How to construct an organizational field: Empirical educational research in Germany, 1995–2015

Abstract

Over the past two decades, educational research in Germany has undergone unprecedented changes. Following large-scale assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and a political interest in evidence-based policy-making, quality assessment and internationalization, direct involvement of national decision-makers has led to the establishment of new organizations, programs, funding structures, professorships, and training programs. Thus, a markedly different educational research field has emerged in contrast to the traditional philosophy-rooted, hermeneutics-trained and humanities-based German pedagogy or educational science. Instead, the new paradigm refers to itself as empirical educational research (EER). Thus, we trace institutionalization processes of EER from 1995 through the foundation of the new Empirical Educational Research Association (GEBF), which rivals the long-standing German Educational Research Association (DGfE). Official documents shed light on policymakers’ and funding agencies’ motivations and rationales as they successfully engage in building new research infrastructure. Expert interviews conducted with (inter)national representatives illuminate perceptions of crucial actors involved in the organizational field’s institutionalization. What are the causes and consequences of the emergent EER field in Germany? Extending the neoinstitutionalist organizational field literature, particularly about incipient stages of such fields, we show that a new division of labor transcends national and international as well as governmental and non-governmental borders.