A Systematic Review of Philippine Research Productivity: A Bourdieusian Perspective

Abstract

In a neoliberal globalized institution, research productivity (RP) among faculty members has become an important aspect determining university rankings and academic performance. Coping with the demands of RP, many universities aim to improve their faculty’s scholarly academic repertoire through incentivizing research publications and providing research training programs. Drawing from sociological perspectives, this systematic review outlines the factors and consequences of research productivity as a capital in the context of Philippine academics.  Based on the review, one glaring issue is the low RP of the country compared to its ASEAN and Western counterparts across both soft and hard sciences. Using Bourdieu’s theory on capital, the constant accumulation of faculty members for RP as capital has resulted in their struggle for legitimization in their professions and overcoming the paradox of national policies and institutional policies. Moreover, the review revealed additional pressure for faculty members to keep up with the demands of national policies requiring scholarly outputs while struggling to handle various institutional practices that can be restrictive towards research works.