Seminaries in the United States have for more than two centuries sought to equip ministerial leaders for service within the community of faith. And yet these institutions have traditionally been the focus of very little quantitative research. This lack of data is particularly noteworthy given the existential crises many seminaries currently face, especially regarding their flagship Master of Divinity (MDiv) programs. Among seminary leadership, a common response to declining MDiv enrollment has been to decrease the length of the program, which historically required at least 90 credit hours. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore change at the Association of Theological Schools member institutions (AMIs) between 2000–2019 through the lens of these credit-hour reductions. Longitudinal data from 113 AMIs were analyzed to examine the relationship between a variety of financial, enrollment, and institutional characteristics and the likelihood that an AMI would reduce its required MDiv credit hours. Results from an event history analysis revealed that, all else being equal, experiencing an increase in total revenues reduced an AMI's likelihood of making a reduction, while being a middle-age institution (founded 1870–1959) and having a higher percentage of peer institutions that made a change increased the likelihood of making a reduction. These findings, which well fit with existing theory on resource dependence and institutionalization, provide seminary leaders with objective data by which they can better understand the financial and cultural pressures impacting change at their institutions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1873835 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | McKanna, Nathan Jay |
| Contributors | Taylor, Barrett, Jones Baldwin, Veronica, Harbour, Clifford, Rine, P. Jesse |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | ix, 125 pages, Text |
| Rights | Public, McKanna, Nathan Jay, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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