How is the discipline of publishing studies accommodated within universities?

This paper offers an overview, both internationally and with a particular concentration on the UK, of how the profession-orientated discipline of Publishing Studies (PS) is accommodated and established within those universities where it is offered. It presents a combination of data, gained from a survey of professionals teaching PS, desk research into courses of PS in the UK and from Heidi and HESA. The findings offer information on the size of the field, the location, the employability of graduates and associated staffing and research support structures. While of interest to publishing studies per se, it should also be relevant to those working within other profession-orientated disciplines; to those considering the employability of graduating students and to those considering the value of postgraduate studies. Structure of this paper The paper begins with an analysis of the size of Publishing Studies as a discipline within UK universities and proceeds to isolate trends for the discipline within international data gained from a survey. After discussion of the findings, there is brief consideration of responses made by UK academics to the process of REF. The paper then considers suggestions for the effective accommodation of a profession-orientated discipline such as PS within universities where it is offered, and further options for associated research. Methodology This paper takes a second look at data from an international survey of university staff who teach Publishing Studies in order to consider how the discipline of Publishing Studies is incorporated within institutions where it is offered. The first paper was published as paper ‘Barriers and opportunities for research in Publishing Studies’, Learned Publishing Volume 27, pp207-221. The original data has been augmented by desk research into those institutions in the UK reporting that they offer Publishing Studies and data drawn from Heidi, (the Higher Education Information Database run by HESA (the Higher Education Statistics Agency). The research population for the survey was contracted university staff who teach PS and allied disciplines; specifically including those who have a contract (either full or part time) for the regular delivery of the course, irrespective of whether they are from an academic or professional/practice background but excluding those who just give single guest contributions or a short series of lectures. An online questionnaire was developed using SurveyMonkey and emailed to the sample and besides questions about the constitution, size and location of their courses, it included questions about the respondents’ own involvement in research, barriers to involvement and their perceptions of the value and inclusion of their discipline within their institution. For UK respondents there were further questions about their involvement in the 2014 REF. A full explanation of the methodology and sample construction is given in the first paper. It is beyond the scope of this paper to estimate the total size of the field for PS internationally and we do not offer complete figures for discipline size. Rather the data gained, and supported via 1 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), an exercise to gather, assess and note excellent research within UK universities over the last 5 years further research, offers an interesting basis on which to examine the structure and siting of associated courses and departments – and the consideration of wider trends affecting the market for a profession-orientated discipline. It should be noted that the international survey data is respondent-based and that in some cases there was more than one respondent from the same institution. The size of PS as a discipline within UK universities In 2012/13 there were 1,180 students (in full person equivalents) studying Publishing as a principal subject at UK universities and other higher education institutions. Of these 490 were studying for a first degree, 170 were enrolled on other undergraduate courses, 515 were enrolled on a taught postgraduate course, and just a single digit number (figures are rounded to the nearest 5) were studying for a postgraduate research degree. Analysis of trends over the last ten years reveals a sharp contrast between undergraduate and postgraduate levels. While the number of PS undergraduates has fallen to less than half the level of ten years ago the number of postgraduates has more than doubled, rising by 126% and very considerably ahead of the 8% growth in the total number of postgraduate students over the period. The profile and employability of PS students The profile of these PS students (Figure 2), shows that the postgraduates are international (just 50% are UK nationals), skewed towards females (81%) and mostly young (with 80% under 30), though the 20% over 30 suggest that some are undertaking the Masters to support a career change or to enhance promotion prospects. By contrast, undergraduate students taking a first degree on UK PS courses are younger than the postgraduates (67% are under 21), less international (78% are UK nationals), more likely to be full-time (94% on a full time course and 4% on a sandwich course) but also strongly likely to be female (77%). Those on other undergraduate-level courses (not shown in the chart) tend to be older (with 42% over 30) and male (67%). Figure 2: Profile of Students enrolled on PS courses in UK Universities 2012/13, % of category Figure 1: Students enrolled in PS (bars) and all subjects (line) at UK universities, 2002/3 to 2012/13, Index 2002=100 Source: Heidi (Higher education information database for institutions , HESA.(Higher Education Statistics Agency)