Abstract
This study examines the processes of the formation of social scientific fields in Indonesian universities. In contrast to the convergence perspective that is currently dominating the research on university reform, this paper enriches the divergence perspective. In essence, this study argues that individual universities respond differently to university reform and draws on Beckert’s three interrelated social forces and Paradeise and Thoenig’s concept of divergence. It conducts in-depth interviews with 40 social scientists at four state universities across the country and presents the following conclusions. State-led university reform contributes to the creation of the plurality of academic cultures, which, in turn, influences the processes of facilitation and negotiation over resources within university governance. In addition, this plurality promotes the reactions of coupling and decoupling of circles of scientific production and distribution, which respectively bolster and impede the development of social sciences. Top and wannabe circles promote peer-reviewed scientific publications as a universal standard of academic performance, whereas the missionary circle embraces the idea of public engagement as the sole mission of a university. Re-coupling among circles has to become the new rule of the game. In this manner, the quality of individual academics, university teaching, and public engagement will be considerably improved.
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Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the journal’s chief editor and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions. Research for this article was made possible through decentralization research schemes of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education Government of Indonesia, Grant Number NKB-1522/UN2.R3.1/HKP.05.00/2019.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research: This work was supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education [Grant Number NKB-1522/UN2.R3.1/HKP.05.00/2019].
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RA is principal researcher responsible for developing design of research, monitoring and conducting field research, and writing manuscript. MG-R develops design of research together with first author, open research questionnaires, data gathering and analyses, and writes section on governance. LT develops open research questionnaires, conducts data gathering and analyses. RSA gathers field data and analyses. SAEP assists data gathering and transcription of field data.
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Achwan, R., Ganie-Rochman, M., Triana, L. et al. Formation of social scientific fields in Indonesian universities. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 23, 185–196 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09736-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09736-3