20 years of critical HRD scholarship development: citation and authorship network analysis

ABSTRACT

Appreciating the contribution of critical human resource development (CHRD) scholarship to raise critical perspectives and practices in HRD, this study explored the development of CHRD scholarship over 20 years (2003–2022) using social network analysis (SNA), particularly focusing on analysing citation and authorship networks in CHRD journal articles. In doing so, this study identified influential CHRD authors, articles, and the structure of CHRD authorship communities – eight connected core groups and many disconnected periphery groups. Further, the CHRD authorship networks were explored and visualised on a five-year basis. The analysis results identified that particular core members, largely White women scholars working in the US or UK, led the CHRD scholarship. Also, community groupings and each community’s key themes were found to be related to the national locations of the authors’ affiliated institutions. Additionally, this study found a recent shift of CHRD scholarship towards smaller, more cohesive communities within the larger network. Based on the findings, this study provides theoretical and practical implications and concludes with a call for building inclusive CHRD scholarship networks.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical HRD (CHRD)
• social network analysis (SNA)
• citation and authorship network
• scholarship development

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Dawn T. Robinson, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia, for providing invaluable insights and feedback throughout the entire research process. The study was developed based on the first author’s final assignment for her class. Her expertise and thoughtful suggestions greatly enhanced the rigor and depth of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).