Institutional Prestige Research Articles

Motivations to Switch: Refuting the Public Discourse on Athletic Conference Realignment

Over the past decade the growing popularity of intercollegiate athletics has incentivized institutions to realign with new athletic conferences. The public discourse on realignment centers on athletic financial gain. However, institutional and athletic administrators have long discussed the complexities of athletic conference realignment and its primary motivators. Using organizational theories to frame the discussion, results demonstrate the inherent connections between athletics and academics. Interviews and public documents offer specific insights into mechanisms and key factors by which campus leaders make decisions regarding athletic conference membership. Some possible influencers of realignment decisions are student demographics, academic and athletic finances, institutional prestige, and the impact of key actors within university decision-making. The ways in which institutions and athletics departments decided to engage in broad affiliation changes, facilitate new conference rivalries, and seek additional athletics-based revenue streams offer an unambiguous view of the priorities athletic and academic leaders set.

Academic Finance: Responsible Enquiry or Stamp Collecting?

The underlying assumptions and ethos of markets and market behavior as encapsulated and advanced by academic output serve to influence how financial markets are perceived and therefore manipulated by regulatory and supervision authorities. Thus, as well as sustaining individual academic careers and contributing to the prestige of academic institutions, academic finance, for better or for worse, continues to influence financial practice. This paper explores how academic thinking has helped shape how markets are perceived and thereby acted upon in practice.

Escuela Normal de Costa Rica: Historia y legado

En el marco del centenario de la Escuela Normal de Costa Rica, este documento discute su rol y legado en la formación docente. Se estructura en tres partes. En primer lugar, se presenta una breve contextualización histórica sobre el origen y perfil de las escuelas normales en varias partes del mundo. En segundo lugar, se describe el desarrollo de la Escuela Normal en Costa Rica, se referencian varias personalidades y elementos significativos que marcaron el rumbo y prestigio de la institución, y se destaca su papel clave en la formación humanista de maestros, la cual contribuyó a cimentar el florecer educativo costarricense. Finalmente, se presentan algunas consideraciones sobre los remanentes del legado formativo de esta noble institución en el presente, concretamente en el ámbito de la educación terciaria, en las carreras de formación docente de la Universidad Nacional, principal heredera histórica de la Escuela Normal.

Highly-Skilled Migration, Migrant Networks and the Prestige of Academic Institutions

This research analyzed the connection between highly skilled migration and several determining factors such as the migration networks, the prestige of academic institutions and the Gross Domestic Product per capita. We used linear regression method to analyze a sample of 207 countries, 25 receiving countries and 182 sending countries, from 6 different world regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Central & South America and Oceania). We performed a global analysis including all the countries of the sample and also a partial analysis by each world region of origin. The results at global level showed that migration networks and the prestige of academic institution explained very well the number of highly skilled immigrants. In this sense, the prestigious academic institutions of the receiving countries imply economic incentives and benefits for skilled migrants. Further, relationships and linkages are an important help for highly skilled migrants. Thus both would act like external and internal networks attracting highly skilled migrants. Regarding to the partial analysis these factors were also relevant to explain the highly skilled migration, but the results varied depending on each region. In the case of Africa and Central & South America the relevant factor explaining the highly-skilled migration was the prestige of academic institutions of the receiving countries. However in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania results were similar to the global analysis. In Asia all factors were significant.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.26.5.12463

Trends in Determinants of Entry into the Academic Career: The Case of South Korea, 1980-2010.

Substantial research documents the determinants of entry into the academic career, yet little is known about how these determinants have evolved over time. Using data from a large sample of Korean scholars who received their doctoral degrees between 1980 and 2010, we estimate discrete-time event history models of transitioning to an academic position in any academic field. Results indicate that universalistic characteristics, such as publication record, strongly affect subsequent career success, but so do particularistic factors, including doctoral institution prestige. Since the 1980s, the influence of doctoral degree prestige increased substantially more than the influence of one’s publication record on higher education employment, implying that the rising importance of particularistic factors has outpaced growing consideration of universalistic characteristics in Korean academia. However, the importance of gender on academic employment has declined since the early 2000s, suggesting that the implementation of employment quotas for female professors may have stymied gender discrimination.

