Work and Technology in Higher Education: The Social Construction of Academic Computing

Since the early 1980s, U.S. colleges and universities have become extremely important not only as computational research and development centers, but also as field sites for examining the relationship between technological innovation and sociocultural change. In spite of this, neither academic analysts of technological change nor the broader audience of computer professionals have a full understanding of higher education's catalytic role in shaping the so-called microcomputer revolution. This volume makes a major contribution to that understanding.

In contrast to previous publications about computers in higher education -- most of which focus narrowly on technology deployment, use, and management strategies -- this volume takes a comprehensive look at academic computing as a sociocultural phenomenon. Conceptually and methodologically unique, it is the only collection of in-depth, mainly ethnographic studies of the "academic computing revolution" -- its consequences, meanings, and significance. Most of the contributors are university-based social scientists who have been at the forefront of studying computing in higher education, beginning over a decade ago.

The volume consists of a series of case studies, developed during years of careful fieldwork and analysis, that document the open-ended, socially constructed, interpretively flexible character of computer-mediated academic work. Drawing on core ideas of cultural anthropology, interpretive sociology, and the social construction of technology, this book also makes a contribution to the growing, multidisciplinary study of technology and society.

Work and Technology in Higher Education will inform not only educators and social scientists interested in computing and technology studies, but also academic administrators who want to understand the sociocultural context of technological change as a basis for better decision making.