Fostering Scholarship Capacity: The Experience of Nurse Educators

In a milieu where traditional views of scholarship are embedded in the culture of educational institutions, and nursing programs in particular, this paper reports on a research project designed to support nurse educators' capacity to engage in scholarly activities. Rogers' (2003, 2004) "Diffusion of Innovation" model provided a theoretical vantage point from which to consider the ways scholarly inquiry in and across the nursing programs could be promoted. The project was evaluated between 2004 and 2007 using both quantitative and qualitative methods. In this paper we highlight some of the meanings emerging from the qualitative information collected because this data best illustrates Rogers' (2003) model. Although significant progress was made towards building scholarship capacity with nursing faculty there remains ongoing work to be undertaken. Continuing to support a broader view of scholarship and intentional scholarship capacity building, particularly the scholarship of teaching and learning is becoming increasingly difficult given existing cultural and structural contradictions such as traditional ideologies associated with research; the competitiveness associated with the valuing of individual research; lack of infrastructure supports; and time for research in contexts where there are decreasing numbers of faculty. The authors think it is important to pay attention to this feedback as advances in scholarship of teaching and learning may be at risk. (Contains 1 table and 2 footnotes.)