Three dimensions of equity of access to higher education

Concerns over equity of access to higher education are widespread, but there is significant disagreement over what should constitute a fair system. This article assesses diverse conceptualisations of equity and explores the ways in which they embody themselves in the policies of three systems, those of England, Brazil and Kenya. While showing significant disparities of income level and enrolment ratio, all three have made concerted efforts to expand higher education access, accompanied by increasing stratification in terms of the quality and prestige of institutions. Analysis of policy options and outcomes leads to a proposal of three principles for understanding equity of access: availability, accessibility and horizontality. The third of these principles addresses the little-acknowledged safeguard that disadvantaged students should not be confined to lower-quality institutions, while at the same time allowing for diversity of ethos and disciplinary focus.

Personal attributes of authors and reviewers, social bias and the outcomes of peer review: a case study.

Peer review is the "gold standard" for evaluating journal and conference papers, research proposals, on-going projects and university departments. However, it is widely believed that current systems are expensive, conservative and prone to various forms of bias. One form of bias identified in the literature is "social bias" linked to the personal attributes of authors and reviewers. To quantify the importance of this form of bias in modern peer review, we analyze three datasets providing information on the attributes of authors and reviewers and review outcomes: one from Frontiers - an open access publishing house with a novel interactive review process, and two from Spanish and international computer science conferences, which use traditional peer review. We use a random intercept model in which review outcome is the dependent variable, author and reviewer attributes are the independent variables and bias is defined by the interaction between author and reviewer attributes. We find no evidence of bias in terms of gender, or the language or prestige of author and reviewer institutions in any of the three datasets, but some weak evidence of regional bias in all three. Reviewer gender and the language and prestige of reviewer institutions appear to have little effect on review outcomes, but author gender, and the characteristics of author institutions have moderate to large effects. The methodology used cannot determine whether these are due to objective differences in scientific merit or entrenched biases shared by all reviewers.

Personal attributes of authors and reviewers, social bias and the outcomes of peer review: a case study

Peer review is the "gold standard" for evaluating journal and conference papers, research proposals, on-going projects and university departments. However, it is widely believed that current systems are expensive, conservative and prone to various forms of bias. One form of bias identified in the literature is “social bias” linked to the personal attributes of authors and reviewers. To quantify the importance of this form of bias in modern peer review, we analyze three datasets providing information on the attributes of authors and reviewers and review outcomes: one from Frontiers - an open access publishing house with a novel interactive review process, and two from Spanish and international computer science conferences, which use traditional peer review. We use a random intercept model in which review outcome is the dependent variable, author and reviewer attributes are the independent variables and bias is defined by the interaction between author and reviewer attributes. We find no evidence of bias in terms of gender, or the language or prestige of author and reviewer institutions in any of the three datasets, but some weak evidence of regional bias in all three. Reviewer gender and the language and prestige of reviewer institutions appear to have little effect on review outcomes, but author gender, and the characteristics of author institutions have moderate to large effects. The methodology used cannot determine whether these are due to objective differences in scientific merit or entrenched biases shared by all reviewers.

Network Effects in the Academic Market: Mechanisms for Hiring and Placing PhDs in Communication (2007-2014)

We analyze hiring and placement dynamics across communication PhD programs using data collected in 2014. We assess changes compared to data collected in 2007, and identify factors that underlie the formation of recruitment ties. Our findings challenge prior conclusions that faculty-hiring patterns offer a proxy to the quality of doctoral education. Instead, we find evidence that the recruitment network results from interorganizational dynamics likely to emerge from faculty mobility; these dynamics, endogenous to the network, manifest in the form of reciprocity, transitivity, and cumulative advantage. Once we control for these characteristics, exogenous factors such as institutional prestige, faculty seniority, and reputational rankings modestly drive the creation of recruitment ties—appearing as secondary forces in the formation of faculty-hiring networks.

Bias in peer review: a case study

Peer review is the "gold standard" for evaluating journal and conference papers, research proposals, on-going projects and university departments. However, it is widely believed that current systems are expensive, conservative and prone to various forms of bias. One form of bias identified in the literature is "social bias" linked to the personal attributes of authors and reviewers. To quantify the importance of this form of bias in modern peer review, we analyze three datasets providing information on the attributes of authors and reviewers and review outcomes: one from Frontiers - an open access publishing house with a novel interactive review process, and two from Spanish and international computer science conferences, which use traditional peer review. We use a random intercept model in which review outcome is the dependent variable, author and reviewer attributes are the independent variables and bias is defined by the interaction between author and reviewer attributes. We find no evidence of bias in terms of gender, or the language or prestige of author and reviewer institutions in any of the three datasets, but some weak evidence of regional bias in all three. Reviewer gender and the language and prestige of reviewer institutions appear to have little effect on review outcomes, but author gender, and the characteristics of author institutions have large effects. The methodology used cannot determine whether these are due to objective differences in scientific merit or entrenched biases shared by all reviewers.

