Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Higher education policy |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 7 Dec 2023 |
Abstract
Universities are increasingly perceived as strategic organizational actors that position themselves in the competition for reputation, resources, and talent. This study asks whether such positioning within the organizational field can explain variance in university governance structures. We quantitatively explore and explain the distribution of governance structures in German universities based on the actual organizational structures. Using original, hand-coded data on office, election, and decision rules of 80 German state universities managed by the subnational states (Länder), our study contributes to the existing literature in two regards. First, we provide an innovative and comprehensive, as well as a detailed description of German university governance—capturing the full empirical variance. Second, we test the effects of organizational field positions characterized by (1) state legislation, (2) competition, and (3) disciplinary foci. The findings indicate significant effects on the distribution of governance structures by state legislation and unsystematic effects of strategic and disciplinary organizational fields.
Keywords
- Germany, Governance, Higher education, Organizational fields, Power, University
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Education
- Social Sciences(all)
- Sociology and Political Science
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In: Higher education policy, 07.12.2023.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Variance of German University Governance: Exploring the Effects of Organizational Field Positions
AU - Döhler, Marian
AU - Hönnige, Christoph
AU - Kosmützky, Anna
AU - Ruffing, Eva
AU - Staff, Helge
N1 - Funding Information: According to the most recent funding ranking of the German Research Foundation (DFG) (DFG, , 49), the 40 German research-intensive universities have attracted almost 90% of the overall third-party funding awarded by the DFG for 2017 to 2019.
PY - 2023/12/7
Y1 - 2023/12/7
N2 - Universities are increasingly perceived as strategic organizational actors that position themselves in the competition for reputation, resources, and talent. This study asks whether such positioning within the organizational field can explain variance in university governance structures. We quantitatively explore and explain the distribution of governance structures in German universities based on the actual organizational structures. Using original, hand-coded data on office, election, and decision rules of 80 German state universities managed by the subnational states (Länder), our study contributes to the existing literature in two regards. First, we provide an innovative and comprehensive, as well as a detailed description of German university governance—capturing the full empirical variance. Second, we test the effects of organizational field positions characterized by (1) state legislation, (2) competition, and (3) disciplinary foci. The findings indicate significant effects on the distribution of governance structures by state legislation and unsystematic effects of strategic and disciplinary organizational fields.
AB - Universities are increasingly perceived as strategic organizational actors that position themselves in the competition for reputation, resources, and talent. This study asks whether such positioning within the organizational field can explain variance in university governance structures. We quantitatively explore and explain the distribution of governance structures in German universities based on the actual organizational structures. Using original, hand-coded data on office, election, and decision rules of 80 German state universities managed by the subnational states (Länder), our study contributes to the existing literature in two regards. First, we provide an innovative and comprehensive, as well as a detailed description of German university governance—capturing the full empirical variance. Second, we test the effects of organizational field positions characterized by (1) state legislation, (2) competition, and (3) disciplinary foci. The findings indicate significant effects on the distribution of governance structures by state legislation and unsystematic effects of strategic and disciplinary organizational fields.
KW - Germany
KW - Governance
KW - Higher education
KW - Organizational fields
KW - Power
KW - University
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178909249&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/s41307-023-00332-1
DO - 10.1057/s41307-023-00332-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85178909249
JO - Higher education policy
JF - Higher education policy
SN - 0952-8733
ER -