Professor Wole Soyinka, use “academicians” and “academics” interchangeably, they are in error. Find out why in today’s Q and A. Also find the difference between a “house” and a “home,” between the expressions “it’s me” and “it’s I,” and other usage questions.
Question:
What is the difference between an “academic” and an “academician”? I see both words used interchangeably in Nigerian English. Is this correct?
Answer:
Let me answer you this way: you will probably never have a reason to use the word “academician” if you speak or write Standard English. Most people who use “academician” are either non-native English speakers or uneducated native English speakers.
So what is the difference between an “academician” and an “academic”? Well, an “academic” is someone who teaches or conducts research in a higher educational institution, typically in a university. In British and Nigerian English, academics are also called “lecturers.” In American English, they are called “professors.”
An “academician,” on the other hand, is a person who works with or is honored with membership into an academy, that is, an institution devoted to the study and advancement of a specialized area of learning such as the arts, sciences, literature, medicine, music, engineering, etc. Examples of academies are the Nigerian Academy of Letters, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, etc.
Not all academics are academicians and not all academicians are academics. In other words, you can teach in a university, polytechnic, college of education, etc. and never be made a member of an academy, and you can become a member of an academy without ever being a teacher or a researcher at a higher educational institution. Note that while mostacademicians are also academics, most academics are never academicians.
A little note on pragmatics is in order here. Although many dictionaries have entries that say “academician” and “academic” can be synonymous, this isn’t really the case in actual usage, at least among educated native English speakers. It is considered illiterate usage in British and American English to call higher education teachers and researchers “academicians”; they are properly called “academics.” Many dictionaries merely capture the entire range of a word’s usage without discriminating socially prestigious usage from uneducated or archaic usage.
That is why I was disappointed when Professor Wole Soyinka used “academician” as if it meant “academic” in a 1971 newspaper article. In the article, he wrote: “What I would have expected of an academician was the advocation [sic] of a social system whereby the life of a decent [living] was guaranteed and the benevolent patronage of the privileged groups was eradicated for all time.
“DrIsong’s cry if any should be directed against a social system which binds both him and his dependants in a vice of mutual degradation and limits his freedom of action and development by denying him equality in his association with all the potential inherent in every class of society” (quoted in James Gibbs and BernithLindfors (1993), Research on Wole Soyinka, pp. 243-244).
Dr. A. J.  Isong, whom Soyinka called an “academician,” wasn’t a member of an academy; he was an “academic,” that is, a lecturer, at the University of Ibadan. I think it helps to point out that “academic” is derived from “academia” (pronounced aki/deemia) or “academe” (pronounced aki/deem), which means a place of (higher) learning such as a university or, as the Online Etymology Dictionary puts it, “the world of universities and scholarship.” “Academician,” on the other hand, is derived from “academy” (pronounced as “aka-demi”), which is an institution dedicated to the pursuit of advancement in a narrowly defined field of knowledge.
Henry Watson Fowler, the famou

I would like to share a story with you about a man, now in his 30’s, who once proclaimed himself as the dumbest person on earth. He struggled from a very early age just to get a passing grade in any subject. When he was only 8 years old, his teacher told his parents he was lazy in general and disruptive overall. This same young boy would struggle with homework to the point where he would break out in a sweat on a regular basis. He proclaimed that he hated school and he hated learning.

Yet, he was always inquisitive, asking questions others had yet to think of and never hesitating to try something new. He could take any task and think of a way to make it better, more time efficient. His mind conjured up some of the most outrageous ideas. All too often, he acted upon them.

When he was 9, he arranged a contest. The winner of said contest would be the boy who threw the most rotten apples into the mail box that stood on the corner. Because…..why not?
There wasn’t a sport he didn’t try; the more extreme the better. By the time he was 15, he had broken both legs, both arms, one hand and had two concussions under his belt. Nothing was off limits for him.

When he was 10, he was blessed with a teacher who was nothing short of outstanding. She listened. She paid attention. It was suggested to his parents that he be tested. His parents were more than eager to take ANY step that would give answers and solutions. He was diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADD. And while his parents were ecstatic there was finally an explanation, there were no good solutions. For the next 7 years, he struggled on a daily basis, even with the help of tutors. At the age of 17, the high school principal, along with his counselors, told him the only option he had left was to quit school. He did.

Shortly after his 18th birthday, he was approached by someone asking him to consider professional modeling. His parents did a thorough check on the modeling agency and a month later, he was on his way to L.A. He enjoyed modeling, but he enjoyed being in music videos and doing sitcom bit parts more.

And then one day, he found himself on the other side of the camera. And he was totally smitten. He couldn’t learn enough and he couldn’t learn it fast enough. Best of all, it was hands on learning. It was all he thought about and all he talked about. For the first time in his life, he was happy. He didn’t know exactly where this path was leading and wasn’t particularly concerned.

Today, he is a successful producer for one of the better known television networks. He is happily married and has a full life.

When he was 21, his sister secretly tutored him audibly and he surprised his family with his G.E.D. He had defied all those who had told him he was a failure.

I am this man’s mother and I broke down in tears that day.

You see, it has nothing to do with “being smart”. It has everything to do with persistence, inquisitiveness and passion. My son never allowed being dyslexic to stop him even though he saw himself as having less than average intelligence.

May you find your passion.

Rae Joudain Share this story as a response on Quora

The reasons why first class students never become first class people in life is that we often spend too much energy in acquiring good grades that we forget to acquire good class personality.

After concentrating all energy in acquiring the first class grades, we transform into a society where first class grades don’t matter much as having a first class personality.

In school, its easy to read,memorize and pass exams, but in real life, there is no sure book of life to progress, no memorizing, no exams, just you and your inbuilt capability which require no contest with anybody.

Those who eventually become big in life are mostly people who hardly make good grades in school.

Prof. Abletor Sedofia from University of Ghana has this to say to us:

“Academic excellence is overrated! Did I just say that? Oh, yes, I said it. Being top of your class does not necessarily guarantee that you will be at the top of life.

You could graduate as the best student in Finance but it doesn’t mean you will make more money than everybody else. The best graduating Law student does not necessarily become the best lawyer.

The fact is life requires more than the ability to understand a concept, memorise it and reproduce it in an exam.

School rewards people for their memory. Life rewards people for their imagination and innovations. School rewards caution, life rewards daring. School hails those who live by the rules. Life exalts those who break the rules and set new ones.
So do I mean people shouldn’t study hard in school? Oh, no, you should. But don’t sacrifice every other thing on the altar of First Class. Don’t limit yourself to the classroom.

Do something practical. Take a leadership position. Start a business and fail. That’s a better Entrepreneurship 101.

Join or start an association. Contest an election and lose. It will teach something Political Science 101 will not teach you.

Attend a seminar. …Read books outside the scope of your course.

Go on missions and win a soul for eternal rewards. Do something you believe in! Think less of becoming an excellent student but think more of becoming an excellent person. Make the world your classroom. Meet you at the top!