Theoretical orientations of higher education public relations educators in Europe and implications for pedagogy

Abstract

Purpose The present article investigates the theoretical orientations of public relations educators and their implications for public relations pedagogy. Building on previous research that revealed a lower perceived value of public relations higher education (HE) degrees compared to non-specialist degrees and professional training offered by member organisations, this study explores the theoretical perspectives of European public relations educators on dominant public relations paradigms, relevant theories and the most commonly used methodologies in public relations research. Design/methodology/approach The present study has an exploratory nature, as such a research study has not yet been conducted at the national or regional levels. In order to identify the public relations educators’ theoretical orientations, various data have been preliminarily collected from the study respondents through a questionnaire. For the first time in a research study, public relations practitioners who are hourly contracted by universities to teach on public relations degrees have been included in the survey. Lastly, we expanded the survey at the European level, as many of the previous studies have focused on a national level. Findings In terms of paradigmatic dominance, the normative understanding of public relations as management of communication is the most extended amongst our respondents, while we could see that critical and cultural perspectives of public relations are developed in media relations courses. The subsequent theory of the normative and functionalist paradigm, the excellence theory, is indeed the most taught by our respondents, with new terms such as “strategic communication” being currently proposed as a natural transition from public relations. Lastly, regarding the research methods being developed in academic research, interviews and case studies have emerged as the most used by our respondents. Such key findings are nuanced and then discussed from the perspective of the value of public relations higher education degrees. Originality/value Our article is an original contribution to the public relations and strategic communication scholarship, which investigates the institutional manifestations and subsequent pedagogies. We started from a critical national situation of public relations degrees discussed in a previous co-authored paper, where we enquired into the current dynamics in the United Kingdom, to then focus on public relations educators’ theoretical orientations in order to assess the quality of teaching within higher education degrees. Developing the present study at the European level is also a major contribution, as many previous studies have only presented national cases.