Assessing the Influence of Elite Foundations: Conformity and Competing Visions of Education Policy in the Philanthropic Field

• In Event: 26.047 - Mobilizing Support and Opposition in Education: Influence in the 21st Century

Abstract

Previous research focusing on elite philanthropic foundations suggests that these actors collectively operate as a governance structure that has converged around a set of jurisdictional challengers promoting market-based education reforms. Using correspondence analysis and network analysis, this paper utilizes multiple sources of data to empirically test whether this convergence has permeated to less prominent foundations and their grantees, or if these organizations are cultivating competing visions of K12 policy. In the process, the author uses field theory to challenge the efficacy of institutional theory in explaining and anticipating the venture philanthropy movement in education. Results suggest that the philanthropic field is constituted by multiple visions of education policy that reflect both challenges to—and opportunities for—a more equitable system.

Authors

• Joseph J. Ferrare, University of Kentucky

• Katherine Ann Reynolds, Boston College