EXAMINING PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC CULTURE IN CHILEAN JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATION

Abstract

This article discusses key findings from a survey of the professional patterns, scholarly productivity, and educational characteristics of Chilean Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) educators, as well as documentary information about the schools where they work. The results reveal a weak academic culture that contrasts with a strong professional culture among the members of this community, but also the influence that both organizational and individual variables have on Chilean JMC educators' orientations. Specifically, the analyses indicated that the level of education, part-time/full-time commitment, and the type of university are the most influential factors in defining both the prevalence of a professional culture and the lack of research productivity. These findings support other international studies, indicating a global tendency across key variables that influence academic development in the field. Likewise, it shows how distant Chilean JCM educators are from the university-scholarly tradition.

Keywords:

• academic culture
• journalism
• JMC educators
• JMC schools
• professional culture

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Folker Hanusch (University of the Sunshine Coast), and David Weaver (Indiana University), for their meaningful comments on preliminary versions of this article.

Notes

1. Research for this paper received funding from FONDECYT Grant No. 1080066.

2. The Chilean educational system categorizes universities in two different groups: the first group is composed of state autonomous universities (known as public universities), and by private universities established before 1980 (known as “traditional” universities), all of which receive state funding in the same terms. The second group is composed of private universities created after 1980, which have a little or no state contribution.