دانلود رایگان مقاله پژوهش های بین رشته ای در تحریک: نقش شبکه های دانش و وابستگی به بخش

abstract

This paper examines the relation between department affiliation and interdisciplinarity in terms of knowledge creation. While the claims made for the benefits or limitations of interdisciplinarity are diverse, they have been largely related to modes of academic governance or to the bare nature of disciplines. Less is known on the precise role of social networks in fostering or hindering interdisciplinarity within intraorganizational contexts. Thus, to explore the influence of network structure, tie strength and nodal properties in interdisciplinarity within higher education institutions, we study the structure and dynamics of academic's personal knowledge networks. It is used a mixed methods approach combining the delineation of personal networks with the ties' content analysis regarding a conceptual model specifically developed for this study. Personal network data were collected and semi-structured interviews were held with 32 academic staff members of the academic and research system in Catalonia, Spain. Findings suggest that belonging to a department decreases interdisciplinarity and that institutional constraints are more significant than the strength of the ties. Researcher's network centrality and strength of ties are positively related to interdisciplinarity. Structural holes control for certain organizational rewards and individual attributes but are not directly linked to interdisciplinarity.

6. Conclusion

The main issue addressed in this paper is the relation between the role of the departments and its relation to interdisciplinarity in terms of knowledge creation at the interpersonal level. More specifically, the focus was to understand the conditions under which similarity or tie strength matters for individual knowledge interdisciplinarity. It was hypothesized that the social networks of researchers echo processes of personal and institutional adaptation, resistance, hindrance or enhancement of interdisciplinarity research. Egonetwork analysis proved to be a suitable contribution to the understanding of interdisciplinarity in today's universities. It is argued that the reach of these networks is not just a function of their distributed, interconnected and global nature but of the fact that the character and nature of ego networks mean that it is able to create and develop spaces and opportunities for emergent forms of knowledge and scientific research. That said, the potential of personal networks is not fully accomplished due to institutional constraints. One evidence is the fact that belonging to a faculty department increases the strength of ties, but belonging to a department decreases interdisciplinarity.