Abstract
Studies on the emergence of scientific fields and disciplines produce a number of factors influencing these processes. The present study investigates whether these factors are also relevant in the teaching domain: the emergence of new study programs and specializations within programs. The classification of internal and external factors is applied to such processes of programmatic differentiation. Drawing on social exchange and resource dependency theory, the effects of the governmental funding mechanism of educational provisions (an external factor) and the level of paradigmatic development (an internal factor) are analyzed, using a large data set on processes of differentiation in the Dutch university sector between 1974 and 1993. The two factors proved to be relevant in explaining the emergence of new programs and specializations. In the final section some anomalies and suggestions for further research are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Becher, T. (1989). Academic Tribes and Territories. Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. Milton Keynes: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
Becher, T. (1990). The counter-culture of specialisation. European Journal of Education 25(3): 333–346.
Ben-David, J. (1971). The Scientist's Role in Society: A Comparative Study. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bernstein, B. (1975). Class, Codes and Control, Volume 3, Towards a Theory of Educational Transmissions. London/Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Biglan, A. (1973a). The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas. Journal of Applied Psychology 57(3): 195–203.
Biglan, A. (1973b). Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments. Journal of Applied Psychology 57(3): 204–213.
Blau, P. M. (1973). The Organization of Academic Work. New York: Wiley.
Blume, S. S. (1985). After the darkest hour... Integrity and engagement in the development of university research. In B. Wittrock and A. Elzinga (eds.), The University Research System, pp. 139–165. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Boys, C. J., Brennan, J., Henkel, M., Kirkland, J., Kogan, M. and Youll, P. (eds., 1988). Higher Education and the Preparation for Work. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Clark, B. R. (1983). The Higher Education System. Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Creswell, J., and Bean, J. (1981). Research output, socialization, and the Biglan model. Research in Higher Education 15(1): 69–91.
Creswell, J. W., and Roskens, R. W. (1981). The Biglan studies of differences among academic areas. Review of Higher Education 4(1): 1–16.
Davids, M., and Herwaarden, J. van (eds., 1993). Erasmus universiteit Rotterdam 1973–1993. Rotterdam: Universitaire Pers Rotterdam.
Dolby, R. G. A. (1976). The case of physical chemistry. In G. Lemaine, R. Macleod, M. Mulkay, and P. Weingart (eds.), Perspectives on the Emergence of Scientific Disciplines, pp. 63–73. The Hague: Mouton.
Donald, J. G. (1986). Knowledge and the university curriculum. Higher Education 15(3/4): 267–282.
Emerson, R. M. (1962). Power-dependence relations. American Sociological Review 27 (February): 31–41.
Emerson, R. M. (1972a). Exchange theory, part I: A psychological basis for social exchange In J. Berger, M. Zelditch, and B. Anderson (eds.), Sociological Theories in Progress (vol. 2), pp. 38–57. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Emerson, R. M. (1972b). Exchange theory, part II: Exchange relations and networks. In J. Berger, M. Zelditch, and B. Anderson (eds.), Sociological Theories in Progress (volume 2), pp. 58–87. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Gilbert, G. N. (1977). Competition, differentiation and careers in science. Social Science Information 16(1): 103–123.
Gumport, P. J. (1988). Curricula as signposts of cultural change. Review of Higher Education 12(1): 49–60.
Hagstrom, W. O. (1965). The Scientific Community. New York: Basic Books.
Huisman, J. (1995). Differentiation, Diversity and Dependency in Higher Education. A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. Utrecht: Lemma.
Karseth, B. (1995). The emergence of new educational programs in the university. Review of Higher Education 18(2): 195–216.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (second edition). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Lattuca, L. R., and Stark, J. S. (1994). Will disciplinary perspectives impede curricular reform? Journal of Higher Education 65(4): 401–426.
Lattuca, L. R., and Stark, J. S. (1995). Modifying the major: Discretionary thoughts from ten disciplines. Review of Higher Education 18(3): 315–344.
Leeuw, F. L., and Gageldonk, A. van (1984). Differentiatie in sociaal en geestesweter-schappelijk onderzoek. Gravenhage: Ministerie van Onderwijs en Wetenschappen.
Lemaine, G., Macleod, R., Mulkay, M., and Weingart, P. (1976). Problems in the emergence of new disciplines. In G. Lemaine, R. Macleod, M. Mulkay, and P. Weingart (eds.), Perspectives on the Emergence of Scientific Disciplines, pp. 1–23. The Hague: Mouton.
Lodahl, J. M. Beyer, and Gordon, G. (1972). The structure of scientific fields and the functioning of university graduate departments. American Sociological Review 37(February): 57–72.
Malaney, G. D. (1986). Differentiation in graduate education. Research in Higher Education 25(1): 82–96.
Manns, C. L., and March, J. G. (1978), Financial adversity, internal competition and curriculum change in a university. Administrative Science Quarterly 23(4): 541–552.
Masterman, M. (1970). The nature of paradigm. In I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave (eds.), Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, pp. 59–89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moses, I. (1990). Teaching, research and scholarship in different disciplines. Higher Education 19(3): 351–375.
Mulkay, M. J., and Edge, D. O. (1973). Cognitive, technical and social factors in the growth of radio astronomy. Social Science Information 12(6): 25–61.
Neumann, J. von (1941). Distribution of the ratio of the mean square successive difference to the variance. Annals of Mathematical Statistics 12: 367–395.
Pfeffer, J., and Salancik, G. R. (1978). The External Control of Organizations. A Resource Dependence Perspective. New York: Harper and Row.
Pollman, T., and Vries, J. de (1987). De geboorte van Algemene Letteren; nieuw beleid bezien vanuit wisselend perspectief. In B. Savenije, M. Rook, L. van Noord, and F. Dijkman (eds.), De achterkant van het beleid, pp. 33–42. Utrecht: RUU.
Salancik, G. R., Staw, B. M., and Pondy, L. R. (1980). Administrative turnover as a response to unmanaged organizational interdependence. Academy of Management Journal 23(3): 422–437.
Smart, J. C., and Elton, C. F. (1975). Goal orientations of academic departments: A test of Biglan's model. Journal of Applied Psychology 60(5): 580–588.
Smart, J. C., and Elton, C. F. (1982). Validation of the Biglan model. Research in Higher Education 17(3): 213–229.
Stoecker, J. L. (1993). The Biglan classification revisited. Research in Higher Education 34(4): 451–464.
Whitley, R. (1984). The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Young, M. F. D. (ed., 1971). Knowledge and Control: New Directions for the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Collier-Macmillan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huisman, J. New Study Programs and Specializations: The Effect of Governmental Funding and Paradigmatic Development. Research in Higher Education 38, 399–417 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024958325583
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024958325583