Academic Rank and Position Effect on Academic Research Output – A Case Study of Ariel University

Eyal Eckhaus,Nitza Davidovitch

doi:10.5430/ijhe.v10n1p295

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the effects of professional factors (academic rank and academic-administrative role) and home-unit-related factors (affiliation and number of faculty members in the faculty) on faculty members’ research output, measured by number of citations. Research literature on operations research in the academia reflects a dual approach to the association between number of citations and research quality, although it is generally concurred that the number of citations is taken into consideration in assessments for promotion and tenure, and represents a measure of publication quality. The association between faculty members’ administrative roles and their academic output is explored for the first time in this study.We collected data on four citation-related variables for 315 senior faculty members, as well as their affiliation, academic rank, and administrative/academic role, if any. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the model’s goodness of fit.Findings show that faculty affiliation, academic rank, and academic-administrative role affect number of citations. The association between number of citations per faculty, engagement in administrative tasks, and the number of faculty members in the faculty has significant implications for faculty promotion policies and the “price” faculty members pay for assuming administrative duties, especially in the early years of their academic career. Furthermore, the faculty also plays an important role in academic outputs, and its organizational climate may promote or disrupt research-oriented academic careers.

Highlights

1.1 Academia on Trial “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” This caveat, attributed to Albert Einstein, seems to be an apocalyptic prophesy that came true
Full and associate professor ranks show a positive effect on research productivity, measured as the number of citations
The fact that senior lecturer rank only affects hIndex and hIndex2015, but not the total number of citations, shows that these faculty members still lag behind professors in terms of citations

Summary

Introduction

1.1 Academia on Trial “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” This caveat, attributed to Albert Einstein, seems to be an apocalyptic prophesy that came true. In recent years we are producing and consuming an increasing number of scales, indexes, and rankings of all types, and comparing everything: individuals, organizations, outputs, performance, quality, advisability, influence, satisfaction, growth, collapse, success and failure. Many ranking systems are based on measurement devices, a method that is more accurate and less biased. Other systems are based on human assessments, which are inherently subjective and less accurate (Graham, Baldwin, Moffat & Zobel, 2014). Measurement and assessment of human outputs, and comparing outputs on a comparative scale, require generally accepted measurement instruments. Research assessment rankings are essential to evaluate the research performance of individuals and the quality of academic journals (Chang, McAleer & Oxley, 2011)

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