Why this Great Demand for Research-Oriented Faculty Members?

On Why Universities / Colleges Today, are Keen on Hiring Research-Oriented Faculty Members

The Great Demand for Candidates with a ‘Robust Research Agenda’

#newspaperinlearning #importanceofresearch

15th November 2023

Every Wednesday, The Hindu carries its weekly supplement titled, ‘Opportunities’ which contains a host of Colleges / Universities advertising their ‘Faculty requirements’ for their various programmes.

This blog post intends to look at a cross-section of advertisements for ‘Faculty Recruitments’ carried in The Hindu, in the past one month, to highlight the shifting trends in Recruitment of Faculty in Universities / Colleges across India.

A majority of the Colleges / Universities of high repute, have openly stated their intent in their advertisements that they wish to hire only faculty members who have a flair for research, with research publications in reputed journals.

Added reason why they literally invest lakhs of rupees to advertise their requirements through prestigious newspapers – to get the best talent in the field of research, for themselves.

In fact, Universities today, (especially private Universities) vie with one another to grab the best in academia unto themselves. [They don’t mind even paying them exorbitant salaries and other perks and amenities as well!]

Shiv Nadar University Website

Shiv Nadar University's Website

There are quite a few reasons for this development!

Firstly, academic institutions today are looked upon as mining centres, wherein, useful metals / materials like gold, iron, coal, gemstones, limestone, chalk, etc that contain valuable constituents within them, are extracted (mined) by markets, for the sake of profit.

And markets obviously, are keen on hiring only ‘research-oriented’ candidates, with a robust research & development agenda on them, in order to further their prospects – business and otherwise!

Secondly, Ranking Agencies and Accrediting Agencies have started prioritizing Innovation, Incubation, Research and Development for the past ten years. For example, the QS World University Rankings has designed its rankings to assess performance according to what it believes to be key aspects of a university's mission: teaching, research, nurturing employability, and internationalization.

Thirdly, research-oriented faculty are considered the ‘brain of the institution’, and they help in making rapid strides in the research and development division of the institution concerned. One reason why, they are considered ‘strategic intellectual assets’ to the institution.

Universities / Colleges that have focussed on the ‘research component’ are now reaping the benefits on the Rankings and on the Markets Factor as well!

Sample this news article published last week, in The Economic Times.

Hence, the growing need and awareness on the part of academia to lure high-quality researchers who make an impact on society, culture, quality of life, public policy, etc, through their highly original contributions to the ‘existing body of knowledge’.

PS: You may want to read our past blog post on ‘Reinventing the Higher Education System’, carried in our blog HERE, well over a decade ago, on 12th June 2013, that so beautifully foresees, forecasts and foretells this recent trend!