ABS: Keith, The institutional context of departmental prestige in American higher education

[Gretchen Whitney]

Bruce Keith, Chairperson
Dean of Academic Affairs
United States Military Academy
West Point, New York 10996-5000

ZB9599 at exmail.usma.edu

Title   The institutional context of departmental prestige in American
higher education
Author  Keith B
Journal         AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
                36: (3) 409-445 FAL 1999

 Document type: Article   Language: English     Cited References: 85
Times Cited: 0


Abstract:
Departmental ratings for research doctorate programs in the United States
are frequently placed within a theoretical framework! that represents an
egalitarian science enterprise based on the meritorious performance of their
faculty and students. From this viewpoint, there is no need to examine the
institutional context of academic departments because distinction is viewed
as a matter of merit rather than affiliation. Juxtaposed to this
perspective, the present inquiry, based on data from three comparable
national studies of research doctorate programs, presents evidence that the
ratings reflect a contextual property representative of the university and
not various performance-based departmental attributes. In effect, academic
departments within universities are found to be quite similar to one another
with respect to external raters' perceptions of their "quality." The
importance of this finding rests not with the relative ranking of
departments or universities to one another but in the discovery that
departmental status operates primarily within a stable institutional
context. Administrative policy implications of these findings, which are
relevant to both faculty leaders and institutional decision makers, are
discussed in light of current perspectives on the use of departmental
ratings.

KeyWords Plus:
SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTIVITY, SCIENCE, RATINGS, CAREER

Addresses:
Keith B, US Mil Acad, Off Dean MADNAAD, W Point, NY 10996 USA.
US Mil Acad, Off Dean MADNAAD, W Point, NY 10996 USA.

Publisher:
AMER EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOC, WASHINGTON

IDS Number:
323HL

ISSN:
0002-8312

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