Network Effects in the Academic Market: Mechanisms for Hiring and Placing PhD's in Communication (2007-2014)

We analyze hiring and placement dynamics across communication Ph.D. programs using data collected in 2014. We assess changes compared to data collected in 2007 (as reported in Barnett, Danowski, Feeley, & Stalker, 2010), and we identify the factors that underlie the formation of recruitment ties. Our findings challenge prior conclusions that faculty-hiring patterns offer a good proxy to the quality of doctoral education. Instead, we find evidence that the recruitment network results from inter-organizational dynamics that are likely to emerge from faculty mobility; these dynamics are manifested in the form of reciprocity, transitivity, and cumulative advantage. Once we control for these network characteristics, institutional prestige, faculty seniority, and reputational rankings modestly drive the formation of recruitment ties.

If We Build It, Will They Come?: A Survey of Attitudes Toward Institutional Repositories Among Faculty at the Petroleum Institute

The publishing paradigms are shifting. Researchers and research funding institutions are increasingly challenging the traditional publishing models by making their research findings available for free on the Internet through digital repositories. This new publishing model enhances research exposure, increases the institution's prestige and, in the long term, may alleviate the financial burden incurred through costly subscriptions. However, attitudes towards open access and digital repositories still vary widely. This study reports the findings of a survey of attitudes towards open access and institutional repositories among academics at the Petroleum Institute. It revolves around the following main research question: Would faculty support the establishment of an institutional repository at the Petroleum Institute? Specific research questions dealt with academics’ familiarity with the underlying principles of open access and institutional repositories, their attitudes towards open access and institutional repositories, and effect of self-archiving mandates on academics’ publishing decisions.The study adopted a quantitative survey methodology approach with a web-based questionnaire as its main data collection instrument. Descriptive statistics were mainly used to derive outcomes.The study reveals that the majority of academics have no or little knowledge of, or experience with, institutional repositories and are unfamiliar with self-archiving opportunities. However most of them endorse the principle of open access and are willing to contribute content to an institutional repository if an opportunity arises or if mandated by their funding institutions.In light of these results, ensuring free electronic access to public-funded research lays with the funding institutions, especially universities, which should set up appropriate repository infrastructures, advocate the public good and ethical implications of open access and even mandate self-archiving of research they fund.

Segmentación y clasificación de las universidades en Chile: desventajas de inicio y efectos de las políticas públicas de financiamiento

This paper shows to what extent a national policy for higher education state funding to finance state owned and private universities members of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) caused economic and territorial impaired resource allocation among institutions. Despite political changes, current funding for higher education policy, implemented more than three decades ago, remains untouched. Correlation analysis of current financing variables, confirms impaired resource allocation among institutions between 2011 and 2012, specially valid for state owned regional universities, verifying clear initial disadvantages, because of basal resource supply in an offer financing system, showing the greater amount provided to higher complexity institutions, mixing direct funding instruments with subsidies to the demand, grants and credits, in a highly competitive system, with strong effect in the ranking, classification, reputation and social perception of the institutional prestige.

University Publishing in Morocco

Morocco lacks academic and commercial structures that would encourage the emergence of scholarly publishing. This lack contributes to the low visibility and low prestige of Moroccan scholars and institutions, even in their own country. At the same time, the country is experiencing rapid growth in student numbers and expectations of access to information. Rather than trying to establish print-based university presses, leading institutions should support the development of a nationwide research repository. Governance and management of such an initiative should remain within the non-profit sector, with an explicit goal of supporting research, but opportunities for genuinely commercial exploitation of the outputs need to be designed in.

Factors Influencing Nursing Career Choices and Choice of Study Program

In advance of a recruitment campaign, Israeli first-year nursing students of all ethnicities were surveyed to elucidate what factors had influenced them to make nursing their career and what sort of training track they preferred. The responses made it clear that different factors influence different groups differently. There were noticeable differences by gender, age, and ethnicity. Overall, training institutions were chosen for their closeness to the student's home but other factors also operated among particular groups, such as institutional prestige and flexible entry criteria. There was a blatant preference for academic, particularly university-sited, programs over diploma programs.

