Transcript What they want/believe What they find Paradigm I

The Changing Institutional Context
and Implications for Preparing
Future STEM Faculty
CIRTL Forum I
November 6, 2003
Cathy A. Trower, Ph.D.
Harvard University
Key Dimensions of Change
1. Commercialization
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Licensing, patenting, strategic alliances, money
generation
Corporate sponsorship
Political pork
2. The “collegium” is gone
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ETOB
Star faculty
Fragmentation
Few shared beliefs
Key Dimensions of Change
3. Academic freedom has eroded
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PC rules the day
4. The faculty job is tougher
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Tenure elusive
Stakes are higher
The 21st Century University
MODE 1
MODE 2
Emphasis on individual
Emphasis on teams
Academic control and authority
Research direction shaped by
interaction between
researchers and users
Discipline-based
Problem and issue-based;
transdisciplinary
Local organizational knowledge
Organizational diversity,
networks, connectivity
Quality judged by peer review
Broad-based quality control;
peer review and users (social
& economic impact)
Gibbons (1998)
Most scientists regarded the new streamlined
peer-review process as ‘quite an improvement.’
What Aspiring Faculty Want
What they want/believe
What they find
Openness
Equity
Fairness
Transparency
Secrecy
Cronyism
Bias
Opaqueness
Collaboration improves
collective performance and
enhances overall productivity;
creates a healthier workplace.
Competition improves
individual performance
and survival of the fittest
enhances productivity.
What Aspiring Faculty Want
What they want/believe
What they find
Paradigm II, where facts are:
• Concrete
• Situated
• Historical
• Particularistic
Paradigm I, where facts are:
• Abstract
• General
• Ahistorical
• Universal
Scientist is part of
what s/he studies.
Scientist is completely
detached.
Merit is recognized as:
• Socially constructed
• Subjective
• Contextual
Merit is:
• Empirically determined
• Objective
• Absolute
What Aspiring Faculty Want
What they want/believe
What they find
Research organized
around problems.
Research organized
around disciplines.
Teaching and service
should be valued and
rewarded.
Traditional research is
the coin of the realm.
Life of the mind AND of the
heart; we need balance.
Life of the mind ONLY;
make sacrifices.