Crecimiento en el profesorado con doctorado en la educación superior chilena (2008–2024): un modelo de análisis jerárquico de crecimiento lineal
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines how the number of doctoral-qualified faculty has grown across Chilean higher education institutions between 2008 and 2024, focusing on how faculty qualifications have evolved within a highly stratified, market-oriented system. Using hierarchical linear growth models and longitudinal data from 209 institutions (including closed institutions), the analysis tests competing theoretical predictions derived from the Matthew Effect, institutional isomorphism, and differentiated institutional logics. The results show a marked institutional differentiation in doctoral ratio trajectories: public traditional CRUCH universities exhibit the fastest growth, followed by private traditional CRUCH and private non-traditional CRUCH universities, while professional institutes and technical training centers display minimal change. Accreditation status, student–faculty ratios, and faculty age are significant positive predictors of growth, whereas gender composition and metropolitan concentration are not significant. Overall, the findings provide the strongest support for Matthew-type cumulative advantage among universities and little evidence of convergence predicted by institutional isomorphism. At the same time, stable, low growth in non-university sectors is consistent with mission-specific logics that prioritize labor-market relevance over research credentials. Rather than uniform convergence or divergence, the Chilean system exhibits “differentiated stratification,” in which gaps between institutional tiers widen while institutions within tiers may converge. These results contribute to international debates on higher education stratification and inform policy discussions about how quality assurance and doctoral credentialing interact with equity and institutional differentiation.
Author: Eduardo Santander Ramirez
Institution: Universidad Gabriela Mistral
Language: Spanish
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7202358665