Keywords
research productivity
European academic profession
stratification in science
knowledge production
European research elite
How to Cite
Abstract
In this paper, we focus on a rare scholarly theme of highly productive academics, statistically confirming their pivotal role in knowledge production across all 11 systems studies. The upper 10 percent of highly productive academics in 11 European countries studied (N = 17,211), provide on average almost half of all academic knowledge production. In contrast to dominating bibliometric studies of research productivity, we focus on academic attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions as predictors of becoming research top performers across European systems. Our paper provides a (large-scale and cross-country) corroboration of the systematic inequality in knowledge production, for the first time argued for by Alfred Lotka (1926) and Derek de Solla Price (1963). We corroborate of the deep academic inequality in science and explore this segment of the academic profession. The European research elite is a highly homogeneous group of academics whose high research performance is driven by structurally similar factors, mostly individual rather than institutional. Highly productive academics are similar from a cross-national perspective and they substantially differ intra-nationally from their lower-performing colleagues.
Funding
MAESTRO (Program Międzynarodowych Badań Porównawczych Szkolnictwa Wyższego DEC-2011/02/A/HS6/00183
2012-2017)
References
Abramo, G., D’Angelo, C.A., Caprasecca, A. (2009). The Contribution of Star Scientists to Overall Sex Differences in Research Productivity. Scientometrics. 81(1): 137-156.
Allison, P.D. (1980). Inequality and Scientific Productivity. Social Studies of Science. 10: 163-179.
Allison, P.D., Long, J.S., Krauze, T.K. (1982). Cumulative Advantage and Inequality in Science. American Sociological Review. 47: 615-625.
Allison, P.D., Stewart, J.A. (1974). Productivity Differences among Scientists: Evidence for Accumulative Advantage. American Sociological Review. 39: 596-606.
Altbach, P.G., Lewis, L.S. (1996). The Academic Profession in International Perspective. W: P.G. Altbach (red.). The International Academic Profession. Portraits of Fourteen Countries (3-48). Princeton: Carnegie.
Bentley, P.J., Kyvik, S. (2013). Individual Differences in Faculty Research Time Allocations Across 13 Countries. Research in Higher Education. 54: 329-348.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morrison, K. (2011). Research Methods in Education. New York: Routledge.
Cole, J.R., Cole, S. (1973). Social Stratification in Science. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Crane, D. (1965). Scientists at Major and Minor Universities: A Study of Productivity and Recognition. American Sociological Review. 30: 699-714.
Cummings, W.K., Finkelstein, M.J. (2012). Scholars in the Changing American Academy. New Contexts, New Rules and New Roles. Dordrecht: Springer.
Drennan, J., Clarke, M., Hyde, A., Politis, Y. (2013). The Research Function of the Academic Profession in Europe. W: U. Teichler, E.A. Höhle (red.). The Work Situation of the Academic Profession in Europe: Findings of a Survey in Twelve Countries (109-136). Dordrecht: Springer.
Enders, J., Musselin, C. (2008). Back to the Future? The Academic Professions in the 21st Century. W: Higher Education to 2030 (t. 1: Demography, 125-150). Paris: OECD.
Finkelstein, M.J (1984). The American Academic Profession. A Synthesis of Social Scientific Inquiry Since World War II. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Fox, M.F. (1983). Publication Productivity among Scientists: A Critical Review. Social Studies of Science. 13: 285-305.
Fox, M.F. (1992). Research, Teaching, and Publication Productivity: Mutuality Versus Competition in Academia. Sociology of Education. 65: 293-305.
Gaston, J. (1978). The Reward System in British and American Science. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Gottlieb, E.E., Keith, B. (1997). The Academic Research-Teaching Nexus in Eight Advanced-Industrialized Countries. Higher Education. 34: 397-419.
Hagstrom, W.O. (1965). The Scientific Community. New York: Basic Books.
Katz, J.S., Martin, B.R. (1997). What Is Research Collaboration? Research Policy. 26: 1-18.
Kiewra, K. (1994). A Slice of Advice. Educational Researcher. 23(3): 31-33.
Kiewra, K.A., Creswell, J.W. (2000). Conversations with Three Highly Productive Educational Psychologists: Richard Anderson, Richard Mayer, and Michael Pressley. Educational Psychology Review. 12(1): 135-161.
Kwiek, M. (2012). Changing Higher Education Policies: From the Deinstitutionalization to the Reinstitutionalization of the Research Mission in Polish Universities. Science and Public Policy. 39: 641-654.
Kwiek, M. (2013a). From System Expansion to System Contraction: Access to Higher Education in Poland. Comparative Education Review. 57(3): 553-576.
Kwiek, M. (2013b). Knowledge Production in European Universities. States, Markets, and Academic Entrepreneurialism. Frankfurt – New York: Peter Lang.
Kwiek, M. (2014a). Structural Changes in the Polish Higher Education System (1990-2010): a Synthetic View. European Journal of Higher Education. 4(3): 266-280.
Kwiek, M. (2014b). The Internationalization of the Polish Academic Profession. A European Comparative Approach. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik. 60(5): 681-695.
