The gap between research and practice: Supply, demand, and environmental influences on administrators' use of higher education research

This study examines the extent to which higher education administrators utilize scholarly research on higher education at top public research universities. Specifically, the study examines the effects that supply, demand, and environmental influences have on administrators' use of research. The findings are based on data from a survey of 296 senior administrators from 34 public research universities in the United States. This study presents evidence that all three domains affect the utilization of higher education research. The analysis also confirms the assumption that administrators, to a great degree, do not use the higher education research.