The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

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Table 1: Survey Respondents Demographics
Work
Location
Management
Level
Organization type Education
level
Years in
RA
United States 145 Upper Level 47 Educational Institution 90 Doctoral 24 20+ yrs 11
International 5 Middle Level 74 For-profit Business 5 J.D./Law 4 15-20 yrs 14
Canada 5 Lower Level 34 Governmental Unit 10 Masters 54 10-15 yrs 44
Test of the Hypothesis
Medical Facility 17 Bachelors 58 5-10 yrs 78
Nonprofit Business 19 Associate 6 0-5 yrs 8
Research Facility 14 Some College 1
High School 8
155 155 155 155 155
Hypothesis 1. The literature search found that the profession of research administration
meets all of Fleisher & Lewis’ requirements to be considered a profession, as well as all of
Labuschagne’s criteria except the requirement of advanced studies. The occupation has a body of
knowledge, code of ethics, associations, certifications, peer reviewed journals, and various training
opportunities, thereby meeting the established criteria of a profession.
Hypothesis 2. When you compare the missing component of advanced studies to the
survey results, you find that the respondents are very interested in the institutionalization of the
profession in academia. This substantiates the interest found in the list-serv discussion.
The survey reveals that even though 53% of the respondents already hold a master’s degree or
higher, 75% of them are interested in obtaining a graduate certificate in research administration
(Table 2). The sample populations’ interest is not as strong in pursuing a master’s degree. Surprisingly,
88% of the respondents indicated that they would like to begin the program within one year.
Table 2: Respondents interest in academic
Interested in obtaining: Graduate Certificate Masters with a
RA concentration
Yes 117 75% 85 55%
No 38 25% 70 45%
How soon would you start:
155 155
ASAP 63 54% 39 46%
In 1 year 40 34% 33 39%
In 2 years 10 9% 4 5%
In 3 years 4 3% 8 10%
117 84
The data indicates that the respondents believe they need or desire continuing education that
culminates in a certificate or degree, as seen through the high response rate found in Table 2;
however, these respondents do not believe that a graduate certificate or a master’s degree will assist
them in receiving a promotion (Table 3). This reflects the lack of a career ladder for the profession,
which academic programming corrects.
100 2005 Symposium Proceedings Book