Interdisciplinary leadership

Paul Blackmore

Camille B. KandikoKing’s Learning Institute, King’s College London

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Outline of workshop

• Project and methodology

• Defining disciplines and leadership

• Problems

• An exercise with data

• Solutions?

• Conclusions

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The project

Increasing calls for interdisciplinarity

But

•Structural

•Socio-cultural

•Epistemological differences

Some leaders engage - why and how?

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Methodology•Literature review

•Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews of

interdisciplinary leaders at KCL and Melbourne

•Appreciative inquiry• why engage?• what works?• principles for effective practice

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A discipline

“ any comparatively self-contained and isolated domain of human experience which possesses its own community of experts”

(Nissani, 1997)

Knowledge, methodology, community

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Interdisciplinarity

“a means of solving problems and

answering questions that cannot be

satisfactorily addressed using single

methods or approaches”

(Klein, 1990)

Requires integration

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Framework

Jarzabkowski’s (2005) activity-based

strategy as practice methodPractice:

Interdisciplinarity as a situated, socially

accomplished flow of organizational activity

Practices: Administrative,

discursive, episodic

Practitioners: Skilled,

knowledgeable actors inside and

outside the university

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Leadership

Distributed and embedded in context

“much of the work of leading is contingent

… it involves dealing with the specifics of

a time, a place and a set of people”(Knight and Trowler, 2001)

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System level - funding

• Difficulties writing interdisciplinary grants

• Fitting interdisciplinary work into national

assessment schemes (RAE in UK)

• Challenges of aligning interdisciplinary

work with national funding councils

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Institution level - recognitionIssues with traditional discipline-based reward systems:

• mode of publication: e.g. government report rather than journal article or book

• location of publication: generalist rather than specialist journal • time frame: interdisciplinary work takes time to develop• publication in peer-reviewed journals using unfamiliar

literatures

A risky business best left till later?

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Faculty, school, department level•Tribal academic disciplines •Administrative issues:

• finance• course registration• time-tabling• computer systems

“It is quite difficult to teach interdisciplinary courses … with different timetables, for instance, or different habits, different expectations, different cultures, perhaps of contact, or different entry level requirements.”

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An exercise with data!

What structures and processes would

assist:•Leading•Managing•Career issues

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Exercise

Divide into three groups

Read the quote sheets provided

Discuss the questions in relation to the

interview quotes and your own experience

Report back to the full group in 20

minutes

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Conclusions: Challenges• Interdisciplinary work challenged by practices

• lack of culture of going outside one’s own department

• current academic fads and trends • budget crunches

• Administration often organised on disciplinary and departmental lines

• financial and prestige awards• course scheduling• computer systems

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Conclusions: Challenges

• Interdisciplinary work usually requires

extra administrative support

• Computer systems often lock staff into

one school or department

• These issues pervade the university at

all levels

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Conclusions: Promoting interdisciplinary work• Incentive structure (promotion and tenure)

criteria important for early career academics

• Flexible study leaves can be a springboard for

innovative research for mid-career academics

• Ability to go sideways in the university and

maintain status is crucial for all academics

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Future directionsQuestions for university staff, including administrators, academics and those in leadership positions include:

• How can researchers recode, reclassify and reorganise departments, divisions and centres to promote interdisciplinary working within existing university structures?• Are there new methods of accounting for and allocating faculty time, including research points, teaching loads, and university service commitments?• What can be done on campus and electronically to connect researchers across the university?• How can faculty members be keyed into databases to reflect their positions, including multiple appointments in departments, research centres, schools and faculties?• How can interdisciplinary teaching be promoted throughout the university, including faculty reimbursement, time-tabling, cross-listing courses, and requirements from students?

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Acknowledgement

This study was funded in part through a

grant from the Leadership Foundation for

Higher Education.

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References

Jarzabkowski, P. (2005) Strategy as Practice. London: Sage.

Klein, J. T. (1990). Interdisciplinarity: History, theory, and practice. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

Knight, P. and Trowler, P. (2001) Departmental Leadership in Higher Education. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education/Open University Press. Nissani, M. (1997). Ten cheers for interdisciplinarity: The case for interdisciplinary knowledge and research. The Social Science Journal, 34(2), 201-216.