Does Interdisciplinary Research Lead to Higher Faculty Performance? Evidence from an Accelerated Research University in China

Li Yu (), Yue Yan and Mingjun Li
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Li Yu: Center for Higher Education Research, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Yue Yan: Business School of Zhangjiagang Campus, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 215600, China
Mingjun Li: Institute of Public Policy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: The current trend of building accelerated research universities in China that explore the pursuit of interdisciplinary research (IDR) approach to yield academic excellence and innovation through institutional reforms is aspiring to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Employing data from faculty Curriculum Vitae and bibliometric records from a pilot accelerated research university in China, this study provides a case study to empirically quantify the impact of interdisciplinary research on 490 faculty’s performance, including research productivity, impact, and prestige. Results show that faculty involved in interdisciplinary research outperform their non-interdisciplinary counterparts in terms of research productivity, impact, and prestige. The degree of interdisciplinary as measured by subject categories is positively associated with faculty research performance. However, there are heterogeneous effects across faculty subgroups since faculty in applied-oriented disciplines reap more benefits while young faculty may suffer. Additionally, this study finds that faculty individual interdisciplinary research behavior can be affected by school-level concentration and dispersion of the degree of interdisciplinarity, which suggests the existence of peer effects.

Keywords: interdisciplinary research (IDR); accelerated research university; research collaboration; faculty performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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