The divergent worlds of teaching and research among Mexican faculty: Tendencies and implications

This chapter analyzes the relationship between teaching and research for the case of Mexican academics. The chapter is organized in four sections. In the first one, and in a brief manner, we will discuss the way in which teaching and research might be related as well as the way in which such relationship might be studied. In the second section, we will provide a brief historical and contemporary context of Mexican higher education, paying particular attention to current public policies relevant to academic work. In the third section, we will deal with the way in which Mexican academics view their work, and data will be presented on faculty activities, use of time and productivity, academic preferences and notion of academic work, recognition and compensation, personal characteristics, and, finally, job satisfaction and commitment. It will be argued that teaching and research activities serve to differentiate two academic worlds that, in the case of Mexican higher education, are increasingly drifting apart. The chapter ends with a recapitulation of the information presented and a small set of reflections based on it.