Academic inbreeding in nursing: intentional or inevitable?

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Higher Education Administration
• Academic Staffing

Background:

• Academic inbreeding, the practice of hiring faculty from within the same institution, is widely believed to hinder innovation and scholarly progress.
• Despite this consensus, nursing schools exhibit higher rates of inbreeding compared to other university departments.
• Previous research (Miller and Ehnes, 1977) highlighted this issue, necessitating updated investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess current levels of academic inbreeding in nursing schools.
• To identify trends in faculty hiring practices within nursing education.
• To explore the factors contributing to academic inbreeding in this specific field.

Main Methods:

• A follow-up survey was conducted to replicate and extend the findings of a 1977 study on academic inbreeding.
• Comparative analysis of faculty recruitment patterns in two nursing schools, one with high inbreeding and one with lower inbreeding.
• Examination of regional faculty recruitment strategies.

Main Results:

• Academic inbreeding in nursing schools has slightly increased since 1977.
• Inbreeding is more pronounced among junior faculty than senior faculty.
• Rapidly expanding nursing schools demonstrate the highest rates of inbreeding.
• Nursing schools show a tendency not to recruit faculty from other regional institutions.

Conclusions:

• Economic pressures may incentivize nursing deans to hire internal graduates for junior positions to reduce recruitment costs.
• Hiring internal graduates may be a strategic, albeit potentially detrimental, approach to managing faculty recruitment budgets.
• Academic inbreeding in nursing education may be an intentional strategy driven by financial considerations, making it potentially inevitable.