The knowledge economy has transformed society and the university environment, which has moved towards the market model. The profound changes produced under this new model have had implications for institutional functions, especially research. In Spain, this transformation has also coincided with the intergenerational overlap of researchers.…

Despite the growing popularity of mergers in higher education, limited research examines their sociocultural impact on faculty which is arguably a university's most valuable resource. This paper examines a merger of disparate institutions in the University System of Georgia (USG) and presents faculty research productivity results over time, given…

Interdisciplinary research is a popular mode of knowledge production that becomes intensively promoted by research centers all across the globe. Despite the facilitation of interdisciplinary research, however, scholars working in these centers are 'disciplined.' Career promotions, funding decisions and scientific publishing are based on…

This paper is a reflective study of a collaborative research experience involving four colleagues. We discuss our experiences to consider how to develop a supportive collegial relationship at a time when working in higher education is often framed as competitive and focused upon defined 'outputs'. To make the analysis we explore the role of…

Identifying factors that affect research productivity is critical to both the scientific community and policy-makers. This topic is especially useful for developing countries like Vietnam where such studies are scarce with limited original data. This paper, through a manual data collection process that yields the profiles of 406 Vietnamese social…

Faculty (N = 205) at regional public universities (RPUs) in the United States were surveyed for self-reports of their primary academic identity (teacher, researcher) and qualitative descriptions of struggles related to their academic identity. Well-being and job satisfaction were examined as outcome measures of identity struggles. Participants…

The literature suggests that academic researchers with dual-appointment contracts, i.e. those employed concurrently by a university and an organization outside academia, have the potential to be more engaged in research collaborations with non-academic partners than colleagues contractually linked to a university only. Our results suggest that…

Research excellence has been the main thrust of higher education reforms in several countries, but its translation into coherent policies has proved to be controversial. Literature has delved into the role exerted by contextual factors and individual characteristics in the adoption of behaviours inspired by social values. Our study aims at…

Can current trends to develop teaching-only academic positions be reconciled with the notion of the interrelationship of teaching and research as a defining characteristic of universities? In particular, what does academics' engagement in research add to students' learning? A study of 200 undergraduates' perceptions of the role of staff research…

An important element of doctoral studies is identification with the academic community. Such identification is often complicated by part-time student status. In this paper, two part-time doctoral students and their supervisor employ Lave and Wenger's concept of legitimate peripheral participation to explore, through a critical socio-cultural lens,…

This study analyzed whether research collaboration patterns differ across higher education systems based on maturity of the systems, their language, and their geographical region. This study found that collaboration patterns differ across higher education systems: academics in developed systems are more collaborative than their colleagues in…

In a context of increasing emphasis on academic performance and accountability, data from a structured survey in which academics elaborated on eight different attributes of high-performing researchers were used to build a conceptual model of research performance. Research performance was seen to comprise two basic components, with six secondary…

In Australia, as in the UK, much of the skills debate in research education has reflected a deficit model, whereby candidates are deemed to be in need of supplementary training. In response to the demands of employers and governments, most universities have added employability skills to postgraduate curricula, while simultaneously boosting their…