Reaffirming or Challenging Boundaries? Exploring Hybrid Academic Units in Modern Research University Hierarchies

Autor/inn/en	Pryor, Kim Nelson; Barringer, Sondra N.
Titel	Reaffirming or Challenging Boundaries? Exploring Hybrid Academic Units in Modern Research University Hierarchies
Quelle	In: Innovative Higher Education, 47 (2022) 1, S.45-72 (28 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Pryor, Kim Nelson) ORCID (Barringer, Sondra N.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0742-5627
DOI	10.1007/s10755-021-09566-6
Schlagwörter	Research Universities; College Administration; Administrative Organization; Intellectual Disciplines; Higher Education + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Forschungseinrichtung; College administrators; Hochschulverwaltung; Geisteswissenschaften; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen
Abstract	Academic structure shapes and reflects institutional behaviors as well as the work done in, and outputs of, higher education organizations (HEOs). Despite this critical role, research on boundaries within academic structure is limited, even in work focusing on the relative presence of core and peripheral disciplines. We thus lack an understanding of the boundaries within academic structures and their implications for the work and outputs of higher education including knowledge creation and legitimation. To address this gap, we analyze a novel dataset on the formal academic structures--colleges, schools, divisions and departments--of 115 Very High Research universities in the U.S. Within these structures we focus on hybrid academic units, which span the core-periphery field boundary, to enhance our understanding of boundaries within academic structures and consider their role in transforming or maintaining the status quo in HEO work and in knowledge creation, legitimation and dissemination. To do so, we evaluate the presence and location of, as well as the fields and disciplines represented by, these boundary spanning units within and across HEOs. We also evaluate the extent to which hybrid academic units reaffirm or challenge the core-periphery boundary via a case study of the structural, programmatic, and leadership features of eight hybrid academic units. Findings reveal that hybrid academic units are present within roughly half of our institutional population and represent a variety of academic fields. Case study results show that hybrid academic units both challenge and reaffirm the core-periphery boundary within these institutions. Institutional and scholarly implications are discussed. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01