While disciplinarity still dominates college and university life, enthusiasm for interdisciplinary approaches has increased over the past three decades. Proponents often present interdisciplinarity as an a priori good, but scholars have noted that we have not yet sufficiently evaluated the efficacy of interdisciplinary initiatives. Most assessments of interdisciplinary initiatives have focused on tangible outcomes such as grants, papers, and patents. This is an unfortunate critical gap in the examination of interdisciplinarity, as it is possible that engagement in interdisciplinary activities changes student and faculty thinking in significant ways. This dissertation proposes to address the gap in the examination of interdisciplinarity regarding interdisciplinary learning outcomes by investigating the intellectual impact of interdisciplinary initiatives on students and faculty. Utilizing a manuscript approach for the dissertation experience, this series of qualitative studies is organized around three areas of inquiry related to learning in interdisciplinary contexts: (a) how systematic interdisciplinary training affect doctoral students' epistemic beliefs, that is, how they view the construction of knowledge and the nature of scholarship; (b) what faculty learn from engaging in interdisciplinary research initiatives, and what tools mediate this interdisciplinary learning process; and (c) whether an interdisciplinary training effort promotes the creation of an alternative community of practice for participating students and faculty. The studies were part of a larger mixed methods assessment of the efficacy of the EIGER program. Participants were selected based upon their affiliation with one specific interdisciplinary graduate training initiative, the EIGER program, at Virginia Tech, and came from the hard sciences, engineering, and social sciences. Informed by grounded theory, analysis of the data revealed that both graduate students and faculty achieve interdisciplinary understanding as a result of their interdisciplinary training and research experiences. Furthermore, faculty interdisciplinary learning is mediated by other people and two categories of tools, problem platforms and solution mechanisms, and is achieved by both borrowing and lending of disciplinary expertise. Finally, results suggest that programs like the EIGER may constitute emerging communities of practice that serve as alternatives to traditional disciplinary communities. / Ph. D.

This study explores how faculty in the social sciences experience and respond to academic capitalism. Academic capitalism is about market and market-like activity at the university and professorial efforts to secure external money. This research expands existing literature which has focused on the hard or natural sciences, and other areas more closely aligned with the market. Thirty-seven qualitative research interviews were conducted between March and July of 2006 with professors of sociology, criminology, economics at the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida. Results reveal academic capitalism in the social sciences is mostly about grant activity and involves essentially no technology transfer or patenting. Further, that grant activity is somewhat sporadic, still of marginal concern, and more important to junior faculty than for tenured and senior faculty. Findings also suggest academic capitalism in the social sciences is about a market of ideas, based on the value of positive social change and quality research, rather than economic yield. Despite their small contribution to the university bottom-line, professors in the social sciences find value in what they do. The theoretical component of the study proposed institutionalism and resource dependence theory as useful frameworks for viewing academic capitalism. The findings confirm the usefulness of institutionalism and resource dependence theory, but also add notions of globalization. Academic capitalism is about gaining legitimacy (institutionalism), responding to external constituencies to enhance revenue flows and buffer the institution from resource reductions (resource dependence), and the influence of such larger trends as commodification in the global marketplace (globalization).

