A Balance of Study and Teaching in Tenure and Promotion Cases
The enhanced role of teaching at majorresearchuniversities suchas Harvard and Stanford has sparked renewed interest and debate, but most of the academy would speculate that research and publication will continue to be a significant, if not major, requirement for tenure and promotionat most institutions. Page Smith, former provost of the University of California, Santa Cruz, suggested that the “publish or perish canon that so distorts the educational mission of the great universities” is alive and well (1991, p. 19). Indeed, it is apparent that the emphasis on publication has increased in the recent history of higher education. Arizona State University President Lattie Coor, when proposing the establishment of a major commission to explore the role of teaching at his institution, stated: “There is no question that the scholarly activity of a faculty member has assumed a greater place in university life over the past 20 to 30 years” (1990, p. 1). Still, recent stirrings suggest that institutions may be placing more importance on teaching. Ernest L. Boyer, for example, has argued eloquently for an expanded definition of scholarship that would include not only the discovery of knowledge (original research), but also the integration and application of knowledge with teaching (Boyer, 1991). It is not easy for the average university faculty member to meet tenure and promotion requirements, but it can be particularly difficult and occasionally frustrating for those who are in professional units such as journalism and mass communication. Faculty members in these departments often are involved in “creative activities” such as producing radio and television programs, writing newspaper and magazine articles, publishing textbooks and popular books, and engaging in media consulting. When submitted to university committees as tenure criteria, these activities may be considered weak or lacking in scholarly virtues when compared to the more traditional demand for publication of refereed journal articles. As a result, journalism and mass communication fac-
A Global Hypothesis for Women in Journalism and Mass Communications
This article examines the status of women in communications industries and on university faculties. It specifically tests the Ratio of Recurrent and Reinforced Residuum or R3 hypothesis, as developed by Rush and colleagues in the early 1980s. The R3 hypothesis predicts that the percentage of women in the communications industries and on university faculties will follow the ratio residing around a 1/4:3/4 or 1/3:2/3 proportion females to males. This article presents data from a nationwide US survey and compares them to data from global surveys and UN reports. The evidence is overwhelming and shows the relevance and validity of the R3 hypothesis across different socioeconomic and cultural contexts. The article argues that the ratio is the outcome of systemic discrimination that operates at multiple levels. The obstacles to achieving equality in the academy as well as media industries are discussed and suggestions for breaking out of the R3 ratio are included.
REFORMA DO ESTADO E AS POLÍTICAS PARA A EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR NO BRASIL NOS ANOS 90
This article aims at discussing the federal policies for higher education implemented in Brazil in the 1990s. It assumes that such policies are based on socio-political choices and interests linked to the changes occurring in the contemporary Brazilian scene, changes that have deep historical roots, which emerge in the process of reformation of the Brazilian State. This situation implies alterations in the field of public policies, and more particularly in that of social policies, since the on-going official proposals and projects are characterized by a decrease of the role of State. The borders between public and private affairs have become increasingly blurred in a process detrimental to the former. The contradictions in the federal policies for higher education are analyzed here, as well as their results as for the following fields: institutional diversification and differentiation; assessment criteria, broadening and privatization of this level of education.