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Increasing Research Requirements For Tenure At Teaching Universities: Mission Creep Or Mission Critical?, Elizabeth Blakey, Crist Khachikian, Daisy Lemus

Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University

What social forces are driving the increase in research requirements for tenure at teaching universities? Engaging Pierre Bourdieu's field theory, this case study examines a state comprehensive university, at multiple levels of analysis, and via multiple methods. Field theory is a viable alternative to neoinstitutional theory for higher education scholars. The methods used are quantitative content analysis, qualitative discursive analysis and interviews. The study provides a detailed account of whether economic or cultural forces are the stronger influence on the trend to increase research requirements. Economic factors, such as national enrollment trends, do not necessarily have a strong effect on …