Interdisciplinarity master programs in Greek universities: Οrganization and cognitive conditions

PDF
Published: Dec 21, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/scad.18956
Keywords:
University Masters interdisciplinarity organization cognitive conditions
Georgios Stamelos
University of Patras
Georgios Aggelopoulos
University of Patras
Abstract

This paper focuses on the development of interdisciplinarity
in the Master’s programs in Greek universities. For our analysis, we searched for tools from the Sociology of Organisations (Mayntz) and the Sociology of Science (Whitley). We argue that the University and its key
actors have adopted interdisciplinarity, firstly, as a means to increase institutional funding, and secondly, with care so as not to disturb the
internal institutional structure and the power relations between the key actors in the University. Indeed, on the one hand, universities, responding to the public calls for interdisciplinary programs, took advantage of the European support program for Greece in order to enrich their infrastructures. On the other hand, the new structures and functions (interdisciplinary Master’s programs) remain loose and weak. So the central role of the Department and laboratories remains intact. As a consequence, the internal relations of the institutional actors are protected. Thus, interdisciplinarity seems to be a low priority issue. However, it is interesting to consider that more than 10 years after the
end of European funding, the majority of these programs remains active.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Apostoli S. (2006), The Master Programs in Greek Universities, Athens: ELIAMEP. http://www. eliamep.gr/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/metaptyxiaka_ch22.pdf last accessed 25 May 2015.
Bourdieu P. (1991), "The Peculiar History of Scientific Reason", Sociological Forum, 6(1), pp.3-26.
Braun D. (1998), "The role of funding agencies in the cognitive development of science’, Research Policy, 27, pp. 807-821.
Child, J., 1972, ‘Organization Structure and Strategies of control: A Replication of the Aston Study", Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(2), pp. 163-178.
Collins R. (1975), Conflict Sociology. Toward an Explanatory Science, New York: Academic Press.
Denzin N. (1994), "Triangulation", in Denzin N. & Lincoln Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research, California: Thousand Oaks.
DiMaggio P.J. & Powell W.W. (1983), "The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields", American Sociological Review, vol. 48, pp.147-60.
Fuchs S. (1993), "A Sociological Theory of Scientific Change", Social Forces, 71(4), pp. 933-953.
Hagstrom W.O. (1974), "Competition in Science", American Sociological Review, vol. 39, pp. 1-18.
Hohn Hans-Willy. (1998), Kognitive Strukturen und Organisationsprobleme der Forshung.
Kernphysik und Informatik im Vergleich, Frankfurt am Main, New York: Campus.
Klein J.T. (1990), Interdisciplinarity. History, Theory & Practice, Michigan: Wayne State University Press.
Kuhn T. (1981), The structure of scientific revolutions,introduction-translation, V. Kalfas, Thessaloniki: Modern Issues.
Lengwiler M. (2006), "Between Charisma and Heuristics: Four Styles of interdisciplinarity", Science and Public Policy, 33(6), pp. 423-434.
Mayntz R. (1985), Forschungsmanagement-Steuerungsversuche zwischen Scylla und Charybdis: Probleme der Organisation und Leitung von hochschulfreien, oeffentlich finanzierten Forschungsinstituten, Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Merton R. (1968), "The Matthew Effect in Science", Science, 159 (3810), pp. 56-63.
Sillince J.A.A. & Brown A.D. (2009), "Multiple Organizational Identities and Legitimacy: The Rhetoric of Police Websites", Human Relations, 62(12), pp. 1829-1856.
Schummer J. (2004), "Multidisciplinarity, Interdisciplinarity and Patterns of Research collaboration in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology", Scientometrics, 59(3), pp. 425-465.
Whitley R. (2006), The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences, New York: Oxford University Press.
Most read articles by the same author(s)