Kwiek, M. (2015a). The Internationalization of Research in Europe. A Quantitative Study of 11 National Systems from a Micro-Level Perspective. Journal of Studies in International Education. 19(2): 341-359.
Kwiek, M. (2015b). Inequality in Academic Knowledge Production. The Role of Research Top Performers Across Europe. W: E. Reale, E. Primeri (red.). Universities in transition. Shifting institutional and organizational boundaries (203-230). Rotterdam: Sense.
Kwiek, M. (2015c). The European Research Elite. A Cross-National Study of Highly Productive Academics in 11 Countries. Higher Education. OnlineFirst: 14.06.2015. doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9910-x.
Kwiek, M. (2015d). The Unfading Power of Collegiality? University Governance in Poland in a European Comparative and Quantitative Perspective. International Journal of Educational Development. 43: 77-89.
Kwiek, M. (2015e). Academic Generations and Academic Work: Patterns of Attitudes, Behaviors and Research Productivity of Polish Academics after 1989. Studies in Higher Education. 40(8): 1354-1376.
Kwiek, M. (2015f). Młoda kadra: różnice międzypokoleniowe w pracy naukowej i produktywności badawczej. Czym Polska różni się od Europy Zachodniej? Nauka. 3: 51-88.
Kyvik, S. (1989). Productivity Differences, Fields of Learning, and Lotka’s Law. Scientometrics. 15(3-4): 205-214.
Kyvik, S. (1990). Age and Scientific Productivity. Differences Between Fields of Learning. Higher Education. 19(1): 37-55.
Lee, S., Bozeman, B. (2005). The Impact of Research Collaboration on Scientific Productivity. Social Studies of Science. 35(5): 673-702.
Leisyte, L., Dee, J.R. (2012). Understanding Academic Work in Changing Institutional Environment. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. 27: 123-206.
Lotka, A. (1926). The Frequency Distribution of Scientific Productivity. Journal of Washington Academy of Sciences. 16: 317-323.
Marquina, M., Ferreiro, M. (2015). The Academic Profession: The Dynamics of Emerging Countries. W: W.K. Cummings, U. Teichler (red.). The Relevance of Academic Work in Comparative Perspective (179-192). Dordrecht: Springer.
Mayrath, M.C. (2008). Attributions of Productive Authors in Educational Psychology Journals. Educational Psychology Review. 20: 41-56.
Merton, R.K. (1968). The Matthew Effect in Science. Science, 159(3810): 56-63.
Patterson-Hazley, M., Kiewra, K.A. (2013). Conversations with Four Highly Productive Educational Psychologists: Patricia Alexander, Richard Mayer, Dale Schunk, and Barry Zimmerman. Educational Psychology Review. 25: 19-45.
Porter, S.R., Umbach, P.D. (2001). Analyzing faculty workload and using multilevel modeling. Research in Higher Education. 42(2): 171-196.
Postiglione, G., Jung, J. (2013). World Class University and Asia’s Top Tier Researchers. W: Q. Wang, Y. Cheng, N.C. Liu (red.). Building World-Class Universities. Different Approaches to a Shared Goal (161-180). Rotterdam: Sense.
Price, D. de Solla (1963). Little Science, Big Science. New York: Columbia University Press [wyd. polskie: Price, D. de Solla (1966). Mała nauka – wielka nauka. Tłum. P. Graff. Warszawa: PWN].
Prpić, K. (1996). Characteristics and Determinants of Eminent Scientists’ Productivity. Scientometrics. 36(2): 185-206.
Ramsden, P. (1994). Describing and explaining research productivity. Higher Education. 28: 207-226.
Shin, J.C., Cummings, W.K. (2010). Multilevel Analysis of Academic Publishing Across Disciplines: Research Preference, Collaboration, and Time on Research. Scientometrics. 85: 581-594.
Smeby, J., Try, S. (2005). Departmental Contexts and Faculty Research Activity in Norway. Research in Higher Education. 46(6): 593-619.
Stephan, P., Levin, S. (1992). Striking the Mother Lode in Science: The Importance of Age, Place, and Time. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Teichler, U. (2014). Teaching and Research in Germany: The Notions of University Professors. W: J.C. Shin, A. Arimoto, W.K. Cummings, U. Teichler (red.). Teaching and Research in Contemporary Higher Education. Systems, Activities and Rewards. Dordrecht: Springer.
Teichler, U., Arimoto, A., Cummings, W.K. (2013). The Changing Academic Profession. Major Findings of a Comparative Survey. Dordrecht: Springer.
Teodorescu, D. (2000). Correlates of faculty publication productivity: A cross-national analysis. Higher Education. 39: 201-222.
Thornton, M. (2012). Privatising the Public University. The Case of Law. New York: Routledge.
Wanner, R.A., Lewis, L.S., Gregorio, D.I. (1981). Research Productivity in Academia: A Comparative Study of the Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities. Sociology of Education. 54: 238-253.
Wilson, L. (1995). The Academic Man. A Study in the Sociology of a Profession. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Zuckerman, H. (1996). Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.