Article abstract

Journal of Educational Research and Reviews
Research Article | Published May 2021 | Volume 9, Issue 5, pp. 118-127.
 doi: https://doi.org/10.33495/jerr_v9i5.21.111

 

Establishing the viability of an institution ethnography inquiry to diagnose university culture

 

 

 
Maria Kaguhangire-Barifaijo*
 James L. Nkata
Elizabeth K. Lwanga
Email Author

Uganda Management Institute, Uganda.

 

 

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 Citation: Kaguhangire-Barifaijo M, Nkata JL, Lwanga EK (2021). Establishing the viability of an institution ethnography inquiry to diagnose university culture. J. Edu. Res. Rev. 9(5): 118-127. doi: 10.33495/jerr_v9i5.21.111.
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 Abstract 

 

This article proposes an ‘institution ethnography inquiry’ to establish dominant university culture to unravel hidden censures which have led to a divisive, deceptive and uncivil culture that has disrupted the normative flow of common sense. An integrative synthesis and review summaries were adopted to guide the discussion. To discern the type of culture that exists in these universities, two objectives were adopted; (i) analyze emerging university culture and its implications, and (ii) assess the significance of an institutional ethnography inquiry in extricating emerging university culture. Attributes of governance, leadership and personal traits were found to be fundamental pointers to both existing and emerging university culture. As a requisite for the adoption of this inquiry, four (4) theories were identified, reviewed and synthesized. All the theories revealed that the proposed inquiry had potential benefits to expose new-fangled and unique culture that blemished the academia, as well as the intricacies that surround institutional politics, that have infiltrated academia. Hence, an ethnography inquiry should be embraced and promoted as a mode of inquiry for its latency to unravel dysfunctional culture and tackle such contentious topics. Nonetheless, ethnographers must undergo intensive training in ethnography subtleties to gain superior competencies.

 

Keywords  Academia   university culture   institution ethnography inquiry  

 

Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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