Can This Marriage Be Saved: Is an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication?

MacNealy, Mary Sue; Heaton, Leon B.

doi:10.2190/3bth-mdxb-py32-c9g6

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Tebeaux voiced similar concerns about technical communication programs housed in traditional English departments with a literature focus [18]. Further, Sides argued that communication studies would make a better home for technical communication than English departments, citing that communication studies' research methods actually fit professional communication research needs better than methods rooted in literature [19].…”

Section: Departmental Home and Research Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Going? Examining Authorship Characteristics in Technical Communication Research

Lam

2014

IEEE Trans. Profess. Commun.

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This study explores the characteristics of authors who have published in technical communication journals between 2008 and 2012 to generate insights into who is actively contributing to scholarship in the field. These insights drive a broader discussion regarding programmatic implications and interdisciplinary approaches to research. Research questions: (1) Who is publishing in technical communication journals? In which departments are they housed and in which departments did they receive their Ph.D. training? (2) What relationship exists between an author's departments (current and Ph.D.) and the publication venues he or she chooses? (3) What relationship exists between an author's department (current and Ph.D.) and the type of research he or she produces? (4) What relationship exists between an author's department (current and Ph.D.) and collaboratively authored articles? Also, is there a relationship between doctoral training outside the US and collaboratively authored articles? (5) Among authors with Ph.D.'s in technical communication, is there a relationship between doctoral program and research output (collaboratively authored articles and research method)? Literature review: All disciplines, especially maturing disciplines, must examine and evaluate the research its scholars produce in order to identify trends that signal growth and areas that require additional growth. Previous research indicates that departments in which people trained and where they work influence the research profiles of individuals, and by extension, the field. This is particularly true in technical communication, whose research features a plurality of methods, a positive attribute of the field. However, an uneven distribution of research methods used in the field also presents potential areas for growth. Methodology: A data set of 674 authors who have published in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION (TPC), Technical Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC), between 2008 and 2012 was coded for current department, Ph.D. department, department with a technical communication degree program, research method, and collaboratively authored articles. Data were analyzed using contingency table analysis and correspondence analysis. Results and discussion: Authors from English departments constitute nearly 30% of the sample; authors from information systems and technology departments and management, business, and economics departments made up more than 20% of the total sample. A little over 20% of the sample received a Ph.D. degree in technical communication. Authors from information systems and technology departmentsand management, business, and economics departments are highly associated with TPC. Authors from English departments and writing departments were associated with TCQ and JBTC. TC is associated with authors from education departments and human-centered design departments. Authors from information systems and technology departments and management, business, and economics d...

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Section: Departmental Home and Research Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Going? Examining Authorship Characteristics in Technical Communication Research

Lam

2014

IEEE Trans. Profess. Commun.

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“…Lone rangers in English departments may also find themselves caught in the crossfire caused by age-old struggles between literature and composition, struggles that have been renewed by recent growth in specialized areas such as technical and professional communication (see MacNealy & Heaton, 1999;Parker, 1967). The resulting tension affects the way certain scholarship is valued in merit reports and tenure reviews.…”

Section: Challenges Faced By Lone Rangers At Colleges and Universitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lone Ranger as Technical Writing Program Administrator

Sapp

2006

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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The popularity of technical writing and communication has caused many colleges and universities to scramble to hire qualified tenure-track faculty members. So-called lone ranger candidates are often lured to workplaces in which they are the sole technical writing faculty members by promises of autonomy and the ability to develop programs in ways, and at a pace, that would not necessarily be possible at other institutions. This article explores challenges faced by several such lone ranger faculty members and outlines survival strategies that may help lone rangers sustain and build their technical writing programs.

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“…With much recent attention being given to the growth and direction of graduate programs in technical and professional communication, we may have lost sight of the steady increase in another sector-that of bachelors degrees at the undergraduate level. [2], as well as essays by Kevin Brooks, Kathleen Blake Yancey, and Mark Zachry [3], and Mary Sue MacNealy and Leon B. Heaton [4] have helped highlight the current challenges faced by new and established graduate programs in technical and professional communication: (How should graduate programs be organized? Should there be similar requirements across all programs?…”

Section: Hiring Trends and Program Growth At Four-year Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical and Professional Communication Programs and the Small College Setting: Opportunities and Challenges

Latterell

2003

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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This article argues that the small school context has been a relatively unexamined or under-examined context for technical and professional communication program development. While graduate program development holds a large share of the field's attention in recent national forums, growth in graduate programs is a consequence of demand in the job market among mostly “teaching” schools. Thus, the field must consider how well we are socializing new Ph.D.s into the values and the real work of institutions where they will find employment. Toward this end, this article articulates three mediating forces of program development in the liberal arts and humanities settings of small schools: 1) interdisciplinarity and flexibility are lived dynamics of small schools; 2) the campus-wide privileging of writing and communication skills presents ongoing opportunities for curricular initiatives and program development; and 3) compression of decision-making structures leads to more involvement of/with administrators and units across campus.

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Can This Marriage Be Saved: Is an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication?

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Going? Examining Authorship Characteristics in Technical Communication Research

Where Did We Come From and Where Are We Going? Examining Authorship Characteristics in Technical Communication Research

The Lone Ranger as Technical Writing Program Administrator

Technical and Professional Communication Programs and the Small College Setting: Opportunities and Challenges

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