Overview
The project has been successful in investigating academic motivation at a departmental level. At a time when more is required of universities and the staff who work in them than ever before, we believe this project makes a very useful contribution to understanding what leaders and managers need to be thinking about in working at both departmental and institutional levels.
There have been a wide range of project activities, listed below. We are grateful to the staff in various departments and research centres who worked with us and we have reported back individually to each of them.
We want the work of this project to be taken up and used, so we have reported on it in Engage and will do so again, as well as in a wide range of other institutional, national and international outputs listed. We are scheduled for a plenary presentation at the Staff Development Conference in November 2011 as a means of sharing findings with the staff development community as a whole.
We are most grateful for the Leadership Foundation’s support. We believe that the Leadership Foundation will benefit substantially in the future from the project. It has sponsored this initial work in an area that we are sure will grow and become very influential as a way of understanding the challenges of university leadership.
Main activities
- Completed twenty-page literature review of leadership, the prestige economy and academic motivation. Discovered key themes in the literature including job satisfaction, academic reward systems, and theories about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
- Wrote a background paper on the prestige economy and submitted it for academic publication (currently under review).
- Developed research methodology for interviews and focus groups; developed interview protocol based on themes from review of literature and professional practice documents; and identified five research site departments at UK universities through peer networks, recommendations, and research academic leaders.
- Completed, transcribed and analysed interviews, using NVivo software for deep coding and analysis.
- Completed individual department reports, sent to Heads of Departments
- Development of project website for dissemination of findings.
- Presentation for King’s College London Excellence in Teaching conference in June 2011 (see full presentation list below).
- Two outputs for LFHE press, one completed in Summer 2011 in Engage and another scheduled for Winter on key findings.
- Project extending the research accepted by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE), focusing on international comparisons.
- Several further academic papers planned, on leadership and prestige issues; boundary-spanning roles between academia/industry/government; and the role of prestige in the academic role, particularly in relation to research and teaching.
- Final report completed.
Milestones
| Month | Activity | Position |
| 1-3 | Literature review(Background paper on prestige economy)Identification of suitable cases Initial website established |
Completed Submitted for publication Completed Completed |
| 4-7 | In-depth study through interviews, focus groups and documentary and statistical analysis at five different universities | Completed |
| 8-10 | Analysis Report and materials preparation |
Completed, using NVivo software Completed |
| 11-12 | Conference workshop presentations (dependent on conference dates) Website fully populated Report and material completed and delivered |
Scheduled. Awaiting upload Completed |
Outputs
Blackmore P. & Kandiko, C. B. (2012). Prestige economy: Motivation in academic life. Centre for Higher Education Studies (CHES) Seminar Series Invited Lecture. 6 March 2012. Institute of Education, London.
Kandiko, C. B. & Blackmore, P. (2011). Motivation: The role of prestige in academic life. Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Annual Conference 2011, 7-9 December, Celtic Manor, Newport, South Wales.
Blackmore P. & Kandiko, C. B. (2011). Motivation in academic life: A prestige economy. Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) 2011, 16-19 November, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Blackmore, P. & Kandiko, C. B. (2011). Understanding academic motivation: The role of prestige in universities. Developing Higher Education: Strategies for a new Era. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education Staff Development Conference, 2-3 November 2011, Leicester, UK.
Blackmore, P. & Kandiko, C. B. (2011). Motivation in academic life: The role of a prestige economy. King’s Learning Institute 5th Annual Excellence in Teaching Conference, 21 June, King’s College London.
Blackmore, P. & Kandiko, C. B. (2011). Motivating academics: The role of prestige. Engage: The Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, 26, 13.
Blackmore, P. & Kandiko, C. B. (under review). Motivation in academic life: A prestige economy. Research in Post-Compulsory Education
Five customised departmental reports, sent to Heads of Department.
Literature review on academic motivation.
Problems
- No problems or obstacles have been encountered regarding the project.
Partnerships and collaborations
- Partners in the UK have assisted with identifying research sites.
- Funding has been secured through the Society for Research into Higher Education to extend the research, exploring international comparisons of the notion of the prestige economy.
Financial expenditure
- Spending has taken place in line with the project plan, mainly in relation to the cost of Research Associate and project management time.
- Spending has been allocated for transportation to interview locations and transcription costs.
- Conference planning and dissemination costs have been allocated.