Still following the post above about a study on academic inbreeding that involved thousands of academics in 140 countries check below an extract of a recent paper:
"The process by which academic inbreeding enables the formation and perpetuation of an academic oligarchy is explained in this paper, but it is perhaps surprising to observe how much it resembles the social and political organization and structures of the Middle Ages. Full professors assume the role of “feudal lords,” guiding others and shaping strategy at various levels. Their domain is established based on particular characteristics, such as seniority, and given institutional knowledge control, granting them respect and power akin to those of real feudal lords. Their domain power is based on the number of other academics who are part of their network, similar to subjects in the feudal lord–subject relationship; and they pass their power to someone in the “hereditary” line when they retire, and in some extreme cases to others with whom they share consanguinity bonds..." https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11024-022-09469-6#Sec3
