Faculty Perceptions of Their Disciplinary Cultures: Re-Evaluating Biglan’s Dimensions

Abstract

Disciplinary cultures are an important part of understanding the faculty experience. For fifty years, the Biglan dimensions have been frequently relied on by researchers interested in considering disciplinary differences as parts of their studies; however, applying a cultural lens draws attention to the possibility that over time, disciplinary cultures may have changed. Through exploring faculty perceptions of their disciplines using an item set derived from key cultural aspects of Biglan’s dimensions, compared to the Biglan dimensions, this exploratory study offers insights into the evolution of disciplinary cultures, highlighting the variation and fluidity of disciplinary cultures that faculty experience in their disciplines today.