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Greetings, Colleagues!
See below for an overview of our developing scholarship as well as abstracts/excerpts from each paper. If you are interested in a particular manuscript, please contact Dr. Ann Austin (aaustin@msu.edu) to request more information about this work as it progresses. We are currently revising these papers and will share updated drafts as they are available.
Thank you consideration,
The OCNs Project Team
OCN Study Introduction and Conceptual Background
This project focuses on Organization-focused Change Networks (OCNs), defined as networks that connect organizations or institutional leaders advancing change, specifically through focused work with organizational units such as programs or departments. Distinct from networks of individuals, OCNs are comprised of organizations; in the higher education sector, the organizational members are typically universities or colleges. We seek to learn how such OCNs develop, function, and advance major change goals. The results will provide network leaders with guidance on establishing and leading these networks, as well as strategies to enhance their impact.
OCN Framework and Context
Our extensive study of the six STEM-focused OCNs has enabled us to develop a data-based conceptual framework that illuminates how OCNs develop, function, and advance their goals. This paper presents this framework and highlights what we have found to be the three key elements pertaining to the developing, functioning, and impact of OCNs: (1) the environment within which an OCN is situated and interacts; (2) the network lifecycle stages; and (3) a set of “critical considerations” that weave throughout the life of an OCN. These three elements interact in a dynamic and continuously changing pattern; through the interactions of environment, development over time, and critical challenges, a network grows and develops, and its nature and functioning are determined. While each of the six networks we have studied is unique in its purpose, development, and impact, our data from close study of each network provide evidence and support for the conceptual framework we present in this paper.
OCN Definition and Emerging Conceptual Framework (AERA 2022)
Organization-focused Change Networks (OCNs), defined as networks comprised of organizations collaborating to advance a common goal, have emerged as powerful levers for fostering major change. Such networks face different dynamics than networks of individual members. Based on a multi-year study of how four OCNs and two similar networks focused on change in STEM higher education develop, function, and foster transformational change, this paper presents a data-based conceptual framework integrating environmental context, life-cycle stages, and critical considerations to explain the nature and functioning of OCNs as levers for systemic change. The purpose of the paper is to present this framework and its implications for network leaders interested in practice as well as researchers interested in questions emerging from the framework.
OCN Major Network Tasks (AERA 2019)
A primary purpose of this study is to describe a specific kind of network, those focused on organizational change, and to examine and highlight key issues that these networks must address as they are established and mature. The cases presented above highlight the purposes and processes of six different OCNs, describing what these networks are and what they do. In the following section, we explain the key challenges, tasks, and issues this type of network confronts across its lifespan. Specifically, we discuss three thematic areas: Network Purposes and Theories of Change; Leadership and Governance; and Funding and Sustainability. While these thematic areas are important to all OCNs, we are not suggesting that they are the only major issues that face OCNs; however, we do suggest that they are major tasks needing attention by network leaders. Within each thematic area, specific issues sometimes arise, which we describe. We also see evidence that these issues remain important to address throughout the life of a network; however, the elements and features of a thematic issue may vary over time.
OCN Life Stages and Leadership Roles (ASHE 2020)
Earlier study of such networks has identified a set of tasks that OCNs must address as well as accompanying questions that designers or leaders of such networks should consider. Enacting leadership is one of the major tasks these networks must handle. However, little knowledge exists that could guide researchers or practitioners in understanding the nature of leadership specific to OCNs, the kinds of leadership tasks these network leaders must handle, and the variations and choices regarding the enactment of leadership in OCNs. Thus, this paper extends the research base on networks and provides useful advice for network designers and leaders by addressing several key questions: What are the key responsibilities of leaders of Organization-focused Networks (OCNs) as they advance the work of their networks? How do the responsibilities of OCN leaders change across the life cycle of a network? How do the responsibilities of OCN leaders relate to the contexts (both internal and external) in which a network is situated?
OCN Formation Stage (AERA 2021)
To date, our research has identified common lifecycle stages, as well as a set of commonly experienced critical challenges and tasks that such networks must address (Austin, et al., April, 2019; Austin, et al., November, 2019). In this paper, we dive deeply into the Formation Stage of these networks by analyzing their origin stories. We hypothesized that, although these networks have different purposes, each of them will deal with similar questions, concerns, and issues. We wanted to answer: (1) What Critical Considerations must be handled in the Formation Stage of Organization-focused Change Networks, and what tasks are salient to each critical consideration? (2) Are there similar issues that appear across the origin stories of different networks? We also were interested in how contextual factors inform or impact the ways in which networks handle Critical Challenges in the Formation Stage. We speculate that the origins of a network are likely to impact its future development, trajectory, and viability. The full analysis of that speculation requires us to examine later stages of network development, but an important first step is to explore what salient issues emerge and must be handled in the Formation Stage—which may set the parameters or patterns that inform, facilitate, or constrain later developmental options. By studying a set of networks that are each dedicated to reform in STEM undergraduate education, we strive to answer these questions.
OCN Growth Stage (ASHE 2021)
Motivated by the increasing attention to networks as levers for change in higher education, we are studying what we call Organization-focused Change Networks (OCNs), defined as networks that connect organizations or institutional leaders advancing change. This research examines how such networks develop, function, and advance significant change goals in higher education. We seek to provide guidance on establishing, leading, and enacting the work of these networks. We have identified four lifecycle stages of OCNS and have analyzed the factors that shape their origins (author identifiable citations). In this paper, recognizing that the establishment of a network does not ensure its longer-range success or impact, we will discuss findings from our research on the Development and Growth (Stage 2) of OCNs, which we define as the stage following initial establishment. Specifically, we will address these research questions: Once established, how do OCNs develop and grow? What critical considerations (including issues and challenges) characterize the Growth and Development stage of the network lifecycle? How do these critical considerations relate to the likelihood of a network’s ongoing viability and potential impact?
Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through Organization Change Networks: Strategies and Challenges (ASHE 2022)
“A Call to Action,” by the Board on Science Education of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, encourages “better and more equitable science,” including reaching more classrooms and students (NASEM, 2021). One way to advance greater equity in postsecondary education is through the networks that have emerged to support more evidence-based teaching and learning processes known to be effective in supporting learning for all students. Our research team has been studying Organization-focused Change Networks (OCNs), funded by the National Science Foundation, whose missions are to respond to calls for improving the strength and quality of undergraduate learning. The “Call to Action” emphasizes that improving undergraduate education requires attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, finding ways to incorporate and advance calls for explicit attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work of these networks is challenging, even when recognized as important (Gonzales et al., 2021). Ultimately, successful DEI efforts require network leaders and members to reflect on both their individual subjectivities as well as their collective aspirations as they reimagine more diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces for study and work in higher education.
In this paper, we examine how national networks whose mission is to improve undergraduate education explicitly take up commitments to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their missions and in their own internal workings. The paper is based on the assumption that increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education requires efforts at the individual, institutional, and systems level. Networks of organizations operate at the systems level. Learning how they take on the commitment to advance DEI is helpful to those interested in the range of strategies needed to truly make progress in creating more equitable higher education processes and outcomes.
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