Indian field notes: new institutionalism and journalism education

Abstract

This paper utilizes the theoretical framework of new institutionalism and a two-year qualitative study of three Indian journalism schools to explore the manner by which influences from the organizational field of American journalism education have spread across borders. The study locates and details a system of supranational institutional carriers and finds evidence of both institutional isomorphism, whereby the Indian schools structurally emulate established American programs, and ceremonial conformity, whereby the Indian schools enact a façade of isomorphism. The findings ultimately suggest a new layer of complexity – the influence of the organizational field – be included within the larger discussion of why journalism education looks the way it does around the world.