Research, Teaching, and Publication Productivity: Mutuality Versus Competition in Academia

This article assesses two theoretical views about which there has been considerable, unresolved speculation: the mutuality versus the competition of research and teaching in academia. Going beyond previous restrictions in aims and methods of analysis, it analyzes the influence of research and teaching interests, time commitments, and orientations of faculty and their perceived environments on the publication productivity of social scientists in BA-, MA-, and Ph.D.-degree granting departments in four fields. Contrary to the mutuality perspective, the findings point to a strain between research and teaching: Those whose publication productivity is high have strong investments in research, but not in teaching. These findings suggest that research and teaching do not represent aspects of a single dimension of academic investments, but are different, conflicting dimensions. The relationships are stronger for faculty in BAthan in Ph.D.-granting departments.