Submitted by Daniele Amaral (daniee_ni@hotmail.com) on 2017-10-09T19:36:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRMAM.pdf: 1490186 bytes, checksum: 2919ff67d0059bf79fdcbee678c94d1d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (bco.producao.intelectual@gmail.com) on 2018-01-25T13:06:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRMAM.pdf: 1490186 bytes, checksum: 2919ff67d0059bf79fdcbee678c94d1d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (bco.producao.intelectual@gmail.com) on 2018-01-25T13:06:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRMAM.pdf: 1490186 bytes, checksum: 2919ff67d0059bf79fdcbee678c94d1d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-25T13:21:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRMAM.pdf: 1490186 bytes, checksum: 2919ff67d0059bf79fdcbee678c94d1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / Não recebi financiamento / This paper refers to a case study whose main objective is to be acquainted with the beliefs of professors in the Agricultural Science Center (CCA) in the Federal University of Espírito santo (UFES) towards their working conditions concerning the implementation of the Program to Support Restructuring and Expansion Plans of Federal Universities (REUNI). In this perspective, the working conditions described by the professors are considered mediations which have made possible to know how faculty understands the university from the expansion process, its role, and teaching staff themselves. First, the study characterizes REUNI, pointing out the program in the extent of the previous regulation marks, such as in the legislation approved after its validity was over, indicating, therefore, the prolongation of its goals through the next years. The contradictions of the program and its critics presented in the related literature were established. The result of REUNI’s expansion in Brazil, in UFES and particularly in CCA are as well presented. This stage has been constituted from the analysis of documents officially produced (by Government) and of those elaborated by UFES concerning REUNI, such as the institution’s expansion plan, the CCA’s council’s meetings’ records, and the indices of the courses’ performances in this Center while REUNI was in force. Second, the speeches of the professors of the same Center were resorted to, in order to see the light of the repercussion concerning the University’s expansion in its everyday work. Therefore, interviews were developed with 12 professors, 5 of which were hired before the expansion. As empiric data is analyzed, as well as considering the reporting of the working conditions exposed by the teaching staff, it is possible to observe that indeed the expansion induced by REUNI has promoted meaningful changes in CCA, which for many years had only had one undergraduation course, but had its offer enlarged to seventeen courses in seven years (from 2006 to 2012, through the plans Expansion Phase 1 and REUNI). Such changes included both administrative and academic dimensions (increase of vacancy offers, new courses, hiring professors, buildings’ and laboratories’ construction etc.). Amongst other matters, it is possible to verify that the group of professors recruited between 2006 and 2012 were the most affected by the changes provoked by the expansion, so that it is possible to consider that these professionals work under precarious conditions and even intensified work conditions. However, it is impossible to affirm the same about the working conditions of those who already were part of the faculty before the expansion process. Amongst the likely findings, it is verified that the shape assumed by REUNI in CCA is a result of the policy formulated concatenated to the aspects that confer specificity to the institution. Finally, it is also possible to verify that the meaning attributed to the expansion reflects how contradictory REUNI is, and may, as in CCA case, assume different significance for the professors, as the teaching staff is heterogeneous and, therefore, constituted by groups with distinguished characteristics. / O presente trabalho refere-se a um estudo de caso cujo objetivo central foi conhecer a compreensão dos professores do Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA) da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES) a respeito de suas condições de trabalho face à implementação do Programa de Apoio a Planos de Reestruturação e Expansão das Universidades Federais (REUNI). Nessa perspectiva, as condições de trabalho descritas pelos professores constituíram-se como mediações que tornaram possível conhecer de que forma os docentes compreendem a universidade a partir do processo de expansão, seu trabalho e a si mesmos. Num primeiro momento, o estudo caracteriza o REUNI, situando o programa no âmbito dos marcos regulatórios que o precederam, bem como na legislação aprovada após o término de sua vigência, indicando, portanto, a perpetuação de suas metas nos próximos anos. Constataram-se ainda as contradições do programa e as críticas apresentadas com relação a ele na literatura da área. Apresentam-se, também, os resultados da expansão do REUNI no Brasil, na UFES e, de modo particular, em um de seus centros: o CCA. Essa etapa foi constituída a partir da análise dos documentos produzidos oficialmente (pelo governo) e daqueles elaborados pela UFES no âmbito do REUNI, tais como o plano de expansão da instituição, as atas das reuniões do conselho departamental do CCA e os índices de desempenho dos cursos deste centro no período de vigência do REUNI. Num segundo momento, recorreu-se às falas dos professores do referido centro para compreender as repercussões da expansão da universidade em seu cotidiano de trabalho. Para tanto, foram realizadas entrevistas com 12 docentes, dos quais cinco foram contratados no período anterior à expansão. Analisando-se os dados empíricos, bem como considerando os relatos das condições de trabalho apresentados pelos docentes, observou-se que, de fato, a expansão induzida pelo REUNI promoveu mudanças significativas no CCA, o qual, por muitos anos, abrigou apenas um curso de graduação e viu sua oferta ser ampliada para 17 cursos num intervalo de sete anos (2006 a 2012, com os planos Expansão Fase I e REUNI). Tais mudanças abrangeram, tanto a dimensão acadêmica (aumento da oferta de vagas, de novos cursos, contratação de professores, construção de prédios e laboratórios etc.), quanto a dimensão administrativa. Verificou-se, dentre outras questões, que o grupo de professores que foi admitido entre 2006 e 2012 foi o mais atingido pelas mudanças provocadas pela expansão, podendo-se considerar que os mesmos atuam em condições precarizadas e, em alguns casos, intensificadas de trabalho. No entanto, essa mesma afirmação não é possível de ser feita a respeito das condições de trabalho dos professores que já estavam na Instituição antes dos processos de expansão. Dentre as constatações possíveis, verificou-se que a forma assumida pelo REUNI no CCA é resultado da política formulada concatenada aos aspectos que conferem especificidade à Instituição. Por fim, verificou-se, ainda, que os sentidos atribuídos à expansão refletem as contradições inerentes ao REUNI e tendem, no caso do CCA, a assumir diferentes significados para os professores, haja vista que o quadro docente é heterogêneo e, portanto, constituído por grupos de docentes com características diversas.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2006. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-96).

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