Attitudes Toward Research and Teaching: Differences Between Administrators and Faculty Members.

In 1950, 43% of high-school graduates pursued some form of higher education, and 6% of Americans were college graduates (Elfin, 1993). In 1992 about two-thirds of secondary-school graduates went to college, and 21% of a larger American population held college diplomas. Nowadays some 17 million students are going to classes taught by 762,000 faculty members on 3,400 campuses (Elfin, 1992). According to Professor Herbert London of New York University, "The college experience has gone from a rite of passage to a right of passage" (Elfin, 1993, p. 4). For the past several decades, educational leaders, faculty members, and the public have been concerned about the mission of the university (Boyer, 1987; Porter & McKibbin, 1988) and the priorities of teaching and research on campuses (Clark, 1987; Eble & McKeachie, 1985; Edgerton, 1993; Hornback, 1993; Mooney, 1992; Tang & Tang, 1987). The reward systems (Bok, 1993; Kasten, 1984; Tang, in press) and professional misconduct (Braxton, 1994; Braxton & Bayer, 1994) have also been examined. The major purpose of our research is to identify attitudes toward the mission of the university, research, teaching, and the reward systems related to teaching and research by examining all educational leaders (administrators) and a random sample of faculty from six regional state universities in Tennessee. Further, we investigate attitudinal differences between administrators and faculty members on these attitudes. On the basis of the attitude-behavior consistency model (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977; Tang & Baumeister, 1984), we expect that these attitudes will be related to faculty and administrators' behaviors in higher education. We review relevant literature briefly in the following paragraphs. Regional State Universities Regional state colleges and universities enroll more than 25% of the undergraduate students currently in higher education (Bassis & Guskin, 1986). Typically, many of these universities began as teachers colleges with a narrowly defined mission. Since World War II these schools have increased student attendance and expanded their programs at unprecedented rates. Within a short span of time, these institutions have radically transformed their character. In these "transitional" (Stark, 1986, p. 64) or "incoherent" (Clark, 1987, p. 115) universities, faculty members are expected to publish while carrying heavy teaching loads, which leads to role conflicts. These newly transformed universities seek educators with an orientation and credentials typical of the research scholar. The number of teaching-oriented professors continues to dwindle, while the number of research-oriented academicians increases with each passing year. Because the length of service at these universities may have a significant impact on the attitudes of these academicians, length of service will be controlled statistically in data analyses. Mission The relative importance of research and teaching varies according to a school's mission. Without a clear focus on institutional mission, university administrators cannot clarify nor justify their expectations of role performance. Boyer (1987, p. 10) reported the presence of "a tension on most campuses over the priorities of teaching and research," and other scholars showed the same concerns (Koplik & Welsh, 1993; Mooney, 1992). This tension appears vividly in regional state universities. In this study, we examine the differences between administrators and faculty on these issues. Research Versus Teaching Orientation Research. Some researchers argue that research performance, unlike teaching performance, offers an objective means of evaluating faculty effort (Kasten, 1984). Measuring faculty's research provides the "most efficient manner" of ascertaining the quality of their teaching (Paul & Rubin, 1984, p. 145). However, these arguments are not universally accepted as true. …