| This dissertation is the first multi-national study empirically combining an investigation of journalism education on an individual level with an investigation of journalism education on an organizational level in the United States and India. Viewed holistically, it contributes to what Deuze (2006) has called, "a lack of rigorous scholarship in the field of (international) journalism education and training" (p. 29) and to what Ninan (2007) has called the "pitiably small" body of work on journalism and journalism education in India.;Its specific contributions are three-fold. First, it recasts the history of journalism education (and specifically American journalism education) as the development of a persistent and influential organizational field and utilizes an empirical study of three Indian journalism schools to investigate the influence of this field. This analysis subsequently contributes a new layer of complexity as to why journalism education looks the way it does around the world and suggests that legitimacy within the field is a real concern (and priority) for journalism programs worldwide.;Second, it diverges from previous cross-national survey-based studies of the motivations and attitudes of journalism students by instead deploying the tool of habitus in an effort to understand the inherent complexity of a student's decision to enter journalism school. This design subsequently leads to a less rigid and much deeper examination of these students' values, attitudes, experiences, and expectations and allows for an exploration of not only the complexity within those motivations but also an investigation as to where those motivations came from and how they developed.;And third, it again utilizes the concept of habitus to investigate the value, worth, and influence of journalism education by exploring the actions and behaviors of journalism students in the United States and India as they prepare to graduate. Unlike previous studies, which have focused on the perceived efficacy of journalism education, this study explores how lessons imparted through journalism education are actually enacted through specific decisions and choices. It suggests, in the end, that the lessons of journalism school that are most utilized by students as they graduate are the ones that can best be personalized. |
