Broadening the Productivity Lens in Criminology and Criminal Justice: An Exploratory Study of the Research Contributions of Master’s Degree Program Faculty, 2014–2018

Abstract

Much work by criminology and criminal justice scholars assesses and ranks doctoral programs and faculty based on productivity measured as number of articles, journal prestige, and grantspersonship. These state-of-the-field publications provide important information about the subset of Ph.D. programs and their faculty. Less attention is paid in these discussions to productivity among faculty at master’s degree granting programs; omitting a considerable bulk of scholars. Using self-report survey data from 34 residential criminal justice master’s degree granting programs, the present research explores productivity of faculty by examining a variety of publication outlets and grantspersonship to assess contributions to the field over a five-year period, 2014–2018. This study is a first step in understanding the strengths of master’s level program faculty and their representation in the discipline. The paper concludes by outlining future considerations for research to extend the discussion on faculty productivity to scholars from a wider-range of programs.

Keywords:

• Faculty productivity
• master's programs

Acknowledgements

Dr. Ahlin would like to thank Dr. Shaun L. Gabbidon, editor of the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, for endorsing the study, and Alexis Mazzie, Brent Lipscomb, and Amandeep Sharma for superb research assistance.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 There is likely much overlap in membership between these two organizations.

2 This is a generous estimate given the option for members to not make their name available in the databases hosted by association websites.

3 http://www.criminaljusticeprograms.com/

4 Elite journals were defined, in alphabetical order, as: Aggression and Violent Behavior; Aggressive Behavior; British Journal of Criminology; Criminology; Journal of Criminal Justice; Journal of Experimental Criminology; Journal of Interpersonal Violence; Journal of Quantitative Criminology; Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency; and Justice Quarterly.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eileen M. Ahlin

Dr. Eileen M. Ahlin is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Penn State Harrisburg. Her teaching and research interests include criminological theory, violence, neighborhood effects, corrections, research methods, and racial and social justice. Dr. Ahlin was named a 2016 W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow by the National Institute of Justice to expand her work on risk and protective factors associated with exposure to community violence and violent behaviors to examine residential mobility among racial/ethnic minority and immigrant youth. She is co-author of The Veterans Treatment Court Movement: Striving to Serve Those Who Served (2019, Routledge) and Rethinking America’s Correctional Policies: Commonsense Choices from Uncommon Voices (2017, Lexington). Her recent research appears in journals such as Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Race and Justice: An International Journal, and The Prison Journal.