Department-level change: Using social network analysis to map the hidden structure of academic departments

Henderson, Charles; Quardokus, Kathleen

doi:10.1063/1.4789679

AIP Conference Proceedings

2013

DOI: 10.1063/1.4789679

|View full text |Cite

Department-level change: Using social network analysis to map the hidden structure of academic departments

Charles Henderson¹,

Kathleen Quardokus²

Abstract: Efforts to improve teaching in higher education have often focused on individual faculty. However, there is a growing consensus that the academic department is a more productive focus of change initiatives. Yet, academic departments are not all the same. Understanding the structure of relationships within a department is important for identifying who should be involved in the change effort and in what roles. It is also likely that a successful change effort will modify the structure of relationships within a d… Show more

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2019

2024

Publication Types

Select...

Article3

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent3

Authors

Journals

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Understanding (in) formal health and wellbeing networks within higher education: a mixed-method social network perspective

Swindell,

Thomas,

Tree

et al. 2023

High Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In response to increasing concerns about the mental health and wellbeing of university students and staff, policy aims have shifted towards a ‘whole-university approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. This policy advocates for a culture wherein mental health and wellbeing are a key priority across all levels (individual, societal, environmental). Thereby, responsibility for mental health and wellbeing is distributed across the institution, requiring contributions from staff irrespective of whether mental health and wellbeing are central to their role. Consequently, boundaries of responsibility and expertise can be unclear, while individual and professional capacity and opportunity influence the consistency of support. Effective governance of the whole-university approach requires an understanding of the complex network of ‘actors’ in the wellbeing system to cohesively deliver strategic objectives. This mixed-methods case study of one Higher Education Institution (HEI) employed social network analysis (SNA) to identify network structures and connections between staff who promote mental health and wellbeing. Qualitative follow-up explored factors associated with network prominence, cohesion between the informal network and formal structures, and overall perceptions of the network. An informal network of 211 actors in the wellbeing system was identified, revealing disparities with formal governance structures. Prominence in the network was attributed to both extrinsic (e.g. workplace culture and leadership) and intrinsic (e.g. social rewards) factors, and was perceived to provide value by increasing cohesive and collaborative working. However, findings also indicate the need to raise awareness of the network and improve capacity for network membership and engagement.

show abstract

Understanding (in) formal health and wellbeing networks within higher education: a mixed-method social network perspective

Swindell,

Thomas,

Tree

et al. 2023

High Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Person-centered and qualitative approaches to network analysis in physics education research

Traxler,

Amaral,

Henderson

et al. 2024

Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Network analysis has become a well-recognized methodology in physics education research (PER), with study topics including student performance and persistence, faculty change, and the structure of conceptual networks. The social network analysis side of this work has focused on quantitative analysis of whole-network cases, such as the structure of networks in single classrooms. Egocentric or personal network approaches are largely unexplored, and qualitative methods are underdeveloped. In this paper, we outline theoretical and practical differences between two major network paradigms—whole-network and egocentric—and introduce theoretical frameworks and methodological considerations for egocentric studies. We also describe qualitative and mixed-methods approaches that are currently missing from the PER literature. We identify areas where these additional network methods may be of particular interest to physics education researchers and end by discussing example cases and implications for new PER studies. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

show abstract

Strategic Attack & Defense in Security Diffusion Games

Waniek

Michalak

Alshamsi

2019

ACM Trans. Intell. Syst. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Security games model the confrontation between a defender protecting a set of targets and an attacker who tries to capture them. A variant of these games assumes security interdependence between targets, facilitating contagion of an attack. So far, only stochastic spread of an attack has been considered. In this work, we introduce a version of security games, where the attacker strategically drives the entire spread of attack and where interconnections between nodes affect their susceptibility to be captured. We find that the strategies effective in the settings without contagion or with stochastic contagion are no longer feasible when spread of attack is strategic. While in the former settings it was possible to efficiently find optimal strategies of the attacker, doing so in the latter setting turns out to be an NP-complete problem for an arbitrary network. However, for some simpler network structures, such as cliques, stars, and trees, we show that it is possible to efficiently find optimal strategies of both players. For arbitrary networks, we study and compare the efficiency of various heuristic strategies. As opposed to previous works with no or stochastic contagion, we find that centrality-based defense is often effective when spread of attack is strategic, particularly for centrality measures based on the Shapley value.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Department-level change: Using social network analysis to map the hidden structure of academic departments

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

Understanding (in) formal health and wellbeing networks within higher education: a mixed-method social network perspective

Understanding (in) formal health and wellbeing networks within higher education: a mixed-method social network perspective

Person-centered and qualitative approaches to network analysis in physics education research

Strategic Attack & Defense in Security Diffusion Games

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About