Research into higher education: an a‐theoretical community of practice?

A database of 406 articles published in 2000 in 17 specialist higher education journals, based outside North America, is analysed in terms of whether a theoretical perspective is adopted. In the majority of cases, any theoretical perspective is only implicit, and broader engagement with theory is absent. Where theory is explicit, the authors appear more likely to be based in a social science department or academic development unit, rather than an education department or higher education research centre. The implications of this analysis for the development of higher education research as an interdisciplinary field of study are explored.