Institutionalization of Innovations in Higher Education: Four Models

The purpose of this paper is to systematize some of the contrasting conceptual schemes which have been used, more often implicitly than explicitly, by previous writers concerned with the institutionalization of innovations in higher education. Most studies have essentially utilized one of three models: the organic growth model, the differentiation model, or the diffusion model. Each of these can contribute to a greater understanding of certain institutionalization processes, but a fourth, here called the combined-process model, is more appropriate for many situations. Terry N. Clark is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.