Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research
Volume 25
1st Edition
Published on 28. April 2010
X, 586 pages
978-90-481-8598-6 (ISBN)
Description
Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on twelve general areas that encompass the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.
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05/2010
Springer
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Content
The Role of Information in the Policy Process: Implications for the Examination of Research Utilization in Higher Education Policy.- From Theory to Action: Exploring the Institutional Conditions for Student Retention.- Reform Efforts in STEM Doctoral Education: Strengthening Preparation for Scholarly Careers.- Toward a More Complete Understanding of the Role of Financial Aid in Promoting College Enrollment: The Importance of Context.- The Pursuit of Student Success: The Directions and Challenges Facing Community Colleges.- Studying the Impact of Parental Involvement on College Student Development: A Review and Agenda for Research.- Achievement Emotions in Higher Education.- The Use of Panel Data Models in Higher Education Policy Studies.- Enlarging Our Understanding of Glass Ceiling Effects with Social Closure Theory in Higher Education.- Cultural Perspectives of Academia: Toward a Model of Cultural Complexity.- Research Libraries in the Twenty-First Century.- An Examination of Faculty Work: Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks in the Literature.- Herding Cats and Big Dogs: Tensions in the Faculty-Administrator Relationship.
"Cultural Perspectives of Academia: Toward a Model of Cultural Complexity (p. 381-382)
Ryan E. Smerek
Introduction
Throughout the past 20 years cultural analysis has flourished as a means of studying higher education organizations (Cameron & Ettington, 1988; Kuh & Whitt, 1988; Masland, 1985; Peterson, Cameron, Jones, Mets, & Ettington, 1986; Peterson, Cameron, Knapp, Spencer, & White, 1991; Peterson & Spencer, 1990, 1993; Silver, 2003; Smart, 2003; Smart & St. John, 1996; Smart, Kuh, & Tierney, 1997). Not only has it been of interest to organizational scholars but also to administrators for its potential to improve administrative action (Austin, 1990; Chaffee & Tierney, 1988; Dill, 1982; Tierney, 1988).
Ultimately, cultural analysis is important because it can lead to insightful interpretations of organizations, management, and working life. A cultural perspective offers powerful ways to understand deep-level, partly non-conscious sets of meanings, ideas, and symbols. Cultural analysis of higher education organizations began in the 1960s (Clark, 1963a; Clark & Trow, 1966), and in a novel insight at the time, Riesman and Jencks say, “to the extent that a college is a subculture, with its own idiosyncratic customs and concerns, an anthropologist can study it in much the same way that he studies a primitive tribe or modern community” (1962, p. 104).
However, it was not until the late 1980s that a cultural perspective rapidly expanded (Allaire & Firsirotu, 1984; Barley, Meyer, & Gash, 1988; Denison, 1990; Weick, 1985). To some degree the interest in culture was a secondary wave from its prominence in the early 1980s in business organizations. Culture came to be seen by business managers as the key to Japan’s economic success (Ouchi & Jaeger, 1978; Ouchi & Wilkens, 1985; Pettigrew, 2000).
It was also seen by organizational scholars as a new perspective for those tired of sterile, scientific methods to understanding organizations (Alvesson, 1993; Ashkanasy, Wilderom, & Peterson, 2000; Jelinek, Smircich, & Hirsch, 1983; Schein, 1996; Smircich, 1983). The key books in the early 1980s that propelled the subject onto center stage were Ouchi’s Theory Z (1981), where he describes the holistic concern for the physical and psychological well-being of the employee—an approach he saw among Japanese companies. Additionally, In Search of Excellence (1982) by Peters and Waterman and Corporate Cultures (1982) by Deal and Kennedy played prominent roles in the perspective’s ascendancy."
Ryan E. Smerek
Introduction
Throughout the past 20 years cultural analysis has flourished as a means of studying higher education organizations (Cameron & Ettington, 1988; Kuh & Whitt, 1988; Masland, 1985; Peterson, Cameron, Jones, Mets, & Ettington, 1986; Peterson, Cameron, Knapp, Spencer, & White, 1991; Peterson & Spencer, 1990, 1993; Silver, 2003; Smart, 2003; Smart & St. John, 1996; Smart, Kuh, & Tierney, 1997). Not only has it been of interest to organizational scholars but also to administrators for its potential to improve administrative action (Austin, 1990; Chaffee & Tierney, 1988; Dill, 1982; Tierney, 1988).
Ultimately, cultural analysis is important because it can lead to insightful interpretations of organizations, management, and working life. A cultural perspective offers powerful ways to understand deep-level, partly non-conscious sets of meanings, ideas, and symbols. Cultural analysis of higher education organizations began in the 1960s (Clark, 1963a; Clark & Trow, 1966), and in a novel insight at the time, Riesman and Jencks say, “to the extent that a college is a subculture, with its own idiosyncratic customs and concerns, an anthropologist can study it in much the same way that he studies a primitive tribe or modern community” (1962, p. 104).
However, it was not until the late 1980s that a cultural perspective rapidly expanded (Allaire & Firsirotu, 1984; Barley, Meyer, & Gash, 1988; Denison, 1990; Weick, 1985). To some degree the interest in culture was a secondary wave from its prominence in the early 1980s in business organizations. Culture came to be seen by business managers as the key to Japan’s economic success (Ouchi & Jaeger, 1978; Ouchi & Wilkens, 1985; Pettigrew, 2000).
It was also seen by organizational scholars as a new perspective for those tired of sterile, scientific methods to understanding organizations (Alvesson, 1993; Ashkanasy, Wilderom, & Peterson, 2000; Jelinek, Smircich, & Hirsch, 1983; Schein, 1996; Smircich, 1983). The key books in the early 1980s that propelled the subject onto center stage were Ouchi’s Theory Z (1981), where he describes the holistic concern for the physical and psychological well-being of the employee—an approach he saw among Japanese companies. Additionally, In Search of Excellence (1982) by Peters and Waterman and Corporate Cultures (1982) by Deal and Kennedy played prominent roles in the perspective’s ascendancy."
