Examining Professional and Academic Culture in Chilean Journalism and Mass Communication Education

Transcription

1 Examining Professional and Academic Culture in Chilean Journalism and Mass Communication Education Claudia Mellado, University of Concepcion, Chile 60th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association Singapure, June 2010.

2 Journalism and Mass Communication Education The relevance and quality of JMC schools has been largely questioned: - The capacity of journalism schools to educate the type of journalists that the market really needs, giving greater importance the theory than the practice of the profession - Journalism and journalism educators ability to generate scientific knowledge and integrate into the university tradition. Academic and professional orientations have traditionally been used as literature to discuss the institutional perspective of the field and the practical perspective of the profession.

3 Previous Studies Different authors have opened up the debate on: The professionalization of journalism education (Adam, 2009; Reese, 1999; Zelizer, 1993) The labor market (Becker et al, 2007) The models of journalism education (Fröhlich and Holtz-Bacha, 2003; Marques de Melo, 1988) Little ongoing empirical research focused on JMC educators

4 Previous Studies Western countries: most important studies Latin America: small group of countries have been analyzed (Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela) Chile: professional and academic profiles of JMC educators have never been systematically analysed Questions about Chilean JMC education have not been appropriately answered

5 Objective of the study To describe the specific profile, as well as the configuration of the professional and academic culture of the Chilean JMC educators

6 Research Questions RQ 1: What is the sociodemographic, labor and educational profile of JMC educators in Chile? RQ 2: Which culture professional or academic - is more predominant among JMC educators in Chile? RQ 3: Which factors organizational or individual influence the formation of a more professional or academic culture among Chilean JMC educators? RQ 4: Which factors organizational or individual determine the existence and quantity of scientific productivity among Chilean JMC educators?

7 Population The research was carried out over the population of parttime and full-time JMC educators (N= 608) and JMC schools (N= 33) in four regions of the country: three provincial regions located at the north center and south of Chile, and the capital of the country. These four regions represent 84 percent of the nation s journalism and mass communication education, and 70 percent of the nation s population

8 Data collection Individual level: Fully standardized telephone/face to face or interviews Twenty questions related to: Demographic (age, sex) Labor (university experience, media experience, full-time/parttime commitment, type of contract) Education and scholarly productivity (articles, books, research grants) The response rate was 83.8% in the country s capital (n=419) and 86.1% in the other regions (n=93).

9 Data collection Organizational level: Documentary research about the JMC schools existing in the regions under study: geographical location, institution type public or private enrollment, number of undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty members, accreditation, among others. The information for 100 percent of the schools were obtained.

10 Findings Academic Structure - The 33 JMC schools under study offer 42 undergraduate programs % of the schools are located in the country s capital. - Only 21.2 % of the schools belonged to traditional or public universities, and only six are accredited. - Thirteen of the schools have master s programs related to journalism and communication, but none of them offer a doctoral program.

11 Findings Work Force - 74% of the JMC educators work in privates universities % are full-time professors - 20% present tenure track position contracts - 24 % have temporary contracts - The rest work without any formal contract. - For almost 40% of the Chilean JMC educators, their faculty position is not their main job.

12 Findings Demographics and Education - About 54.2% are less than 40 years old and 88.3 % are less than 60 (ranges from 23 to 80). - 7 of every 10 educators are men, women being on average 3.25 years younger than men % are majored in journalism and/or communication. - Only 7.6 % had earned a Ph.D; 25 % had earned a master's degree, and 11.1 % are currently enrolled in some type of graduate program.

13 Findings Educational experience - Full-time faculty members: 43% have more than 10 years of experience as an educator, and 24.6% have less than five years. - Part-time professors: 14.6% have more than a decade of experience as educators Professional experience - Only 15% of the JMC educators surveyed did not work in journalism before teaching; percentage that increases to 21% percent in the case of those who have a Ph.D % have never worked outside the university.

14 Academic Culture versus Professional Culture We analyze: - The last five years of their academic productivity versus dedication to teaching - If, in addition to teaching, he or she had published at least one scientific article, had written a book, or had participated in a research project. - If the educator share the university work with professional media activities. - Three of every 10 Chilean JMC educators belonged to a more academically oriented culture, while 7 of every 10 belonged to a professional culture.

15 Academic productivity Journals articles - A JMC educator in Chile publishes an average of 0.13 scientific articles per year. - Only 19.7% have published a scientific article during their entire career. Books - Only 25% of the educators have published at least one book during their university career. Research projects - 69 % of the full-time and 89.8% of the part-time have never led nor participated as a co-researcher in any research project.

16 Configuration of the Dominant Cultures Logistic Regression Predicting JMC Academic Culture Odds Ratio Predicting variables B S.E. p-value Education Level (1=Ph.D; 0= no Ph.D.) a *** Type of University (1=Traditional/public; 0= private) a , * Commitment (1= full-time; 0=part-time) a *** Geographic Location (1= capital; 0= * provincial regions) a Age Years of Experience as Educator (1= more than 10 years; 0= Less than 10 years) a Gender (1= male; 0= female) a School s accreditation (1= yes; 2= no) a Existence of Graduate Programs (1=yes; =no) a a Dummy variable *** 0.05 *

17 Predicting Variables of Journal Publication Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Model Predicting the Chance of Publishing Scientific Articles Among Chilean JMC Educators Predicting variables Odds Log OR S.E. Wald p-value Ratio Education Level (1= Ph.D.s; 0= * bachelor s degree) a Type of university (1= Private; 0= traditional/public) a * Commitment (1= Part-time; = full-time) a Geographic Location (1= provincial regions; 0= capital) a Age ** Professional media experience (1= yes; 0= no) a Gender (1= female; 0= male) a School s Accreditation (no versus yes) a Existence of graduate programs (no versus yes) a a Dummy variable 0.01 ** 0.05 *

18 Predicting Variables of Journal Publication Count Regression Model Predicting Chilean Educators Productivity Predicting variables Log Mean S.E. Wald p-value Education Level (Ph.D. versus * bachelor s degree) a Type of university (Private versus traditional/public) a Commitment (Part-time versus ** full-time) a Geographic Location (provincial regions versus capital) a Age Professional media experience (yes versus no) a Gender (female versus male) a School s Accreditation (no versus yes) a Existence of graduate programs (no versus yes) a