Associate Professor Career Title in Tourism Academia: Blocked Career Path and Its Effects

• Main Author: Bilgehan Gülcan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Isarder 2011-03-01
• Series: İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi
• Subjects: Tourism; Tourism Knowledge; Discipline; Academic Career; Academic Title
• Online Access: http://www.isarder.org/isardercom/2011vol3no1/a11.pdf

As an exception, there is no Associate Professor career title in tourism field in Turkey although there is highest academic degree (doctoral) programme. The blockage on the tourism academic carreer path have some effects on production of tourism academic knowledge and disciplinar evolution of tourism. This situation also affects the tourism academicians economically, pyscho-socially and managerial. The primary data collected with 207 questionnaire forms which were send to tourism academicians. The results point that the absence of Associate Professor career title on tourism has pushed the academicians’ interests to outside of the tourism field. As a reflection of this, produced academic tourism knowledge has been affected negatively in means of both quality and quantity. This absence of the academic career title in tourism can also affect the disciplinar evolution of the tourism. According to most of the tourism academicians, there must be Associate Professor title on tourism. On the other hand, this situation and its outcomes also displays contrast on tourism education policy of the Turkey Higher Education Committee.