Economic contributions to institutional research on faculty

Abstract

A significant part of the work that institutional researchers conduct is related to faculty. Institutional researchers often work directly with the information systems that contain data on their faculty, and thus understand how these data were generated and some of their limitations when reported to various audiences. The fact that many institutional researchers have strong quantitative and methodological skills allows them to understand the different implications of using data on faculty for decision making. For these reasons, institutional researchers increasingly act as mediators between the producers and the users of faculty data.To do this effectively, institutional researchers need to understand the theoretical frameworks behind the activities of faculty. Economics can play a significant role in this regard. Economists strive to model how decision makers behave in particular markets. The models rely on the premise that decision makers are trying to achieve specific goals, such as maximizing utility, while working with limited resources. This approach can be applied to faculty, who have to make decisions about how to allocate their time between competing activities, and institutions, which must employ fulltime faculty and other inputs to achieve educational goals. Economists then use these models to examine how the equilibrium would change when one or more factors in the model change. This process, known as comparative statics, is perhaps the most valuable use of economics because it provides a way to test hypotheses about the relationships between factors such as gender and faculty salaries. Economists firmly believe that the incentives faced

Leading change through an international faculty development programme

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Data envelopment analysis of the efficiency of academic departments at a public university in Iran

“…Ndege et al's (2011) paper examines the factors that influence research productivity (RP) among academic staff in selected universities in Kenya, employing Toutkoushian's (2006) model that links RP to a variety of economic variables. Stratified sampling was used ensuring incorporation of the academics heterogeneity factors such as gender, rank, type of university (private or public) and academic qualification.…”

The effects of the first year of college on undergraduates' development of altruistic and socially responsible behavior

“…placed within society and business on the perceived selflessness and regard for others associated with ASR. A significant way in which an individual can boost their ASR is by enrolling into a postsecondary institution -considered a form of human capital investment (see relevant comparisons in Gunaratne, 1985;McMahon, 2009;Paulsen & Toutkoushian, 2008;Schuller, 2001;Taubman & Wales, 1974;Toutkoushian, 2006).…”

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