preview

Liberal Arts Institutions

Decent Essays

Discussion
The specific focus of this article is looking at how likely liberal arts institutions will adapt to their peer groups [similar liberal arts institutions in a consortium] by offering and awarding degrees in professional areas of study (e.g. business, communications, public affairs, etc.). The article also considers the influence of other institutional variables that may be more or less likely to predict the adoption of these professional programs. These additional variables seem to relate back to two previous discussion points, resource dependency, and field-level dynamics. Kraatz (1998) does discuss both of these phenomena in his findings (p. 637) of how “resource dependence, and a prior history of change” affected institutional …show more content…

Interesting, because academic institutions are not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of innovation and market-driven responses. To me, this bucks the concept that higher education should not be treated as a commodity or respond to consumer-driven needs. However, the history of higher education in the United States would tell us otherwise, in that universities have always responded to market-forces and consumer demands. The article refers to universities as having “consumer markets” (p. 180) and various other markets that an institution exists within, causing a complex web of systems that has made self-control increasingly difficult. The question posed in this reading, is how quickly an institution might be able to respond in changing environments may depend on specific characteristics of an institution and the buy-in or collaboration of many individuals in the …show more content…

Similar to the previous two articles, this evolution of an institution’s paradigm will certainly take time. However, in order for institutional survival, the slow turning ship analogy often used to describe universities will not serve institutions for very much longer.
OVERALL SYNTHESIS
Each of the readings from week 9 play into each other, and themes emerge that can help build new theories and expand the opportunity for future research in institutional change. As referenced in Clark (2004), institutions are extremely complex, and arguably increasing their complexity with every passing year. The notion that one theory or framework can explain the best way for an institution to change is delusional. The influences of so many factors at play make approaches and explanations themselves just as complex as the organizations they are intending to change.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, a philosopher of the mind and epistemologist who studied language makes a point in one of his lectures at

Get Access