Academic attractiveness of countries; a possible benchmark strategy applied to the Netherlands

The number of international students and the number of countries hosting these students are growing. The level of internationalization has also become an indication of the prestige of higher education institutions. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for countries – an indeed the European higher education area as a whole – to be academically attractive to international students. To measure the attractiveness, this paper argues that in addition to looking at countries' characteristics (i.e. factual data), subjective data (i.e. perceptions of international students) should also be considered. Hence, proposed is an explorative benchmark model based on a mixed method approach and consisting of factual and perceptual data as an initial attempt to measure the academic attractiveness countries. Outcomes provide insights into the strengths and weakness as benchmarked against other countries and can result in possible implications for policy. Because of data limitations, the model was solely applied to the Netherlands.

Shaping our Post-war Foreign Policy: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Promotion of the United Nations Organisation during World War II

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) describes itself as “the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States”. In the past century, the CEIP has been a key part of the American eastern establishment elite, yet surprisingly little academic study has been undertaken on the organisation. This article examines the role of the CEIP in the promotion of the United Nations Organisation during World War II. One reason the CEIP has been overlooked during this period is the relatively low-key—or “hidden hand”—nature of its involvement. Yet this article emphasises three ways in which the Endowment worked to promote a new international organisation during the war: direct involvement in mobilising the public as a pressure group; as a facilitator for other pressure groups who also sought to mobilise the public; and as an organisation whose leadership was involved directly in the policy creation process. While there were limits to its influence, the Endowment's distinctive qualities—institutional prestige, financial strength, connections to government, and individual leaders with significant experience of international affairs—left it uniquely placed to redefine America's world role.

Practical Suggestions to Promote the Legitimacy and Vitality of International Investment Arbitration

Investor–State arbitration has become an integral fixture in today’s global commerce. The facility meets an evident demand for neutral fora able to resolve disputes between sovereigns and foreign investors and to establish minimum international standards that guide future conduct. Along with the growth in international commerce, the number of investment arbitrations has burgeoned over the past two decades. The prestige of the institution has been enhanced by the intellectual and ethical caliber of the arbitrators, who have concluded hundreds of arbitrations without scandal or corruption. In many ways a remarkable success, investor–State arbitration is nascent, and concerns about its legitimacy and efficacy could imperil its future. Some doubt the propriety of private arbitrators judging the acts of sovereign nations against often-malleable principles of international law. Others see diminished utility in the final awards, which typically are slow in coming, expensive, and both too narrow and too long. Critical to the continued vitality of the enterprise is how the arbitral bench and bar respond to its evolution. This note discusses some of the challenges and offers a few practical suggestions for the future. Whether to promote confidence in the rule of law or as a matter of commercial necessity, many States have consented by treaty or statute to resolve disputes with foreign investors through international arbitration. The confluence of foreign investment and State involvement in the marketplace has led to increasingly large and complex international disputes. With billions of dollars and the legitimacy of sovereign acts at stake, these cases are subject to intense public scrutiny and carry with them sensitive political and social issues. Despite their importance, these arbitrations are typically decided on narrow grounds, with more space in the award dedicated to rehearsing the parties’ arguments than to elaborating the reasons for the panel’s decision. Belated and costly decisions that do little to guide future conduct risk alienating parties and undermining the relevance and credibility of the institution. 1 The authors are members of Jones Day’s Global Disputes Practice Group and adjunct professors at Washington & Lee University School of Law. The views expressed are their own and should not be attributed to their Firm or its clients.

La logique institutionnelle d’appropriation du concept ThinkPad university : le cas des écoles et facultés de gestion québécoises

This study examines the process by which a change in institutional logic of a organizational field is initiated. More specifically, we are concerned with how the IBM Thinkpad University concept affects various business schools in the province of Quebec. The theoretical framework departs from new-institutional theories. We propose a multi-level analysis: institutional, organizational and operational. The finding examines the process by which organizations retain, adopt and discard practices and illustrates the influence of institutional prestige, organizational mission, autonomy and pedagogical expertise. We show that the source of the institutional logic of appropriation is a quest for reputation.

Women Faculty Departures from a Striving Institution: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The quest for institutional prestige in the academic hierarchy has become a common phenomenon among universities in the United States. At the same time, the institutions that choose to embark on such a journey (referred to as striving institutions) have not been closely examined to determine how such efforts influence the different constituencies in the institution. This study examines how one striving environment impacted the departure decisions of 11 women faculty members through the lens of gendered organizational theory. Findings demonstrated that issues related to gender discrimination, a lack of work-life balance, and reduced resources resulted in decisions to depart.